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Major Havoc USB controller


pboland

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Major Havoc uses a unique roller controller and that controller is quite expensive to obtain. Using what I've learned from my Cyclone Spinner project, I decide to take a stab at a "cost effective" USB roller controller in the style of Major havoc. I'm still tweaking the dimensions a little, but this is the design I came up with.

 

TU2_pic1.thumb.jpg.799191079fd2786ada8e77bed2299635.jpgTU2_pic2.thumb.jpg.28585ad0454c67785d62fc2b60008782.jpg

 

It uses a skateboard wheel (70 mm dia. x 51 mm long). Again, this is meant as a cost effective type controller and not a true reproduction of the original. With that in mind my controller will be made of mainly 3D printed parts and because of the way I'm making this, back lighting the wheel isn't planned. As to the sizing of the roller, it's close to the original, but not exactly the same (I didn't want to have to make/cast custom rollers). I am trying to make the mounting close to original, but of course that's a little hard to find. I did come across an image that had some dimensions on it and decided to run with that. Here's the mounting I'm going to be using for my roller controller:

 

Bolting.thumb.jpg.d2fe92e2cb77fab4fc6df972bbcbbad2.jpg

 

The pictured unit above is actually my second go at this. I'm getting ready to put this unit through some testing. I've decided to mount this controller in a storage box (just like my Cyclone controller) for testing. Here's what that looks like:

 

TestRig.thumb.jpg.2ff55184a8f3b855ffe69bbebec48ddf.jpg

 

Not only should this controller be good for playing Major Havoc via emulation, but it should work really good for games like Breakout & Arkanoid as well.

 

More to come...

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2 minutes ago, RevEng said:

I love love love the idea of using a skateboard wheel here. I'm assuming there's 608 bearings hidden away here, which should give this thing nice spin momentum. ?

Now makes me wonder if Atari used some existing roller/wheel for Major Havoc or if they engineered something new.

 

 ..Al

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3 hours ago, RevEng said:

I love love love the idea of using a skateboard wheel here. I'm assuming there's 608 bearings hidden away here, which should give this thing nice spin momentum. ?

 

1 hour ago, Shawn said:

Get yourself some Bones Red Bearings for those wheels. You want speed? Those will give you the best performance. Super Reds or Super Swiss will serve you well. Don't buy any of the ones out of Asia though, they are all fakes.

 

Actually, to keep cost down (plus I have them on hand from some other projects) I'm using nylon bushings. I'm quite happy with the result and it does have very good spin momentum. :)

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3 hours ago, Albert said:

Wow, that looks incredible, and it's even the right color!  I have a Major Havoc cabinet, but it's a Tempest conversion so it doesn't have the roller.  Love how you even made an accurate control panel overlay for it!  Great work!

 

 ..Al

Thanks! I almost got some blue wheels as the Arcade flyer for the game shows a blue roller:

 

11010101.jpg

 

In reality one could use any color wheels.

The control panel overlay was something I put together just because I didn't want to look into the plastic storage box.

 

3 hours ago, Albert said:

Now makes me wonder if Atari used some existing roller/wheel for Major Havoc or if they engineered something new.

 

 ..Al

My understanding is Atari had custom rollers made. The original controller had a solid roller (so it could be back lit) and it rolled on two shafts (kind of like a track ball).

 

The way I'm making mine, I just put the shaft through the center of the wheel since there's a hole there anyway.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just wanted to give an update on this project. I'm working on it here & there between other things. The design isn't changing, but I did have to adjust the position of the PCB (which changed the print slightly). I now have a nice clean left to right motion (X axis) of the mouse pointer natively when plugged in to the computer. I originally had it set up in the y axis, but after seeing doubledown's post on using it with a PS2, I thought X axis natively would be better for compatibility (since I don't know what kind of options the PS2 has in that game for mouse control). Not only that, but it makes it easier for set-up in mame. One would just need to adjust the speed of the mouse.

 

It's looking like there is some interest in making this controller available for purchase. I think I will do this once I have tested this controller a little further. In anticipation of this, I have purchased all the bright green wheels I could find (which isn't many). I was only able to purchase 8 wheels that are the correct size for this controller. Apparently, this green color is not a popular color. I also have 4 black wheels and 4 Red wheels on hand.

 

As to pricing right now I'm not sure (heck of a lot less then the $300-600 price of the original that's for sure), but I do know that it take about 12 hours to print all the parts for one controller. And I don't like running my printer while I'm sleeping, so that means only about one controller a day I can make. I currently have parts for five controllers printed. The reason for this was just to see if I could streamline my process.

