The versatile Ultrastik 360
A little hobby I have is building an arcade cabinet. I’m not alone on this – there are thousands out there doing it (http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_examples.php).
The analogue UltraStik 360
I recently purchased two Ultrastik’s (http://www.ultimarc.com/ultrastik_info.html) from Ultimarc. They are versatile, easy to setup, accurate, reliable and provide a wonderful feel for gaming. I highly recommend one if you are interested in building an arcade cabinet or control panel. And Ultimarc’s service is legendary.
There is a good review on the Ultrastik on the RetroBlast site: http://www.retroblast.com/Hardware/Ultimarc-UltraStik-360-Review.php
These were to replace the leaf joysticks I had. Leaf joysticks are authentic, but lack two key things for me:
- They are either on or off – requiring two metal parts to contact
- They’re limited to 8 ways
- They need a restrictor plate to control movement in four way mode
Let me explain. So underneath these things are two ‘leaves’ of metal. Ever played a game in the arcades and angrily banged the cabinet because the machine refuses to respond to a movement in a very critical part of a game. The leaves can bend and warp and getting them to respond perfectly, even a brand spanking new one is an art form – for me anyway. Aarghh
They’re limited to 8 ways. Now that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but lots of games support 16 directions or more. And lastly a restrictor plate is used in a way that car gears are setup. As you change gears, a template exists that guides the shaft and your movement through the gears, instead of a just a big open space. In 4 way games a restrictor is important, as the diagonals are not seen as movements, so there are ‘dead spots’. The restrictor would prevent the diagonal movements and guide you to where you intended (e.g. up or left).
Switch joysticks
Switch joysticks are another type of joystick, with simple switches detecting movements. They feel ‘non-industrial’ IMHO and fake, make clicky noises and just rub against the retro purist grain. They are also generally on or off. Some of them can be switched between 8 and 4 way mode with a quick pull and twist of the shaft.
Switches underneath a switch joystick
The analogue Ultrastik
Some new joysticks use optical type sensors instead of basic switches to detect movement. These provide a better feel than standard switch joysticks. Some of these offer more control – in the form of acceleration – by detecting pressure. The ones I know of are referred to as 49way joysticks – offering a 7×7 matrix grid upon which movement can be detected.
The Ultrastik can detect the pressure exerted by the amount of movement (e.g. hard left or light left) and allow for acceleration in a game, in much the way a trackball or mouse can. It uses an optical type setup – no contacts but sensors that monitor the precise movements of a magnetic ball underneath the joystick. It’s similar to mouse movement – try moving a mouse with zero acceleration. It’s a natural movement we’re comfortable with. In fact the Ultrastik can replace the mouse’s movement quite well. It’s great for point and click adventure games.
The Ultrastik comes with some awesome mapping software that allows the joystick to be remapped for certain games. I’d like to this of it as a ‘soft guide’ solving the same problem a restrictor plate does but in a different way. Most joysticks require their restrictor plates to be a permanent type fit (a few allow swapping 4 way mode to 8 way mode). So restrictor plates limit the games you play to that plate setup. The soft guide approach does not. The diagonal movement you make would be guided by software, rather than by hardware to the correct movement. Having said that – you can get restrictor plates for the Ultrastik, but my experience is that they are rendered obsolete unless you have a setup that only needs one map. Only then is a restrictor plate beneficial.
The Ultrastik software provides extremely easy mapping. The software shows a 9×9 grid and a choice of a collection of grid templates. You can create new templates, but these templates will work 999/1000 times. For example, name a joystick that can happily manage Q-Bert – the 4-way diagonals only is brilliant.
Ultrastik maps
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2-way, left and right
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2-way, up and down
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4-way
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4-way, diagonals only
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4-way, no sticky (UD Bias)
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8-way
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8-way, easy diagonals
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Analog
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Mouse pointer
8-way, easy diagonals
The 49 ways often referred to for these types of joysticks is simply calculated by a 7×7 type grid (although the Ultrastik has a 9×9 grid – more flexible).
Analogue joysticks can have 256×256 grid’s. There are quite a few arcade games that support analogue and 49 way joysticks. I’ve found the Ultrastik extremely versatile – and so it should be – the author of a distro of MAME – called Mame Analog – who was/is king on analog in Mame, had input into the makeup of the mapping ideas.
