Q&A about Joystick Building, Parts, and Purchasing

[Tigre]

It's a very easy stick to customize. I highly recommend doing something to make it stick out from the rest of the Namco TEs, because it is VERY easy to mix them up (one of my local players had his swapped with another one (I hope accidentally) at a major. Even if it's a different colored balltop. There are also numerous community made options to customize it (buttons, balltops, artwork and plexiglass).

As far as the sticks "quality" It's a TE, it comes with Sanwa parts stock, the pcb is common ground (dual mods are fairly straight forward).

[blackraen]

My stick has been giving me extra directional inputs. Like, for example, if I press 9, sometimes it'll register as 98. It's not a big deal but it can be annoying and I'm looking to fix it. How would I go about fixing this?

 

 

The key to remember about joysticks is that they are just a combination of 4 mechanical switches; 1 each for up, down, left, and right.  Diagonals are accomplished by activating a combination of two switches at the same time.

 

Ex:  Up + Right = Diagonal Up/Right (1P 8+6 = 9)

 

Your phrasing suggests that you are most likely looking at an execution concern where you are hitting the up switch slightly before activating the right switch.  Your decision to use notation rather than cardinal is why I'm assuming execution over mechanical since I'm guessing you mean you have this problem regardless of side.

 

If you are concerned you have a mechanical issue with your joystick lever, begin by loading a game with training mode that will show inputs including hold time for directions, or if compatible, connect to a PC and open up the controller's properties window (showing buttons, and POV).

 

Once there, hold cardinal directions and repeatedly activate to confirm individual switches are activating as expected.  If they are, then you just need to work on your diagonal execution (** rare caveat).  If you do observe missed input or flakey activation (flickers on and off while being held), you have a failing switch and need to replace it (component requirements vary based on type of lever).

 

** It is always possible that your PCB is processing signals incorrectly, but there are very few boards that have the problem, and in most cases if you have a board problem, your entire controller doesn't work, not flakey/abnormal input performance.

[rragna]

Does anyone know how I can build an arcade controller like the one shown below for the Vita? I'm looking for specific instructions and materials needed, along with cost. Or even how to buy one?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFzVFB6lI8o

[Elochai]

snip

 

Thank you for your reply. After following your advice, I'm lead to believe that it's a matter of my execution rather than the stick itself since up/down/left/right check out. Once again, thanks!

[7heTexanRebel]

So I'm not sure if the PS3 version of this controller is just outright bad or I got an exceptionally good copy of the 360 version (xbox one still works perfectly fine, had it since CS1 came out) but my stick has been acting up recently. (I got it about a month before the US release of CP) It'll hold directions for several seconds, preventing input i.e. input a qcf and get stuck walking forward. It also occasionally delays button presses by a noticeable amount but other times it's completely fine.

 

I'm considering buying a more expensive hori stick but I'm worried that it wont be compatible with the PS4, forcing me to buy ANOTHER fight stick for that when Xrd comes out (and any other next gen fighters). I've seen something about being able to run sticks with 2 boards or something so they work on ps/xbox, would that sort of thing be possible with ps3/4? Also, are the more expensive sticks for PS3 compatible with PC cuz I haven't been able to get my cheap one to work. (xbox one does though)

[Airk]

Sounds like your PS3 stick is...er...sticky.  Not sure if there's much to be done about that though.  You probably just got a bad one - this is one of the perils of 'bargain' sticks.

 

I will let others talk about the PS4, because I haven't been following that, but most sticks that work on the PS3 will work on PC.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

Dudes, just in case you don't know, it seems like the Hori V4 Hayabusa got delayed. It was supposed to be released in the mid of august, and now its release date is 30th of september. WHAT THE...

 

BTW I heard the Hayabusa is a "looser" Seimitsu, which is perfectly fine for me (screw Sanwa ). What about the Kuro buttons?

[mixedmethods]

The Shoryuken forums are dead and all my local searching has come to nothing, so I thought I'd ask here: is anyone comfortable troubleshooting and repairing a HORI RAP N3-SA? I'm in the Midwest, but any region is fine; I'm willing to pay for the shipping since local is not an option. The most likely issue is a short in one of the USB wires, which would require soldering a new USB cable to the board ... unfortunately, I have no experience with soldering, so if the stick isn't permanently broken now, it will be after I attempt that solution.

[Tigre]

What exactly is wrong with the stick? What leads you to believe that it's the USB cable? It's very possible, but I'd like to hear more information about what exactly is wrong with it (unlike some people in the community I don't like to give blanket answers)

[Garalian]

I already contacted eightarc/qanba about it, but I thought I should mention it here since googling my issue gives me squat:

 

I just got http://www.eightarc.com/qanba-q4-ice-red/ in the mail today, and when I tried to use it, the joystick doesn't work. I can't navigate menus, and I can't move around in game despite the fact that the face buttons all work perfectly. Any ideas on what might be causing this?

