The manual says it's an 8-way stick but I was thinking it was a 45 degree 4-way stick similar to Q*Bert. Can anyone confirm what kind of joystick is in an original Congo Bongo?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Congo Bongo Joystick (4-way or 8-way) ??
- Thread starter Bee423
- Start date
As far as I recall it is a 4-way mounted in the regular fashion, no 45 degree angle.
I don't have access to a cabinet to confirm right now, but I played on one about a month ago.
I'm sure the more experienced members will correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't have access to a cabinet to confirm right now, but I played on one about a month ago.
I'm sure the more experienced members will correct me if I'm wrong.
I've asked this same question before here.
After seeing many pictures over the years of various original control panels, I have concluded that it was originally an 8 way joystick, mounted 45 degrees. The manual is correct in calling for an 8 way joystick. I originally restored my game with a 4 way at 45 degrees. The game play was fine, and the restrictor limited you to the diagonal directions.
However after seeing many pictures of other original panels that clearly showed black base 8 way joysticks, I swapped to an 8 way. There really isn't any difference in game play, since the game board ignores the inputs when two switches are active at the same time, however the round hole in the wico 8 way with no restrictor gives the control a much more fluid feeling, and I like it better, and I think is the reason it was used.
Congo Bongo joystick mounting
Hey folks, I'm taking a Zaxxon control panel and converting it to a Congo Bongo. I need to mount the joystick orthogonally and drill 4 new holes, but the wico joystick base is rectangular not square, and so the holes will not be in a symmetrical diamond shape. If the base was square it wouldn't...
forums.arcade-museum.com
After seeing many pictures over the years of various original control panels, I have concluded that it was originally an 8 way joystick, mounted 45 degrees. The manual is correct in calling for an 8 way joystick. I originally restored my game with a 4 way at 45 degrees. The game play was fine, and the restrictor limited you to the diagonal directions.
However after seeing many pictures of other original panels that clearly showed black base 8 way joysticks, I swapped to an 8 way. There really isn't any difference in game play, since the game board ignores the inputs when two switches are active at the same time, however the round hole in the wico 8 way with no restrictor gives the control a much more fluid feeling, and I like it better, and I think is the reason it was used.
OP
OP
Thanks @TimePiloteer!!!
Sounds like a Wico 8-way is the "way" to go
. I would just mount an 8-way like normal though and not 45 degree, correct? ... or am I missing something?
Sounds like a Wico 8-way is the "way" to go
. I would just mount an 8-way like normal though and not 45 degree, correct? ... or am I missing something?
gwarble
Well-known member
yes it still needs to be mounted at 45 degrees so each diagonal direction gets a single input
OP
OP
That's interesting...so even though it's an 8-way, it's really still only using 4 inputs. The 8-way jsut give it the fluidness that @TimePiloteer mentioned above. Am I understanding correctly?
gwarble
Well-known member
I was agreeing with him without testing... but the round opening makes sense for fluid feeling... I kinda thought there was a small window where you could go the cardinal directions (ie two inputs since the joystick is for sure mounted 45 degrees) but I could be mistaken since you usually want to only go diagonals... I can test it tonight
Correct. You can use either type of joystick (mounted 45) but I think you'll find the 8 way to have a better feel. There are some levels in this game with a lot of climbing up and down (first level especially) where the 4 way with restrictor seems to make a lot of sense, but other levels like the snake level where your character can potentially move in a full circle in the middle of the land pad on the screen, and being able to move the joystick all the way around 360 has a more natural feel to it.
gwarble
Well-known member
I confirmed that the gate is round, but you can't move up down left right, there is a spot where movement will toggle between the diagonals but not just stop completely... I guess I could check if there is actually two switches closing or if they still configured it like a 4-way switch wise
