Arcade Fighting Sticks (Build your own)

[Darrian]

Well hurry up! I want pics! Nah, seriously take your time and get it done right. I do want pics, though :D.

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

Hello. :)

I know I didn't technically "build" my joystick, but I still wanted to show mine off. It is the MadCatz SFIV SE Fight stick. I took out the original parts and replace them with Sanwa parts, OBSF-30 buttons and JLF-TP-8Y joystick. I will probably take off the original artwork and replace it with my own later.

[FiB3R]

Nice one Ruiz :) Is there a huge difference using Sanwa parts?

Have you thought about relocating or getting rid of LB and LT or do they not bother you?

[hothmonster]

Im going to get mine completed or somewhat completed on friday hopefully.

But... I got a call from my mates shop in Nottingham has got 1 and only 1 of the Street Fighter 4 Tournament Edition Fight sticks in stock for the 360!!! :D :D :D

It is ?150 though :((

I cant afford it, so any one know anyone whos after one? or i might just stick it on the ebay.

Thanks for the advice so far Darkfiber, are your previous photos you posted no imagebam all correct or did you have some difficulty with the wiring?

Im getting ready for friday im off to maplin to get some crimp terminals, the ones i bought were too big! Im going to start with the Tupperware for a temporary measure, but Ill be sure to show you the art!

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

Nice one Ruiz :) Is there a huge difference using Sanwa parts?

Have you thought about relocating or getting rid of LB and LT or do they not bother you?

While I can say they feel much better, I cannot really say I'm really kicking more ass yet :D

As for RB/LB, it's not a bother. I tend to use them when I'm really frustrated and PPP/KKK doesn't register properly.

[FiB3R]

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

^Nice, lol.

Replaced the art with a photoshop of mine.

[FiB3R]

Sweeeeet, love the matching colour paint strokes, great idea :)

[hothmonster]

Thanks again dark, theyre the best circuit diagrams/photos ive seen.

Been a delay, had to work today! Im going to grab a used wireless controller tomorrow.

[FiB3R]

No worries :) They are not my pics, but they were a great help to me.

That guy must have damaged the copper pad for the Down button, because he's used a secondary point for that button, and he hasn't wired up the trigger buttons.

[hothmonster]

People dont always seem to bother with the trigger buttons. For me they are going to me essential for future releases like TEKKEN!

think a 2 player control console will be on the cards after ive got my head around this!

[FiB3R]

How many buttons does Tekken use? I thought it was only 4

EDIT:

:huh:

Edited May 12, 2009 by DARKFiB3R

[hothmonster]

true true, cant deny the picture!

Im just thinking of the buttons programmed on the playstion, throws become very easy. It was Tekken Tag which you had to use the shoulders, no idea what this new one holds for us.

[FiB3R]

What's happening, no more builds? Still haven't finished mine off, but that's me all over, never finishing lol

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Wish I had the patience for a project like this :(

[Dead_Monkey]

Also, SF4 only requires 6 buttons. A B X Y LB RB. I will also need a button for Start and for Guide, since the controller will not be turned on without me pressing (and holding) the guide button and start is useful for pausing. Total, 8 pushbuttons.

Wired controllers are automatically on when they are plugged into a 360 or PC. Wireless ones will also come on if you hold down the start button instead of the guide button. Who wants to live without guide access though?

[Darrian]

I finally ordered my joystick and buttons today, now that LizardLick is finally taking orders again and I have money. I'll probably do the tupperware thing until I can afford the tools and materials to make a proper box. I bought an extra wireless 360 controller to dismantle, even though I really didn't want to solder I'd rather have the wireless. Thanks for the tip about the start button turning on the controller, that'll save me having to wire up the guide button.

[frozengfx1]

I have been reading this thread for weeks now and am very impressed by the wealth of information and interest in building an arcade stick. This is exactly what I've been looking for. I have been toying with the idea of building my own stick for months but never really knew where to start. I ran across this thread while searching Google and after weeks of reading I have to give props to everyone who's contributed. DarkFiB3r thanks for starting this thread and sharing the wealth of knowledge.

Because of this thread I have now purchased my items to start building. I'm going with Sanwa Sticks and Buttons and they should be arriving in a few days. I have some questions about soldering the controllers. I know there has been some mention of Uncommon and Common Ground and from what I see in other forums everyone seems to be including Resistors to their controller. I'm not an electronics guru but I have some questions as to what the benefit is for using a Common Ground controller compared to an Uncommon ground? and why do we need to use Resistors for the controllers?

Also I've noticed from the links DarkFiB3R posted of the pics for other stick builds that there seems to be a pattern that everyone sticks with when building the base. Are they any specs out there to follow or is this just a trial and error copycat?

I thank you all once again for the information and sincerely hope that it inspires others to build theirs as it did with me.

[Darrian]

I'm almost positive that the resistors are used when you wire up the bumpers (triggers). I have no intention of using those, so I'm going to try without the resistors and see if it works, first. I'll post an update here with pics once I get the preliminary build done, but I don't expect my parts to show up for another 2 weeks still.

[Dead_Monkey]

You can get "official" sizes using Capcom's published template:

http://www.capcom-unity.com/s-kill/blog/20...plate_templates

Their fightstick has the same layout and size as the buttons and sticks on their actual cabs.

Common ground simply means that your life is easier wiring up connections, you can wire up one ground point on the pad, and have all of the buttons work. If each button is individually grounded on the pad that you're cannibalizing, then you have to ground each sanwa switch to each individual button on the padm, which is a lot more work.

I saw a thread in the neo-geo.com forums at one point that gave a good reason to use resistors, but I can't access it from this system. I'm not a real electronics geek, sorry I can't help more than giving you a pointer in that direction.

[frozengfx1]

Thank you for the reply.

I'm including 2 pics of the trigger areas that I need to wire up in hopes someone can help me out. I have a madcatz board 4716-2007 wired. I have all the buttons and d-pad hooked up (just waiting on my stick and buttons to come in) but I'm at a hard stop not knowing where to solder the resistors. I have a total of 5 resistors all of which are (10k-ohm, 1/2watt, 5%tolerance).

Left Trigger

Right Trigger

Once again thanks for your help

p.s. Thanks Dead_Monkey for the link.

[Darrian]

The Capcom templates are great, but there is also a much wider selection of button layouts availabe at http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html and they are in PNG, so you don't have to have Photoshop installed to use them. I especially like it because it shows squared button layouts. I always found curved button layouts to be incredibly awkward after so many years of playing Street Fighter 2.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Darrian

[Dead_Monkey]

The Capcom templates are great, but there is also a much wider selection of button layouts availabe at http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html and they are in PNG, so you don't have to have Photoshop installed to use them. I especially like it because it shows squared button layouts. I always found curved button layouts to be incredibly awkward after so many years of playing Street Fighter 2.

That's an excellent website there, thank you.

The Capcom stick is pretty good, the buttons to the left are in the Japanese arrangement, while the buttons to the right are in the US arrangement (straight across) and the four across the top are in the Neo Geo arrangement.

They put some thought into it. I do prefer the straight button layout (unless I'm playing Neo Geo).

[frozengfx1]

Yea i've been playing around with different layouts, I do like the curved buttons but have always been comfortable with the straight layout. Slagcoin has some lots of layouts.

[frozengfx1]

Just an update I've purchased a new madcatz controller from gamestop yesterday. I'll post pics of the board when I get home, however its a 2008 model and I haven't been able to find any diagram for wiring it up. Anyone know where I can find it?