Any Problems With A 4-way Nes Joystick Mod?

[mrpham]

Having lost all my sensory nerves on my thumb due to using the BARE METAL STICK as a joystick (I broke 2 caps already and have no more =), I found it detrimental to my gaming experience. Especially when you have to push the stick fully to one side to get the directions working--it's painful as hell. So I decided enough is enough and now I want to replace the joystick mechanism in my GP2X completely. The idea I have in mind uses the NES joystick cap. The problem being is that I only want 4 directions as opposed to 8 for the sake of convenience and the coolness-factor of having the 'click' as each button is depressed any direction.

My question is, would having the joystick function in 4 directions as opposed to 8 prohibit me from anything? For example, would, say, a combination of up-left be an acceptable alternative to that diagonal? Or, are the vast majority of the games coded to only use the diagonal as opposed to a combination of the 4 directions?

 

[SiIV]

I'm not totally sure, but the gp2x has 8-way directions.
So, I believe that most games accept the button 'up+left' and not the combination of up+left.

Hey I broke my cap too and was using the metal rod for a long time, i finally paid 3$ to playasia for a joystick cap.

Your idea sounds good but you might not be able to push any of the diagonals. It's like wanting to push left+right at the same time. I believe that up+left is a button and not a combination. I may also be wrong.

 

[saehn]

How about this: get a small wooden ball from a craft store, drill an appropriately sized hole in it, and use epoxy to glue it to your GP2X's joystick shaft. The wood should be pretty comfortable, and should hold up pretty well. You could even paint it.

 

[mrpham]

@ SiIV: I suppose there's only one way to find out...

@ saehn: I don't know about you, but having experienced what a convex cap feels like, an even more extreme solution would frighten me Much appreciation, though, for the creativity!

 

[Mattroid]

I had wondered, too, how possible it would be to replace the stick with a d-pad. I've never taken my cap off, but even if you did replace it, wouldn't the pad still "tilt" like the stick did? I mean, it'd still basically work like the stick did, just with a new cap in the shape of a d-pad, right?

Or are you saying you were going to physically mod the hardware to support the d-pad the way it should be? I'd love to give that a shot, but doubt I'd know where to begin, much less want to risk messing something up in the process

If you do go for it, be sure to take pics and share! If it's an easy mod, I might have to give it a shot one day!

 

[Miika]

The GP2X can recognize 16 ways. There is 8 connectors in the stick, and the other 8 are recognized between them. It can be seen in the joytest program. However, the directions between the default 8-ways are extremely hard to hit, they are on a very tiny area.

EDIT: Mattroid, yes, the D-Pad mod (DaveC's) is an internal hardware mod, where the default stick is completely taken off, destroyed and thrown away. It is replaced with a real d-pad component (Not that I have a slightest idea how it is done)

 

[Mattroid]

Has it been done before (I'm sure it has by someone, somewhere) and have there been pics or a DIY guide? Or just general comments on how well it works?

Personally, while I generally prefer d-pads, I have to admit that I REALLY like the gp2x's joystick. If Sony had something similar with the PSP, I might still play it (although that's unlikely ). However, since the GP2X is mostly used for 2D games/emulators, a d-pad may have been better.

What'd be really cool is if there could be a way of swapping from one to the other...but I guess that's just a pipedream, eh? :lol: Can't win 'em all, I guess.

EDIT: I see a thread in General that has some links to joystick mods. I assume that if there is one similar to this, it's in there. Should be fun to read through those

EDIT EDIT: Or not

 

[Miika]

Has it been done before (I'm sure it has by someone, somewhere) and have there been pics or a DIY guide? Or just general comments on how well it works?

At least EvilDragon did it for some time, you could either order the parts or send your GP2X to him and let him screw your GP2X for 15(?) Euro.

 

[Mattroid]

Wow looks nice!

 

[mrpham]

First off, I want to clear the misconception when I used to the term 'NES joystick cap'. If you ever open up a NES controller, the joystick is one single piece of plastic. That's what I referred to as a 'cap'. The idea behind it is that since it's completely flat at the bottom and comes with a piece of rubber with 4 buttons (exposed rubber that is depressible), I believe with 4 exposed copper wires, each soldered to up, down, left, and right, the 4 buttons will allow the NES cap to function as a joystick.