While the matrix offers 9×9 control – I think that’s a software control limited by need rather than capability. One of the grid’s offered is called ‘analogue’ and can be experienced in test mode – offering amazing accuracy and granularity of control of pressure. So basically my take on this is, settings above 9×9 mode and analogue mode are not supported. To make sure there is no confusion about this – its capability exceeds any gaming requirements out there.
So in analogue mode the grid is blanked out. Otherwise you use arrows, ‘sticky’ cells, and empty cells to manage movement. A collection of template maps are available – called The grid above can be remapped to provide a software driven restrictor type setup, in that the software guides the required move – for example 4 way games.
4 way and 2 way mappings
Using the software mapping
Creating the software map is easy. Choose from the list of mappings and click ‘program’. It’s instant. Done. If you’re using an arcade cabinet frontend, you don’t want to manually load a mapping, rather you want the software to reprogram based on the game configuration. This is all quite do-able – and you can get a few minor tweaks.
So this Ultrastik can do anything other joysticks can do but better and offering versatility others couldn’t dream of. For example QBert is a game that requires 4 directions diagonally. But don’t think that you can use an 8 way joysticks diagonals lines for this. The actual game uses a 4 way setup rotated 45 degrees. So most people have dedicated 4 way and 8 way and rotated joysticks on a massive control panel. Intimidating, bulky, ugly and unauthentic.
My configuration
- 2 Ultrastiks
- 18 horizontal switch pushbuttons
- Maximus Arcade
- 22� Samsung LCD screen
- IPAC
- PIV with 512Mb RAM
- XP
- PCI Express X1650 512Mb card
- 500W PSU (don’t undersupply – not worth damaging hdisks)
I use an IPAC (http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html) as well. While the Ultrastik comes with 8 buttons, lots of games only work with keys. Fortunately – in a moment of clarity, the developers provided both an ‘input’ and ‘output’ mode. Input mode means the buttons act as buttons 1-10 as per a normal joystick. The output mode was the moment of genius. In this mode, when the Ultrastik is connected to an IPAC, movements and buttons can be mapped to keys.
I’m running MAME for arcade games (http://www.mameworld.net ), Playstation (http://www.epsxe.com/), ZX Spectrum (http://www.spectaculator.com) , Intellivision (http://www.shiny-technologies.com/nostalgia.php ) and a host of other emulators. For emulators that use joystick type setups in a standard configuration such as MAME, Playstation and Nintendo (so I’m talking about arcade’s and consoles, but not computers) – it’s a one size fits all – for the IPAC that is. If the emulator control keys can be remapped, then the IPAC setup stays as is (using MAME keys). The Ultrastiks are still remapped however, where a remapping is available. I’ll do a specific post on this, as I’ve got this setup fine tuned.
The setup allows me to play all these emulators. Note that without the IPAC – computer type emulators such as the ZX Spectrum would be difficult to manage. It’s so much easier having the combination of the IPAC and the joystick.
The verdict
This is the joystick I always wanted but didn’t think was possible. The maps mean no worrying about restrictor plates (the map does ‘soft’ guiding). I can even use it as a mouse. It’s extremely accurate and seems robust. Its connected via USB – so no wiring hassles.
I’ve tried several types of joysticks and I am convinced I have the two that will last me more than the lifetime of this arcade cabinet and beyond. It means you can build your own control panel – rather than buy a whole control panel box and plonk it on an arcade cabinet (ugly). Building a control panel involves some work – but it’s loads of fun.
The Ultrastik makes building a control panel a real pleasure. The Ultrastik is not only a technology breakthrough that will set the future standard for the retro space, but is also exceptionally well put together from both a software and hardware perspective. The mapping concept makes everthing else IMHO in the market archaic and one dimensional. It’s a technology innovation that makes authentic recreation not only possible, but versatile, accurate, reliable and easy. I couldn’t imagine the thought of going back to anything else. I highly recommend this joystick. I’ll be posting more on setting up and using this joystick.
Great review!
Unfortunately, I just ordered two E-Stiks (the fascia panel looked nice) from Ultimart literally seconds before reading through your article (I already had glanced through this page, but not thoroughly enough).
If I ever try another arcade cabinet, I’ll certainly check out the Ultrastik.
PS: I liked your other atricles too. Very well put together blog
Comment by Michael B — May 14, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
Thanks for the feedback. The E-Stik is a decent joystick - yes the fascia panel is cool - I have one of the Mag-stik’s - a close cousin of the E-Stik. The Mag-Stik allows switching 4 to 8 way from the top of the CP - but I honestly never liked it’s feel. I believe the E-Stik has a much more comfortable feel - although the E-Stik needs to be configured from under the CP to change 4-8 way.
