Can We Change The Gp32 Joystick

[larienna]

Me and my friend are desperately hating the gp32 joystick. I am trying to find if there is a way to change it.

The joystick is too high, if the head would be lower, it would require less movement to push on the directional button below. There seem to be enough place to move a lower joystick.

The joystick seem to be plugged into something and you can hear the clicks, so it is pushing on some buttons. Maybe it is possible to screw in or solder a new joystick.

It could be also possible to make a real DPAD ( line on the NES, and SNES ) that could float low over the joystick area.

So my question : Is there somebody in the world that tried to change the joytick of his game park.

 

[DaveC]

I have never messed with it but it would be doable. My GP32 stick works fine (although there are some where the diagonals don't work as the stick is worn) Just cut out a SNES pad and PC board mount it and solder the correct wires.

 

[DemonStar55]

well mine has troubles registering diagonals but I fixed that

but the simple answer to yrou question is deal with it

it's not that bad, a dpad would be better, but it's not bad once you get use to it

 

[thegrimreaper]

You can change the GP32 joystick and it isn't as difficult as you might think. The joystick can be levered off, without damaging it, using a thin pair of scissors, or anything else that is V-shaped and can apply pressure to both sides of the stick at the same time.

I found it difficult to change direction accurately i.e. going from "Left Only" to "Up Only", somehow it always managed to fall into "Up and Left".

I've written a guided to the changes I've made and to why I think they worked, I find my joystick is much easier to use now. It actually goes where I want it to. Check out this old thread I started a while ago...

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=19329&hl=

I've since improved my joystick improvement techniques and now I've super-glued a bit of card to the gray bit of the joystick that can be levered off. The circle of card I used in the above post just moved around too much.


If you want to make the joystick "shorter", then I think you'll have to lever the joystick off and find some way of trimming the length of the stick, a very hot knife or scissors so do the trick (all children under the age of 16 should ask their parents for permission :blink: )

 

[Vimacs]

at the beginning i also didnt like the gp32's dstick much, but after some time you will notice that it is way superior to a dpad couse its much more acurate and gives a better overall feeling. i sugest you to stick with it first for some time, when you still think it dosnt suit you after a mionth you can think about replaceing again.

 

[chris_r]

I personally have never had any problems with the stick apart from it clickin rather loudly when the switches are pressed. Although it is slightly less conveniant when playing something like Dance Dance Revolution on a gb emulator when you cant move the joystick with accurate timing

 

[psj3809]

I agree i hated the joystick at first, wanted it to be like a Gameboy one. But i love the noise of the microswitches, reminds me of my old Speccy joysticks.

Totally got used to it now, still too high and would prefer it lower but has done very well the last year i've had it

 

[KidQuaalude]

i love the gp32 stick! it's sooo much better than a dpad or anything else. i own a gp32 and a zodiac and the joystick on the gp32 completely outclasses the zodiac's hard to control analog one. thats the reason the zod gets used a lot less than my gp32 for games. i hope when the new gp32/64/X or whatever comes out they stay with the stick for control.

 

[Tarka]

I always thought DPad stood for DEADPAD - I much prefer the GP32 ministick

 

[Jarska333]

Hum, there hasn't been a good dpad since the original NES controller...

 

[Zorn]

The Playstation controller dpad is a very good one !! :huh:
By the way:
I also hate the ministick, but only because the directions
didn't worked after only a half year.
Because of that i coudn't play with my gp32 for a long time...
So i hate the damn cheap ministick of the gp32 !! <_<

A month ago let someone repair the stick and i really love the gp32 again.
but i still use this ministick with caution ...
I would have these problems with a dpad !!

 

[tekt5]

i quite like the gp32 ministick and have a problem playing with my gba's dapad now :lol:

 

[Seraptin]

yeah... it gp32 d-stick is the best

once you get used to it you cant play with anything else ;P

 

[larienna]

Thanks for the information. It seems like a good solution.

Just to give you an example of very bad joystick response, I was playing golden axe warrior(like zelda) on a sms emulator. In these kind of games, you need the 4 directions. When I was moving my character left, if I suddently tried to move up, it continued to move left. I had to push completely up until he decides to move up. This makes it difficult to dodge or make complex manuvers, especially in games where you constantly use the 4 direction.

 

[tekt5]

just try the joystick fix then