Is it worth it and is it feasible are two different questions.
Optical boards have the following Pros and cons
Pros:
Near silent operation (only sound you hear is the actuator hitting the gate)
No mechanical switches to wear out
laser like precision the board’s with IR emitters and detectors
**Cons: **
Cost
Needs a power source/ making sure you can get the recommended voltage for your joystick’s optical PCB.
Certain aftermarket actuators will not work (such as aluminum or white actuators) as they will reflect the IR light differently than the stock black actuator.
Oversized actuators may also be an issue.
Optical boards are only made for select Joysticks, such as the Flash 1 only works with the Sanwa JLF and various JLF clones, fans of other Joystick types may not have a option.
Another thing I’d add, and something I learned from @hibachifinal 's experience, is that you want a voltage regulator circuit in your design if you plan to use systems which supply something other than 5V (PSX, PS2, etc.) because the optical PCB will not run properly unless it is getting 5V. Playstation consoles supply anywhere from 5V to 3V (known to dip into 3V often), and their official controllers will run fine on that range, but your other hardware may not.
IMO for japanese sticks, the only thing I feel is the square gate. I never had a problem with orientation, whether it is on a cab, the floor, or on my lap I get my bearings. Maybe I played too much at one point in time.
I can see what you are saying with regards to smaller sticks. If anything I would would think an optical stick would be a good choice for those with a gentler play style. These aren’t exactly Happ joysticks.
Damn son why you comin at me SO HORD.
Look, I am all about standardization. I can’t stand these muhfuckas that show up to the crib/tournament and bitch about the setups because they are used to playing on some silly ass bastardization of an arcade stick. They got a semitsu octagonal gate, shortened shaft, with a fuckin keyboard number-pad for buttons. We can never be friends, on some Holla at Me 2pac type ish. 98% of these people still suck at fighting games too so all that tomfoolery doesn’t get them anywhere.
IMO the only annoying part is perhaps getting a power source. I admit my viewpoints are biased towards the arcade cab/supergun set ups so finding power is never really an issue. I think I have tracked down most of the Happ and Wico Perfect 360s out there, and there is no going back to cherry switches. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be the same for JLFs. I got some ascii clones coming in, and will be ordering Flash1s for optimal japanese setups on my cab and supergun. I want my shaft movements to feel like butter no homo. I only found one review on this site, but it didn’t really cover very much. I guess I need to collect a bunch of them and install them on all my sticks to see what’s up.
That’s all good I’m just saying I prefer to play on what most would consider the original equipment/controls.
If you go to evo we can walk around and find these abominations.
We in the optical thread son. Your list of pros explains why, and I am all about silky smooth inputs. If the option is available there really aren’t many strong arguments against the upgrade.
So I built a new controller for my supergun. I needed a Japanese set up, so I gutted a T5 HRAP and slapped in a Flash1 pcb in my JLF. Will post a pic soon, but right off the bat this thing is butter. It is kind of weird not having to hear the switches click, but in the heat of battle you won’t even notice it. IMO this pcb is better off paired with a stiffer spring. I installed a 3 lb spring from Paradise Arcade. I spent so much time collecting Happ optical sticks/parts that I over looked my japanese set ups. This is a fantastic upgrade.
Hopefully they’ll be viable as 8-way joysticks (fingers crossed) o:)
Seller details them as:
"… RARE SNK OPTICAL ROTARY JOYSTICKS LS-30 LS-40 HARNESS NOS PARTS FOOTBALL TOPS
[list]
[] Very rare optical joysticks.
[] Complete with exceedingly rare football tops and cap wrench.
[] One of the tops and two of round plastic sleeves are NOS.
[] One button is included from the kit which was a Touchdown fever game.
[*] The octagon and round shaped tops will work on these joysticks also.
[/list]
…"
It looks like a variation of the LS-30 Joysticks that Ikari Warriors Arcade cab uses.
I believe it is a Seimitsu stick where the nob doubles as a radial encoder.
Really quick question, would the PCB of the Gamefinger Optical setup for a JLF follow the typical rule of thumb for dual mods where all PCB’s need to be connected to each other’s ground and VCC? For example if I have an Xbone and a 360 PCB in the stick, the directional lines would connect to both PCB’s and the ground and VCC as well, rather than just connecting it to the PCB ground and VCC that it’s closest to?
Well assuming the other grounds and VCC and directionalas are already wired for the PCBs, you only have to connect to 1 VCC and Gnd point and only one of the directionals as everything would be connected in chain.
Hello everyone. Just a question for those that know a bit about perfect 360s sticks. I favour these no corner / optical sticks, and prefer the bat top. Im pretty sure I could handle a ball-top optical stick – does that even exist? Is it that particularly hard to get as a custom stick? Im in the Toronto area and desperate to get one made to start playing again. And lastly what stick is most similar to a p360? Happ ultimate or Happ competition?
thanks again!
Umm, I have used a Happ/Wico P360 before for a few hours on MvC2 and there are no aftermarket replacement for those optical joysticks, tho even tho I’m not really much of an American joystick guy, I still did enjoy it to some extent, but the lack of corners killed me in the end). Neither of those joysticks are even similar to the P360 imo, the P360 is stiffer is one thing and the other is that the P360 uses no microswitches at all whereas the other two joysticks you mentioned do, so performance wise they are nothing alike. To answer the question on which joystick is better, Happ Competition is by far, but the iL Eurostick is far better than either and it’s literally the Happ Competition with a higher build quality, and even then, a Japanese joystick by design is just flat out better imo in terms of overall quality and accuracy, but we’re not discussing that. Is it hard to get a custom stick? I’m not in Torronto, but there are some aftermarket options I think, but none of those really made are for the old school American parts, but you can also try building one out of wood which would be effective and slagcoin.com does have some diagrams on how you would construct the stick.
Really the main options for optical joysticks at this point are: SparkCE, Gamerfinger’s Flash 1 Clone (out of stock tho, so you may not find one of these, but the SparkCE is better anyways), and the Hori Hayabusa Optical, I may have missed a few, but I won’t count the ones that are our of production/hard to find. Haven’t tried the Hori one in game, so can’t say anything about it, but I did try the original Flash1, along with Gamerfinger’s version of it, as well and I really liked it. What would help tho to make the joysticks “feel” more like a P360 (not really, but feel more comfortable to you or easily adjustable) I guess is a stiff spring like 3 or 4lb (4 is overkill imo, but I’m a weak kid) into the Hayabusa or JLF’s optical stick and throwing in a teardrop battop (similar to the Competition/iL battops) like that ones Paradise Arcade Shop has. You can also throw in a circle gate if you want to try that for that cornerless feel. But even after all these additions, it will still feel like a different joystick and the performance will be different as well, but on the brightside, the SparkCE has adjustable sensitivity which should let you pick your perfect sensitivity and tension is easily replaceable just by switching the springs.
IMO if you really love the P360, then just try to hunt for one if you can whether on the trading outlet or on the MvC2 Facebook group, it’ll be worth it if you really love it. Otherwise the iL Eurostick may be your best choice for an American joystick (technically it is Spanish tho so I dunno why I keep calling it American…). Well hope this helped.
That helps a lot, Sasquach. My research has lead me to the IL Eurostick as the most easily available, most similar to a p360. I’ve played on all sort of sticks Japanese and American, so it looks like that is my best bet. Im used to the stiff spring too on the p360. cool idea with the circle gate…I don’t think I’ve tried that. I have commissioned a local stick builder but did no t know getting a p360 would be so difficult. Guess I should really hang on to my old MAS sticks!