Launchbox/Bigbox + MAME + ServoStik

[maxforwardspeed]

16 hours ago, Headrush69 said:

I have this exact same setup and it works great. 

I used to have the Mag-Stick Plus and never cared for it. I found the manual switching wasn't practical for visitors on my machine. With either the Servo stick or the Mag-Stick, although 4-way is an improvement, these aren't as good as a true 4-way stick. Having said that I don't have any issues using the Servo-stick in 4-way mode, but more demanding "power" users might. Also, some or the Arcade cores like mame2003plus and FBNeo have some improvements to help with 4-way mode as well.

Thanks guys, I guess my other concern at this point is how difficult it would be to retrofit the servostik to replace my iL Eurostick. I highly doubt the mounting holes would align perfectly, and then there's the issue of extra space available for the servo. Glad to hear it's possible though! I'll look more closely at the existing mounts and try to come up with a solution. Maybe I'll give the mame2003plus a try too in the meantime. I suppose if that works well enough with my current sticks I could have launchbox use RetroArch for the 4-way games and the latest MAME for everything else? I know I'll need to rebuild a set for that core to work correctly, but it's a slow week at work so I've got time, hah.

 

[drodge]

On 7/27/2022 at 7:14 AM, maxforwardspeed said:

Thanks guys, I guess my other concern at this point is how difficult it would be to retrofit the servostik to replace my iL Eurostick. I highly doubt the mounting holes would align perfectly, and then there's the issue of extra space available for the servo. Glad to hear it's possible though! I'll look more closely at the existing mounts and try to come up with a solution. Maybe I'll give the mame2003plus a try too in the meantime. I suppose if that works well enough with my current sticks I could have launchbox use RetroArch for the 4-way games and the latest MAME for everything else? I know I'll need to rebuild a set for that core to work correctly, but it's a slow week at work so I've got time, hah.

 

 

@maxforwardspeedDid you ever replace your stick?   I have the same Eurostick in my cabinet and would have to have a 4-way switchable option.  I'd be way more excited about tearing the existing setup apart if I knew the servostick would bolt up fairly easily.  

Edited January 20 by JoeViking245
moved reply out of quote

[maxforwardspeed]

On 1/19/2025 at 7:17 PM, drodge said:

@maxforwardspeedDid you ever replace your stick?   I have the same Eurostick in my cabinet and would have to have a 4-way switchable option.  I'd be way more excited about tearing the existing setup apart if I knew the servostick would bolt up fairly easily.  

I never replaced it because it was going to be more hassle than it was worth. I experimented with the other cores that offered 4-way improvement but I couldn't see much difference. Let me know if you end up giving it a go!

[drodge]

2 hours ago, maxforwardspeed said:

I never replaced it because it was going to be more hassle than it was worth. I experimented with the other cores that offered 4-way improvement but I couldn't see much difference. Let me know if you end up giving it a go!

 I decided on getting a MagStik Pro instead.   They make a mounting plate adapter that should allow me to just bolt it up to the existing holes.  It seems like a lot less hassle than dealing with all of the configuration mods.   I'm not a hardcare gamer and really don't care about the fighting games as much, so I'm not too concerned about the negative comments I see about the MagStik.  If I don't like it, I can always try something else.  I'll let you know when I get it all installed.

 

[maxforwardspeed]

4 hours ago, drodge said:

 I decided on getting a MagStik Pro instead.   They make a mounting plate adapter that should allow me to just bolt it up to the existing holes.  It seems like a lot less hassle than dealing with all of the configuration mods.   I'm not a hardcare gamer and really don't care about the fighting games as much, so I'm not too concerned about the negative comments I see about the MagStik.  If I don't like it, I can always try something else.  I'll let you know when I get it all installed.

 

That's great, I didn't know they have an adapter plate like that. Is that on the Ultimarc site, because I swear I've never seen it listed as an option before. I might do the same thing if I can find that adapter. 

[drodge]

4 hours ago, maxforwardspeed said:

That's great, I didn't know they have an adapter plate like that. Is that on the Ultimarc site, because I swear I've never seen it listed as an option before. I might do the same thing if I can find that adapter. 

