Spinner building theory ....


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Posted by BillyBoy on 30, 2000 at 10:40 PM:

I am currently building several prototype spinners and it has occured to me that the 2 games for which I most want a spinner, Arkanoid and Tempest, are at odds with one-another. That is to say, with the limited software adjustments available in MAME and the slightly screwy way both mouse driver and MAME driver info is combined and used, it seems that one needs to design different hardware for optimal performance in these 2 games.

I.E. - for tempest you want good mass / flywheel, very free spinning bearing, not too large a knob, quick moving but not too sensitive.

For Arkanoid you want sensitive but not too quick, stiffer bearing (gears even - like the original), less mass / flywheel required, only about 180* range required, a nice largish knob.

To that end I plan to make 2 different spinners (and players will have to fight over thier favourite for 2 player off road / sprint).

The Tempest style will have a solid 2" aluminum knob (see knob post below), unsealed bearing, 2.5" steel washer flywheel, and the Twisty style light chopper with every other tab removed.

In contrast the Arkanoid spinner will use a slightly larger, lighter plastic knob, a sealed bearing, a small 1.5" flywheel, and the "other" type of light chopper that has "little windows" or spokes with an outside rim, as opposed to just the tabs. I got mine from an old IBM mouse and it has about twice as many "segments" as the more common kind.

What think all of you?

BB


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