radiohead

Very cool adaptation! I see you are coding everything from scratch on your own (awesome!), but is there any thought to tweak the sounds to be a bit closer to what Pac-Man sounds like - maybe from the original Ms. Pac-Man 2600 or the Pac-Man 4k homebrew? The chomping, the pellet swallowing, the ghost siren, the Pac-Man death are all iconic sounds, and they would certainly help place your game in that Pac-Man/Atari 2600 universe. But if there's any rights issues with sounds or coding, then your game as it is now is still fun. Great work!

I wasn't sure if I wanted to take a chance on the Hyperkin Ranger paddle, but I noticed recently that I hold the Atari paddle sideways in my left hand and spin up and down with my right (instead of holding it up and spinning left to right). So maybe the Ranger paddle could be a good reliable replacement for my twice-repaired OG paddles. Amazon may be the demise of civilization, but I almost never have a problem returning items including my faulty CX30+.

So tinkering with my used OG paddles over the weekend, taking apart the potentiometers and giving them a thorough cleaning, as well as inside the pinholes of the plug, I get no jitter using them on the 2600-daptor on Stella (PC and Retopie). I played them for nearly 6 hours in the last 3 days - longer than using either the 2 new CX-30+ Atari Paddles - and things are good at the moment. So the 2600-daptor & Stella seem to work as advertised. I just had problems with the new paddles. As unlikely as it seems, I think maybe it was a production batch issue because it was only a few days/hours with the 2 sets of new paddles, and then jitter crept in. I'd expect that with used 40-year-old paddles, but not new 3-week-old paddles. Again, I have no real hardware to check compatibility, so back to Amazon they go again. Big thanks to dualcam for all his assistance! I think I'll wait for REV 2 before I acquire any new Atari hardware.

So here we are a few weeks later and I have the EXACT same problem as before as I had with my a previous set of new CX30+... a shaky, jitter on one of the paddles. I would say the paddles have less than 2 hours of actual use. They are stored inside an storage box with a lid with my other game controllers, so no dust and they're not being knocked about or dropped. When plugging in with the 5 pins on top, the problem paddle is the right controller - which like the last pair of controllers, felt just slightly looser than the more stiff left controller. Maybe it's a production issue with the stock that Amazon sells? I sprayed Deoxit Contact Cleaner on the metal stem and worked it in since the potentiometer inside seems completely encased in plastic. Well, it made the jitter go away, but only temporarily. The jitter is back and the contact cleaner now has made the spin far more slippery. Anybody else experience jittery-ness in a new set of CX30+... bought from Amazon... on the east coast of the U.S.? Could it be Stella or the 2600-datop? I have no real Atari hardware to test it out on. I'm about ready to give up on all this. Ugh!

I have Retropie 4.8 and Stella 6.7. These are the latest releases as far as I know.

(Heavy tired sigh)... OK... I think I've got it. Everything is running in the same Stella 6.7 emulator on Retropie and I assume this will work on the PC. I swapped the 2600-daptor port to Right controller [Ctrl+1] and the USB joystick stays on the Left. But that would affect the paddles since they must be on the Left. So... I had to "Swap Ports" in each paddle rom game properties setting. After making the 2600-daptor port swtich to the right for the joystick and swapped ports back to make the paddles work on the left, I unplugged the keyboard and it looks like it's all holding steady. To make things even more complicated, I swapped the main paddle on some games to the other just so I can put even wear on the controllers (my last set was brand new and got jittery after 3 weeks). Thanks for everybody's help. I deleted the 2600-daptor from retroarch because while the joystick worked fine, the paddle made the Emulation Station menu carousel screwy. If Stella gets an update, hopefully all these settings will stay.

I do have a spare keyboard that I plug into the Retropie for configuration, but I don't keep it plugged in. I have the Retropie as a game console for me and my kids in the den, and I don't want the kids to start pressing keyboard buttons and messing things up.

