My Homebrew Joystick

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Galford Forever

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I just thought I'd display my new home-built Joystick. Please take a look:

<a href="http://videogamehq.angelcities.com/projects.html" target="_blank">http://videogamehq.angelcities.com/projects.html</a>
 
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mookystains

Chairman Kaga sez, "Dakis-san's the one who's goin
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nice, i like it, if it hard to make your own joystick?
I have kinda wanted to, or convert somthing to a neo controller.

P.S. i NEEEEED your earthbound box and manual.

[ April 02, 2002: Message edited by: mookystains ]</p>
 
SPINMASTER X

SPINMASTER X

I AM NOT FRENCHMAN,, I AM A HUMAN BEING!,
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That is a nice stick man. I wish i could do that stuff. If i could i'd have about 40 sticks by now cuz i love arcade sticks.
 
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Galford Forever

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It was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. The wood working took a lot of time, but the finished product looked quite nice. The wiring is really simple, if you know the slightest of things about circuits.

Mookystains, yeah my EB is mint and complete, box and all. Unforunately, I have no plans to get rid of it :) .
 
G

Galford Forever

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Yeah, the slant worked out well and the box still looks very nice cosmetically. It would've probably been a lot easier if the box had just been square. Of course I have a NES.. isn't it a requirement for every gamer :) ?
 
SPINMASTER X

SPINMASTER X

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are you playing KOF 99 on your NES?
 
G

Galford Forever

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No, no, of course not. The Neo is on the shelf below the NES. It's out of view. The Joystick I built is a Neo one, just to clear that up as well.
 
SPINMASTER X

SPINMASTER X

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I was just messin around(as if KOF 99 would really be on a NES hehehe), i knew it was a neo one cuz of the button layout.

A quick question, all together how much did it cost you?
 
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Galford Forever

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Hmmm... well, I took apart an old neo stick for the cord to connect to the base unit. So, you can factor in the price for that. Wood, was maybe $10. After that, the buttons and stick I got from happ for about $25 or so. And it really came out to be a nice, quality stick, so it was well worth it. Not to mention that it was just plain fun. My next project is going to be to make one with a clear fibreglass case!
 
B

bishounen

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That's a really nice stick, I must say.
I'd like to build one myself, it's just that I don't want to gut my controllers.

EDIT: Wow, I've just browsed through your webpage and I just wanted to say that you have a HUGE collection of games. Do your parents mind that you spend so much cash on this stuff? Also, I might be a little nosy when I say this but, how old are you?

[ April 02, 2002: Message edited by: bishounen ]</p>
 
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Galford Forever

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All you need is a 15 pin plug, which you can find at Radio Shack if you look hard enough. I didn't know enough about the Neo's Joystick guts the first time through, so I had to ruin a good joystick for research, but now that I know what I'm dealing with I can use a broken stick or get parts from radio shack and make the cord on my own. So you really don't need to ruin a Neo stick to complete the project.
 
A

aphxero

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I thought regular 15 pin connectors aren't deep enough to reach the pins in the joystick port.

Has anyone actually used a regular connector?

[ April 03, 2002: Message edited by: aphxero ]</p>
 
BIG BEAR

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Good Job... How did you go about doing an accurate button layout.
Also, how is it held together???
I like the way this one is built...I never did like the MAS design.
Couple more questions...
What agle is the wood cut @ and do you have rubber feet underneath??
Thankyou-BB
 
Wolferaizer

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whoah... no soldering instead using 6.3mm quick connect terminals! thats wat i called a very good quality work!!

MK style joystick, cool.

what abt colouring then? :D
 
G

Galford Forever

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The wood was stained and glossed, so there is some coloring. I used pine wood. Yeah, I figured the terminals would be much nicer than just direct soldering :) .

I'm not sure what angle the wood was cut at, but I used this person's site as a guide for how to cut the wood:
<a href="http://syste.ms/joystick/" target="_blank">http://syste.ms/joystick/</a>

My layout isn't exactly the same, but it's similar. Oh, and yes, I do have rubber feet underneath. They're real easy to add, just stick them on to the bottom.

I may be doing some more sticks, so if anyone's interested I may sell some on the forums. We'll see though, I don't know how much time I'll have.
 
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Caris Nautilus

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Here's my "homebrew" arcade stick :D :

When I play SNK games I map the buttons to A, X, Y, L (bottom and top reds, top green and top blue), Just like arcade.

