Adding tilt control to the GC

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roses
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Adding tilt control to the GC

Post by roses » Tue Apr 09, 2013 4:23 pm

I saw one of these Tilt Board addons for the Xbox 360 and thought how cool it would be to add tilt to Cube.

It works by replacing the left analog input with tilt sensitivity instead which I think would be a really cool feature in certain games (ie. Luigis Mansion/F Zero). You can view the install manual here and there's a video of it in action here.

What do you think? Could the hardware be adapted to the GC controller? I've already checked out the sizes and space inside the standard controller and it would fit in perfectly in the middle section above the Start button. You'd have to desolder the two microswitches and relocate them elsewhere on the pad and drill holes to access them but I think this could be a really smooth mod.
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megalomaniac
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Re: Adding tilt control to the GC

Post by megalomaniac » Tue Apr 09, 2013 5:43 pm

hmmm...
sure its possible....dont know about that particular board but yea maybe something similar like the wii gyro thingy??


....and this would also be compatible on emulators....complete retro compatibility....
nice idea to consider...


portables :o
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Diminuendo
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Re: Adding tilt control to the GC

Post by Diminuendo » Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:29 am

one key thing to remember is that you'll probably have to be pretty pedantic with how the board is positioned in another controller
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Anticonformity11
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Re: Adding tilt control to the GC

Post by Anticonformity11 » Wed Apr 10, 2013 6:13 am

This is a good idea Roses, but if you do attempt the mod, be sure to keep the original stick intact, otherwise it'd be a pain to navigate menus.

Another thing to keep in mind: you would always have to have the controller facing a certain way when you start the cube or when you plug it in. This is because the analog sticks X=0 Y=0 reference is based on the position of the analog stick when the cube is first turned on. For example, if you started the cube with the stick all the way to the right, the gamecube thinks that it's in X=0 Y=0 position when the stick is all the way at the right (mario won't move), but when the stick is in the center it thinks you are making the stick move left X=-5 Y=0 (Mario moves left when you don't want him to).

Rumble might be a bad thing for a gyroscope, so keep that in mind too.
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roses
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Re: Adding tilt control to the GC

Post by roses » Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:54 pm

Diminuendo wrote:one key thing to remember is that you'll probably have to be pretty pedantic with how the board is positioned in another controller
Yes but thankfully the zero point of the Xbox controller is bang on the middle of the Gamecube controller in my totally non technical guesstimation meaning the accelerometer should register the correct balance. Hopefully ;)
Anticonformity11 wrote:This is a good idea Roses, but if you do attempt the mod, be sure to keep the original stick intact, otherwise it'd be a pain to navigate menus.

Another thing to keep in mind: you would always have to have the controller facing a certain way when you start the cube or when you plug it in. This is because the analog sticks X=0 Y=0 reference is based on the position of the analog stick when the cube is first turned on. For example, if you started the cube with the stick all the way to the right, the gamecube thinks that it's in X=0 Y=0 position when the stick is all the way at the right (mario won't move), but when the stick is in the center it thinks you are making the stick move left X=-5 Y=0 (Mario moves left when you don't want him to).

Rumble might be a bad thing for a gyroscope, so keep that in mind too.
The board comes with a feature that allows you to disable the tilt and revert to stick for times when you aren't using it. As for the calibration, if I'm reading the docs correctly the board automatically accounts for that and stores it in its own memory so it knows what your regular hand position is and it calculates from there.

The only thing thats putting me off is this gadget didn't make that big a splash when it way launched back in the SixAxis heyday and the manual seems to be riddled with errors and forums full of people that couldn't get the installation to work on an Xbox.

Not exactly what you want to be porting across to another platform as troubleshooting would be a real pain.

It seems like a simple enough mod though, both controllers run on the same voltage, the accelerometer is in the same relative position and the angle of use for both controllers is similar.

Can you imagine having the left thumbstick hooked up to tilt for Luigis Mansion? It would add a whole nother dimension to the gameplay, sort of like a halfway Wiimake.
Diminuendo
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Re: Adding tilt control to the GC

Post by Diminuendo » Thu Apr 11, 2013 1:26 am

roses wrote: Can you imagine having the left thumbstick hooked up to tilt for Luigis Mansion? It would add a whole nother dimension to the gameplay, sort of like a halfway Wiimake.
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