 

Anyway let me do a little more testing, and maybe a small video of the roller in action. More to come, but for now a couple more pics (Red & Black roller without PCB mounted just to see what different colors might look like):

 

 

blackRoller.thumb.jpg.15884ad0307b8890b36b39a554da60a9.jpgredRoller.thumb.jpg.4a8e8edc46c16b7088b5f85d785e8a6d.jpg

 

 

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All good news...and I'd like to voice my "dibs" for a green one, if/when available.  As a fellow long-time AA'er...fellow Ohio-ian...and the greatest custom controller builder in the world (at least in my own mind)...I feel it's only right that I get one of the green ones!  ?   Teasing, of course...but I would really like a green one!

 

With that said, I'm not sure why you would have have it originally working on the Y-Axis...but I definitely appreciate the consideration to switching it to the X-Axis; as that's how it would be usable for the PlayStation 2, Atari Anthology, Major Havoc.  I'll have to check the in-game settings for that particular game, to see what settings/options are available to alter/manipulate.  Usually "sensitivity" is adjustable, I'm not sure if anything else would be.  Looking forward to this!

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21 hours ago, doubledown said:

All good news...and I'd like to voice my "dibs" for a green one, if/when available.  As a fellow long-time AA'er...fellow Ohio-ian...and the greatest custom controller builder in the world (at least in my own mind)...I feel it's only right that I get one of the green ones!  ?   Teasing, of course...but I would really like a green one!

I guess I should start a list of interest. You are on the list and listed for (1) unit with "green" roller.

21 hours ago, doubledown said:

With that said, I'm not sure why you would have have it originally working on the Y-Axis...but I definitely appreciate the consideration to switching it to the X-Axis; as that's how it would be usable for the PlayStation 2, Atari Anthology, Major Havoc.  I'll have to check the in-game settings for that particular game, to see what settings/options are available to alter/manipulate.  Usually "sensitivity" is adjustable, I'm not sure if anything else would be.  Looking forward to this!

I originally had it on the Y-Axis because it was easier to fit the PCB on the unit. Placing the PCB on the X-Axis meant I had to have a higher degree of precision when mounting the PCB. The top of the PCB edge sits about 1/32" below the flange mounting surface. It's tight, but it fits.

 

To all who read this topic and are possibly interested in purchasing a controller, please state your interest and color of roller you might want (green, red, or black).

I only have 7 green wheels as of today (11/17/20)

 

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1 hour ago, negative1 said:

Hi, I would love a dayglo/ neon green one,  and if you throw in a box with the 2 buttons connected,

I will pay for those also.

 

later

-1

I got you on the list.

 

I can tell you I will not be supplying the buttons themselves. I will most likely be adding the connections for two buttons (just like I did on the Cyclone spinner) since I have a feeling that's what most people are going to prefer.

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It has come to my attention that the PS2 does not recognize the mouse PCB that I use for both my Cyclone spinner and this new roller controller.
Not sure how big of a deal this is because most will be using this with a PC in MAME, but I thought I should mention it.

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I would really appreciate an original green if available. The blue on the flyer is very tempting so this request would probably change if said blue becomes available. I have a Space Duel cabinet with Havoc conversion. An arcade tech in the 80’s put a track ball on. I would rather have a spinner than this junker. Would this roller work with my conversion kit? If so, I’m in!

Thank you 

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18 hours ago, MajorHavoc53 said:

I would really appreciate an original green if available. The blue on the flyer is very tempting so this request would probably change if said blue becomes available. I have a Space Duel cabinet with Havoc conversion. An arcade tech in the 80’s put a track ball on. I would rather have a spinner than this junker. Would this roller work with my conversion kit? If so, I’m in!

Thank you 

Please be aware that my roller controller is USB only. I supply no way to interface with actual arcade hardware. I don't even know if that's possible. the PCB on this controller is nothing more than an optical USB mouse. For that reason I have focused on its use with MAME.

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On 11/27/2020 at 9:04 PM, pboland said:

Please be aware that my roller controller is USB only. I supply no way to interface with actual arcade hardware. I don't even know if that's possible. the PCB on this controller is nothing more than an optical USB mouse. For that reason I have focused on its use with MAME.

Thanks for the heads up. I would still like to be on the list for a green one because I think my technician can probably adapt it to work using parts from my track ball or from the tons of other parts he has collected over the years.

Thank you 

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5 hours ago, MajorHavoc53 said:

Thanks for the heads up. I would still like to be on the list for a green one because I think my technician can probably adapt it to work using parts from my track ball or from the tons of other parts he has collected over the years.

Thank you 

Okay, you are on the list with green roller.

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