Easy DOA Stick Mod For Those of You Wanting To Play Some SF2 on XBLA

[jsjesse]

I posted this over at SRK and I thought I would share with the rest of the forums I post on.

Just yesterday I screwed up a DOA stick by trying to strip the wires. I got frustrated and got a fresh one from Game Stop.

All I wanted was either a Sanwa or a Seimitsu stick in my DOA box.

After spending hours with a dremmel tool and plastic shavings all over me I decided to try some hybrid experimentation with this fresh new stick I bought.

I had tons of Sanwa parts laying around....octagon gates, square gates, bat tops, shaft covers....etc.

You can use any sanwa gate on the stock stick INCLUDING THE 8 WAY OCTAGON STYLE for that American Stick Feel. The Sanwa gate lines up with the microswitches and secures them tightly. If you prefer the Sanwa square gate you will quickly notice that it makes the throw alot tighter than the cheap thin white plastic gate.
Here's what you need to do it.

Screwdivers(Philips and Flathead)
1 Sanwa Gate of your choice
Drill
Nail Clippers or Wire Cutter(To Trim The Shaft Cover)
Nail File, File or Sandpaper(To Smooth the Rough Edges on the Shaft Cover)
Optional Parts Include:
Bat Top Kit(part#Sanwa LB-30N)
Sanwa Shaft Cover /Dirt Skirt Plate Kit(part#Sanwa JLF-CD)

All Sanwa parts can be ordered from either http://www.himuragames.com/store_joyacc.php or from
http://www.akihabarashop.com/products.html

Now onto the modding.

Open the DOA stick and start removing the plate mounting screws.

If you haven't done so already go ahead and seat the gate on top of the black microswitches so you can see what holes to drill(incase you haven't figured it out already). The gate should then look like this

Seat the gate back onto the microswitches and fasten it down with the screws you took out of the white gate

It should look almost identical to the Sanwa setup. Side by side with another Sanwa modded stick I couldn't really tell a difference and my gameplay was identical on both sticks.

Here is the same mod with a Sanwa Square Gate

Optional Modding(USA Bat Top w/Shaft and Dirt Skirt Plate)
You can see here that the shaft cover is too long

Trim it down and smooth it out so that it fits EXACTLY like this. If you trim it just to where the threads end the bat top will end up pressing down on the spring inside the stick itself and makes it feel sluggish.

Next take your Bat Top Kit

and tighten it down nice n snug

You are now ready to rock! Now wasn't that better than rewiring and hacking your stick to pieces? This mod performs just like a premium modded stick for a fraction of the cost. No "hacking" necessary

Enjoy!

Look me up on XBLA. My Gamertag is Jumpsuit Hope this mod helps!

 

[J0e Musashi]

Can you use Seimtsu square gates instead of Sanwas?

 

[jsjesse]

Nope, I tried. The seimitsu gates are smaller. I couldn't get it to work but maybe someone else can. The holes on the Seimitsu gate don't line up with the screwholes in the microswitches.

 

[Murray]

Wow, that's pretty cool. I'll have to pick up a couple of Sanwa gates just to see how much it helps.

 

[galfordo]

Nice - I might give this a try.

 

[jsjesse]

Well like I said, the gate that comes stock in the DOA stick is slightly larger than a square Sanwa gate. The square Sanwa gate tightens up your motions a bit. This helps with doing dragon punches, charge moves and parries(if we ever see SF3 come to XBLA ).

The octagon gate or even a rounded gate is where it makes a huge difference(to me atleast). Back in the day all we played on were Happ sticks and this is the closest I could come to putting a happ stick in my DOA box.

Now I don't know about you guys but I don't like a very long throw on my arcade sticks. This is how the DOA box looks with a real Sanwa mounted inside...notice how much longer the stick is.

The DOA stick length is roughly the same as a Seimitsu so you sorta get a hyrbid stick with this mod. Sanwa feel with Seimitsu throw. See the difference?

Let me know if you guys have anymore questions

As you can see I am doing everything I can to help more people get on XBLA for some SF2 HF!

 

[zapatistab]

Well like I said, the gate that comes stock in the DOA stick is slightly larger than a square Sanwa gate. The square Sanwa gate tightens up your motions a bit. This helps with doing dragon punches, charge moves and parries(if we ever see SF3 come to XBLA ).

