Paddle or Keyboard Controllers homebrewn games available ?

[Lord-Chaos]

Hi,

 

I may create my game for Keyboard Controllers only (because this seems to be better for this kind of game) and have an idea for a second game later for paddles only.

 

 

Are there many new games which support Keyboard Controllers or Paddles (or the Video Touch Pad/Kids Controllers) ?

 

I only know the old ATARI games /programs (BASIC,Concentration,the Sesame Street games,Star Raiders).

 

Or do you think it´s better to make only Joystick-controlled games ?

 

Thimo

[Thomas Jentzsch]

The only homebrew that are using other controllers than the joystick are

SCSIcide (Paddle) and Thrust+ (optional Driving Controllers) and the 'in development' Death Derby (Driving Controllers).

 

Finding paddles is no problem at all, driving controllers are available too, but I don't know about Keyboard Controllers (haven't seen them at fleamarkets yet).

[Albert]

Most people probably have paddle controllers, and as Thomas mentioned, SCSIcide makes use of the paddles and has sold pretty well in the year it's been available. However, I don't know how many people have keyboard controllers. Certainly they aren't as easy to find as paddles, but I don't think they're that uncommon. If you make an enjoyable game that requires the keyboard controller, many people will attempt to track them down. Holey Moley was sold at CGE2K2 and it requires the Kid's Controller, which is the same thing as a keyboard controller. And I doubt that stopped many people from buying it.

 

But if you want the broadest possible appeal, you'll add joystick support to your game.

 

..Al

[Paul Slocum]

There's a guy that did another couple of homebrews using alternate controllers: Marble Craze uses the paddles, and the Synthcart uses the keyboard controllers.

 

I would estimate that 2/3rds of the people who would buy your game would have keyboard controllers. For those that don't, you can direct them to 4jays to get some. However, I noticed their price on Video Touch Pads has been slowly rising since the Synthcart's been out.

 

-Paul

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Forgive me Paul,

I don't know how I could forget you. Sorry!

[Lord-Chaos]

The only homebrew that are using other controllers than the joystick are  

SCSIcide (Paddle) and Thrust+ (optional Driving Controllers) and the 'in development' Death Derby (Driving Controllers).

 

Finding paddles is no problem at all, driving controllers are available too, but I don't know about Keyboard Controllers (haven't seen them at fleamarkets yet).

 

Hi,

 

I have lots of Keyboard Controllers and paddles available , this should be no problem.I could sell them together with a game.

 

I tought that some people may prefer joysticks because the Keyboard Controllers are quite small and some people may not like them.

 

Thimo

[+Propane13]

Pressure Gauge II for the Atari 2600 used paddles. It got to playtest mode, but was not finished to be released.

 

I'm sure you can pick a copy off of the StellaList archives, but I did get a little farther than that release (I implemented music!). That release never came out, as other projects took me away from it.

 

Thanks,

-John K. Harvey

[DEBRO]

Pressure Gauge II for the Atari 2600 used paddles.  It got to playtest mode, but was not finished to be released.

 

I'm sure you can pick a copy off of the StellaList archives, but I did get a little farther than that release (I implemented music!).  That release never came out, as other projects took me away from it.

 

Thanks,

-John K. Harvey

 

I've been meaning to ask you about that John. Do you have any plan of finishing it? I thought it was a really good idea. I remember playing a similar game on the 8-bit (in AtariBASIC) with skyscrapers and thought about doing it for Stella until I saw your Pressure Gauge II. Your idea was better because it let 4-players play at a time.

 

So what are the chances of finishing it?

 

BTW I like Pressure Gauge too. It was one of my first buys from Hozer.

[+Propane13]

Hmm... well, Pressure Gauge II got stopped because I hit some walls, and didn't know where to go from here.

 

I wasn't sure how to make less than 4-player option games. I suppose I could have written some AI, but I didn't really get the chance to do that. The other option was to blank out the other players, but that would still reduce it to at least 2 players.

 

That, and I couldn't come up with a more exciting opening screen, and a way to really end the game. I got hit with a lot of design constraints

 

There are currently no plans to pick it up, but I suppose if I got interested again, I could put it in a simple finalized state, and make it available through Hozer.

 

-John K. Harvey

[Rob Mitchell]

I may create my game for Keyboard Controllers only (because this seems to be better for this kind of game) and have an idea for a second game later for paddles only.

 

Bring on the games! If it is keyboard .. I would include code for joystick also if it makes sense.

 

Also the other guy forgot to mention Paul's Testcart that tests keyboards, paddles, sticks, console switches (but not the driving controllers).

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA