Possible in theory? 2-button joystick & games?

[Blackjack]

Would it be possible (not practical or profitable, just possible) to make 2-button joysticks with the buttons having seperate functions within a game for the 2600?

 

And then games that take advantage of the added button?

 

I'm just curious.

[Artlover]

Would it be possible (not practical or profitable, just possible) to make 2-button joysticks with the buttons having seperate functions within a game for the 2600?

 

And then games that take advantage of the added button?

 

I'm just curious.

Off the top of my head, I wouldn't see why you couldn't utilize the pot lines to add additional inputs that would work in conjunction with dedicated game coding.

[+SpiceWare]

yes, Cybergoth posted a test of Colony 7 in his blog. It can read 2 buttons on a SMS SG Commander(NES-Style SMS controller), Genesis 3 or 6-Button and an Amiga CD32 Joypad.

Edited September 11, 2007 by SpiceWare

[Lord Helmet]

Didn't Omega Race already have this feature?

[+SpiceWare]

Yep, the Booster Grip slips over the joystick and adds 2 fire buttons, giving you 3 total. The 2 additional buttons are read via the paddle inputs.

 

[+Propane13]

Would it be possible (not practical or profitable, just possible) to make 2-button joysticks with the buttons having seperate functions within a game for the 2600?

 

And then games that take advantage of the added button?

 

I'm just curious.

 

Yep. It's called a 7800.

 

-John

[+batari]

Would it be possible (not practical or profitable, just possible) to make 2-button joysticks with the buttons having seperate functions within a game for the 2600?

 

And then games that take advantage of the added button?

 

I'm just curious.

 

Yep. It's called a 7800.

 

-John

Yeah, though it's too bad there's no way for a 2600 to read the second button on a Pro-line joystick (without modification.)

[Foxsolo2000]

Anything is indeed possible. The question always remains wether it is feasible enough to get off the ground

[BigO]

A downside to using the paddle inputs is that there's more overhead associated with reading them in comparison to reading the standard joystick inputs. I suppose that might be minimized in a digital scenario with a low resistance used. You wouldn't have to wait as long for the capacitor to charge to a higher state. If it hadn't charged in a relatively short time (with enough slop to allow for differences in capacitance from one machine to the next), you could assume that the switch was open.

 

The standard keypad controllers (Atari Keypad, Video Touchpad, Kids Controller) uses the paddle inputs as digital buttons.

http://www.atariage.com/2600/archives/sche...sories_Low.html

 

Schematic of the Omega Race controller can be found here:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...ntroller++omega

[Video]

Well, if you skipped player twok, you could make a joystic that used both ports and have all the complexity of any modern console controller AND it would require no chips, since the Atari2600 can read two paddles and a joystic simultanous (thoug the paddle buttons are substituted for Joystic left and right, I think)...but for the 2600, would that really be practical?

 

I've thought about useing paddle controllers to make an analog controller with two firebuttons, but the only game that comes off the top of my head as useing that (that's already finished) would be Marble Craze, though it would use both buttons for the same thing.

 

And of course...if you built a controller port into the cart itself (maybe a piggyback cart just to handle controllers) I suppose you could plug any controller into that at all. But again, I don't really see it as necessary.

 

There's also the keyboard controllers, which have 12 contacts, rather than the 5 a joystic has, but a joystic can use combos to get up to 16 combinations (unmoded) while the keyboards I believe can only read one key at a time, I'll have to dig out my test cart and try it sometime.

[Zonie]

Well, if you skipped player twok, you could make a joystic that used both ports and have all the complexity of any modern console controller AND it would require no chips, since the Atari2600 can read two paddles and a joystic simultanous (thoug the paddle buttons are substituted for Joystic left and right, I think)...but for the 2600, would that really be practical?

 

I've thought about useing paddle controllers to make an analog controller with two firebuttons, but the only game that comes off the top of my head as useing that (that's already finished) would be Marble Craze, though it would use both buttons for the same thing.

 

And of course...if you built a controller port into the cart itself (maybe a piggyback cart just to handle controllers) I suppose you could plug any controller into that at all. But again, I don't really see it as necessary.

 

There's also the keyboard controllers, which have 12 contacts, rather than the 5 a joystic has, but a joystic can use combos to get up to 16 combinations (unmoded) while the keyboards I believe can only read one key at a time, I'll have to dig out my test cart and try it sometime.

D'oh. You beat me to it. I designed a controller about a year or two ago that added five more buttons to a 2600 by using port two. I got the idea when I was playing raiders, as it uses the second stick for item selection, etc. If we as a group decide on a standard, then publish said standard in the Faq, the homebrewers could then have added flexibility to create new games for the 2600 using the community approved standard. Then all of us hacks out there would simply make our own controllers. I think I even remember a three button missile command hack out there?

 

I would suggest that the inputs be used as follows:

 

Left Controller Jack

Use as is

 

Right controller Jack

Fire - button 2

Up - Button 3

Down - Button 4

Right and left reserve for driving controller encoder (or button 5 and 6)

Leave the Pots as-is.

 

This layout would allow driving games with gas, brake, shift, fire button, oil slick, etc. Endless possibilities.

 

If we go one farther and define button colors, the game manuals could simply call out button colors in the instructions. Arcade buttons come in many colors....

 

Button 1 (left Fire): Red

Button 2 (right fire): Yellow

Button 3 (right up): Green

Button 4 (Right Down): Blue

 

 

Whaddaya all think?

[Zonie]

Thump...thump...thump. Is this thing on???

[Atari Charles]

Going back to the original post:

 

As a kid, back in the early eighties I tore apart two atari Joysticks and made a multifunction joystick using the cords from both joysticks going into one joystick. It was ugly but it worked, especially for the RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK GAME or for two player games. It is just a matter of have two wires going into one slot on the circuit board. I didn;t have to solder or do anything of the sort. The only pain was cutting out a larger hole for the cords to go throguh on the lower body of the joystick housing without proper tools aside from a knife and tin snips.

Edited September 20, 2007 by Atari Charles