Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Discuss VO-related projects (Twin Sticks, etc.)
Testament/Seven7
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

So, I noticed something odd in Marz and Omg...

the left dash button dosen't work?

I find this odd, as it works fine according to the ps2-usb adaptor ( I may need to check again), and it's not a problem, for OMG or Marz....

For Ot on the other hand...that becomes a big problem...

I've been taking a small break, but i'll investigate this...it might lead to trouble later on...
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Henshin01
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Henshin01 »

I was just wondering,

Testament/Seven7 where did you get the joysticks that you used for this project?
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

Henshin01 wrote:I was just wondering,

Testament/Seven7 where did you get the joysticks that you used for this project?

Ah, thats actually a good question.

The joystick grip assemblies are actually from a mis-matched set of analog flight sticks, got them from a thrift store for a couple bucks apeice. I cut off the ball-bottoms, and what was left was a hollow plastic shaft that the grip mounted to, al well as what the wires ran through.

So for each one, I did some slight modification to a carrage bolt, so that it fit inside these shafts and locked itself in at the base, then added nuts and electrical tape till the mounted hight was comfy for me.

This makes routing the wires abit tricky, but I managed just fine.

The bases are I beleave from standard 8-way joysticks as produced by HAPP. These where given to me, so I dunno how much they cost actually...

It's not arcade perfect to....anything really, it's gonna take a lot of getting used to. I may try and find stiffer springs, not sure yet. I do think I could use abit more centering force.

Anywho, there you go ^^
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Testament/Seven7
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

UPDATE TIME.

I tried wireing up a 360 pcb, the results where less than perfect, I guess i messed up some of the soldering, something, the VR dosen't move the way i need it too.

Another interesting note, the left dash trigger still dosen't function, I beleve now it's a problem with the switch itself, thus a terminal problem, I give up. I'll be hunting for a new left stick canidate I guess...

A guide button was added to the stick, which functions fine. It's a standard momentary pushbutton from radioshack.

No pictures this time, because my camera is still crap.

I lucked out, used a Madcatz standard pcb which had an easier hack avalable for the triggers.

More updates as they come.
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by MentholMoose »

Keep at it. Good luck!
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Rav3nlock »

It may be coincidence that I'd just been looking at joysticks on eBay, but your right stick looks a lot like a PC Raider joystick that I'm looking into for my own eventual twinstick set: here.

There's a few PC Raider controllers on there for fairly cheap, and while I'm not sure where they all ship to, it could be helpful if you were to begin a search for a new left stick candidate! These would be a perfect fit to the right stick you've currently got I think.
Testament/Seven7
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

Rav3nlock wrote:It may be coincidence that I'd just been looking at joysticks on eBay, but your right stick looks a lot like a PC Raider joystick that I'm looking into for my own eventual twinstick set: here.

There's a few PC Raider controllers on there for fairly cheap, and while I'm not sure where they all ship to, it could be helpful if you were to begin a search for a new left stick candidate! These would be a perfect fit to the right stick you've currently got I think.
Indeed thats it ^^ I had no idea...

Actually, both grips came from interact joysticks.

I'll keep my eye's open, thanks for that.
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

Update: TESTAMENT SMASH!

Ok, not litterally, but I did do a complete teardown of the project.

Why?

Back to the wireing, the left dash still didn't work, even after hiting the wires together manually. I found this odd when I remembered that the left dash is where the common ground comes from...then I figure that the left shoulder button probrably dosen't like that too much. I still find this odd...

the left trigger is also throwing me for loops....pressing it semi-center weapons, holding it center weapons, and also moves to the left and back at walking speed....how the!?

One of 3 things is happening, to my knowlage, either there's a short where there should not be, the orientation of the resister is wrong, or the placement of the resister is wrong.

I wish my camera wasn't being a pain right now...

On to the right stick, "up" (Y) moves foward, and left? at a curve, "Down" (A) moves back, and left at a curve....left and right move just fine...any ideas?

At any rate, I decided that the wireing was gonna take a while to figure out, so I decided to remove the wireing/pcb. Then I took a look at the twinstick itself...decided it was ugly, and more importantly unruly and bulky, considering how much it's been moved around latley, and stripped it to that MDF board you see in one of the pictures...

I'm going back to my origional idea, i'm going to use that board as the top of a custom box. I have additional MDF, primer and paint, everything I need...

I just need to make some mesurments and such, but I probrably won't start till tomorow or something...

On another note, in an attempt to fix it, I ended up damaging, though not beyond repair, the switch in the left dash button on the left joystick, I removed the switch, drilled a hole in the plastic button, and poped in another momentary pushbutton from radioshack....to remove all doubt and all...
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by MentholMoose »

Testament/Seven7 wrote:the left trigger is also throwing me for loops....pressing it semi-center weapons, holding it center weapons, and also moves to the left and back at walking speed....how the!?
Sounds like a crossed wire or something. Do you have a multimeter?
Testament/Seven7 wrote:On to the right stick, "up" (Y) moves foward, and left? at a curve, "Down" (A) moves back, and left at a curve....left and right move just fine...any ideas?
In the actual Twin Stick modes, it is "tank" style input, so this is to be expected. The left stick up by itself will move forward and slightly right, down will move back and slightly right. To move straight forward, you input both sticks up, straight backward is both sticks down.
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

MentholMoose wrote:Sounds like a crossed wire or something. Do you have a multimeter?
no, but i know where to isolate any problems..i'll look at it later..
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Henshin1 »

My mate and I was working on making our own custom twin stick controls on the weekend. Everything went according to plan however the left and right movements on the left stick weren't working. I think when I was scraping the black covering to reveal the copper on the dpad I may have scraped too hard and damaged/removed the copper.
Does this mean the whole PCB is buggered? or would anyone know a way to make it work?

I have a feeling the whole thing is buggered :P
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

Henshin1 wrote:My mate and I was working on making our own custom twin stick controls on the weekend. Everything went according to plan however the left and right movements on the left stick weren't working. I think when I was scraping the black covering to reveal the copper on the dpad I may have scraped too hard and damaged/removed the copper.
Does this mean the whole PCB is buggered? or would anyone know a way to make it work?

I have a feeling the whole thing is buggered :P
you could always follow the traces and see if there's an alternate point at which to solder, though I dunno how many pad makers still do this anymore.

I'm told you can also scrape at the trace itself to reveal copper/gold plating to solder, though I would advise caution when doing this.

also check to make sure your not shorting/drounding out the connections by accident.

Hope this helps.
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

Just some small updates this time. I found the left dash button wasn't soldered to the right point.....*looks up at destructiveness to left stick* whoops ^^;;;;

I also totally re-wired both triggers, they now function correctly. I relocated the resisters to an external pcb, and ran wires to the necessary solder points. Worked like a charm.

And yes, there was alot of solder-bridging in the left trigger area.

I verified that in twinstick B mode, left and right sticks both curve up and down on the official wireless controller, so this is normal. Odd in my opinion, but normal.

I've paused my project because i'm not sure how to mount/access the headphone port. Any ideas?
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

Ok, i've thought an idea around the headphone port, I know what i'm going to do about it...

That in mind, I wired up and assembled the stick, which dosen't have a bottom much to my current annoyance, and tried it out in training mode.

It all seems to work just fine, now i just need to get used to playing with it...

I'll be online later with the twinstick, if anyone wants to help me get used to it, so to speak.
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Re: Custom Twinstick Project (in progress)

Post by Testament/Seven7 »

My first video on youtube is a shoddy video of my twinsticks, as they appear now.

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rluB-5KARwY
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