I'll experiment more, but I don't see a game property affecting 2600-daptor behavior beyond the Crtl+1 left/right keyboard shortcut. Setting "Swap Ports" in Game Properties does just that; if both controllers are assigned to the Left port, they're both now on the Right. Setting "Swap Paddles" in Game Properties swaps the left and right paddles, but not the controller port. The overall issue looks like Stella is always defaulting the 2600-daptor as the Left controller port (I think the manual states that, and a second 2600-daptor would be set as Right), and for some reason, a generic USB controller also is assigned to Left controller port as well... but 2 generic USB controllers will split properly to Left & Right. Remapping both controllers didn't solve the problem. In Retropie, I configured the 2600-daptor connected to my original Atari 2600 joystick as a generic USB controller (Up, Down, Left, Right, and "B" button) and it works and is properly assigned as Input Port 2 within the retroarch cores. So my solution here is to default paddle games to Stella, and Joystick games to lr-stella. I'm no longer concerned about 2 player action on my PC. I suspect if/when I purchase another Hyperkin's Trooper USB joystick or even Atari's new USB joystick, this won't even be an issue anymore as Stella will automatically assign the USB sticks as Input Ports 1 & 2, while the 2600-daptor will only be used for paddles (Left controller port).

Indeed, swapping ports of the 2600-daptor (Ctrl +1) does fix the left joystick issue and now I can separate the 2 controllers with the 2600-daptor on the right. However I need to swap them back to make the paddles work as they need to be the left controller. On the PC this is easy, but not on the retropie as I don't have a keyboard attached. On the Retropie, I found a convoluted, yet workable solution: defaulting all the Atari joystick roms to lr-stella 2014 and defaulting the paddle roms to the stand alone Stella 6.7. lr-stella assigns the usb joystick and the PDL to separate inputs and it works for 1-2 player games. Stella 6.7 makes the paddles works.

Just received new paddles (it helps that there is an Amazon Fullfillment Center 30 minutes away) and there is absolutely no jitter using the 2600-daptor PDL. Rock solid like the other pair before the trouble began. Hopefully these will last longer than 3 weeks.

Forgive me if this has been addressed earlier, but I have the PDL adaptor for my paddles using Stella (6.7) on my PC and Retropie. I am also using a Hyperkin Trooper 2 USB joystick which defaults as the LEFT controller and also serves to provide Start/Select/ESC button control. When plugged in, the PDL adaptor also defaults to the LEFT controller - for games requiring paddles, it's not an issue and everything works great. But I recently purchased a used 9-pin 2600 Joystick to have it for Player 2 using the PDL adaptor, but it still registers as the LEFT controller along with the Hyperkin joystick USB. Remapping either controller as the RIGHT controller in Stella settings doesn't seem to work. When using 2 USB controllers in Stella (I also have an extra generic USB SNES-style gamepad), there's no conflict. Any ideas as to how to get the PDL adaptor & my USB Joystick to work together for 2 player action while keeping Paddle functionality when it's needed?

I appreciate your help. The issue is just the one paddle, regardless of the swap setting, port or input. I'm thinking it is a faulty potentiometer of that paddle due to wear - though it's only a few weeks old. I'm sure it'll get worse, so while I still can, I've returned it to Amazon today for an exchange and I'll see if another new set of paddles are any better.

Here's what I'm experiencing. Paddle/Player1 is smooth, Paddle/Player2 looks shaky. When moving fast its relatively ok, when moving slower, Paddle 2 is jittery/shaky. Using new Atari 4-1 Pack Paddles 3 weeks old using 2600-daptor PDL with Stella 6.7 (PC and Raspberry Pi.) Maybe I'm being picky, but I've already sunk $90 in the paddles ($30 for the 2600-daptor, $20 for used paddles which had terrible jitter even with cleaning, and these $40 4-1 Pack paddles). I would expect both new controllers would feel and operate the same. Paddles.mp4

I can make a quick video when I get home tonight if you like, but yes it's kind of like that, but only on one paddle. With quick, broad spinning of the dial from one side of the screen to the other, the paddle performs relatively fine. It's during slow, incremental turning, the paddle shakes - but again only on one paddle. I swapped the paddle settings in Stella so that I'm now playing the other less-used paddle and the shaky paddle (that I had been using) is now player 2. Neither seemed to shake when I first used them, but now 3 weeks later, I notice shakiness. I successfully updated the 2600PDL firmware (from 5/23 whether it needed it or not), changed out the USB B cable, and tried all the dip switch combos and found (on Maximum Range) that the shakiness has reduced a bit. But one paddle is clearly jittery/shakier than the other. If it were a PDL daptor issue, wouldn't both paddles be affected?

Interesting. I have the 2600-daptor PDL plugged in with a USB B cord. I bought it last summer and I see the latest firmware update was on 5/23. Don't know if the latest firmware is on my PDL. The right paddle I've been using jitters more than the left, less used paddle. Same jitter on both the Raspberry Pi and PC. So maybe I should try to update the firmware? UPDATE: The 2600-daptor PDL may be the culprit. I swapped USB cables and I tested all the dip switches settings (2600 Paddle / Commodore / Maximum Range / MiSTER 7600-2600) and Maximum Range setting seemed to be the best at reducing the jitter instead of the default 2600 Paddle setting when used on both PC and Raspberry Pi (don't really know why). I will experiment some more and look in to possibly updating the PDL firmware, but so far I'm encouraged with the results. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Rodney!

I'll try the new paddles on the PC Stella software. On the retropie, I'm not using the lr-stella emulator that comes with Emulation Station, just the actual downloaded Stella 6.7 (I've mapped the controllers and access game properties via Stella's setting) so I don't know how much influence retroarch has in my setup. I can't imagine the new paddles "get dirty" this fast after only 4 game sessions.

I also bought the Atari 4-1 Paddle pack a few weeks ago at the end of January and I'm having jitter issues as well. But I'm not using them on an Atari 2600+. I'm using the new paddles on a Retropie 3B running the Stella emulator 6.7 with the 2600-daptor. Out of the box the paddles worked terrifically, virtually no jitter. Now after only using them maybe 4 times, I notice significant jitter in fast player games like Breakout, Kaboom, Astroblast and Solar Storm, while considerably less jitter in other slower action games like Warlords, Street Racer, Canyon Bomber, etc. All my game roms are NTSC. It seems the paddle I use most has the jitter while the another less used paddle not so much. I've only recently began using paddles again in the last 6 months after the purchase of the 2600-daptor for Stella on the PC & Retropie. Prior to that, I haven't played paddle games in years and I don't remember paddle games being this jittery. I experienced the same jitter before with another pair of paddles which were bought "used", but I suspected they were old after cleaning them a number of times and still found noticeable jitter. Has this always been an issue with all Atari paddles? Is this a paddle construction issue from Plaion or is it a Stella emulator issue?

My box was the same way - circle tape only on the top lid, not shrink wrapped. Contents were secured. I actually opened it from the bottom. The paddle cables looked properly coiled and wire-tied.

I just got the new CX30+ Paddles from Amazon today to play on my Raspberry Pi 3B running Stella 6.7 (not lr-stella) and using the 2600-daptor and the Hyperkin Trooper 2 6-button USB joystick. These paddles are rock solid with virtually no jitter on my roms of Breakout, Super Breakout, Warlords, Street Racer or Video Olympics. I only see the tiniest jitter in Kaboom, but only when the bombs drop - the buckets are stationary between rounds, so maybe the complains about Kaboom's jitter is from the original coding. (I have my Stella emulator settings to 51% paddle sensitivity and Dejitter to 5). I'm amazed the potentiometer is so small. Hopefully, it won't be susceptible to grime and constant cleaning like the old style. Also, these are far and away better than the paddles that came with my AtGames Flashback 4, which I have been using for my Raspberry Pi setup. I haven't bought the Atari 2600+ because (1) based on the comments on Atariage, it doesn't seem like it's fully baked yet and (2) I don't have any carts - beside the 4 in 1 that came with the paddles. But I'm encouraged to pick up the new CX-40+ joystick to run with the 2600-datop for second player because the build of these paddles feel great. I may eventually get the Atari 2600+ if enough new selections of multi-carts become available, or if someone hacks it to play roms.