I also didn't get the wires soldered to the buttons, their connected with CP Micros (what they use in arcade machines), so even for games like Last Blade 2 and the KOF's on Dreamcast that wanna be a bitch and not let you map to the L or R buttons, you can just open it up, switch the wires and get the layout how you want it (again another thing to silence the "dc conversion" whinners). :D

masstick.jpg


[ April 03, 2002: Message edited by: Drift King EX ]</p>
 
BIG BEAR

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Yes..I am just looking for a standard..this is why I asked about the angle.I want to get around to building one myself...about a year ago I had access to tons of wood (Construction Site).I started gathering a whole lot on a daily until It was overwhelming :-D
Anyway I tossed alot but held on to some nice cuts...
The MAS stick I had was just horrible..It was held together with a whole lot of staples,the button layout was uneven...just a mess...
-BB
 
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Caris Nautilus

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Originally posted by BIG BEAR:
<strong>Yes..I am just looking for a standard..this is why I asked about the angle.I want to get around to building one myself...about a year ago I had access to tons of wood (Construction Site).I started gathering a whole lot on a daily until It was overwhelming :-D
Anyway I tossed alot but held on to some nice cuts...
The MAS stick I had was just horrible..It was held together with a whole lot of staples,the button layout was uneven...just a mess...
-BB</strong><hr></blockquote>

Was it mass's "snk" stick or their regular arcade stick? Maybe they upped their quality standards, because I just got one a couple weeks ago (see above pic) and it's rock solid, perfect button layout, perfect angle, really pleased, ordering another when I get the cash.

They also revised their PCBs, Saturn, Dreamcast and PSX are all on the same PCB board now, they used to have Saturn and DC on 2 seperate boards, so it could get kinda messy inside if you wanted both (mine has both).

From what I've heard though, MAS systems has gone down hill in terms of quality within the last few years, so I don't know if their products are as good now.<hr></blockquote>

Can't speak for their superguns, cause I havn't owned one in 5 years (but when I did it was solid). But I just got one of their super pro sticks and their quality has definetly improved greatly. The stick is perfect.

Their customer service on the other hand, is still pretty shit :) But as long as you don't have to return anything, their stuff is awesome.

[ April 03, 2002: Message edited by: Drift King EX ]</p>
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
G

Galford Forever

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I've got one of the older MAS sticks, with 4 buttons, turbo, and slo mo. It's been a real reliable stick and has worked real well for me. From what I've heard though, MAS systems has gone down hill in terms of quality within the last few years, so I don't know if their products are as good now.
 
M

mookystains

Chairman Kaga sez, "Dakis-san's the one who's goin
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oh man, i wanna make my own joystick so bad.
But i dont know the first thing about that stuff.
What would you say to somone who doesnt know anything about wiring stuff and such?
Cuz i really wanna make one.
 
C

Caris Nautilus

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Originally posted by mookystains:
<strong>oh man, i wanna make my own joystick so bad.
But i dont know the first thing about that stuff.
What would you say to somone who doesnt know anything about wiring stuff and such?
Cuz i really wanna make one.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Well unless you have access to a woodshop, or a bunch of power tools, trying to make your own stick is gonna turn out pretty shitty.

But if you do, you'll need to spend about 26 bucks for the stick and buttons itself, then any wood and wire you need, but if you had access to a woodshop, you might even just bum some wood from there. No soldering skills is needed if your making this for a supergun or neo, cause you can use cp micro switch sonnectors for the wires.

If your making this for a console like dc or saturn, you will have to solder.

Just take 99 bucks and get a mas stick, it's a bit more but you wont have to make anything. If I had access to a nice woodshop I'd make some kickass sticks, but I don't.
Click to expand...
 
M

mookystains

Chairman Kaga sez, "Dakis-san's the one who's goin
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yea, theres a woog place around here.
Maby one of these days i will buy anoter joystick and stuff, and read up and try to make one.
And we have a bunch of tool.
But whats harder, making your own joystick from like a neo one, or converting a joystick, because i have a really cool joystick that i wanna get converted to my neo.
 
G

Galford Forever

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The project does require a minimal knowledge of circuits, but it's fun learning. Access to a woodshop with a nice saw and stuff is definitely key though. The wiring is the easy part. The wood work is the difficult part. It's a fun little project. True, for just a little more you can get what is probably a nicer stick, but it's a lot of fun making your own. And you can feel a sense of accomplishment. If you have access to the equipment I would highly recommend it.
 
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