Rllmuk Arcade Stick Thread

[Stoikovich]

My TE is acting very odd. After a short MVC3 session with a friend, literally a few seconds after the last fight but before we turned the 360 off, the stick stopped working.

360 Guide button works. All the buttons work, it's the lever bit that's kaput. The Down direction works, and if I spin the stick around a bunch, left will sometimes trigger, but that's it

I've taken the cover off to look inside, and can't see anything obviously wrong. This is the limit of my expertise

The odd thing is I've taken off the 5-pin plug that attaches to the pins coming out of the sanwa stick to blow on it (sometimes that works, right?!). I replaced it upside down - and all the directions worked - but useless for playing games - down moves up, right moves left etc. Switching the plug back returns to the original problem, with only down being registered.

Dear rllmuk, any ideas what's up? Or what I can do/where I can go? It seems there's some dodgy contact somewhere, certainly nothing serious enough to warrant buying a whole new TE

[Stoikovich]

That's a really nice offer, I was thinking of changing to a Semitsu anyway so I might try that route... If I change my mind I will send you a PM! Thanks a lot

It has occurred to me that my Grandad used to do electronics and still has a lot of his old gear, so I'll pop round and test the connections - it's got to be a break in a connection or wire somewhere.

[routeburn]

That's a really nice offer, I was thinking of changing to a Semitsu anyway so I might try that route... If I change my mind I will send you a PM! Thanks a lot

It has occurred to me that my Grandad used to do electronics and still has a lot of his old gear, so I'll pop round and test the connections - it's got to be a break in a connection or wire somewhere.

Stuff I found I really needed when doing stick mods:

- half-decent pair of wire cutters (the tool that looks like big flat pliers with lots of different size holes along the cutting edge)

- a small, low wattage, soldering iron

- a decently sharp stanley knife

- a small set of electronics screwdrivers

- a bundle of small gauge wire of various lengths just to do patches etc.

- a few wire joiner blocks (plastic blocks that you can leave as one or cut up with "in and out" holes through them to a central metal plate held down with a small screw)

- a small, electronics-size workbench tool - a magnifying glass and pairs of fixed crocodile clips all fixed to a small but heavy base. So you can work with your hands and not have to hold wire/components while you solder or otherwise fix it together

- a Dremel tool if you need to do plastic (or metal!) cutting/shaping/polishing/sanding

Most of it is really cheap, but I went to town in buying myself a Dremel... which are an awesome tool and a real "man toy".

You could also test the connections by getting a small battery and a small light bulb and some bits of wire. Just hook it all up and if the bulb lights, you've got a circuit Obviously you need to make sure the battery will power the small light bulb on its own and you could re-engineer this to use a lemon or something if you're in to Science Class

[sith]

I need a TE stick for the 360.

Anyone selling for a reasonable price?

[joffocakes]

My SE has a worn USB cable at the stick end; the coating has broken off a little exposing the cyber-tech underneath. No doubt because of me wrapping the wire around the stick. If this gets damaged to the point where the stick is not able to transmit its data-bits to the microsoft xbox, how would I best go about repairing it?

I'm going to cover it in tape.

[routeburn]

My SE has a worn USB cable at the stick end; the coating has broken off a little exposing the cyber-tech underneath. No doubt because of me wrapping the wire around the stick. If this gets damaged to the point where the stick is not able to transmit its data-bits to the microsoft xbox, how would I best go about repairing it?

I'm going to cover it in tape.

Yeah, I'd put some electrical tape around it. It should be fine.

If you do need to replace the USB cable, I'd assume that the end that goes inside the stick itself just goes through some sort of clamp (easily unscrewed) and is then soldered on to a simple USB interface board. This is just a few wires which can be easily unsoldered. You could then replace the entire cable with a new one and re-solder the end, re-clamp it, and you're away. You may need to buy something like a new rubber bung if it has one to make a seal as it comes out of the case, but these are 10p from Maplins (or wherever).

If you've got a mate who's hand with a soldering iron, it shouldn't take much time at all. But I wouldn't worry about it, I don't think your cable's about to give up just yet.

[joffocakes]

What an excellent and propmt answer that was sir. Thanks!

