I built a joystick today what did you do? - Modding Thread

[shmuppyLove]

Swapped the region ROM on my Stider 2 Hiryu:

http://hyperlame.com/index.php?page=strider-2-hiryu

[RGB32E]

Swapped the region ROM on my Stider 2 Hiryu:

http://hyperlame.com/index.php?page=strider-2-hiryu

It was just one ROM chip that needed to be swapped? Where's mine?!

[shmuppyLove]

Swapped the region ROM on my Stider 2 Hiryu:

http://hyperlame.com/index.php?page=strider-2-hiryu

It was just one ROM chip that needed to be swapped? Where's mine?!

Forum member "hd" can help you out, I'm sure.

[BeruBeru]

reminds me of what I did about a year ago

[shmuppyLove]

Overcame my crippling and irrational fear of Photoshop and managed to bang up a pretty damn good Naomi control panel overlay for the Mad Catz SE/TVC/BrawlStick:



Not sure if I want the SEGA logo centered where it is, centred over the the first 6 buttons, centred under the turbo panel, or not on it at all. I'm leaning towards not on it at all, I guess I need some opinions?

[shmuppyLove]

Bump - need opinions

[mrsmiley381]

Bump - need opinions

It's certainly not bad. They biggest problem you'll have is actually cutting it to size and getting it on. What color buttons are you planning to use?

[opt2not]

Built a quick 1942 Jamma adapter yesterday while at home sick.

[Matskat]

I was bored, had some spare parts and found a perfect-sized cardboard box at work, so now I present:


Done! Well, not really, but haven't decided what system/PCB I'm using yet

CardBored Fighter Brawl Wrestle Stick Pro Weasels

Shmuppy...

If you decide you'd like a REAL stick...just holler.


I MAKES 'EM!

[shmuppyLove]

Bump - need opinions

It's certainly not bad. They biggest problem you'll have is actually cutting it to size and getting it on. What color buttons are you planning to use?

That's the template for the Mad Catz stick I'm using - I've already reworked the Naomi panel to fit that template.

I've got both a green and a white balltop for the joystick, I'm thinking of going all green since that's pretty common for the P1 side, but all white would look pretty pimp too. I have 4 white OBSF-30s already, so would just need two more (only doing 6 buttons), if I went green I'd have to order 6 green ones.

[shmuppyLove]

I was bored, had some spare parts and found a perfect-sized cardboard box at work, so now I present:


Done! Well, not really, but haven't decided what system/PCB I'm using yet

CardBored Fighter Brawl Wrestle Stick Pro Weasels

Shmuppy...

If you decide you'd like a REAL stick...just holler.


I MAKES 'EM!

Nah it's more fun to make my own!

At the moment I'm working on three sticks:

1. Mad Catz BrawlStick - got the case cheap with no PCB or parts, have already removed the original horribad artwork and will be putting new artwork, the joystick from a TVC stick (which is the same as comes with the BrawlStick) and OBSF-30 buttons and a DC padhack
2. TinyStick - traded for it from brendz, will have new artwork, plexi top and bottom, a combo PS/PC PCB pulled from a shitty old joystick, LS-33 and PS-14-GN buttons.
3. Hori T6 - Got this stick "for parts" off eBay, right now has the above-mentioned PS/PC PCB with original Hori joystick and buttons (two of which don't work). Will be re-purposed for my supergun, which only needs 4 buttons anyway, but not wanting to do a whole lot more work on this one, as it's too small to fit a proper joystick, and the button holes have tabs on them for the Hori buttons so would need a lot of modifying.

btw a lot of the pic links on your site are broken

[shmuppyLove]

Woo I can knock #3 off that list --

So pulled the PCB I was using in the Hori T6, and replaced with the terminal strip and PS2 controller cable I wired up for my supergun. Works a damn sight better than the cardboard box joystick I had before!

Now for the TinyStick, I need to finish designing the artwork and get some acrylic panels, and I need some wire, a terminal strip or two, and some quick connectors.

BrawlStick I'm pretty sure now will have the Naomi artwork with white balltop and buttons. I think it will match really nicely with the white SEGA logo, and it means I only have to buy 2 new buttons instead of 6. That Dreamcast pad can't come soon enough!

[Matskat]

AH SHIT!

I reorganized my photobucket and broke links to my best stuff. Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Thanks for noticing

DERP.

[shmuppyLove]

The Mad Catz Dreampad arrived today from eBay. Seriously seriously gross. I would have taken pics, but some of you may be eating. There were dead bugs inside . . . I'll leave it at that.

Anyhow, doesn't matter because all I am interested in is the PCB inside:



Pulled it out, removed the crap I don't need (analog stick and the two analog triggers), and trimmed the PCB a bit.

Seems I lucked out, this is one of the models that has the nice easy holes in the PCB for each button/pad signal. Next step is to get it wired up to the terminal strip in the BrawlStick. Will be doing that tomorrow or Saturday.

[shmuppyLove]

PCB all soldered up -- reused the terminal strip for the 6 buttons (A B C X Y Z) and Start and the JLF-H harness.



Man these PCBs are dead easy to solder to. There's a through-hole with bare copper for every connection. I would have soldered to the other side where everything is labelled, but this is the orientation it's going in the stick, so it seemed more appropriate.

Now I need some wiring and quick connectors to get the buttons hooked up, 2 more white OBSF-30 buttons along with some button plugs, and of course the artwork, and this baby will be done!

