Hi there everyone. Occasional lurker, first time poster here.
Finally decided to start looking for a stickless arcade stick so figured I’d come ask some questions and see if I could get some relative feedback/pointed in the right direction.
First question is a twofer! I’ve seen some triangle and square sanwa buttons (link: http://www.arcadeshop.de/index.php?cPath=79_91&sort=2a&page=2 ) and was curious if they are as reliable/effective/whatevs as the traditional circle buttons I see on most sticks.
My brother is real fond of his Qanba Q4raf so I figure mine should use one as a base as well so guests could have option of stick/less on same box style. I found a site that had a custom panel builder so I could set up a layout shape but it only had circle buttons. Which leads to the next question.
Provided them triangle and square buttons are comparable to the circle ones who/where should I look to commission a Q4 with layout shown but triangle buttons for the directionals (pointed in their appropriate direction and color coordinated like super famicom’s abxy) and squares on the input buttons (color coordinated for XBox layout on left 4 and blacks/whites for Bumper/Trigger) on the right? (start/select round buttons)
Last question…How many systems supportable can one realistically get with such a mod? We have ps2, Xbox360, Wii, WiiU, PC, and plan to get XBone, PS3/PS4
(note: image is not on quanba as it was not an option on the site)
You’d be much better off with this thread in Tech Talk.
Also, while I’m here, the directional button layout doesn’t look like the most comfortable to use.
I would assume (by the looks of the buttons on the site) that they use standard quick disconnects. So they should work in any fightstick configuration. As to their quality and ease of use, I have no clue.
I would check with the guys over at AMP up Customs to see about making a panel for a qanba. They should be able to help you out. I don’t know if they include plexi tops in their work, but it couldn’t hurt to inquire.
And I’m with MTH on this one, I would think about reworking that directional layout. It would be mighty frustrating for your middle finger to have to work both the up and down buttons if your left hand isn’t the dominant hand.
The directionals are due to the fact that I’ve clocked many MANY hours on pc fighting games (looking at you Guilty Gear XX#/Isuka and Touhou 12.3) and I’ve used WASD directionals with numpad inputs. I have tried using spacebar UP but thumb jump is just counter intuitive to me and my brain just can’t adjust. Middle finger jump feels natural after my years of WASD’ing. See for FlashKick/SuperJump motions i actually slide from one to the other as opposed to type pressing. That’s why the UP/DOWN are close and was wanting to use the triangles for directions with the flat sides towards each other.
Thank you Finest_KO, I’ll shoot B-Boy Tekken a message about panel/plexi. But that doesn’t solve the big issue I have about a custom stickless. The fact is I know little to nothing about electrical/hardware, if its not plug and play like the ramcard for my computer I’m utterly lost so I wouldn’t know how to go about swapping out the wiring of a stick to buttons. So what I’m looking for is basically to comission a builder or, on the off (read: unlikely as hell) chance that there’s someone in the Fargo ND area that’s a stick builder/modder that could help me with it.
Many seem to feel similarly about the directionals on their hitbox-style controllers, although the trend is to emulate the same layout as the keyboard (i.e. such as this “⊥”; a straight bottom row and UP above the middle button. The other common configuration is the same, but with UP offset slightly to the left, as W is on most keyboards).
Personally, I prefer the standard hitbox layout as the fingers need not move to reach a button. Just as though you might be comfortable on a QWERTY keyboard layout, you will never be able to type as fast as you w\could on a DVORAK layout. You will have to adapt to the stick in either case, so I would recommend the most ergonomic layout possible in order to give yourself the most headroom for improvement.
Also consider using a standard Sega/Vewlix layout for your other buttons. In your present design they are not spaced consistently.
Swapping buttons or a lever is essentially plug-and-play provided that your controller is using quick disconnects. That’s about it. If all you are doing is ordering a custom panel and installing it, you should have no problem.
In order to swap out the stick for buttons (granted you’ve already gotten the panel to support your new layout) shouldn’t be too hard.
If it were my project, I would work on making a 5-pin harness, similar to this. Just note that you’ll be dealing with .110 quick disconnects as opposed to the .187 that these guys are offering. You’ll have to be willing to learn how to crimp wires in order to build a daisy-chain. More info on wire crimping can be found here.
Then you’d have to send a signal wire from each directional input to each designated solder pad for that input.
The way I’d do it, is I’d buy one of those snazzy 5-pin wiring harnesses, and de-crimp the .187 connectors in favor of some more button friendly .110 quick disconnects. Seem like it’d be the least amount of work for the easiest solution. From that point, you’d just pop the 5-pin connector into the 5-pin harness that you removed from the initial joystick included with the qanba.
If you wanted to go the custom route you could talk to Jasen with www.jasenscustoms.com as he can work with you to do just about any layout you want and build a case for you. Then all you need to do is install the buttons and a board (PS360+ being the easiest). I don’t believe he does full builds any longer however.
(I’m late to this party) Could you tell me what software was being used in that screen shot? Is that just a CAD program or is it something more specific?