[Barny]

Barny,

I have a mint EX-SE albeit unboxed I would part with.

PM Me.

Thanks. PM sent and replied.

I took my old Dreamcast Arcade stick, ripped out all the internals and buttons, put in a PS3/PC Cthulhu board and a set of Sanwa buttons and stick which I ordered from Lizard Lick Amusements (top service btw). I also gave the whole thing a smoothing, filling, sanding, and new coat of black paint.

I've been using it for over a year, mainly for Street Fighter on PC and other console fighters, but have used it for shooters as well. Provided you get a good set of buttons and stick, it'll be much better than anything stock (provided that isn't already Sanwa or something). Just choose the style, colours and feel of the components you personally want to use and don't worry too much about what might be "right" or "wrong" for certain applications. If you're customising a stick, you'll probably be using it for quite a while and it's a very personal thing. To do it properly can take many many many hours, so there's a good time investment and personal touch to the whole thing. If you use it enough, you really just get to know your own stick anyway, so it rarely matters unless you're at an uber-professional level, what small component choices you make.

Wow. That's impressive. But I think it might be a little too ambitious for me. But thanks for the tips.

[joffocakes]

Just ordered one of those Tatsunoko sticks for the Wii from Zavvi for £18 just in case there's ever a fighting game on the Wii U I really want.

I've just done a bit of googling to see if there are articles on dual modding it, so I can use it on PS3/Xbox/PC as well, but most sites are blocked. Anyone got any experience of dual modding?

[A nice cup of tea]

One of my mates who recently got into third strike built his first stick.

Stick Pic

Didn't have any wood at the time so tupperware reinforced with paper mache will have to do.

[Choo]

Just ordered one of those Tatsunoko sticks for the Wii from Zavvi for £18 just in case there's ever a fighting game on the Wii U I really want.

I've just done a bit of googling to see if there are articles on dual modding it, so I can use it on PS3/Xbox/PC as well, but most sites are blocked. Anyone got any experience of dual modding?

You are like a better researched version of me! I just did the same + £4. Do you have TvC? Is the netcode worth us mashing at a few games?

[jiroczech]

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is like 8 quid at shopto at the moment, if you've not got it already.

[Choo]

Ah at least did 40p better there from amazon . (If you know somewhere else cheaper then keep quiet yeah? (Actually for the benefit of the forum you should probably let us know ))

[routeburn]

Just ordered one of those Tatsunoko sticks for the Wii from Zavvi for £18 just in case there's ever a fighting game on the Wii U I really want.

I've just done a bit of googling to see if there are articles on dual modding it, so I can use it on PS3/Xbox/PC as well, but most sites are blocked. Anyone got any experience of dual modding?

Yeah, it sort of depends on the stick you're working with.

Basically, when you've got a stick, you've got a box, some input components (stick/buttons), and a PCB which adds the "smarts" to translate movement/presses in to the right electrical signals to spit down the wire that will be understood by its target console/PC/whatever.

So, what you can often do is keep all the current stuff in the box and add another PCB which will translate those presses/movements in to other formats of electrical signal to go down the wire.

This can be a bit like performing open heart surgery because what you need to do is hack apart the connections from the stick/buttons that go to the PCB and put them in to a big joining block arrangement. You then connect the other side of the joining block arrangement to both PCBs via a switch to select which one to use. You need to be able to flick the switch from the outside of the box. Both PCBs then need to be connected up to the wires going to the console.

Provided it's planned properly and is carried out in a calm, methodical, manner, it's not a hard job, just a potential spaghetti mess of wires.

What could possibly go wrong?

[joffocakes]

I assume that because of the popularity of those mad catz stick that a sort of custom designed PCB for this kind of dual modding will be available? My main reason for buying the Tatsunoko stick is to mess around with its innards, rather than practical purpose, so I'm quite looking forward to it arriving.

It would be nice if it did keep working though.

[routeburn]

I assume that because of the popularity of those mad catz stick that a sort of custom designed PCB for this kind of dual modding will be available? My main reason for buying the Tatsunoko stick is to mess around with its innards, rather than practical purpose, so I'm quite looking forward to it arriving.

For PCB's there are basically two choices. You either hack apart an existing controller for the console you want to use, or you purchase a custom PCB.