The concept behind it is so ridiculously easy and so doable without having to buy a D-pad kit (not that I'm advising NOT to get one, I've been wanting to get my hand on some myself ). No resistors, no capacitors, no fancy electronics. Just an old NES D-pad cap, and 4 exposed copper wires.

I believe the person who really deserves the credit for this, whom I believe didn't get his work appreciated enough, should be Bacteria. If you search for some of his posts, he mentions of a project he did of a DIY joystick mod.

 

[grahf]

Bacteria did make a pretty decent guide. I believe it was DaveC who started the first thread on the possibility of replacing the stick. He did a lot of the first research. I was one of the first people to actually mod their system, in march/april of 2006 (has anyone done one before this?). There have been a ton of people who have since done similar things, with a lot of great results. There have also been a ton of people who have ruined their gp2xs, so be warned if your new at this stuff.

This is my original Gamecube dpad mod. The PCB is cut from a gamecube pad and mounted with 3m double sided tape, which both raised it a few mm to clear some surface mount comonents, and adheres it in place rock solid. The rubber contact pad is from the gamecube and had to be trimmed to fit. The plastic dpad itself requireded a lot of trimming to the underside to make it short enough to fit. This was my "first revision". Ive since tweaked a lot of stuff, and currently have a SNES dpad (but still the gamecube PCB). I originally didnt think the SNES pad would fit, but after inspiration from Nik166s NES dpad install (sorry if i got your name wrong) I trimmed it to death to make it fit.

 

[mrpham]

That's great inspirational work, grahf! Did you ever manage to include a stick button?

 

[rememberthe8bit]

This is my original Gamecube dpad mod...

Very nice! The pictures were nice and clear. This makes me want to make one of these...

But, I'm still wondering if the lack of a diagonal button hurts 8-way d-pads...

This is what I mean, the GP2X has 8 buttons to do 16 directions, so NW, NE, SW, and SE, all have their own buttons dedicated to them, but in a 8-way d-pad (like the NES) NW, NE, SW, and SE can only be done if you press two buttons at the same time. So, is all software programmed to use both 8-way, and 16-way configurations?

 

[dgame]

Hi grahf,

I have been searching for information on doing a Dpad mod to my GP2X and your modification seem close to what I can do. I have a gamecube and SNES controller to hack.

I read “. . . .Ive since tweaked a lot of stuff, and currently have a SNES dpad (but still the gamecube PCB). . . .”

Do you have pictures of your final version?

Is the SNES dpad on there now?

What type (thickness, model #) of 3M double sided tape did you use?

How does it perform? Is it precise? How are the diagonals? Do you play fighters? How about shooters?

Thanks.

 

[bacteria]

I believe the person who really deserves the credit for this, whom I believe didn't get his work appreciated enough, should be Bacteria. If you search for some of his posts, he mentions of a project he did of a DIY joystick mod.

Thanks, appreciate this. My modding skills have improved drastically since my first dabbling, which was with the GP2x.

These days, there are two alternative methods I would recommend:

1) Make your own case, so the A,B,Y,X buttons are positioned better, using 12mm tact switches for the contacts, and centre click, redesign the positioning of the other buttons too, make the case slightly wider to include a NES D-pad properly and make the backing deeper to include sub-C or C cell batteries (c. 4500NiMH). (This is how I would do it now). If tv-out is improved, especially if someone can make it output in RGB mode on 640x480 resolution, I will do this (PSone screen).

2) Remove current joystick, mount four 6mm (or 12mm) tact switches onto thin card, make tracers with tin foil to the edge of the card (to connect the wires to - this is the "poor man's mobo") and back with thin card to stop any contacts connecting to the mobo itself. Then stick the construction with double sided tape to the mobo, and put the D-pad top onto the four tact switches to make contact (glue the D-pad top to the tact switches, carefully!). You obviously need to cut the D-pad shape out of the GP2x case. One option is to cut a circle from a GB Colour or GB mono or GBA containing the D-pad, paint the plastic to the same colour as the GP2x, then stick it to the top of the GP2x - would make life easier. You can buy GB Colour or GBA on e-bay for about £10-£12 delivered, the GB mono for about half that. Tact switches cost something like 18p or each plus postage. You also use a tact swtich for the centre click button. You can do your own D-pad mod for about £8-£14, complete.