FingerCramp Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) All, Lifetime license holder here. I am considering a ServoStik (https://www.ultimarc.com/servostik.html) which has 4-way to 8-way powered restrictor switching. It can be switched from 4-way to 8-way and back via software (command-line or GUI). I spoke to the guy (Andy) at Ultimarc who said the restrictor can be changed automatically depending on the game using certain front ends. I asked about Launchbox/Bigbox, but he wasn't familiar. Has anyone gotten this to work, and if so, how? As this post's title indicates, I'm using Bigbox to run MAME games, and I'd like to have the joystick's restrictor plate to automatically change to 4-way when playing games like Donkey Kong and Pac Man, and change to 8-way when playing Street Fighter, etc. Any and all assistance would be appreciated. Thanks, -Mike Edited March 15, 2017 by FingerCramp Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 Sorry I cant help with your question, but had to pop in and commend you on a awesome username. Made me chuckle when that popped up. I think people on here will be able to help you though so just hang tight for a actually helpful reply. 1 Quote
FingerCramp Posted March 15, 2017 Author Posted March 15, 2017 Heh, thanks Neil. Did you have to pick Neil9000 because Neil0001 though Neil8999 were already taken? :-) Just kidding. I hope someone has some easy solutions for me. I'm sick of Googling in circles on this one. -Mike 1 Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 Just now, FingerCramp said: Heh, thanks Neil. Did you have to pick Neil9000 because Neil0001 though Neil8999 were already taken? :-) Just kidding. I hope someone has some easy solutions for me. I'm sick of Googling in circles on this one. -Mike Ha Ha 2001 reference although I'm sure you got that already from my avatar. It may be already available, I don't use any arcade hardware so have no idea. If its not Jason is very receptive on the forums, and is open to ideas and suggestions. In fact you will notice at the top of the screen is a issues/requests button, so if it doesn't work already you can always just submit a request for it, and it will be considered. Launchbox already has LED BLINKY support so its possible. Quote
FingerCramp Posted March 15, 2017 Author Posted March 15, 2017 I think you/may be onto something here with this "LEDblinky" thing. Looking at http://ledblinky.net/LEDBlinky.htm it says: Quote Switch the Ultimarc ServoStik's restrictor plate between 4-way and 8-way based on the currently selected game's primary control. Whoa! And since you said BigBox supports LEDblinky, I just have to figure out how it would all work together and the magic of how to configure it.... 1 Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 5 minutes ago, FingerCramp said: I think you/may be onto something here with this "LEDblinky" thing. Looking at http://ledblinky.net/LEDBlinky.htm it says: Whoa! And since you said BigBox supports LEDblinky, I just have to figure out how it would all work together and the magic of how to configure it.... Lol. Well as I said it "MAY" already be in, but I don't know. LED BLINKY is fully working though, so if its a part of that it may already work. Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 I believe LED BLINKY is a simple toggle on or off in the launchbox options, but again I will advise that I don't use these features and could be wrong. Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 Also this debate keeps this thread in the activity feed, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I will see it and jump in to offer more guidance than I can. Quote
FingerCramp Posted March 15, 2017 Author Posted March 15, 2017 More searching in these forums has indicated that LEDblinky is now supported internally. Reading through this thread: ...indicates people have gotten it to work to blink LEDs for attract mode and such. What I still need to figure out is how to make it work on a PER GAME basis to switch my ServoStik to 4-way or 8-way, depending on the game... Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 4 minutes ago, FingerCramp said: More searching in these forums has indicated that LEDblinky is now supported internally. Reading through this thread: ...indicates people have gotten it to work to blink LEDs for attract mode and such. What I still need to figure out is how to make it work on a PER GAME basis to switch my ServoStik to 4-way or 8-way, depending on the game... Well that part would probably be a mame thing not a launchbox thing. Launchbox will just pass whatever options you have selected to mame via a command line interface, that is how it launches any rom it just loads rom into emulator and hits run, simplified I know. so that would be a option within mame, or for what I know about this already in mame. Quote
Lordmonkus Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 If the joystick can be switched using a command line parameter when launching a game the I can't see a reason why it wouldn't be doable in Launchbox. But keep in mind I do not own these joysticks so anything I say is just based off what you are telling us and what I am seeing on their website. I took a look at their site and the commands are: JoyTray.exe -servo joy8way JoyTray.exe -servo joy4way These could be used in the additional apps section for each game so there will be some extra work that you will have to put in. I also see they have an SDK on their site so that might be some @Jason Carr can take a look at and see if there is a way to implement it into Launchbox somehow to make the tedious one game at a time thing less tedious. Disclaimer: I am not an expert in this sort of thing and everything I have said is pure guess work and if I am wrong you have nothing to complain about 1 Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 Lol, someone more intelligent than be joined in!! Similar though, should be possible but.... Quote
FingerCramp Posted March 15, 2017 Author Posted March 15, 2017 3 minutes ago, lordmonkus said: I took a look at their site and the commands are: JoyTray.exe -servo joy8way JoyTray.exe -servo joy4way @Jason Carr can take a look at and see if there is a way to implement it into Launchbox somehow to make the tedious one game at a time thing less tedious. Yes, I saw those command-line parameters, but it's not yet clear to me where they go. You said: Quote These could be used in the additional apps section for each game so there will be some extra work that you will have to put in. The "additional apps section for each game" ...where exactly? Within MAME? Within BigBox? I think I'm missing this crucial piece of the puzzle... Yes, I am OK with having to do some tedious setup, to make it work. But of course if @Jason Carr has a way to automate it, all the better! And I also wonder that if some feature is added to LaunchBox, it's also available in BigBox? I'm definitely using BigBox here. Thanks so much for your input! -Mike Quote
Lordmonkus Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 It would be in Launchbox. If you right click a game and select edit from the menu you will find a tab called Addition Apps. In there you can have separate programs run before or after a game loads. This has to be done on a per game basis though and right now there is no way to bulk edit unfortunately. Quote
FingerCramp Posted March 15, 2017 Author Posted March 15, 2017 Thanks, @lordmonkus! This is fantastic. Somehow I never realized one could right click a game and have have so many settings to fiddle with. That's why I belong in this "Noob" forum. So, the all-important question is: if I right click a game in Launchbox and make settings changes, will these settings also apply to BigBox? (I'm at work and unable to test this at the moment). Thanks a zillion! -Mike Quote
Lordmonkus Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 Yes, Launchbox is basically the "manager" mode for BigBox but doubles as a launcher itself for people who don't need BigBox and the extra features it has. Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 3 minutes ago, FingerCramp said: Thanks, @lordmonkus! This is fantastic. Somehow I never realized one could right click a game and have have so many settings to fiddle with. That's why I belong in this "Noob" forum. So, the all-important question is: if I right click a game in Launchbox and make settings changes, will these settings also apply to BigBox? (I'm at work and unable to test this at the moment). Thanks a zillion! -Mike Probably, lol. I know not the answer you wee looking for but probably. They do share a lot of settings. Quote
neil9000 Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 @lordmonkus, should I just leave this one with you and move on? Quote
Sithel Posted March 15, 2017 Posted March 15, 2017 I also just bought a servo stik. I plan to convert an ahk to exe and run the exe in the additional apps "Automaticaly run before main application" section on each 4 way game i come to find in mame. Default will be 8-way and I will have it go back to 8-way when I exit a game. I use Escape to exit mame so here's what my ahk file would look like before compiled. run, G:\Program Files (x86)\JoyTray\joytray -servo joy4way ~Esc:: run, G:\Program Files (x86)\JoyTray\joytray -servo joy8way ExitApp Quote
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