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CV Gus

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  1. Posted

    Here are the text instructions:

     

    PART ONE: WHAT IS IT?

     

    When the Atari 5200 was released in late 1982, it was an attempt by Atari to match the ColecoVision.

     

    As a result, it had a good number of arcade-to-home translations, including Atari arcade games (before mid-1984, "Atari" was a single huge company).

     

    Unfortunately, Atari was to make a technical decision that really ended up hurting 5200 sales: the console was released with strange controllers which did not self-center, and were "analog," not "digital."

     

    "Digital" simply means on or off. When you move a regular joystick controller in a particular direction, you activate a switch that allows current to go through. This tells the game that you are doing something. When you move diagonally, you are simply activating 2 such switches at the same time. The fire buttons work the same way.

     

    "Analog," however, means not only on or off, but how much. A light switch with a dimmer is a perfect example of this. With the 5200 joystick, when you moved the stick in a particular direction, the game not only knew which direction the stick was moved, but by how much. This is very clear in Missile Command- move the stick a bit to the left, and the cursor moves a bit to the left, and then stays there. Move it more, and the cursor moves more. How far the cursor moves depends on how far you move the stick over.

     

    Unfortunately, there wasn't a single arcade game from that era, to my knowledge, that had such a control scheme. Most had regular joystick controls; a few had trak-balls (Centipede, Missile Command) or paddles (such as Super Breakout). As a result, it was next to impossible to react very quickly, with short, precise moves. And while it did work moderately well for Missile Command, it just wasn't as good as paddle controls for Super Breakout.

     

    It was just a rotten idea.

     

     

     

     

    PART TWO: HOW DOES IT WORK?

     

    Using a 15-pin cable, the 5200 controller had a joystick with 4 fire buttons (2 on each side: upper and lower) and 15 buttons. These were the standard 1-9, 0, and * and #- just like on a touch-tone phone- below the joystick. The extra 3 were above the joystick and were START, PAUSE, and RESET. All but the latter 3 had different functions for different games.

     

    The buttons actually were pretty standard as far as circuitry went. When you pushed the button, a small piece of conductive material would touch 2 halves of a sort of disc-shape. Each half simply connected to two particular wires, so, when you pressed a button, it was like touching the ends of 2 different wires to each other.

     

    The joystick, however, was anything but standard. What the set-up actually did was to turn two different "potentiometers"- variable resistors- which are simply like two tiny paddle controllers. It was literally like having two paddle controllers: one for up and down, and one for left and right.

     

    "Resistors" are things which limit the flow of electricity, just like a faucet limits the flow of water. The higher the resistance, the less flow of electricity you have. The lower the resistance, the more electricity flows. Resistance is measured in "Ohms." A 100 Ohm resistor will limit the flow of electricity twice as much as a 50 Ohm resistor.

     

    A "potentiometer" is simply a resistor which can be adjusted- just like a faucet. Turn it one way, and the resistance increases; turn it the other way, and it decreases.

     

    The 5200 joystick can turn both potentiometers. One controls the vertical; the other, the horizontal. The 5200 games act based on the two values.

     

    In just about every 5200 game, it works like this:

     

    VERTICAL= Increasing resistance moves DOWN. Decreasing resistance moves UP.

     

    HORIZONTAL= Increasing resistance moves RIGHT. Decreasing resistance moves down.

     

    Therefore, when you move the joystick left decreases the resistance in that potentiometer. Pull it down, and you are increasing the resistance in the other one.

     

     

    The easiest way to see this is to plug in most games, and, after starting it, unplug the controller. You are completely breaking the circuit for both vertical and horizontal; this is "near infinite" resistance. Which way do you think the (whatever) on the screen will move?

     

     

    If you answered "down and right," then you've got it.

     

     

     

     

    PART 3: BASIC WIRING.

     

    Hmmmm...now we get down to it!

     

    The 5200 controller wiring is complicated only if you try to take it all in at once, looking in an actual 5200 controller. In reality, the scheme is pretty basic: with the exception of the joystick controls, everything else is simply a matter of 2 different wires touching to achieve something. That's it.

     

     

    So, without further ado...here it is!

