Posted by Cablouie on September 24, 1999 at 14:45:43:
In Reply to: 4-way vs. 8-way joystick questions posted by =-JacK-= on September 24, 1999 at 12:29:41:
Isn't the only REAL difference (looking at the Happ Super Jystick) between a 4-way and an 8-way the way the actuator is set? You just have to flip the actuator over (allowing 4 directions or 8 directions of movement, depending on orientation) Right???
Any difficulties in flipping the actuator over? (disconnect switches, remove stick, etc...)
-Cab
: First thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to my post yesterday. I feel lucky to have ya'll as a resource for my little obsession (er...hobby). I'll have a revised design incorporating a lot of your suggestions up soon.
: Secondly can someone help me understand 8-way joysticks in MAME?
: I looked at the 8-ways at Happ and see that they have just 4 microswitches. In MAME the 8-way games have button mapping for just 4 keys (UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT).
: 1.Am I right to conclude that MAME interprets a simultaneous LEFT and UP keypress as "left diagonal up"?
: 2.If so, does it follow that an 8-way joystick presses two microswitches at a time?
: I've been using a couple of old Pac Man red ball 4-way sticks on my stand-alone controller since MAME V.29 with no gameplay problems. Until now I assumed the MAME documented the games with 8-way input but that the diagonals were not used because of the lack of mapped inputs.
: BOTTOM LINE QUESTION: What benefit does an 8-way joystick offer over a 4-way one in MAME?