The octagon gate or even a rounded gate is where it makes a huge difference(to me atleast). Back in the day all we played on were Happ sticks and this is the closest I could come to putting a happ stick in my DOA box.

Now I don't know about you guys but I don't like a very long throw on my arcade sticks. This is how the DOA box looks with a real Sanwa mounted inside...notice how much longer the stick is.

The DOA stick length is roughly the same as a Seimitsu so you sorta get a hyrbid stick with this mod. Sanwa feel with Seimitsu throw. See the difference?

Let me know if you guys have anymore questions

As you can see I am doing everything I can to help more people get on XBLA for some SF2 HF!

The DOA joystick shaft is the same width as the Sanwa Joystick shaft. All you have to do is swap them.

 

["Macho Man" Butta Supremo]

Nice. I think I might have to try this out, even though I'm probably gonna have a custom stick for 360 built soon.

 

[jsjesse]

The DOA joystick shaft is the same width as the Sanwa Joystick shaft. All you have to do is swap them.

Width is the same but the lengths are different. Longer stick = longer throw

 

[werejag]

The DOA joystick shaft is the same width as the Sanwa Joystick shaft. All you have to do is swap them.

your link is dead

 

[zapatistab]

your link is dead

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ben_krismonte@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=6229&.dnm=3e01scd.jpg&.src=ph

 

[Murray]

Does anyone know where I could find a square Sanwa gate? I know where to get the octagonal gates but I'm really interested in finding a square one.

 

[gamejunkie]

Does anyone know where I could find a square Sanwa gate? I know where to get the octagonal gates but I'm really interested in finding a square one.

If you're looking to do this to a DOA stick, I would just dremel the square out a little larger.

 

[zapatistab]

Does anyone know where I could find a square Sanwa gate? I know where to get the octagonal gates but I'm really interested in finding a square one.

I have extra Sanwa Square gates. Shoot me a P.M and I will give you one. Just PayPal me the shipping.

 

[Murray]

I have extra Sanwa Square gates. Shoot me a P.M and I will give you one. Just PayPal me the shipping.

Thanks ... PM sent!

 

[MAYAman]

Is there anyone that performs this mod for a fee?

 

[Murray]

I just put a square gate in mine (thanks Zapatistab!) and noticed a definite improvement. It's subtle but just ... ehm, sharper feeling. It's hard to describe.

I guess the Sanwa plastic is harder than the original stuff so the whole feel of the stick in general just feels better.

 

[zapatistab]

Is there anyone that performs this mod for a fee?

I can install a Sanwa Stick for you, but I won't mess with the buttons. Send me a P.M and I can give you a price. Try and let me know ASAP, because I am in the process of ordeirng a Sanwa stick for another project. I can add one more stick to the order.

 

[Jedah Doma]

Now that the VF5 360 stick is down to $40, I found this thread quite helpful for a hassle free mod. I ordered the plate a few minutes ago and I think this should make a huge difference in how the stick plays.

 

[Hewitson]

I'll never understand how you Americans play with those "bat tops". They are horrible. Absolutely horrible.

 

[DJ Long Cat]

I'll never understand how you Americans play with those "bat tops". They are horrible. Absolutely horrible.

I could SCHOOL you anyday with our good ol' BAT TOPS!

 

[Jedah Doma]

Ball tops FTW. They've just played better for me.

 

[abasuto]

Nice.

Me and my g/f modded an old GC pelican arcade stick I've had laying around (the big wooden one) to work through USB. Used a cheap-o walmart PC controller as the donor.

To give credit, she actually did 99% of the work (all the soldering ) and figured 99% of it out though. I just sat around swearing it wouldn't work and then said "I knew it would work" when it did at the end.

 

[Hewitson]

Me and my g/f modded an old GC pelican arcade stick I've had laying around (the big wooden one) to work through USB. Used a cheap-o walmart PC controller as the donor.

To give credit, she actually did 99% of the work (all the soldering ) and figured 99% of it out though. I just sat around swearing it wouldn't work and then said "I knew it would work" when it did at the end.

Girlfriend that solders, thats cool. I wish I knew girls who did things like that!

 

[clithy]

Funny that this thread pops up just as I'm working on a write-up to mod the Hori Wii Stick (which is identical to this one) with all Sanwa parts. I'll be posting it in Next Gen when it is done with pictures for anyone that wants to do it it will work for all non-HRAP Hori sticks.

If anyone is looking to do this simpler mod though I have two spare Sanwa square gates.