     

     

    VERTICAL= RED and BLACK (with potentiometer).

    HORIZONTAL= BROWN and BLACK (with potentiometer).

     

    UPPER FIRE BUTTON= GREEN/WHITE and ORANGE.

    LOWER FIRE BUTTON= YELLOW and ORANGE.

     

    START= RED/WHITE and ORANGE/WHITE.

    PAUSE= PURPLE and ORANGE/WHITE.

    RESET= BLUE and ORANGE/WHITE.

     

     

    Keypad Buttons:

     

    1= ORANGE

    2= WHITE (1, 2, and 3 touch RED/WHITE)

    3= GREY

     

    4= ORANGE

    5= WHITE (4, 5, and 6 touch PURPLE)

    6= GREY

     

    7= ORANGE

    8= WHITE (7, 8, and 9 touch BLUE)

    9= GREY

     

    *= ORANGE

    0= WHITE (*, 0, and # touch GREEN)

    #= GREY

     

     

    In other words, touch ORANGE and GREEN and you "press" *. Touch GREY and GREEN and you "press" #. Touch WHITE and PURPLE and you "press"...if you said 5, then you have it.

     

     

    Now, these colors assume you are actually using the cable from a 5200 controller. What if you don't have such? No problem, because here's where those wires lead to in a 5200 cable:

     

    The 5200 controller plug has 15 holes: there are 2 rows; 8 in the top row, and 7 in the bottom row.

     

    OOOOOOOO

    OOOOOOO

     

    I will number them. This assumes you are looking at the holes in the plug, with the 8-hole row on top:

     

    01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

    09 10 11 12 13 14 15

     

    01= GREEN

    02= RED/WHITE

    03= PURPLE

    04= BLUE

    05= ORANGE/WHITE

    06= NOTHING

    07= WHITE

    08= GREY

    09= ORANGE

    10= GREEN/WHITE

    11= YELLOW

    12= NOTHING

    13= RED

    14= BROWN

    15= BLACK

     

    I also found a BLACK/WHITE wire, but it does not appear to do anything. It does not lead to any of the holes.

     

    So- what if you have a 15-pin controller cable from something else? All you have to do is use a multi-tester to figure out which wire leads to which hole (if the multi-tester prong is too big to fit in the holes, just twist a bit of stiff wire to the prong).

     

    If, for example, in your cable the GOLD wire leads to Hole 7, then treat it as the WHITE wire listed above. If the SILVER wire leads to Hole 12, then it is of no use; seal it off.

     

     

     

     

    PART 4: THE JOYSTICK ITSELF.

     

     

    This part is in conjunction with the diagrams...

     

    As mentioned earlier, the 5200 joystick control is analog, not digital. In this case, the joystick actually turns two little variable resistors ("potentiometers"); one controls the vertical, the other, the horizontal. It is exactly like two tiny paddle controllers (a paddle controller IS a potentiometer).

     

    As you already know, when you play Pong, Breakout, Super Breakout, Arkanoid, Canyon Bomber, or any game with a paddle controller, there is a point when the paddle (or whatever) is centered. This is because the resistance is at the point when the video game puts the object in the middle. This is important: when you release a normal joystick, it is "centered" because the game is not receiving any input from it. In the case of a 5200 joystick, the stick is "centered" only because the values of the two potentiometers are such that the game knows not to do anything (e.g. "don't move the Humanoid in Berzerk").

     

    Vertical: Low Resistance=UP; High Resistance=DOWN.

     

    Horizontal: Low Resistance=LEFT; High Resistance=Right.

     

    When you unplug the controller, you are completely breaking the circuit. Electricity cannot flow. This is the same thing as VERY VERY VERY high resistance; that's why the game acts as if you have jammed the joystick down and to the right.

     

    If there wasn't ANY resistance to these 2 currents, it would be as if you jammed the joystick up and left.

     

    Therefore, the "neutral" position is between the two extremes.

     

    Unfortunately, I cannot give you these values. My testing equipment is not precise enough to do it; this is why I hooked up the 2 potentiometers to my joystick set-up; I simply adjust them until they are both at the neutral value. These two potentiometers take the place of two "fixed" resistors. Just keep in mind that, once adjusted, THESE TWO POTENTIOMETERS ACT AS TWO FIXED RESISTORS THAT WOULD HAVE THE "NEUTRAL" VALUES!

     

    Therefore, as long as you do nothing, the 5200 is receiving the same two values you would get if you properly centered a 5200 controller. Nothing happens.

     

    What my controller does here is to alter that "neutral" value. Lessen if you want to up/left. Increase if you want to go down/right.

     

    At this point, I should explain two things about connecting resistors: "Series" and "Parallel."

     

    "Series" connection is when you connect two (or more) resistors end-to-end, much as you would do two batteries in a flashlight (resistors, luckily, do not have a polarity). When you do it this way, you simply add the resistances to get the total. So, connecting two 10 Ohm resistors end-to-end gives you a total resistance of 20 Ohms. Pretty much what you'd expect.

     

    "Parallel" connection is when you put two resistors right next to each other and, say, twist them together, as if you were twisting two garbage ties together to get one double-strength garbage tie. If you do this with two resistors, to find the resistance you end up with use this formula:

     

    (Resistor 1)X(Resistor 2)

    _____________________

     

    (Resistor 1)+(Resistor 2)

     

    Helpful Hint: if they are of the same value, you simply cut the value in half. Two 10-Ohm resistors would become a 5 Ohm resistor.

     

    So- let's take those two 10-Ohm resistors and twist them together. What do you get?

     

    (10X10)/(10+10)= (100)/(20)=5!

     

     

    This is the heart of my 5200 Digital Joystick. When you pull down and/or to the right, you are ADDING (in my case) 235,000 Ohms to the Neutral value(s). It is a series connection. When you push up or to the left, you are creating a parallel connection (you obviously can do this without twisting the two resistors together!), which greatly LOWERS the resistance(s). Since I use 10-Ohm resistors for this, and the neutral value is very high (thousands), you end up with a value a bit less than 10 (try the formula and see what you get).

     

    There are 2 diagrams here. One shows the 2 separate circuits; the other, combined.

  2. Posted

    7800 definitely has the graphics, although the 5200 isn't bad. it's way better than the 2600 version. I rather the 5200 because it includes the conveyor belt screen that wasn't done on any other home version, including the NES, which was odd since it's their game.

     

     

    Strangely enough, there is an NES version that has all four screens. It also has the intermissions, and the "complete" version of Donkey Kong Jr., too. I myself played it in the mid (later) 1990s. That is why, in 2000, when I found an NES at a garage sale and picked up a DK/DKJr. cartridge for it, I was surprised that it was the "regular" version; I assumed ALL cartridges were like the one I had played.

     

    And yes, it absolutely was an NES- NOT a Super Nintendo.

  3. Posted

    Hello!

     

    This is my first post in this particular area.

     

    Few 5200 owners will dispute the fact that the 5200 controllers were a disaster. Who came up with the idea to use clumsy analog controllers when just about every game for it- especially arcade games- used standard digital? Games like Ms. Pac-Man, Berzerk, Qix...just awful.

     

    So, being fed up, last year I set out to make a digital controller.

     

    I succeeded.

     

    The improvement in gameplay was fantastic. Just a short time afterwards, I beat 20,000 points in Berzerk!

     

     

    If anyone is interested, then I will post a detailed text description of the project; this will include which wires do what. It will include a basic description of what the analog controller actually does. And so on.

     

    I also have diagrams, but- I do not have a scanner, and I do not have access to one. Therefore, if you wish the diagrams to be posted here, then I will have to send them via regular mail to someone who can scan them.

     

    `Til next time!

  5. Posted

    if you sell 300 games at $30 each, that's $9,000.

     

    According to Daniel Bienvenu's list that's an unrealistic number. The record for ColecoVision games released since the 90's is at 200 carts sold.

     

    Philipp

     

     

    200? I thought that there were far more people purchasing homebrew games than that, especially since, in 2007, the "word" must have gotten out.

     

    Or maybe not?

     

    There are probably many more people out there who would be interested, but do not know. So, to help with this AWFUL problem, just post links to this website's store, the CV section (in this case), with a comment about what it is. For example, if you have a MySpace blog, or whatever it's called, and many people read it. Or as a "subtitle" to your posts.

