Anatomy Of An F200 D-pad Mod


Garn, hack right into the bugger.

The lip will become substantially thinner (~50%) but retains enough strength do its job. The hole has to be at least 2mm bigger (diameter that is, so, 1mm all around if you get me) because the d-pad will be pivoting side to side, as opposed to separate buttons moving up and down. You can achieve this and still keep the lip intact.

I'm confident that the d-pad would stay in place even without the lip. But, it will be there for good measure.
 
DaveC said:
I read somewhere in this forum that someone used one of those PSP stick on pads and it worked good.
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I tried that. It does improve things slightly, but as the d-pad doesn't pivot it is flawed. I do like action games like Rolling Thunder 2 and using a sticky D-pad it is much easier to quickly change from down-left to down-right and back - something which this game needs a lot of.

Predictably the sticky d-pad moves about and needs pushing back into position every 2 mins. It is a bit of a waste of time to be honest. I would advise trying the mod if the separate buttoned D-pad on the F-200 really isn't working for you :p
 
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Gruso - so if the lip is still in place then the tabs on the buttons should still keep it from falling out then?

Oh, and something else...did you ever get around to trying the mod with a ballbearing or something to form a pivot point? I know you said it was fine without it but I think it would make it even better.
 
Yep, the lip walls will be thinner but they'll still be doing the same thing. I don't think there's any danger of d-pad falling out at all... those little rubber knobs on the membrane have quite a grip.

I haven't tried the ball bearing, but I've got my GP2X apart at the moment (to apply glue) so if I can find something the right size I'll give it a go.
 
Brilliant, that would be great. Nothing too fancy, just something you can pop on YouTube that I can see.

Sorry for being such a fussy sod but I've never attempted anything like this and I wanna be 100% sure it's going to work!

Actually I have one more question (no surprise there) - you know when you reassemble the 'complete' d-pad, I noticed you've put the buttons so they sit flush with the top cross-section (to create a more even surface for your thumb to rest on). However, before the mod in their natural (unpressed) state they sit about 1MM higher than the cross section...does this mean that the buttons sit lower on the membrane?

Again, hope this makes sense as I'm not sure I've explained it properly...
 
No worries, I understand that you need all the info before diving in!

The buttons end up sitting at their original height. The cross piece actually sits up higher after the mod to give you the even surface.
 
Gruso said:
The buttons end up sitting at their original height. The cross piece actually sits up higher after the mod to give you the even surface.
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Ah, I see.

But the cross-section is still able to provide a central 'pivot point' then, even though it's higher up than it was before?
 
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There isn't a pivot point as such, the pad is held up by the four membrane points. This is where the membrane's less than perfect design actually becomes an advantage - the long travel and slight stiffness mean that it's easy to press one direction without inadvertently pressing any others. It's also easy to press two or four directions at once if desired. It only takes a minute of gaming to get the feel of it.

Anyway (waffle waffle), footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqJHOOCSFxw

Note: While filming this I was busy looking at everything but the games I was playing. Don't judge me, man. I threw in some Clay Fighter at the end, it's the only fighter I have on there at the moment. Absolutely no idea what I was doing. :lol:
 
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Gruso said:
Anyway (waffle waffle), footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqJHOOCSFxw



This looks like the business to me! Once Duddyroar does this mod I am next in line. Inspired stuff Gruso! B)
Click to expand...
 
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Had chance to watch this now and I have to say it certainly looks good, excellent work Gruso! What's it like for pulling off moves in games like Street Fighter 2?

I'm 100% certain I'm going to do this mod now. I have my dremel tool ready and AllYourBase has purchased some snippers and strong glue which are currently winging their way to me - the catch being that I have to do his F200 as well! :D
 
I've never been into fighting games so I'm not much use to you there. I'll have a proper bash at Clay Fighter today, but I won't have anything to compare it with!

Good luck with the job(s), any problems just post or PM. :)
 
More tips - getting the hole size right.

For the inevitable second round of hole size adjustment, it might be a good idea to do it with a bit of sandpaper around your finger instead of the Dremel. The Dremel is great when you're tidying up the old crosspiece bits, but when you're starting with a nice round hole, it can be hard to keep it round. :lol: This of course depends on your skills. Me, I'm not perfect.

Also, keep in mind that if the d-pad is hitting the case, it's doing so at a pronounced angle. You may only need to sand out an angled section near the top to give it clearance. This can save unnecessary hacking into the lip below. I threw this together in AutoCad:

dpadangledf8.jpg


Don't stress if you damage the lip though. It's not doing that much.

I think at some point I'll have to compile all this info into a tutorial.
 
You guys rock. B)

DaveC, excellent work, purely excellent. I love the top notch quality of that mod.

I am torn between the DaveC method and the hackaday nature of using snips and super-glue (Love that sort of thing too, re-use of existent parts). :) :)

One mention, open all your windows and make sure that there is a breeze before soldering on plastic, those fumes can be deadly.



PS, as an aside, is it possible to mill your own mold for something this small? Possibly a community college with a CAM setup that you can make the mold on, or possibly just run off a batch of plastic (nylon?) D-Pads? Just curious as to options here, I think there may be a market, and surely a way to do this. Perhaps a run of them on a 3D printer? (I believe there are services for that sort of thing.)
 
Gruso said:
More tips - getting the hole size right.

For the inevitable second round of hole size adjustment, it might be a good idea to do it with a bit of sandpaper around your finger instead of the Dremel. The Dremel is great when you're tidying up the old crosspiece bits, but when you're starting with a nice round hole, it can be hard to keep it round. :lol: This of course depends on your skills. Me, I'm not perfect.

Also, keep in mind that if the d-pad is hitting the case, it's doing so at a pronounced angle. You may only need to sand out an angled section near the top to give it clearance. This can save unnecessary hacking into the lip below. I threw this together in AutoCad:

dpadangledf8.jpg


Don't stress if you damage the lip though. It's not doing that much.

I think at some point I'll have to compile all this info into a tutorial.
Click to expand...
Awesome stuff, will take all this into account when I do the mod. :)
 
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