I was initially motivated after reading KoD’s thread on VFDC http://virtuafighter.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/242801/fpart/1
which explained how he had made one for testing VF. With SlapperJoe’s help I modded my Hori T4 stick and connected it to an arduino, and started programming. We went through a few iterations (dualshock pad, Fighting Stick 3).
Over the holidays (I’ve had 5 weeks off) I took the time to assemble what i needed to get the setup just as I wanted it.
2xMayflash sticks (from Slagfart)
Arduino Mega (lots of lots of pins, lots of memory)
LCD screen (4x20 characters, blue)
LEDs
My own equipment for soldering etc.
I worked out how to solder for myself finally and went about putting it together. The mayflash sticks are actually extremely easy to use. They have 8 pins which are easy to find and solder too, and the stick itself is easy to solder onto. Grounding is easy as well. I’m sure you could swap bits out to make it a nicer stick, but at this point it serves no purpose to me.
After trying it out, I now have the following
2 sticks, controlled by the one PCB. 8 buttons each, 4 directions. Easy to test P1 and P2 stuff at the same time.
LCD screen showing title, frame rate (NTSC/PAL/Custom) and values which I’m testing (generally frame intervals). Also shows frame elapsed/time elapsed
Coding is tight. New timing means that it drops about 3/1000 seconds in the first second and is almost 999 or 1000msec per second thereafter. Frames are pretty much accurate. Easy to swap NTSC and PAL.
I have scripts for testing delays between moves, reading inputs, JF testing/training and combos. Can increase delay for 4 separate moves without having to reupload the script, and it is displayed on the LCD. Can also swap 1P and 2P side as needed.
Coding is still a bit messy, but works ok. Have tested a few things that I’ve wanted to know (OTGF input requirements, tech-catch window)
Works on Wii, PS2, PS3 and PC (note, doesn’t work on PS3 backwards compatibility.)
Did some more with it this afternoon, have hopefully added a feature so that whenever you play, if you leave the PStick plugged into the computer via usb (with the arduino program on and serial monitor going, yes some setup involved) it will “record” all the button inputs that both players do.
My initial sketches caused quite a lot of slowdown, but it seems now that it’s just about frame accurate again (no easy way to judge it though). Should be good enough though, if something happens on the 1000th and 1015th frame, and it’s reported as 999th and 1014th it shouldn’t matter much.
Would be a neat thing to have going for random matches so that if one of those “What just happened there?” moments occurs (Namco moments?) you could pull up the input display and see if it’s repeatable.
inpin also works but like the pelican its very hard to read the lcd screen. I actually bought another PS2 to PS3 controller converter to see if that one performs better. Will let you know how well that works.
My Hori Command Stick came in the mail today. I’m not a combo guy nor do I have some grand ambition of using it online. I spent the past couple of hours poking around at it. Here’s an overly simplified programming guide since I couldn’t find one. Don’t hate. Neither jeenyus1 or the guy I bought it from were apparently able to sort this out. It’s not hard but it’s not really intuitive either.
Toggle the Program switch to on
Press the button you want to assign the combo to
Press Enter continually until it shows the buttons flashing
Press the direction or button you want for the first action and release it
Press Enter to confirm
Move the stick left and right to alter the number of frames the action should be pressed. The more frames you specify the longer the move will be held
Press Enter to confirm
Continue working through the Steps until you have all of your moves inputted
Toggle the Program switch back off
That’s it. Hit the Com button plus the button you original chose to execute your move. It also works on the 360 (with LCD) via an Xconverter 360.
By any chance if magnetro or someone has a ASCII Programmable stick 3 manual translatted.Please post up the manual if you can a friend of mine has the stick and would like to know how to program it.
An LCD screen sits top-center and reads out programming modes, button velocity, etc. Players may program certain moves and combinations into the pad and execute them with a single button press.
Did my old Hori Command Sanwa/Semitsu stick reach you? :wgrin:
I was actually able to program macros into that. It’s just that it’s hard to kinda explain how in text Also your instructions are correct for anyone wondering how to program macros into their Hori Command Stick.
Check the first post. You will likely need to work your ass off to get one. If you don’t want to take the effort, getting a programmable pad probably won’t be in your future.
I can’t beleive no one else commented on this (I’m aware it’s an old post) but this sounds amazing.
Do ny of you program pad experts know anything about the quality of the Innovation pads available in the eBay link that guy just posted? It’s really rare to see proggramable pad on a non-JP site.
I could never really understand why more people weren’t interested. It’s been something I’ve always wanted, and is far more customisable than something that you would buy. I’ve answered questions for Tekken, SF4 and Soul Calibur but realistically you can test for pretty much any game. Maybe it needed its own thread, but I’m fairly sure it would have been buried.
I’ve given it away now anyway. Might reclaim it around when SSF4 comes out.
well it was certainly a nice idea, but you weren’t going into business making those for people in this thread right? out of curiousity, how much did it cost for you to make it?
also how many inputs/steps would the script support? Would it be able to handle a script for over 1000 frames of inputs/delays?
Also your instructions are correct for anyone wondering how to program macros into their Hori Command Stick.
I picked it up to play around with it but I’m not really a combo guy.