     

    Might just work.

  6. Posted

    I cannot believe it- SPACE DUEL for the 7800?

     

    I really liked this game! But, I haven't played it in, oh, at least 20 years. It's a shame that vector games died out by the end of the 1980s; all of a sudden, they seemed to have mostly vanished from the arcade scene. The last time I was able to play one was back in 1998, when I happened across an old Asteroids machine.

     

    This version even has the vector "look," something sorely lacking from the dreadful-looking CV versions of Space Fury and Omega Race.

     

    My compliments to the programmer(s) behind this project! Keep it up!

  7. Posted

    Will this game be a complete version of Q*Bert? I'd read earlier that it would only have the colored globes falling from above; if this is the case, then it sounds like a mid-1980s computer clone called "Q*Bopper."

     

    You did look at the contest page, which talks a bit about the game, right? :)

     

     

    I tried last time, but it never "came up," even after waiting...and waiting...

     

    You have to remember that the computers I use often cannot do much very quickly, and I only have limited time here. Probably the same reason I can't get most emulators running, either.

     

    From your comment, though, I take it that this IS a complete version? If only the CV version had looked as good as the sequel did- that was 7800 or even NES-level graphics!

  8. Posted

    Will this game be a complete version of Q*Bert? I'd read earlier that it would only have the colored globes falling from above; if this is the case, then it sounds like a mid-1980s computer clone called "Q*Bopper."

     

    I would hope that it is a complete version. I purchased a 7800 in 1988, and always felt that Atari (under the Tramiels) never really even bothered to try.

  10. Posted · Edited by CV Gus

    I'd like a copy of Road Fighter. Six screens, you say? Any screenshots? Can the game be beaten, or is there always more to do?

     

    How much is a copy, and where does one send a money order?

     

    Best of luck to you and yours. :D

     

     

    By the way- I recently built a digital controller for the Atari 5200 (hint!). You'd be surprised how much better 5200 games are with such a thing.

  11. Posted

    Hello, Opcode.

     

    It certainly has been some time since I last posted here (several months ago).

     

    It was a surprise to read this thread. I never read any of your blogs, so all I knew about you and your operation was the games.

     

    Be assured of this- if you are to be considered a third-party company, you are easily the best one for the ColecoVision that ever was. Is there anyone here who would even dare suggest that any of the Space Invaders Collection games would have turned out as brilliantly back in the 1980s? I can guarantee you that that would never have happened.

     

    And just look at Pac-Man Collection. Even the great Atarisoft version pales by comparison.

     

    I was intrigued to hear that you have moved here to America. Is this true? If so, then, well...welcome here.

     

    The concern shown for you is genuine, even though you have never actually met most of us here. Times are hard these days (my current work consists of loading 200+ pound logs into pickup trucks- by hand), but your games did more than trigger nostalgia from the past- it actually gave us something good in the present and future for something we fondly remember from years ago; in my case, from a better time. For that, I am very grateful- something to look forward to, just as back then!

     

    Please be careful about "medication," and consider very carefully before taking any. For the past three decades, that seems to be the answer to everything. These drugs can be dangerous, as seen a number of times recently. If you are depressed, first try to find out what DIDN'T make you so, and try to regain it. Maybe enhance those things.

     

    Best of luck to you!

  12. Posted

    What do the other mazes look like in Ms. Pac man? His website only has that one. Are the dots different colors?

     

    Hi,

     

    Yes, they follow the arcade colors. Second has yellow dots, 3rd has red dots, 4th has white dots.

     

    Eduardo

     

     

    Oh, hohoho, man, I can't wait to see it! Eduardo, where do we send the money and to who, 'cause I'm sending mine IN ADVANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  14. Posted

    The ColecoVision. Especially with the controllers.

     

    The CV uses a 9-hole plug, so you can use all sorts of controllers, easy to find, for it- try that with a 5200. And those dumb-o controllers are ALWAYS breaking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     

    About the only thing the 5200 has over the CV is Star Raidres, the CV does'nt have any game like it that's any good, but I never played Blockade Runner so I'm not 100% sure.

