DIY Tron joystick, spinner, trackball for emulation in PC, android, PS3 (video)

[ave1]

Here's a new DIY video on making a Tron arcade stick with Spinner and Trackball.

 

 

At the end is gameplay showing it in action playing Centipede, Millipede, Battlezone, Tempest, and Typhoon 2001.  Turned out to be a really fun project... and the results are really nice to look at. 

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by ave1

[Swami]

5 hours ago, ave1 said:

Here's a new DIY video on making a Tron arcade stick with Spinner and Trackball.

 

 

At the end is gameplay showing it in action playing Centipede, Millipede, Battlezone, Tempest, and Typhoon 2001.  Turned out to be a really fun project... and the results are really nice to look at. 

 

I would love to do this, but without a shop to make the box I'm kind of stuck. There are pre-made fighting stick boxes, but I'd still need to make the holes for the trackball and spinner and the one's you can buy are pretty lightweight material. Does the GRS spinner fit well in a button hole?

 

Good looking demo video, BTW.

[ave1]

Hi Swami- I may be able to help you. I have a spare one of these monitor stands (identical to mine) which I bought for about $5 and have a friend who could do the wood router work for mounting a "Thunderstick" trackball within it for $20.  I could cut the holes for free for you (the hole for the GRS Spinner should be 1 1/2 inches in diameter, not 1 1/8").

 

Let me know if you would like to get something started

Edited January 19, 2020 by ave1

[Swami]

4 hours ago, ave1 said:

Hi Swami- I may be able to help you. I have a spare one of these monitor stands (identical to mine) which I bought for about $5 and have a friend who could do the wood router work for mounting a "Thunderstick" trackball within it for $20.  I could cut the holes for free for you (the hole for the GRS Spinner should be 1 1/2 inches in diameter, not 1 1/8").

 

Let me know if you would like to get something started

How big is the box? LxWxH when all done? Also, What was your reason for using the USB encoder instead of the 12-in 1 usb board 1up makes?

[ave1]

It's 11 1/2" x 15 3/4" x 3 3/16"

 

The height had been adjusted (as shown in the video) with small wood planks made by Woodpile Fun.

 

I used both the 12-in-1 encoder board (for the spinner and trackball) as well as the Tron joystick encoder board. Near the end of the tutorial, I showed both getting plugged into a USB hub.  This enables you to only have one cord coming out the back. 

 

This is truly the most compact enclosure you'd want for this project. Any smaller and there'd be problems finding room for all eleven buttons. 

Edited January 19, 2020 by ave1

[Swami]

On 1/19/2020 at 11:29 AM, ave1 said:

It's 11 1/2" x 15 3/4" x 3 3/16"

 

The height had been adjusted (as shown in the video) with small wood planks made by Woodpile Fun.

 

I used both the 12-in-1 encoder board (for the spinner and trackball) as well as the Tron joystick encoder board. Near the end of the tutorial, I showed both getting plugged into a USB hub.  This enables you to only have one cord coming out the back. 

 

This is truly the most compact enclosure you'd want for this project. Any smaller and there'd be problems finding room for all eleven buttons. 

Okay. So the stick needs a separate USB adapter. Thanks for the info. I'll send you a PM tomorrow.

[ave1]

Okay, I'll look for it.