The importance of switching between 4 and 8 way cannot be underestimated - Pacman in 8 way is a very frustrating experience
The option to rotate 45 degrees is nice in theory - but unless you plan to dedicate your machine to something like Q-Bert or - keep opening up the CP - it’s not going to be used.
Once you start using the E-Stiks - you’ll love them and want to ‘upgrade’ IMHO. Please take pics and keep a record online of the progress. Good luck with the arcade cabinet.
Comment by G Bingham — May 19, 2007 @ 11:26 am
Thanks for the great write up. Wish I’d come across it before I picked up 2 Magsticks. Sounds like 2 ultrasticks would have been better. I didn’t realize at the time that you can map the ultrasticks to work like a 49way, 2, 4,8 way etc.
Doh.
Oh well, a few more bucks on the fire!
Comment by Darin — September 20, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
I’m contemplating a new MAME cabinet. . . I was looking at the OMNI-Stik Prodigy Retro Edition, which is switchable between 4 or 8 way operation using a lever on top of the control panel. Then somebody pointed me towards the Ultrastik 360, and now I’m just not sure. Both of them seem to have a good reputation.
No doubt the Ultrastik is more versatile. . . so if I really wanted to play Star Wars or Q*Bert, that would be the way go go. Both of those are decent games, but I could live without them. What worries me is having to configure software for each game. I’m guessing the software only works with Windows, so that would be another limitation.
I’ve read that the Prodigy is a precise short-throw stick. . . They say it takes some getting used to, but it’s good once you do. I kind of like the simplicity: one lever to switch it, compatible with everything, not much can go wrong. Also I think it looks a little nicer because it lacks the plastic dust washer.
Still haven’t made up my mind, but thanks for posting your experience with the Ultrastik!
Comment by Zobeid — February 4, 2008 @ 5:38 pm
How did the Samsung 22″ LCD work out? I got a 2220WM 22″ widescreen Samsung monitor with a recent Dell computer purchase and have been trying to decide if I should use it for a MAME cabinet, or use a 27″ TV I have and just sell the 2220WM? Did you mount your LCD vertically or horizontally?
Comment by Bernie — February 9, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
So, how do you use the Ultrastik with MAME so that when you play Q*Bert, for instance, the Ultrastik automatically goes into 45 degree mode, and when you play, say, Space Invaders next, it goes into 2-way mode? Is it automatic?
Comment by Jerome — October 12, 2009 @ 3:25 pm
Yes - the software mapping makes it automatic. Just before you load the game, you run a batch file, or use a front-end such as Maximus Arcade, to tell the stick to load a certain configuration. I’ve got the details elsewhere in my blog (http://www.bingham.co.za/?p=72)
It lacks the template restrictor thingimagig that only forces certain movements, but the ’soft-lock’ ensures that only the valid movements are recorded. So yeah - in Q-Bert it’s 45 degree mode, and in space invaders 2-way mode. The feel is great. You don’t get dead spots (e.g. in Space Invaders you would not have to press EXACTLY right) or just plain wrong movement. That happens when you use 8 way sticks for 4 and 2 way games.
So it means that the movement is both forgiving and accurate. All my testing, and with friends has shown that you NEVER get someone saying ‘but I didn’t press it that way’. Seriously - it just works
Been a few years now - and the sticks are as good as new. And they’ve taken some beatings from many people.
Some useful links:
All the mappings in a file for you (for MAME - about 1 year old): > http://www.bingham.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/ultramaps.zip
Explanation of how to do the mappings: > http://forums.maximusarcade.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=514
Some front-ends that do this:
GamEx: Ultrastick plug-in integrated so no building batch files. Simple: > http://www.hfc-essentials.net/gameex/plugins.php
Mala: Also integrated: > http://malafe.net/
Comment by gbingham — October 12, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
@5 The 22″ was great. One problem. It’s viewing angle was not good (BW technology old back then). Was horizontally mounted. Just wish they sold big screens like these that are not widescreen. Then it would be perfect for horizontal and vertical games. TV - I think it’s a good option. But I’m very happy with the LCD - less unwieldy - as it’s much lighter. Oneday when I retire I’ll make one of those systems that rotates the screen depending on the game orientation.
Comment by gbingham — October 12, 2009 @ 5:11 pm