tbbk
Well-known member
ATTN: Jr. Pac. How to climb out of the well. (Reunion stick on wooden panel).
When Namco decided to re-release Ms. Pac-Man they had to decide what sort of joystick to use, leaf stick joysticks were no longer available, so they would need to use a microswitch joystick that gave a similar feel and control to the original stick.
Now Namco is a Japanese company and they had their choice of every Japanese stick available. Yet for some reason they chose not to use any of them and instead to contract with Happ/iL to make a new stick for their game. This stick has a diamond gate, medium throw, small ball and short handle much like the original Pac-stick, and it is also just as precise (if not more so).
The handle on the reunion stick is rather short and thus it is only easily installed on metal panels. Bob Roberts sells a longer replacement handle for it, but that lengthens the throw and puts the feel off.
Thus if you find yourself down a well with a wooden panel you can either keep digging with that Japanese stick or you can listen to instructions on how to use the reunion stick and actually get yourself out of the well with a machine that plays correctly.
Now, I spent roughly 3 hours of my own time building this panel, largely just for this tutorial, and I know you are going to ignore it and say that Japanese stick that you have never actually even used "feels fine", but I figured maybe someone else might be able to use this advice, so here goes.
Step. One. Gather supplies.
I have here one sheet of 1/2" birch plywood, 1 sheet of 1/4" birch plywood, one sheet of thin plexi, and the most important part, a reunion joystick.
I used the following tools for this project, but some of the items are optional. Honestly if you are building control panels from scratch you should have all this anyway. 2 screwdrivers, plexiglass cutter, circular saw, jigsaw, router/trimmer with 1/16" slot bit, drill, 5" sander, 1 1/8" holesaw bit.
I then used my circular saw to cut a 1/2" thick control panel for my machine. If working with a scratchbuilt cabinet be sure to measure your control panel depth on both sides, as your cabinet may not be perfectly square.
I like to mark my panels left and right so I don't get confused and do anything backwards or upside down.
Once that is done I cut a second control panel the same size out of my 1/4" plywood and set that aside for now.
Decide where you want your joystick and draw a 2 9/16" square on your 1/2" control panel.
Cut it out with your jigsaw (I usually use my drill to drill a starter hole) and you should have this.
Now look, the base fits right in the hole, but the lip keeps it from falling through.
Now stack your two panels together with the joystick base between them.
Then remove the 1/2" panel without moving the base, leaving it laying on the 1/4" panel. Go ahead and trace around the base with a pencil.
When Namco decided to re-release Ms. Pac-Man they had to decide what sort of joystick to use, leaf stick joysticks were no longer available, so they would need to use a microswitch joystick that gave a similar feel and control to the original stick.
Now Namco is a Japanese company and they had their choice of every Japanese stick available. Yet for some reason they chose not to use any of them and instead to contract with Happ/iL to make a new stick for their game. This stick has a diamond gate, medium throw, small ball and short handle much like the original Pac-stick, and it is also just as precise (if not more so).
The handle on the reunion stick is rather short and thus it is only easily installed on metal panels. Bob Roberts sells a longer replacement handle for it, but that lengthens the throw and puts the feel off.
Thus if you find yourself down a well with a wooden panel you can either keep digging with that Japanese stick or you can listen to instructions on how to use the reunion stick and actually get yourself out of the well with a machine that plays correctly.
Now, I spent roughly 3 hours of my own time building this panel, largely just for this tutorial, and I know you are going to ignore it and say that Japanese stick that you have never actually even used "feels fine", but I figured maybe someone else might be able to use this advice, so here goes.
Step. One. Gather supplies.
I have here one sheet of 1/2" birch plywood, 1 sheet of 1/4" birch plywood, one sheet of thin plexi, and the most important part, a reunion joystick.
I used the following tools for this project, but some of the items are optional. Honestly if you are building control panels from scratch you should have all this anyway. 2 screwdrivers, plexiglass cutter, circular saw, jigsaw, router/trimmer with 1/16" slot bit, drill, 5" sander, 1 1/8" holesaw bit.
I then used my circular saw to cut a 1/2" thick control panel for my machine. If working with a scratchbuilt cabinet be sure to measure your control panel depth on both sides, as your cabinet may not be perfectly square.
I like to mark my panels left and right so I don't get confused and do anything backwards or upside down.
Once that is done I cut a second control panel the same size out of my 1/4" plywood and set that aside for now.
Decide where you want your joystick and draw a 2 9/16" square on your 1/2" control panel.
Cut it out with your jigsaw (I usually use my drill to drill a starter hole) and you should have this.
Now look, the base fits right in the hole, but the lip keeps it from falling through.
Now stack your two panels together with the joystick base between them.
Then remove the 1/2" panel without moving the base, leaving it laying on the 1/4" panel. Go ahead and trace around the base with a pencil.
