5200 centipede with TB support

[tep392]

I have a CX80 trakball and have not been satisfied with the joystick mode for Centipede, so I decided to take a stab at modifying Glenn's 5200 translation to work with the CX80 in true trakball mode. Here is my first attempt. The response might be a little too fast, but I think the controllability is more consistent than with the joystick mode. Please try it out and let me know what you think. Use ctrl-T to switch between joystick and tb mode. Also, please let me know if I have introduced any bugs. This is my first attempt at game programming.

 

Perry

Centipede (5200) - TB.zip

[Kjmann]

we just finished doing that. the cart is available now at video61.

 

=)

[mimo]

but this one is free:P

[tep392]

we just finished doing that. the cart is available now at video61.

 

=)

 

I noticed a few days ago that you were selling a cartridge, but I had already started my little project.

 

Being a EE, my initial plan to solve my Centipede dilemma was to hack my CX80 to output an analog trackball signal on POT0 and POT1, ala 5200. I even had a working circuit running on a breadboard, but I decided to keep my CX80 original. It's been a while since I did any assembly programming, so I thought the software approach would be fun. I have another improvement in the works that I hope to post in the next week or so.

[Mr.Amiga500]

It seems to be working (at first I didn't notice I had to press Control-T), but the spider has a bit of graphical corruption for some reason.

 

If you could solve that problem and make it trackball mode by default, it would be great. Thanks.

Edited November 11, 2009 by Mr.Amiga500

[tep392]

It seems to be working (at first I didn't notice I had to press Control-T), but the spider has a bit of graphical corruption for some reason.

 

If you could solve that problem and make it trackball mode by default, it would be great. Thanks.

 

It shouldn't be a problem to make the TB mode the default. I've noticed that the spider will corrupt for a split second sometimes, but I haven't looked into why that's happening.

[tep392]

It seems to be working (at first I didn't notice I had to press Control-T), but the spider has a bit of graphical corruption for some reason.

 

If you could solve that problem and make it trackball mode by default, it would be great. Thanks.

 

What do you think of the player speed? Too fast? Too slow? Just right? The way it's setup right now, you can really zip across the screen when the ball is spun.

[Mr.Amiga500]

It seems to be working (at first I didn't notice I had to press Control-T), but the spider has a bit of graphical corruption for some reason.

 

If you could solve that problem and make it trackball mode by default, it would be great. Thanks.

 

What do you think of the player speed? Too fast? Too slow? Just right? The way it's setup right now, you can really zip across the screen when the ball is spun.

 

I think the speed is just right. Wow, what a major difference in accuracy - compared to joystick mode. I think my CX-80 has a bit of an alignment problem or something (even though it's brand new) because it's jerky as hell when moving slowly in joystick mode. I had to spin the ball like hell just to make it move smoothly. But in trackball mode, it's now very smooth and accurate. I almost feel like I went back in time 30 years and I'm playing on the arcade machine.

[atariksi]

It seems to be working (at first I didn't notice I had to press Control-T), but the spider has a bit of graphical corruption for some reason.

 

If you could solve that problem and make it trackball mode by default, it would be great. Thanks.

 

What do you think of the player speed? Too fast? Too slow? Just right? The way it's setup right now, you can really zip across the screen when the ball is spun.

 

I think the speed is just right. Wow, what a major difference in accuracy - compared to joystick mode. I think my CX-80 has a bit of an alignment problem or something (even though it's brand new) because it's jerky as hell when moving slowly in joystick mode. I had to spin the ball like hell just to make it move smoothly. But in trackball mode, it's now very smooth and accurate. I almost feel like I went back in time 30 years and I'm playing on the arcade machine.

 

Mr. Amiga, you can also use Atari ST Mouse upside down as a trackball for Atari 800/XL/XE.

 

I guess you get used to the controller you use more often. I prefer the joystick; I find millipede was harder to play (lesser score/less accurate) in trackball mode.

[Mr.Amiga500]

.

Edited November 12, 2009 by Mr.Amiga500

[+therealbountybob]

I have a CX80 trakball and have not been satisfied with the joystick mode for Centipede, so I decided to take a stab at modifying Glenn's 5200 translation to work with the CX80 in true trakball mode. Here is my first attempt. The response might be a little too fast, but I think the controllability is more consistent than with the joystick mode. Please try it out and let me know what you think. Use ctrl-T to switch between joystick and tb mode. Also, please let me know if I have introduced any bugs. This is my first attempt at game programming.

 

Perry

Hi, I played this last night and the version done by Atlantis G.G. You've done a good job but I think their version is more controllable. I think they used a different font to yourself, no bugs as far as I can see, though Atlantis seem to have introduced a couple of quirks, see my comments on the other thread

 

This is great work for your first project and hopefully you will do more for the Atari

 

If you are looking for inspiration here's an old thread about games that need fixing or you could add Trak-Ball support to others, or create a new game altogether?!

 

Was there another trak-ball type arcade game way back then sort of like missile command (not on the Atari 8-bit)

[tep392]

I have a CX80 trakball and have not been satisfied with the joystick mode for Centipede, so I decided to take a stab at modifying Glenn's 5200 translation to work with the CX80 in true trakball mode. Here is my first attempt. The response might be a little too fast, but I think the controllability is more consistent than with the joystick mode. Please try it out and let me know what you think. Use ctrl-T to switch between joystick and tb mode. Also, please let me know if I have introduced any bugs. This is my first attempt at game programming.

 

Perry

Hi, I played this last night and the version done by Atlantis G.G. You've done a good job but I think their version is more controllable. I think they used a different font to yourself, no bugs as far as I can see, though Atlantis seem to have introduced a couple of quirks, see my comments on the other thread

 

This is great work for your first project and hopefully you will do more for the Atari

 

If you are looking for inspiration here's an old thread about games that need fixing or you could add Trak-Ball support to others, or create a new game altogether?!

 

Was there another trak-ball type arcade game way back then sort of like missile command (not on the Atari 8-bit)

 

Thanks for the . It would be easy for me to change to sensitivity of control but the spider glitch has me stumped and I don't see much point in putting any more time into it since Atlantis made theirs available for download (the right thing to do by the way). My 2nd project was to update the XE versio of Mario Bros to work on my Atarimax flash cart. My SWMBO is getting a little irritated with the time I'm spending on the 800XL so I going to take a little break for now. I'll spend my free time actually playing the games.

 

Regards.