Posted by Druin on 4, 2000 at 12:29 PM:
In Reply to: My 2 cents - Advice posted by Marshall on 4, 2000 at 11:36 AM:
I've never used an optical rotary stick so I don't know how they handle. Are they like a spinner or do they have preset locking positions somewhat like the rotary switch sticks? How about sensitivity, like accidently triggering a rotation while not intended?
If I had optical sticks I probably would have ended up designing a serial interface instead of this rotary switch conversion, shouldn't be too hard, I came up with a keyboard encoder for the PS/2 port for testing this interface out, and I'm sure I could have found the serial protocol easily enough.
But alas, I had only ever used the rotary switch type in the arcade and decided to buy them for nostalgia, then needed to find a way to hook them up.
So since I made the project or my own needs, I decided to give the opportunity for others to implement it if they wish. Given the potentially small market, I am likely going to only build them (aside from my own) when they are specifically requested, and for anyone with the ability to put their own circuit together, they can buy the cheaper option of just the programmed chip and use it how they wish.
There's a handful of people that want to use at lesat some type of rotary device for such games as these, and I can't give them information about the optical joysticks so I'm asking for anyone's reviews of using optical joysticks in the arcade or otherwse, so that those people looking to use rotary sticks including myself, can assess the benefits over a rotary switch type.
Overall, I think I would still like to have the LS30 type kicking around for authenticity if I do ever use an optical assembly.