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I know this is the 2600 forum but do you think 7800 Centipede could be updated for trackball? It's almost a perfect arcade port as is but with trackball support like the 2600 hack it would be perfect. ;-)

 

:ponder:

 

That was actually done some time ago.

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/71780-trackball-test-program-centipede-tb/?p=883326

 

Mitch

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Sweet! Had no idea this existed. Will the .bin work on a Concerto? :D

 

Blue also recently made a modded version of Centipede for 7800 that retains Kenfused's earlier Trak-Ball code inside of it which was first used in the previously cited 7800 Centipede-TB by Kenfused. I think him and Walter also created a 7800 Millipede version also with that code as well. Check for it in the 7800 threads.

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Blue also recently made a modded version of Centipede for 7800 that retains Kenfused's earlier Trak-Ball code inside of it which was first used in the previously cited 7800 Centipede-TB by Kenfused. I think him and Walter also created a 7800 Millipede version also with that code as well. Check for it in the 7800 threads.

Yeah I just found this thread earlier:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/239376-7800-centipede-arcade/

 

Unfortunately I won't have a flash device to play these hacks until the Concerto ships. Batari is trying to diagnose issues affecting a minority of 7800 consoles. I need to open my CX-80 trackball (acts like a CX-22) to clean the rollers but other than that it's golden. I'm assuming the screw holes are located under the four rubber feet.

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I cracked open my CX-80 trackball earlier tonight and thoroughly cleaned the rollers with cotton balls and isopropanol. I could tell it has been well used as all three rollers have a silver line on them where the trackball has rubbed the finish. The vertical roller offered a bit more resistance than the horizontal so I sprayed some silicone into the bearings, being sure to wipe any residual grease off the roller contacts. As I wiped the case with alcohol soaked tissues, brown coloration came off. It wasn't visible on the black case but sure as hell showed up on the white tissues. Not sure what the hell it was but glad to remove this mystery brown residue that almost coated the entire outside case as well as the rollers and ball.


Got it reassembled and the thing handles like a dream. It operates in pure CX-22 mode as the CX-22 ROMs work flawless with it. Centipede and Millipede handle so amazingly, the controls are dream-like; I just can't describe it. FTR, I've never played an arcade game before that used trackballs and only had experience with 8-way joystick in MAME and console ports.


This thing is really amazing. Thank you to everyone who worked on these hacks! I also can't wait to try the 7800 version of Centipede when Concerto releases. I may want to get a cart made as well someday... ;-)
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I did a bit of research about the various trackball controllers for the 2600 and I found that there were actually 2 versions of the CX-22:

1 - first version only works in joystick emulation mode and doesn't have a real trackball mode. According to the service manual, only 15K of these were produced. There's not a mode selection switch on these units.

2 - second version has the mode select switch and can work in joystick mode or true trackball mode compatible with Atari 8bit computers.

I think that the early model is the one labeled "Atari 2600 PROLINE TRAK-BALL" (you can see one in this post), with the all black case, while the latter is the "ATARI TRAK-BALL" with the dual tone Brown/Creme to match the XL series of computers. Both have the CX-22 model number printed on the bottom label. Anyway, I have not confirmation that the cosmetic changes and the board revision happened at the same time, so the presence of the switch is the best way to differentiate between the two.

I suggest to add a note about this in the first page for anyone looking for a CX-22 trackball to play these hacks and maybe to rename the various roms avoiding the use of "CX-80" and "CX-22" which might cause confusion.
Maybe you could use the term "8bit TRACKBALL" or "XL TRACKBALL" instead of "CX-22" and "ST MOUSE" instead of "CX-80" as suggested by Mitch in one post.

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I cracked open my CX-80 trackball earlier tonight and thoroughly cleaned the rollers with cotton balls and isopropanol. I could tell it has been well used as all three rollers have a silver line on them where the trackball has rubbed the finish. The vertical roller offered a bit more resistance than the horizontal so I sprayed some silicone into the bearings, being sure to wipe any residual grease off the roller contacts. As I wiped the case with alcohol soaked tissues, brown coloration came off. It wasn't visible on the black case but sure as hell showed up on the white tissues. Not sure what the hell it was but glad to remove this mystery brown residue that almost coated the entire outside case as well as the rollers and ball.
Got it reassembled and the thing handles like a dream. It operates in pure CX-22 mode as the CX-22 ROMs work flawless with it. Centipede and Millipede handle so amazingly, the controls are dream-like; I just can't describe it. FTR, I've never played an arcade game before that used trackballs and only had experience with 8-way joystick in MAME and console ports.
This thing is really amazing. Thank you to everyone who worked on these hacks! I also can't wait to try the 7800 version of Centipede when Concerto releases. I may want to get a cart made as well someday... ;-)

 

 

You've never played an arcade game with a trackball/Trak-Ball? You sir must find one! Centipede, Millipede, Crystal Castles, MARBLE MADNESS! There's plenty of others out there. :)

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I suggest to add a note about this in the first page for anyone looking for a CX-22 trackball to play these hacks and maybe to rename the various roms avoiding the use of "CX-80" and "CX-22" which might cause confusion.

Maybe you could use the term "8bit TRACKBALL" or "XL TRACKBALL" instead of "CX-22" and "ST MOUSE" instead of "CX-80" as suggested by Mitch in one post.

I think introducing new terms now would cause even more confusion.

 

But if you can create a small paragraph which sums up the situation, we can add it to the first post.

