highinfidelity Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Good morning fellows. I tried for the forst time a roller controller with Centipede yesterday and, although it works to some extent, I'm not persuaded that it works as it should. First of all, to move the "shooting head" from one side to the other of the screen, several full rolls of the sphere are required. is that it? I've always thought that the control was much more sensible than that and that the screen could be crossed with - say - half roll of the sphere. If the latter is correct, is there anything inside that I can clean to improve the effectiveness of the control? Also, there is a slider on top which reads "joystick-roller". It acts so counter-intuitively that I completely falied to understand its purpose: if set on "joystick", the roller moves the characters on the screen to some extent; if set on "roller" everything gets frozen. Shouldn't it be the opposite? Any clue, please? Is it broken perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PkK Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I has been some time, so I don't remeber exaclty, but a few years ago I bought two roller controllers, and one didn't work. I disassembled and cleaned it, and then it worked like the other one. Philipp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I didn't check the roller controller for a long time. But if i remember well , when you put "Joystick" it means that the roller act like a Joystick. That means you can play game that are not supposed to work with a roller controller . The roller controller "emulate" the joystick. If you choose "Roller" , the game must be specifically programmed to support the roller controller. (i'm not sure it is the case of centipede , that would explain it works only in joystick mode , try a game like Slither instead and put "rolller" mode ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynxVGL Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Centipede wasn't written to support the Roller Controller in "native" track ball mode. It must be played in joystick mode. Atarisofts only major fumble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 I see, so perhaps that's not a good choice of game to test wether the roller controller works fine or not. Will try again with Slither. Other suggestions of games natively-supporting the roller controller? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I didn't have time to test it yet , but i think Armagedon support the roller controller nativly too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I'd open up the case and oil the rollers. Clean the grime off the rollers. Then get some 3-in-One oil and use a drop on each roller. It should spin like new. It's possible that the controller may still not work properly in trackball mode. You'd need a trackball-enabled game like Slither or Victory to test properly. Yurkie suggests one swift spin in any "diagonal" direction (e.g. NW, NE, SW, SE); the avatar should move that direction no problem if the optical sensors are working properly. Remember, this is only for the trackball mode, not joystick mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 What's odd and a bit disappointing is that Turbo's steering works in reverse with the roller controller. That, and it's not sensitive enough. You have to totally Golden Tee toss it to steer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoDan Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 What's odd and a bit disappointing is that Turbo's steering works in reverse with the roller controller. That, and it's not sensitive enough. You have to totally Golden Tee toss it to steer. Well thats because it was designed to work with the steering wheel not the roller controller. If someone adjusted turbo to work with the hand controllers then maybe on that version the roller controller would work better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 A version of Turbo working with hand controller exists. I may be wrong, but if i remember well , the patch was done by Daniel Bienvenu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeizerGhidorah Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I didn't have time to test it yet , but i think Armagedon support the roller controller nativly too. Eh, not really. It works, but you'll get random white dots where warheads have exploded. That and the score at the top of the screen gets flaky on occasion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 (edited) The two games that were made specifically for use with the Roller Controller are (switch set to Roller): Slither Victory One other game is recommended by Coleco to use the Roller Controller (switch set to Roller), but can be played with standard controllers: Omega Race The two games that benefit the most from using the Roller Controller in "Joystick Mode" (switch set to Joystick) are: Centipede WarGames You will have to test out other games in "Joystick Mode" to see what works best for you. Youki is correct in that NewColeco/Daniel Bienvenu released a hacked version of Turbo that uses the standard hand controller for gameplay and this would be the version that you would want to play with the Roller Controller in "Joystick Mode". Haven't tried it, so no idea on how well it would work. Would love to see Wild Western or Robotron developed for the CV and then use both controllers that are mounted in the Roller Controller in "Joystick Mode" for gameplay. Edited January 8, 2013 by NIAD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) Thanks for the comprehensive list. I actually thought to have more options than those. Only two and a half original games natively designed for the roller? How comes that nobody ever developed a Missile Command for Colecovision? I wonder how the 2600 version plays through the 2600 expansion module. Would love to see Wild Western or Robotron developed for the CV and then use both controllers that are mounted in the Roller Controller in "Joystick Mode" for gameplay. I add Battlezone to this list Edited January 9, 2013 by highinfidelity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 How comes that nobody ever developed a Missile Command for Colecovision? I wonder how the 2600 version plays through the 2600 expansion module. As was stated earlier in this thread, Armaggedon supports the Roller Controller. And it happens to be a clone of Missile Command. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 As was stated earlier in this thread, Armaggedon supports the Roller Controller. And it happens to be a clone of Missile Command. Apparently , unfortunaly, Armaggedon is bugged when you use the Roller controller . http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/207331-how-is-the-roller-controller-intended-to-act/?do=findComment&comment=2672798 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeizerGhidorah Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Apparently , unfortunaly, Armaggedon is bugged when you use the Roller controller . Only when you have it set to Roller. Sorry for not clarifying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 name='KeizerGhidorah' timestamp='1357780329' post='2673599']Only when you have it set to Roller. Sorry for not clarifying. [/u] I had understand. It is pity it is bugged in Roller mode. Because that game has been , i guess, more or less designed for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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