Ruggers Customs Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Hello all! I've recently had some requests from customers (quite a lot actually) for some remapped Genesis controllers for the Colecovision. This isn't anything new and this concept has been out for a while. However, most of the mods I've seen require butchering an OEM Genesis controller and the button mappings were a little off in my opinion. I don't like cutting up old hardware so I tried my skills with a cheap third party controller to see what I could do with it. Here is what I came up with. I plan to offer these later on but I want test them thoroughly to make sure the controllers will hold up (not my mod, it works great but I'm talking about the controller quality itself). Any thoughts or opinions on the buttons mappings or anything else? Thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick3092 Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Maybe map y or z to 5, so you can start a 2 player game? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruggers Customs Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 Maybe map y or z to 5, so you can start a 2 player game? Thanks for the input Nick! I can definitely do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 The problem with using retrobit (or other new controllers) are that the circuit board is so cheap it is difficult to solder to. You don't want to waste hours making controllers that break, because retrobit is china crap. Assuming you are making even as many as 100-200 controllers, no one will miss original genesis controllers because they made millions of them. You can get a box of random genesis controllers on ebay for really cheap, because usually it is people with stores who are getting rid of the ones they can't refurbish and resell. You would actually be saving a box of genesis controllers that resellers can't use, so they sell the whole box on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruggers Customs Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 The problem with using retrobit (or other new controllers) are that the circuit board is so cheap it is difficult to solder to. You don't want to waste hours making controllers that break, because retrobit is china crap. Sure the retrobits are cheaply made component wise (glop tops, no resistors, etc.) but they are quite easy to solder to and work with. If done properly and in a certain way, they take heat quite well with no fear of pads or traces lifting. The boards definitely aren't the worst I've ever seen and I've worked on and repaired really really cheap Chinese single layered pcbs in the past where even hair dryer heat would lift the copper. The only issue that might be a possibility with these controllers is the D Pad clip breaking inside with continued use and the D Pad just falling off. Fortunately, I have an easy 30 second hardware fix to prevent that from ever happening. However, I still would like to put it through its paces just to be sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 (edited) Some of the circuit boards are thin but usable, and some are so paper thin that they are total useless garbage. I got some new SNES controllers both for USB and SNES, and they should be so embarrassed at how thin and small the circuit board was. The buttons hanged over the board, just so they could make the board smaller and save money. These new retro gaming items just have to work long enough that they don't break within the first 30 days, and people return them. Edited June 6, 2018 by Hannacek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaneiken Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 I'd suggest using the Hyperkin GN6 controller as that is actually decent quality. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruggers Customs Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 I'd suggest using the Hyperkin GN6 controller as that is actually decent quality. Thanks for the suggestion! Funny you mention that because I ordered a few the other day and modded some of them. They are indeed much much better quality. Even added 2 more buttons 0 and 5 to the mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 I think 1 and 2 are the most important buttons. You can use them to start a player 1 game in easy or medium difficulty, and with some games 1 and 2 select standard controller or super action/roller/steering wheel controller. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruggers Customs Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 I remapped this hyperkin and the quality is almost as good as an original Sega 6 Button. 8 Buttons of function and I don't think it can get much better than this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 You could add the two additional fire buttons for super action games. Although there are only around 4 or 5 super action games, so that might not be a priority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 I remapped this hyperkin and the quality is almost as good as an original Sega 6 Button. 8 Buttons of function and I don't think it can get much better than this. Only if you went to the 64 bit or higher gamepad which would have up to 11 buttons plus dpad and one or two thumb sticks. I think some of the 90s gravis pc gameport pads also had similar setups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 I would suggest if possible to duplicate the Button 1 or Left Fire button onto button C The reason for this is that this will allow the user to choose which button is correct for them. The game Cosmic avenger in my opinion is one of those games where I choose to swap the functionality of the buttons around. Some games I use A and B for Left and Right Fire and other games I use the B and C buttons as my Left and Right buttons. Does your design allow for you to use both fire buttons at once? Load up Cosmic Avenger or Nova Blast and one fire button will fire bullets and the other fire button will drop bombs. I have found that I had to put in diodes into the buttons to achieve this result. In any case I would love to see your final product! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruggers Customs Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 I would suggest if possible to duplicate the Button 1 or Left Fire button onto button C The reason for this is that this will allow the user to choose which button is correct for them. The game Cosmic avenger in my opinion is one of those games where I choose to swap the functionality of the buttons around. Some games I use A and B for Left and Right Fire and other games I use the B and C buttons as my Left and Right buttons. Does your design allow for you to use both fire buttons at once? Load up Cosmic Avenger or Nova Blast and one fire button will fire bullets and the other fire button will drop bombs. I have found that I had to put in diodes into the buttons to achieve this result. In any case I would love to see your final product! Good luck! Sorry for such a late response, things have been super busy lately. I've gathered a lot of information from many different sites and it seems that the current configuration seems to be the most popular. So the plan is to stick with that. To answer your other question, yes the fire and arm buttons work separately and they are also wired correctly to where they work when both buttons are pressed at the same time for games like Tutankham's bombs, etc. A lot of interest for these so they will be available soon for 45.00 + shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Did you rewire the Hyperkin pcb, or did you make your own board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruggers Customs Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 Did you rewire the Hyperkin pcb, or did you make your own board? I rewired the hyperkin pcb, however it's a little more complicated than rewiring but yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruggers Customs Posted February 7, 2023 Author Share Posted February 7, 2023 Hello all! Jesse aka Crossbow over at Ivory Tower Collections was nice enough to review one of my controllers. Hard to believe it's almost been 5 years since I started making these by hand. Thanks again Jesse!Ivory Tower Collections Ruggerpad review video on Youtube 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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