I'm running Retropie 4.8 and the color palette for the ATARI 7800 emulator appears to be PAL, not NTSC (for instance, the color of the enemy in Galaga is clearly pink, not red.) I don't see a selection in the core emulator to change the color palette through the retroarch menu ("hotkey"-X). Also, there are no default files in the "palettes" folder in //retropie/BIOS. It's been this way for some time. I even updated the lr-prosystem core via the retropie config menu, but the colors still seem PAL, not NTSC. It used to be NTSC colors, but some update either with lr-prosystem or Retropie changed the palette. All other game emulators are the NTSC palette. The Prosystem emulator for PC is NTSC default. Any idea how to manually change to a NTSC palette or switch back to an earlier ATARI 7800 core (hopefully I'm saying this correctly.) Thx!

I'm very much in the "casual" segment several have scoffed at in the discussion. I have no carts, but would be willing to purchase some within reason. Local game/collectible shops near me are selling loose carts for the 2600 at 4.99-9.99 a piece which is fine. I'm also interested in some of the new homebrews (I'm greatly missing the ability to get the Juno First cartridge!) But I'm not going to spend $50 per Atari retail title when their entire game library is available either for free online or for half that much on modern systems. I have retropie and loaded it up with roms. That scenario is great for systems from the NES onward because of the "modern" generic controllers. But the experience of Atari/Intellivision/Collecovision is lacking, and you have to get specialized USB controllers and workarounds. AtGames keeps changing the Flashback, (one year you have good titles, the next you lose paddle functionality.) The Game Station Pro looks like an interesting option, but it's a retropie/flashback mashup. Lots of products to choose from, but the product I and maybe other casuals are looking for is something that works at least as well as the Retron 77, functions like the Flashback, and is affordable to maintain the game ecosystem.

My sons are 25, 21, 19 and all have retro gaming systems (Sega Genesis, XBOX, PS2, GC) and buy used games. They also buy vinyl records, as well as the physical media of newer Switch games instead of DLC. I agree a new audience may appreciate the tactile-ness of handling carts and switches. But the (newer) 2600+ games need to be killer apps that that audience would respond to (like the 2600 version of HALO or RPG, side scrollers titles. Simple arcade shooters like Outlaw are not going to accomplish that.) True. I'm not looking forward to re-purchase pricey special edition editions to 40-year-old games. I've been quite spoiled by AtGames and the Stella PC emulator to play Pong or Asteroids roms easily and inexpensively via a menu library. But the tactile experience described above wasn't there. I'm hoping there will be a workable balance between these two sides.

I'm sure this being a niche product and the costs involved with the manufacturing of cartridges and licensing will warrant $30-$60 per title, but... The Atari 50th Anniversary release for the modern systems has over 90 game titles (almost 40 for just the 2600) and it's only $29.99. It's likely each of those individual titles re-released for the 2600+ on cartridge may cost more than that entire collection. Hence, my hope is for multicart releases like what's coming with the console and paddles (could be like Arcade Collection, Real Sports Collection, Space Collection, Adventure Collection, M-Network, etc.) Or have the ability to sideload roms of some of the older titles and concentrate on purchasing newly created titles.

Speaking as a long-term follower of these forums and an Atari 2600 fan, I have to say I've been chasing this unicorn for years. I bought all those Jakks Pacific Plug 'n Plays and 3 AtGames Flashbacks, plus a Retropie and a Stelladaptor for the PC trying to recapture the fun of playing Atari 2600 games. But there was always something not right, whether it was the emulation, the paddle/controller support, the cheapness of the product, convenience, etc. I shied away from buying the original 45-year-old hardware because I wasn't technically savvy enough to fix it or get a CRT. So this Atari 2600+ console/ecosystem really has me stoked if it can check all the boxes. I'll be more than happy to start purchasing new cartridge releases, and even start collecting old cartridges if the system works as it promises, regarding game compatibility and paddle controller support. But at this stage, the classic Atari 2600 game catalog (the titles licensed to AtGames, My Arcade, etc.) should be released either as affordable multicart collections or accessible via digital files (assuming someone can patch the OS just like the Retron and Flashbacks.) The price point so far on the cartridges is a little steep IMO for a consumer like me looking to start a 2600 library. Most of the homebrew cart prices on AA are more in line with what I would be comfortable paying. Hopefully, the console will be favorably reviewed, then I'll pick one up. That's my unsolicited take on things. Thx!

Great! Thanks for the help.