Working emulators for the Bally Astrocade

[Working emulators for the Bally Astrocade]

On 3/3/2020 at 10:37 AM, ballyalley said:

 

First, Gunfight is a two-player only game that uses the controller's knob to move the gun's direction.  Many first-generation games were two-player only games on the early generation of consoles.  You can "play" it as a one-player game by just taking out the second player, who will just stand still while you fire at him.  That's not much more fun than using the calculator...

 

To set up a two player controller in the new versions of MAME, first you must turn on two controller ports, like this: choose:

 

Tab > Slot Devices > ctrl2

 

Change "off" ("-----") to "joy" by pressing the right cursor key when "ctrl2" is selected.

 

After turning on the second port, reset the astrocade emulation in MAME by pressing F3.  Now, choose:

 

Tab > Input (This Machine)

 

Check what the system has setup for the second controller port.  Be default controller 2 is setup as:

 

R = Up

F = Down

D = Left

G = Right

A = Fire Button

 

You can also change the astrocade controllers to anything that you want, including using a joystick, by changing the default settings for the keys in the "Input (This Machine)" menu.  I like to use an Atari 2600 controller, which is connected to my PC using a USB adapter.  Games that require the knob are a bit hard to play as they require you to use an analog controller like a mouse.

 

For an example of a game that uses an unusual method of control on the Astrocade, see my ICBM Attack video:

 

 

I hope that this information helps you get started and to continue to play the Astrocade under emulation.

 

Adam

I tried this and it didn't work. I went into slot devices and changed it from nothing to joy but when I go to play the games, I hit R, F, D, G, and A and nothing happens with any of them. Any other suggestions?

 

[Working emulators for the Bally Astrocade]

Thank you for providing the video. I was able to follow the steps and play these great games I hadn't seen in 40 years. I am playing on a PC using the keyboard to move, shoot, etc. The only thing I can't figure out is how to change the number of players on some of the games that don't let you select it (such as gun fight which defaults to two players) and for when it is two players, how to move the other person. The keyboard only seems to move player 1. Does anyone know either of these?

 

[Working emulators for the Bally Astrocade]

In the 80s I had an Astrocade system and just about all the games they made and loved it. It broke in the late 80s and I got a Nintendo and haven't played a single Bally game since. Years later, my parents threw out the system and all the games (which kills me). I would love to be able to play them again, even if just one time. I am not a computer programer so I don't even understand most of the comments on this page. I have a Wii at home with homebrew installed and it has every Nintendo game and Atari game ever made on it, which are fun to play, but I would love to add the Bally Astrocade games to this. Is this possible? Are they out there somewhere? If it can't be done by adding it to my homebrew on my Wii, is there a way to play them on a PC or Mac? I've looked to buy a system and the games but can't find those without paying hundreds of dollars. Can anyone help with this?