The joystick and plate came today and the first attempt was a fail.  The plate I ordered is too small for the mounting holes in the top. But overall, I'm sure it'll work.  The plate on the mag-stik screws off easily and the other one will pop right on. I just need to the  correct size plate.   If that doesn't work I'll fabricate something, but just looking at it I'm 99% sure a larger one will work.  This is the one I tried, but it was too narrow for the mounting holes in the board.

Paradise Arcade has one that specifically says it works with the Mag-Stik and it shows an IL joystick mounted on it in the photo, so it should work perfectly:   Universal Plate

I'll post photos when I get the new plate and try it out.

[maxforwardspeed]

16 minutes ago, drodge said:

The joystick and plate came today and the first attempt was a fail.  The plate I ordered is too small for the mounting holes in the top. But overall, I'm sure it'll work.  The plate on the mag-stik screws off easily and the other one will pop right on. I just need to the  correct size plate.   If that doesn't work I'll fabricate something, but just looking at it I'm 99% sure a larger one will work.  This is the one I tried, but it was too narrow for the mounting holes in the board.

Paradise Arcade has one that specifically says it works with the Mag-Stik and it shows an IL joystick mounted on it in the photo, so it should work perfectly:   Universal Plate

I'll post photos when I get the new plate and try it out.

Excellent thanks for the update!

[drodge]

I 

On 1/24/2025 at 8:16 PM, maxforwardspeed said:

Excellent thanks for the update!

OK, I got everything installed and overall it worked very well.  I ordered the correct plate from paradise arcade shop and it fits perfectly!   With the correct parts in hand, anyone can do the swap in about 30 minutes.   Try switching the joystick from 4 - 8 way a few times to get familiar and see how it works before you start and take photos to help with re-assembly.  I learned both of these the hard way!

I forgot to take photos as i was going, but it's pretty easy. Basically, you disassemble the mag-stik (pretty good photos and writeup here).  You remove the lock nut, bracket, washer, spring and rectangular washer from the bottom of the stick with an adjustable wrench.  That allows you to pull the joystick and plastic washer up from the top.  This exposes the 4 mounting screws on top.  Remove the old plate and replace it with the new adapter plate.   Alignment isn't super important since you can wire any of the switches to be any direction later.  I oriented mine so the plastic 4/8 way switch faced up, but there seemed to be enough room to mount it any direction.   Next, remove the wires from the old joystick (be sure to take photos so you know which color goes to which switch).  Remove the retainer clip on the old joystick and pull up through the panel.  Remove the 4 nuts holding on the old joystick and remove it.   Then bolt the new magstick in using the old nuts and bolts.  Once that's in, connect the wires back on.   Note that the orientation of the switches is different on the mag-stik  compared to the original stick.    Be sure to connect the old down wire to the switch that actually controls down on the new stick.  All of them are off by 90 degrees!   You should see what I mean when you're in there.  You can remap them later if you mess this up, but just double check before reassembly.   Lastly, put the joystick back in and reassemble the hardware in reverse order.  I was worried about tightening too much and not having enough play to switch the stick, but you basically get everything lined up and tighten the nut all the way down.  It'll only go together and function one way.   I had to try a couple times, but it'll all click once it's good.  Try the stick and make sure it switches properly.    I had to tighten a couple of times before I finally tightened it all the way and it worked correctly.   I recommend testing everything with Mame before buttoning it all up.   The wiring was tight with the new orientation setup, but I was able to stretch everything just enough without lengthening any of the wires.  At worst a short extension cable might be needed to one of the switches and/or remapping the inputs.  

Overall impression of the stick?  It's OK.  As I said before, I'm in no way a hard-core player or joystick snob.  Overall, it's definitely good enough for me. It for sure has a different feel than traditional spring joysticks and it took me several games to adjust.   I think long term it'll be fine, but it feels weird at first.   After several games of Donkey Kong and Pac-Man I was doing fine..   I kinda with they had a spring version to give a more natural feel, but it's fine for me.  I tried a couple fighting games also.  They seemed OK.  Again, maybe a more hard core user will find it unplayable, but it was fine for me.    The switching action too a few tries also, but it works fine from above and allows for quick transitions.   The look was pretty much the same as the old sticks, with the only real difference being a chrome stalk instead of black.   Overall,  it was a good option for my setup.