Activision Decathlon and the Driving Controller

[Eddie_Egg]

Hi all, the most fun use of the Indy 500 driving controller is to use it in Activision's Decathlon game. Plug the controller into port 1, and spin the wheel back and forth to get very fast running speed, and use the red button for jumping, throwing, etc. If you glue a stick or knob to the edge of the wheel, you can spin it like you would on a fishing reel, and you can easily get maximum full speed. You sort of feel like superman, it's very cool.

 

My first post.

 

Eddie

[Pioneer4x4]

Hi all, the most fun use of the Indy 500 driving controller is to use it in Activision's Decathlon game. Plug the controller into port 1, and spin the wheel back and forth to get very fast running speed, and use the red button for jumping, throwing, etc. If you glue a stick or knob to the edge of the wheel, you can spin it like you would on a fishing reel, and you can easily get maximum full speed. You sort of feel like superman, it's very cool.

 

My first post.

 

Eddie

Cool, for a first post, that is something I never tried, but I should have, it makes perfect sense. Thanks!

[Deja-Q]

Very funny thing!

I'm gonna try that next time

[Miss 2600]

I never knew you could do that. That would make it a lot easier on the wrist playing that game.

[wccw mark]

thats great.im gonna try that.

[liammw8]

Awesome! Saving some wear and tear on a joystick AND easier than hammering the D-pad on a Sega controller! I will most definitely try this out!

[reverendshoebox]

Weird! What does the driving controller map to, joystick-wise? I could probably find out with minimal testing but I've never pursued that.

 

I've got the three-button Track'n'Field controller, which also works for Decathlon if memory serves. Been a while since I've pulled it out.

 

-=ShoEboX=-

[tschak909]

This works, because the Driving controller is not like a paddle controller:

 

The driving controller uses a rotary encoder, attached joystick direction pins. The rotary encoder uses a 3-bit Grey code to implement 8 possible states that can be predictably read by code to determine the direction the encoder is being spun (because in a Grey code, only one binary digit changes with each count, and thus it's really easy to figure out within 1-2 transitions which direction the encoder is being spun).

 

because these transitions happen very quickly on the encoder, the left-right direction motion needed is accomplished, very quickly.

 

-Thom

[+cvga]

Great first post! I remember using my Wico Trackball to generate some high scores back in the 80's

[liammw8]

You can use a trackball with Activision Decathlon too?

[+bcombee]

The CX22/CX80 trakballs in "trak" mode will do a great job at simulating the back and forth for Decathalon. In that mode, they act more like a pair of driving controllers, alternating left/right or up/down to indicate the direct rotation of the ball. In joystick mode, the IC in the trakball reads that motion and converts it into up/down/left/right signals, passing on the direction but not the speed.