Posted by Torgo on September 17, 1999 at 04:22:52:
I am proud to report that I am the proud owner of two optical rotating joysticks. They arrived this evening and I have mounted them on my control panel. With Geezer's optimame, two player ikari style games work...well...lets see, I'd have to say...ABSOLUTELY FUCKING PERFECTLY!!! Sorry about the expletive, but this system really rocks. The Joysticks themselves are nice and stiff, and the rotating shaft is firm. Actually the shaft is a little harder to turn than a regular Happs Ultimate joystick, so the answer to the question earlier about whether the rotating part would interfere with regular games is...not in the least. This joystick is actually superior for regular games. The tension is a little tighter (the way I like it)
Both of the joystick's spinning shafts are connected to the computer via one Happ serial trackball interface. Setting up the interface was extremely easy, just plug each joystick in, plug in the power adaptor, and connect to the serial port. Really, it took about 30 seconds to connect everything. although I have not connected the three buttons it supports (3 mouse buttons) but of course that would only take another couple of seconds.
The only funky thing is you have to jack up the analogue sensitivity in mame to the max (255) because the opti wheels are really large, and each hole on the wheel is about half a centimeter apart. But once I set up the senesitivity...well you know.
So in conclusion, those who have been pondering if this was possible, the answer (chiefly due to Andy Geez's work) is a definate YES. It did not come cheap however. The joysticks were about $40 each and the interface was $50. Total cost for this setup $130 plus tax and shipping.
I also purchased a USB trackball interface and a 3" trackball. Happ now sells a stand-alone USB trackball interface which unlike the UGCI series, only connects three buttons and a trackball. This, happily, works with mame perfectly as well. But, I run dos mame over windows 98. Those of you running in pure dos should not get the USB version, as it will not work.
Andy: I take it from your word choice and phrasing that you are from England. If this is true, it would be a little hard for me to buy you a beer or something. If there is any way I can repay the favor you have done, (and it seems like you are continuing doing; you know, the whole pedal thing) let me know.
Torgo go play now.
Aah, Mame...teacher...mother...secret lover.