The most widely used PCB is the Cthulhu. The basic model works with both PS3 and PC. There are some variants available as well. Some are there to make life easier (e.g. make it easy to splice in a controller PCB) e.g http://www.lizardlick.com/Toodles-ChimpSMD_p_584.html. Others are multi-platform (e.g. http://www.lizardlick.com/Toodles-Cthulhu-for-Multi-Console_p_542.html).

Getting a controller PCB in to a stick is a case of hacking apart an existing controller, removing the PCB, looking up precisely which model of PCB it is on the Internet and getting a diagram of the important contact points. You then need to solder wires on to the various contact points on the PCB in order to manually pass a current to the part of the board for a given function (e.g. A on a 360 controller).

I've done both ways, and can say that using a Cthulhu was by FAR the easiest way of getting PlayStation and PC compatibility. I never did a 360 controller, and bought a cool little dongle to get a PlayStation-compatible stick to function with 360. The dongle plugs in to the USB port, you plug a wired 360 controller in to one side, and a PlayStation-format controller in to the other. It then "just works".

[robdood]

I've recently just got my old hori ex 2 back off a mate, my goodness the buttons feel gash. If I just buy some new bits, is it fairly straightforward to replace them? Will I need to do any soldering? And how about the stick itself, worth replacing the standard or not? It feels ok tbh.

[routeburn]

I've recently just got my old hori ex 2 back off a mate, my goodness the buttons feel gash. If I just buy some new bits, is it fairly straightforward to replace them? Will I need to do any soldering? And how about the stick itself, worth replacing the standard or not? It feels ok tbh.

The only time that replacing buttons and sticks can become a pain in the ass (or a decent project, depending how you view it) is if/when the hole sizes and mounting formats are different.

Other than that you can generally just plug new buttons on to the connectors left by the old ones. Replacing a stick requires a bit more though/research, but again the connectors are normally the same in to the wiring loom and none of this is usually a soldering operation. All the bits are just plug and play.

This is precisely why I needed to buy a Dremel to get my Dreamcast stick modded with Sanwa parts. All the button holes needed widening (that's the plastic case and the metal sheet for the top), and the stick mount was different so I needed to carefully cut out some plastic to get the Sanwa part to fit properly.

Especially for most modern sticks (e.g. your Hori), just doing a Web Search for the stick type an "sanwa mod" (or whatever) will link you to people who have done it. Some people have been really helpful and well documented along with diagrams what they needed to do. If I hadn't had this sort of help when doing my Dreamcast stick, it would have been impossible for me.

[Pistol]

There are even better "dongles" for the 360 now that don't require a wired 360 controller to be plugged in. I've got one that allows Playstation controllers to be plugged in, and also has a mic port on it! It's this one.

Worth noting that for dual modding (having more than one PCB in the stick), you don't need to have a switch to select between the two modes - as long as you follow the "golden rules" of dual modding.

* Both pcbs must be common ground (google should tell you whether your pcbs are common ground or not)

* Both pcbs must have their grounds connected to each other

* Both pcbs must have their voltage sources connected to each other

What then happens, is that when you plug the stick into one console, both pcbs are actually powered and taking inputs from the stick and buttons. It's just that the signals the pcb sends down the cord obviously only reach the console it's plugged into. Very bad things would happen if you were to plug the stick into both consoles at once, so don't do that - the simplest solution is to zip-tie the cables together so it's not possible to connect to more than one system at once. Alternatively, you can make the cables detachable, using a connector with enough pins for both cables, with each one routed to its own pcb.

I did eventually finish wiring up my two DC arcade sticks. I haven't posted details because they're not actually finished yet - still got a couple of buttons to wire up and some hot glue to spread around to keep everything nice and secure, but I might as well give you a rundown 'cos it might help a brother out.

I started with two DC sticks - one stock, and one that I had bought pre-modded with a PS1 dual shock PCB in place of the original one. The soldering to the contact points on the PS PCB was NINJA and terrified the life out of me

I got an MC Cthulhu PCB, and snipped the wires to the PS1 PCB. Then soldered some extension wires on to the buttons and screwed them into the terminals on the Cthulhu. That part was easy peasy! Making removable system cables using an RJ45 ethernet jack was a bit more tricky, but the modded stick is now truly awesome. I have cables for DC, GC/Wii, Xbox 1, PC/PS3, and Playstation. With the PS cord and my converter, I can use this stick on the 360 too.