[Tigre]

probably a bad or disconnected 5 pin harness going between the pcb and the stick. Can't say anything unless you take the bottom off and take some pictures.

[Airk]

This is a dumb suggestion, but does the Q4 have one of those stupid switches that allows you to pick whether the stick is treated as the left stick, right stick, or Dpad? 'cause if does and it's set to right stick, you're going to experience exactly what you're seeing.

[Garalian]

I saw no switch on the stick itself and no mention of such a switch in the description. I wish there was though :v.

 

And I'd love to open it up and check out what's goin on, but that'd void the warranty and if it all goes to hell I'd like to get my money back at the very least.

[ChexGuy]

The mode button on Qanba sticks changes the joystick's functionality from D-pad to left analog, but usually both work in menus :V

[Garalian]

They sent me a new PCB to replace the one that was acting up, so I assumed it was a-okay to pop the thing open and lo-and-behold the thing's not even plugged in. Fixed it, now I'm flailing around as a newly minted stick-scrub. Guess I get a free PCB?

[Kyosuke Kagami]

Dudes, anyone here knows the release date for the american version of Hori V4 Hayabusa? Amazon's supposed date is 30 of september but I am believing it's just an estimate.

[Agni]

A local games store of mine is selling a few sticks, while I'm fine with going on online I think they sell them cheaper then what you get online after shipping is added. The two ones I'm looking at are the Hori Fighting Stick V3 and the Qanba Q1. I heard both were decent cheap beginner's sticks, but the V3 is apprently a giant hassle when it comes to replacing the buttons so I'm edging towards the Qanba. Also it's garunteed to work on PC which is nice for whenever I want to play some poverty doujin. Would this be a good choice?

 

The store also sells HRAP's but that's WAY too much money for me right now.

[ChexGuy]

My brother and I were in a similar situation. I went with the Q1 and he got the V3. The V3's buttons aren't too great, but the cord is longer. Q1's stock parts are better, not too great but they're also much easier to swap out. V3's a fair bit smaller and lighter, and there's no cord compartment so it feels a bit sturdier, actually.

[Speakeasy]

Will I have to readjust the heights of things if I put a plexiglass screen over new art on my stick? I assume the wires that connect everything aren't THAT specific in length and have no slack at all but I'd rather not find out.

[Felstalker]

Hello, new guy question.

Looking to get a fightstick, lots of great information online about them.

The question, is it fine to buy one used? The price is far more agreeable, and I'm sure that fixing/modding a quality stick will be more my style than replacing a bad one.

Completely new to this, and I really want to join in. I just need a few semi-positive words of "buying used ain't so bad" and I'm getting one.

[Airk]

These things are usually pretty durable;  As long as you have decent pictures of the thing beforehand, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[AchedSphinx]

I have a Street Fighter 4 Tournament Edition Fightstick. It's lasted me for almost 4 years now, but the diagonal input seems totally borked, is there any way to fix this? An example as to how it was borked happened in a few matches I played today. I was holding down back as Mitsuru and sometimes she would randomly stand up and I couldn't force her crouching for several seconds. A few times, because down back selectively turns on or off, she would do random AoA when I want her to do sweep. Any hope or should I just prepare to buy a new one?

[Tigre]

Sounds like the lever/microswitches are worn. If you got four years out of a JLF (The joystick in the arcade stick) that's actually very impressive.

You can buy a drop in replacement from a number of sites, like these examples. 

 http://fgc.paradisearcadeshop.com/sanwa-joysticks/695-sanwa-jlf-tp-8yt-joystick.html, 

http://www.focusattack.com/sanwa-jlf-tp-8yt-joystick/, 

https://www.akishop.jp/joysticks/36-jlf-tp-8yt-sk.html##

In order to replace it you'll need a hex wrench (use the right size, if it's too small it will probably strip the head and you'll be sad), a philips head screwdriver to remove the JLF, and a flat head to remove the balltop, reverse and then you're good to go.

Be warned that the harness that madcatz supplies can fit two ways, so if it's not working the first way flip it and you'll be good.

[Monad]

Any good ps4 sticks out in the market that anyone could recommend? Currently looking @ amazon and various other sites.

 

Edit: Found this. Never had experience with HAYABUSA joystick and KURO pushbuttons, but reviews seem favorable.

[RWA Announcer]

Are their any notable, staggering differences between the Xrd and P4AU sticks for the PS4? They're the same price and have the same parts, so I was wondering if it was simply a matter of personal preference, or if their was one of them that was being recommended more over the other?