Arcade Stick Control - Alternative Settings?

[djbucksta]

Afternoon All,

I'm starting to build my setup   (again - i tried about a year ago lol)    and i am running    Launchbox  to  rocketlauncher to retroarch mame   (for example)

 

I have just received a Mayflash Arcade Fightstick 101  (and have another on the way)  -  it works well but I may decide to mod it in the future with some sanwa buttons & stick.

my question is,  with this setup whats the easiest way to setup alternative control schemes / button layouts  for example by platform for CPS 1/2/3 games  Vs  Neo Geo games.

 

and what are the steps I should take?      (I'm finding the fact I'm essentially using 4 programs (some not very user friendly - especially for noobs!)  quite confusing trying to get the config all to work!)

 

Many thanks in advance for your help!

bucksta

 

my soundcloud: 

 

[Guwanges]

Just got going on this just this week so it's fresh in my mind. Hope I can give you some guidance.

First, definitely plan on a Sanwa mod. My main stick is a Hori EX-SE (xbox360) which is a seimitsu stick/button configuration.

It's ideal for shoot-em-ups but Sanwa is just as good, especially if you go for a shorter shaft throw. Sanwa buttons are always best, particularly for fighting games. No spongey mushyness.

As for your main question, I map my EX-SE first in Retroarch's Input settings.

It's kind of frustrating how it's layed out but it's basically based on a SNES controller layout (reversed A/B, X/Y buttons).

See this link: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/RetroArch-Configuration

 

So, since my stick is an xbox360, I end up mapping the actual A button to Retroarch's B button, and so on.

This will be the default input mapping which makes things much easier to configure per emulator core/per game.

As the above implies, you still have work to do. Most games will have a straightforward A, B, C button layout which you should be able to standardize with your default setup above.

For more specific setups, you have to start the game and remap in the game's input settings.

Once you're happy with the mapping you can save it as the default remap for that game.

 

In some cases it's also good to save it as the default mapping for the entire core.

This is more useful for console emulator cores as the layouts don't change, whereas arcade control layouts are quite variable.

I realize there are probably still a lot of floating questions around this. It's a bit of a head-scratcher to think about how you want to maximize your setup.

I'm still in the midst of thinking mine through, but I'm mostly satisfied and don't have much ongoing work to think about in regards to remapping now that I've put in some initial work.

 

Good luck!

[djbucksta]

Thanks for your help -  I overcome my button setup by using the following layout:

4 5 6 7

1 2 3 4

so its set up for 6 button games and neo-geo layout respectively.

 

I have another question you might be able to help me with -  with the mod is there a particular model of stick or buttons I need? or are they pretty interchangable?

Thanks

Bucksta :) 

 

[Guwanges]

Glad you got it figured out!

As for the mod, google "Mayflash Sanwa Mod" and you'll find lots of videos to guide you, but it should be pretty straightforward.

I would stick with what you see other's doing as they're probably selecting the best parts for your situation.

Different sticks have different lengths and it's possible you won't have enough room if your stick enclosure is too shallow.

By going with the standard other's used, you'll know everything fits.

With that said, sticks aren't that different for the most part so there is usually a way to make it work, but might take a bit more ingenuity on your part.

If I had to guess, most mods would use the Sanwa JLF. It's a lovely stick - top-3 you could get for sure - and not expensive:
https://www.focusattack.com/sanwa-jlf-tp-8yt-joystick/

Buttons are standard and fit the same diameter holes, but do watch for weird case scenarios like Happ buttons that have very long screw shafts.

If you stick with sanwa obs buttons, again, the best and not expensive:
https://www.focusattack.com/pushbuttons/popular-brands/sanwa/obs-series/

I recommend going with the screw-ins as the other's have a tendency of snapping when removing.