For the stock stick, I took the pre-modded PS1 PCB, and added a few more wires to it for the select, analogue select, L2 and R2 buttons. I don't mind admitting that this process scared the crap out of me, and the end results were pretty ugly. I was really lucky to have a pre-modded PCB with all the main signal points already done, I only wanted to add some of the extra buttons for convenience's sake and they were easy ones to do (which still gave me a lot of trouble!) and if I'd messed them up it wouldn't have ruined anything, just made those extra buttons not available, which they weren't to begin with anyway. I then dual-modded the stock stick by using scothchlok-type wire splicing devices to tap into the existing wiring in the stock stick - meant I didn't have to solder anything to the DC PCB This stick now works on DC and, via Playstation-to-everything-else converters, the GC/Wii, Xbox 1, PC and 360.

Whether you can pull off a dual mod would depend in large part on:

1. How easy your donor PCBs are to work with (how small are the contact points you have to solder to), and

2. How good you are at soldering!

I honestly couldn't even have begun to attempt it without having a pre-modded PCB available and using the wire splices, but then I'm a bit crap at soldering (to say the least!)

[kittsy]

I've recently just got my old hori ex 2 back off a mate, my goodness the buttons feel gash. If I just buy some new bits, is it fairly straightforward to replace them? Will I need to do any soldering? And how about the stick itself, worth replacing the standard or not? It feels ok tbh.

It's a bit tricky on that controller because the buttons are soldered directly through the pcb, so removing them is a delicate operation. The top plate is metal, which takes a while to grind away if you don't have the right tools.

Replacing the stick is actually quite easy but you need to cut a hole in the metal plate on the bottom to allow it to move freely.

Worth doing, if you can be bothered. It's a really nice compact case.

[robdood]

Cheers tyagi, first google result for 'hori ex 2 sanwa mod' worked a charm! Complete with pics and everything

now I need a soldering iron and a dremel.. And some artwork! The parts are so cheap, hilarious considering how expensive sticks are to buy.

[routeburn]

Cheers tyagi, first google result for 'hori ex 2 sanwa mod' worked a charm! Complete with pics and everything

now I need a soldering iron and a dremel.. And some artwork! The parts are so cheap, hilarious considering how expensive sticks are to buy.

Great stuff. Wait until you see the cost of a Dremel though ;-) Definitely worth borrowing one if you're only going to do a small bit of work. Furthermore, if it's just a bit of plastic work you may be able to manage it with a nice small set of rounded and flat files from B&Q which will work out MUCH cheaper.

Saying that, Dremels are f*ing awesome toys.

[routeburn]

There are even better "dongles" for the 360 now that don't require a wired 360 controller to be plugged in. I've got one that allows Playstation controllers to be plugged in, and also has a mic port on it! It's this one.

Worth noting that for dual modding (having more than one PCB in the stick), you don't need to have a switch to select between the two modes - as long as you follow the "golden rules" of dual modding.

[lots of good stuff]

Ah cool, I wasn't aware of the new adapters. I picked up my one off recommendations over at the SRK forum stick modding section as having very little lag etc. I'll check out the new ones.

I was aware of a switch-less dual/triple mod, but I guess it's just the computer nerd in me that likes things clean with a switch etc.

About that soldering for the PS1 PCB... tell me about it. I went through about 3 PS1 PCBs trying to find the easiest one to mod, as all the layouts are different and there's a specific model which is a doddle (comparatively) to solder. Some of them are absolute b*tches. When it came to the soldering on the PCB it was a bit fiddly, but provided you've got a small, low-wattage iron, it wasn't actually as hard as it may look, and I'm absolutely not an electronics or crafting sort of person.

[ah]

Can you get adapter dongle things to go in the opposite direction, to use a 360 controller on a PS3?

[Dandy_Sephy]

For PCB's there are basically two choices. You either hack apart an existing controller for the console you want to use, or you purchase a custom PCB.

