Hey guys!
It’s Mike from The Geek Pub.
In this episode we’re going to talk about something super important to your arcade build,
but almost no one talks about!
Joystick restrictor gates!
OK.
Before we get into it, let’s understand some basics of how joysticks work.
Trust me.
This is important!
Let’s start by understanding their movement behaviors.
Joysticks have four possible states they can be in at any given time.
These states can vary wildly between different designs and different manufacturers.
Joysticks default to a state we call neutral.
This is the position in which it rests when not being held and the position it returns
to when you release it.
Ideally, in a properly manufactured joystick this would be perpendicular and plum to the
top plate of the joystick.
The second state is one we call the deadzone.
The deadzone is the amount we can move the joystick in any direction without actually
engaging any of the microswitches.
Having some deadzone is a good thing.
All joysticks need some amount to compensate for most player’s tendency to not hold the
stick dead center.
However, too much deadzone in cheap sticks can cause gameplay to be very sloppy.
The next state is referred to as engaged.
This means the microswitch has been engaged and signal is being sent to the electronics
that a movement has occurred.
However, in most joysticks there is enough play in the microswitch that the stick has
not reached the end of its travel.
This brings us to what we call the throw.
This is where the joystick has completed its travel and can move no further.
The microswitch should be bottomed out at this position.
I hope this is all making sense, but just in case it’s not, let's take another look
from the bottom of the joystick.
First we have neutral.
Then we have the deadzone.
Followed by engaged.
And then finally the full throw.
Okay!
So now that we understand states and behaviors of the joystick, let's talk just ever so slightly
about the directions.
So.
Most joysticks (including the ones that we sell) are considered 8-way joysticks.
That means that it moves into the up position, down position, left position, right position,
and all of the diagonal positions.
Now there are some rare joysticks that actually have individual microswitches for the corners
(or the diagonals) but most joysticks will simply activate two microswitches.
Like if you push the left or right of the left up diagonal it simply activates the left
microswitch and the up microswitch at the same time!
Have you ever played a game like Pac-Man and you're running from the ghosts and you pushed
into the diagonals and nothing happens?
Pac-Man doesn't do anything!
that's because Pac-Man was designed to work with a four-way joystick!
So when you push the joystick into the diagonal position and activates two microswitches the
game software simply ignores it.
And that's why you get eaten by the ghosts.
So when you're playing Pac-Man you're constantly having to make sure that you push up, down,
left, right and never go into any of the diagonals!
Well there's a solution for that!
And that's why restrictor gates are so important!
If you turn the joystick upside down you’ll notice a piece of plastic on the bottom that
the joystick protrudes through.
This piece of plastic is called a restrictor gate and it controls the positions that the
joystick can move into.
Some restrictor gates are wide open like this round one and let, while others like this
two-way plate completely eliminate all but two directions.
You can turn restrictor gates 90 degrees to change how they operate.
These two-way restrictor gates are permanently molded.
However, many restrictor gates use inserts that allow you to adjust them.
Most joysticks ship with a square gate installed and indeed if you look at the bottom of our
joysticks you will see an insert style square gate and you can turn this gate 45 degrees.
Now many people think that you are eliminating the 8-way when you turn the square gate 45
degrees, but that's actually not what's happening.
The square gate simply based on its position simply makes the joystick prefer the diagonals
or prefer the standard up down left right positions.
You can see how if we have the square gate in its default position the stick will prefer
the diagonal positions, but if we turn the gate 45 degrees, it will prefer the standard
up/down/left/right positions.
Perfect for playing Pac-Man!
Some games like Space Invaders only have two directions.
If you’ve built a Space Invaders cabinet, you’ll probably want to use a two-way gate
set in the left right orientation.
In this illustration you can see how different shapes of restrictor gates will change how
the movement of the joystick is distributed or limited.
And it's right about this point that you're asking yourself, “Which one do I choose?”
and I hate to say this and give a cop-out answer, but the truth of the matter is: The
one that fits your personal preference!
If you play a lot of Pacman games and you play games like Rally-x and you know Donkey
Kong and games that were really designed for a four-way joystick?
I’d probably recommend that you use a square gate turned 45 degrees, or you use a plus
gate which completely eliminates the diagonals.
Now if you are playing a lot of games that are like fighting games then I probably would
(you know the ones that have like all the different moves) I probably would go with
an octagonal gate because it has a detent for all eight positions.
So the here's the good news.
The good news is its really easy I mean it takes like 30 seconds to pop this off and
pop a new one on (if that long).
So you can try different gates.
Figure out which one fits your playing style or the games that you like the most and then
go with that.
Another thing to be aware of is that not all joysticks actually even support restrictor
gates.
So make sure that when you purchase your joysticks that you get ones (if you want to use restrictor
Gates that is) make sure that you get a joystick that supports them.
Well that about wraps it up for this video.
Thank you guys so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one!