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Just wanted to say that I had several of these Trak-Ball hacks running at the Houston Arcade Expo this weekend, which was a very appropriate place to demo Missile Command, Centipede, Millipede, and Reactor. There was even a Reactor arcade cabinet at the show. :) I saw tons of people playing them, and I think one girl was playing Centipede for an hour! In fact, one of the vendors (whose daughter was apparently the one playing Centipede for so long) asked if he could buy a copy of the game. :)

 

I have not tried some of the latest hacks, such as Colony 7, but I will as things slow down for me (say, maybe, February) and I have some time to relax.

 

Keep up the great work! :D

 

..Al

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What can I say? I lived a sheltered childhood... :sad: :D

It's apparently a small club, but there are at least two members.

 

The first time I played a trackball game was after hacking my dead WICO the first time around with a PIC microcontroller to act like a joystick. I was not so enthusiastic about continuing to play trackball games. The boys' recent hacking efforts on these 2600 titles changed that. Now I'm on a trackball kick. :)

Edited by BigO
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Thanks again for that Albert! I started a separate thread for it in the general section but since you brought it up I wanted to say thanks again for bringing all that to the show. LOVED seeing those shiny new carts and that trackball was imaculate! It was such a pleasure to have equipment at the show that was in such great condition and working perfectly!

 

Just wanted to say that I had several of these Trak-Ball hacks running at the Houston Arcade Expo this weekend, which was a very appropriate place to demo Missile Command, Centipede, Millipede, and Reactor. There was even a Reactor arcade cabinet at the show. :) I saw tons of people playing them, and I think one girl was playing Centipede for an hour! In fact, one of the vendors (whose daughter was apparently the one playing Centipede for so long) asked if he could buy a copy of the game. :)

I have not tried some of the latest hacks, such as Colony 7, but I will as things slow down for me (say, maybe, February) and I have some time to relax.

Keep up the great work! :D

..Al

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Thanks again for that Albert! I started a separate thread for it in the general section but since you brought it up I wanted to say thanks again for bringing all that to the show. LOVED seeing those shiny new carts and that trackball was imaculate! It was such a pleasure to have equipment at the show that was in such great condition and working perfectly!

Glad you enjoyed the show, and in particular, the console gaming area. I do test all my hardware from time to time, and I try to make sure everything is running properly before the show (I even bring Testcarts for the 2600 so I can adjust colors and test controllers and switches). I have to thank Fujiskunk and Arenafoot for their help, especially during setup and teardown. We couldn't start setting up until after 10pm on Thursday (I got there at 3pm) as the hotel double booked-part of the space.

 

The Trak-Ball controller was brand new when I brought it to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo last month. Another AtariAge member graciously sent it to me. :)

 

..Al

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I did a bit of research about the various trackball controllers for the 2600 and I found that there were actually 2 versions of the CX-22:

 

1 - first version only works in joystick emulation mode and doesn't have a real trackball mode. According to the service manual, only 15K of these were produced. There's not a mode selection switch on these units.

 

2 - second version has the mode select switch and can work in joystick mode or true trackball mode compatible with Atari 8bit computers.

 

I think that the early model is the one labeled "Atari 2600 PROLINE TRAK-BALL" (you can see one in this post), with the all black case, while the latter is the "ATARI TRAK-BALL" with the dual tone Brown/Creme to match the XL series of computers. Both have the CX-22 model number printed on the bottom label. Anyway, I have not confirmation that the cosmetic changes and the board revision happened at the same time, so the presence of the switch is the best way to differentiate between the two.

 

I suggest to add a note about this in the first page for anyone looking for a CX-22 trackball to play these hacks and maybe to rename the various roms avoiding the use of "CX-80" and "CX-22" which might cause confusion.

Maybe you could use the term "8bit TRACKBALL" or "XL TRACKBALL" instead of "CX-22" and "ST MOUSE" instead of "CX-80" as suggested by Mitch in one post.

 

 

Mode select switch? Wow! I have one of those versions. Here I thought the trackball just didn't work. -- Thanks for pointing this out. :thumbsup:

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I think introducing new terms now would cause even more confusion.

 

But if you can create a small paragraph which sums up the situation, we can add it to the first post.

Something like this should do it:

 

Note for CX-22 Trak-Balls:

An early version of this controller only works in joystick emulation mode and cannot be used with these roms unless modified. Check for the presence of the "joystick/trakball" switch on the bottom left side to ensure that you have the later compatible version and set it in "trakball" mode.

 

Just translate it in better english than mine...

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Something like this should do it:

 

Just translate it in better english than mine...

What you wrote is fine with me. I would add that it's better than what I see written by many native English speakers and far better than I would ever do in German or Italian or any other language.

 

What you wrote doesn't address what the earlier poster was saying about some CX-22 models putting out a different protocol than the others in TB mode. I wonder how prevalent that really is. From what I can tell in a casual glance at pictures, the circuit boards in the various models, including the CX-53, look like they might be the same layout, so I guess anything is possible.

 

It'd be really cool to autodetect the control scheme in software. Maybe a routine that requires moving a pointer on the title screen to a specified area before starting the game would provide a good place to do the detection. It's a lot easier to say than to do. Maybe if I ever get around to writing a game that supports the trackball I'll tackle that.

 

Yeah, right...if I ever did write a game, I'd probably stick to paddles and leave the tricky stuff to the expert coders.

Edited by BigO
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