The most widely used PCB is the Cthulhu. The basic model works with both PS3 and PC. There are some variants available as well. Some are there to make life easier (e.g. make it easy to splice in a controller PCB) e.g http://www.lizardlick.com/Toodles-ChimpSMD_p_584.html. Others are multi-platform (e.g. http://www.lizardlick.com/Toodles-Cthulhu-for-Multi-Console_p_542.html).

Getting a controller PCB in to a stick is a case of hacking apart an existing controller, removing the PCB, looking up precisely which model of PCB it is on the Internet and getting a diagram of the important contact points. You then need to solder wires on to the various contact points on the PCB in order to manually pass a current to the part of the board for a given function (e.g. A on a 360 controller).

I've done both ways, and can say that using a Cthulhu was by FAR the easiest way of getting PlayStation and PC compatibility. I never did a 360 controller, and bought a cool little dongle to get a PlayStation-compatible stick to function with 360. The dongle plugs in to the USB port, you plug a wired 360 controller in to one side, and a PlayStation-format controller in to the other. It then "just works".

or you can get one of Akibashops PS360's, which as I understand it is essentially a Cthulhu type device that adds 360 support.

[joffocakes]

I've been looking at this converter and wanted to ask a few questions in regard to using this with my Tatsunoko stick, if anyone can answer:

From what I've seen of this, it will give my stick PC and Mac compatibility. If it works as a USB PC controller, does that mean it will also work on PS3?

Do these converters result in an significant lag? I remember having one that let me use a PS2 controller on the original xbox, and there was a pretty significant delay.

If I were to try to mod in a 360 compatible PCB, would it need to use a different USB cable altogether, or could it still go down that Wii>USB Converter route? What is it the Xbox actually needs to recognise a USB controller as Xbox compatible?

Also, for the Sanwa buttons, it's OBSF-30's I'll be needing, yes?

Anyone got any preferences when it comes to art-swapping prints? Can I just glue down laminated card?

[routeburn]

I've been looking at this converter and wanted to ask a few questions in regard to using this with my Tatsunoko stick, if anyone can answer:

From what I've seen of this, it will give my stick PC and Mac compatibility. If it works as a USB PC controller, does that mean it will also work on PS3?

Do these converters result in an significant lag? I remember having one that let me use a PS2 controller on the original xbox, and there was a pretty significant delay.

If I were to try to mod in a 360 compatible PCB, would it need to use a different USB cable altogether, or could it still go down that Wii>USB Converter route? What is it the Xbox actually needs to recognise a USB controller as Xbox compatible?

Also, for the Sanwa buttons, it's OBSF-30's I'll be needing, yes?

Anyone got any preferences when it comes to art-swapping prints? Can I just glue down laminated card?

Generally if you get USB compatibility with PC, it'll work with PS3. Unless anyone else knows different?

As for converters, yes, some do add lag. The place to read where these things have been examined and discussed in detail is the Shoryuken Tech forum, which is where I picked up pretty much everything I needed to do my Dreamcast stick mod. http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?forums/tech-talk.6/

[joffocakes]

Excellent. Thank you yet again sir.

I'm trawling through their tech forum now looking for art advice. Got a template for the SE from capcom-unity. I'm thinking of a nice black and white Grim Fandango stick for my Wii one.

[routeburn]

Excellent. Thank you yet again sir.

I'm trawling through their tech forum now looking for art advice. Got a template for the SE from capcom-unity. I'm thinking of a nice black and white Grim Fandango stick for my Wii one.

Sounds awesome. What I did, which I regret doing, is getting a good quality colour laser print out of an image and then laminating it myself around the existing metal top plate and screwing it down.

The BAD thing I've found with laminated prints is that they get sweaty quite easily and a bit hot/sticky due to the type of plastic. I wish I'd taken the time, and I may still do this in the future, to get a piece of hard clear plastic made in the same shape as the metal top plate. I would then be able to put the print (or any print) under it and screw it down. A clear hard plastic cover would be much better IMO.

[joffocakes]

I remember kloid mentioning in this thread saying somewhere in Nottingham printed for him in adhesive vinyl. I don't know if that's maybe a decent solution?