[emphatic]

Nice work!

[shmuppyLove]

Nice work!

Thanks! I pretty jazzed about getting this stick completed. I haven't had much chance to play the Dreamcast lately, especially since I didn't have a joystick for it.

It's going to be a bit of a challenge to fit the PCB with a VMU plugged into it inside the body of the BrawlStick, but there is some plastic that can be cut away that held the old components.

[mrsmiley381]

Nice work!

Thanks! I pretty jazzed about getting this stick completed. I haven't had much chance to play the Dreamcast lately, especially since I didn't have a joystick for it.

It's going to be a bit of a challenge to fit the PCB with a VMU plugged into it inside the body of the BrawlStick, but there is some plastic that can be cut away that held the old components.

Dude, you should totally have the VMU stick in where the turbo panel used to be. Mount it right and it won't even stick out very far. You just might have to run some crazy wiring.

[shmuppyLove]

Dude, you should totally have the VMU stick in where the turbo panel used to be. Mount it right and it won't even stick out very far. You just might have to run some crazy wiring.

I'm gonna think about this, I like that idea very much. I'll have to see how it would mount, and I don't think the wiring would be too bad, actually. There are only 14 wires, it wouldn't be too big a job to cut the sockets off the PCB and run the wiring.

[mrsmiley381]

Now if only we could make external VMU slots on extension cords. It would really help my MC-Cthulhu setup.

I mean, I could mod my Agetec, but everyone's been doing that. I'd feel bad about obliterating more original Dreamcast stuff.

I should also point out that Total Control Plus converters have been drying up as of late. Curse on-controller bonus functionality screwing with my custom super-stick designs.

[shmuppyLove]

fffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Got everything wired up, and it's not working.

I suspect the PCB is bad. All my wiring seems to check out, no shorts or anything; the cable seems to be good, at least for the grounds.

It would have helped if I tested the PCB before I did all the wiring. Serves me right for cheaping out and buying one "as is", and also for not being thorough.

Oh well, it's not like these Mad Catz Dream Pads are rare or expensive, I'll grab a new one off eBay and go from there.

[emphatic]

That sucks, man. At least you can break this one's VMU slot loose and just solder wires to the new PCB with that VMU intact in case it doesn't work? I'd love to see the VMU in the turbo slot!

[shmuppyLove]

The VMU thing is going to be trickier than I thought, because the turbo panel is one whole piece. I was hoping it would be two pieces.

So with the panel removed there's a very large hole -- much larger than the VMU connector. So I'll need to use something to fill the gap and mount the VMU connector to that.

One upside is there are 3 wiring harnesses that went from the turbo panel to the original stick PCB, two are 8 pins and the third is 6 pins, so I can use one 8-pin and one 6-pin to get the 14 pins I need for the VMU. It will make the wiring slightly easier, though it's still going to be a challenge soldering to the 14 points on the PCB, as they aren't labelled.

[shmuppyLove]

Alright, scored two 8 x 10" clear acrylic sheets for TinyStick.

Where do people get their custom joystick graphics printed? I was just at Staples, and the guy said they didn't really have anything.

I think Fedex Office needs to be my next stop. I know all the SRK folks get the "LamiLabel" stuff from them, I'm not sure if it's available in Canada?

[Matskat]

Alright, scored two 8 x 10" clear acrylic sheets for TinyStick.

Where do people get their custom joystick graphics printed? I was just at Staples, and the guy said they didn't really have anything.

I think Fedex Office needs to be my next stop. I know all the SRK folks get the "LamiLabel" stuff from them, I'm not sure if it's available in Canada?

KINKOS!

[undamned]

fffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Got everything wired up, and it's not working.

I suspect the PCB is bad. All my wiring seems to check out, no shorts or anything; the cable seems to be good, at least for the grounds.

It would have helped if I tested the PCB before I did all the wiring.

Lessons learned! I've had to put that notch in my belt as well. Always establish a baseline for functionality before you go hacking. Otherwise you could be troubleshooting multiple people's handiwork.
-ud

[shmuppyLove]

Alright, scored another Dream Pad via eBay (< $15 shipped lolol)

Too bad I don't build custom sticks for people, I saw whole lots of these controllers, like 10 pcs, for < $100 shipped.

Why are there still so many BNIB Dreamcast controllers, 1st and 3rd party around? Seems odd?

[burgerkingdiamond]

I don't know if they have Cash Converters up in the North country but you should check. The one by my house has dirt cheap controllers for everything from NES through Dreamcast.

[shmuppyLove]

I don't know if they have Cash Converters up in the North country but you should check. The one by my house has dirt cheap controllers for everything from NES through Dreamcast.

I happened to be near an EB Games yesterday, but that store didn't have a section with used accessories for some reason. I've been to others that had a whole rack with decent used bits for older consoles. Stands for PS2, extensions and controllers for PlayStation, Gamecube and Dreamcast, etc.

We do have Cash Converters here, but they're all kind of in the boonies. I'll make a note of where they are though in case I happen to be near one.

[mrsmiley381]

Why are there still so many BNIB Dreamcast controllers, 1st and 3rd party around? Seems odd?

The greatest console ever had some trouble selling itself and its accessories. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some slight overproduction of parts just before Sega canned it.

I think I'm going to postpone my Cthulhu mod a little bit and do a full Sanwa mod for an Agetec stick. I want Kowal's replacement actuators to come soon so I can test those out, too.