  21. Posted

    My tile set up works like this-

     

    8X8 tiles, each a mini-maze, are programmed in (each has 8 numbers, 0-255).

     

    There are 12 of these.

     

    They are designed so that they can be put together any way you want. They are randomly chosen, then put together.

     

    The result is a big maze. You can put in a random block or two as a barrier, and other things, like "rooms-" just spaces which, if you hit them, makes the computer go to a subroutine. Hit character # 4, and it would be "a cavern lit by a weird green light." There are several like this, each one with something different.

     

    * You search the cavern.

     

    * There is a Mirawran in here!

     

    !COMBAT MODE!

     

    * It attacks!

     

    *It hits!

     

    *It does 4 points damage!

     

    - You have 18 points left.

     

    / Do You:

     

    1) Flee?

    2) Fight?

     

    Then, you are given choices within those choices.

     

    You know, it might be a pretty cool game for the CV. Daniel Bienvenu has a prototype text game, too.

  22. Posted · Edited by CV Gus

    Well, Super DKjr. has four screens, and I have it on CV cartridge.

     

    But I gotta disagree with you about the ADAM. I don't live far from where Coleco used to be (about half an hour on Route 5) and I know people who used to work there.

     

    When the ADAM computer came out, they took people off the street to work on it, just barely teaching them how to solder. They worked on 8X4 plywood tables slapped together, in a dirty, dusty place, with no static electricity protection.

     

    No wonder so many of them didn't work.

     

    But even if this didn't happen, think about it. The Atari, IBM, and Commodor computers- and the Apples, too- were all out there. They were there. Supported, established.

     

    Now look at the ADAM. It had a weirdo tape cassette drive, so anyone who wanted to make games for it had to do it that way. It was different, yeah, it was sort of like an Apple, but it wasn't. You could only get tapes from Coleco (what a rip off).

     

    Anyone who wanted a computer could just get an established one, which had games for it. You knew where you stood.

     

    Coleco should have stuck with the CV. If it takes more money and time to do good games, fine. Zaxxon did nicely. Opcode's games show what it really could have done, you ever see Sky Jaguar? And that's just the beginning. You learn, you do more with what you have, Opcode games from the MSX give you an idea. Look at Joust, it was GREAT- if only it had been finished.

     

    It's sort of like the 2600. Who in the days of Home Run would have believed that Robot Tank, Pac-Man Jr, or Solaris could be done?

     

    Now imagine what the CV could do, used to it's best- even in that 32K limit!!!!!

     

     

    This is what I like so much about Opcode's games. Look at a few of them-

     

    http://www.geocities.com/vgbelloq/si.html

     

    http://www.opcodegames.com/sjaguar.html

     

    http://www.opcodegames.com/kungfu.html

     

    And, of course, THE thing we are all waiting for: PAC MAN! :D :D :D *

     

    http://www.opcodegames.com/pacman.html

     

     

    This is some of the stuff CV could do. They should not have just given up on it.

     

    * This also keeps this post on-topic, sort of. :twisted: ;)

  23. Posted

    This game looks terrific- sort of like those NES games, with some Ultima.

     

    Any console can do decent adventure games, but one that will keep you coming back- this could be one of them.

     

    So far, it looks great. If such games had come out back then, the NES could never have gotten past the CV.

     

    Keep it up!

  25. Posted

    NonononononononoNOOOO, I mean the games THEMSELVES. If Opcode simply put one game on a cartridge, especially the first Pac Man, without all of the extras, then it would be within the 32K limit. The game ITSELF would be the same great game we're all waiting for, simply by pure talent! :D

     

    By "fancy chips", I mean something that would let you do the multicolor ghosts without the boxy look even the 7800 version has in Ms. Pac man, and the great looking prizes. Do you think Coleco could have done it? This is a matter of SKILL, not chips. And Opcode had them beat. Look at Space Invaders! Talent, plain and simple!:twisted:

     

     

    As for the battery-backed CV game- yes, it does exist, and some guy who has it even wrote instructions for it- here it is:

     

     

     

    http://www.classicgaming.com/o2home/gmrevi...w.asp?cartid=55

     

    http://www.classicgaming.com/o2home/manual...0&pageamt=2

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