VicViper Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Seriously, why can no two games agree on what port to use? why do so many games insist on using port 2? is there a technical reason? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 (edited) Partly yes. The keyboard and joystick port #1 share some lines of the CIA chip so there could be misreadings of the joystick as keyboard input. Thus many games prefer to use port #2 as it doesn't interfer with anyhthing. Other games managed to get around the misreadings or just didn't care, and were programmed for port #1 instead. Even if Commodore didn't want to reroute the ports, they could easily have gotten away with it by just renaming the ports on the outside so port #1 is closest to the power connector. It might've made more developers use the same port. Actually once you start to PEEK around in the memory map, port #2 is at address 56320 and port #1 is at address 56321 so something went wrong with the labeling on the outside, methinks. Edited August 19, 2017 by carlsson 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicViper Posted August 20, 2017 Author Share Posted August 20, 2017 (edited) As always, Carlsson comes through. Thanks! Edited August 20, 2017 by VicViper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landgraf Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 Actually both ports interfere with the keybord, the way a joystick in port 2 modifies the keyboard readout is just a bit more subtle(*). What really puzzles me is that nearly no game could be arsed to simply poll boths ports in single player mode as this is quite easy to do code-wise - yet Uridium is the only game I know that does that. (*) if you scan the keys the way the kernal rom routine does it - custom made scanners may "reverse" the scan direction and thereby also reverse how each joyport interferes with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 Seems kind of trivial on the surface, but ends up being one of the most aggravating aspects of gaming on the C64. I share your pain VicViper! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motrucker Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 You could use a joystick switcher, to change the active port at the touch of a button - either from SkydivinGirl or COREi64. http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59117&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=165 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny_galaga Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 I'm just putting the finishing touches on another controller, so my solution will be the time honoured method of just leaving controllers in both ports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nateo Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 You could use a joystick switcher, to change the active port at the touch of a button - either from SkydivinGirl or COREi64. http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59117&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=165 I'll second the joystick switcher. It's so dang convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7800fan Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 Yes and safe with controller that draws power like Hot Stuff joystick with built in rapid fire. Plugging and unplugging risk blowing CIA but the switcher allows me to switch port without unplugging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 The joystick switcher is a must have as far as I'm concerned. Bonus points that you can print your own case for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRTGAMER Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 (edited) On my 128D, I just leave a Wico plugged in each port. Grab the stick that works for each game. Edited September 3, 2017 by CRTGAMER 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mr. Video Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Partly yes. The keyboard and joystick port #1 share some lines of the CIA chip so there could be misreadings of the joystick as keyboard input. Thus many games prefer to use port #2 as it doesn't interfer with anyhthing. Other games managed to get around the misreadings or just didn't care, and were programmed for port #1 instead. Even if Commodore didn't want to reroute the ports, they could easily have gotten away with it by just renaming the ports on the outside so port #1 is closest to the power connector. It might've made more developers use the same port. Actually once you start to PEEK around in the memory map, port #2 is at address 56320 and port #1 is at address 56321 so something went wrong with the labeling on the outside, methinks. Always wondered about that. Also I remember that moving a joystick in port 1 while in BASIC will type in different characters, as if you typed them in using the keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Flame Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Always wondered about that. Also I remember that moving a joystick in port 1 while in BASIC will type in different characters, as if you typed them in using the keyboard. The inverse is also true, in that you can press the same affected keys (Ctrl, ←, 1, 2, and Space) to spoof a joystick from port 1. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 I just keep two joysticks plugged in. One doesn't work for a game I grab the other. Been doing that since the 80's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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