Posted by Andy Warne on 23, 2001 at 8:41 AM:
In Reply to: Re: Oh yes, the magic base stop... posted by Dave from Sweden on 22, 2001 at 1:36 PM:
The Happ super cannot be made into a true 4-way stick because it has no physical restrictor. Reversing the actuator merely prevents 2 switches from being made at once, which will have no effect in MAME as the program does not object to 2 switches in a 4-way game. Some game logic boards do, hence the reason for this adjustment.
Suzo, and some other sticks are true 4-way switchable as mentioned already.
: : I have 3 super Happs joysticks on my cab. 2 are set 8 way, 1 way.
: : The "bas stop" is a little plastic ring on the underside of the joystick that you flip over and put a little horseshoe type ring on it to hole it in place. It goes on the bottom of the metal shaft.
: Isn't the part you're describing actually called the "actuator"...? AFAIK, the base stop is a part inside or near the joint of the stick.
: Either way, there are two fundamentally different ways of switching between 4- and 8-way
: 1) Flipping the actuator. For 8 way, use the bigger end, so that the diagonals are triggered closer to the neutral position. (BTW, some sticks seem to have square actuators for 8-way, same effect, but might be better in some cases.) For 4-way, use the smaller end so that it gets next to, or entirely impossible to trigger more than one switch at a time.
: 2) Restrict the movement of the stick. This gives the stick a different feel, and ensures that 4-way really is *true* 4-way; ie you can't force the stick to activate the diagonals. There are various ways of doing this. On most sticks, you have to replace a part (called "base stop" I assume...) inside, or near the joint, while on others (like the Suzo Controls 2/3/4/5/8-way), there are adjustable stoppers below the actuator. There may be other variants as well.