Omega-TI Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Now that I have my joystick fixed and have my Atarimax, I've noticed something... the games 'seem harder to play' than what I remember in my youth! But oh man, all those games at my fingertips! It'll take me a while to go through all of them to choose my favorites. Anyway the first thing I did was copy the relevant items to a cheap 99 cent SD card I got from China and then I put the original away for safe keeping. I also make a backup on my hard drive. Oh yeah, I edited the text file to customize my menu screen... Sadly my gaming skills suck, so I took the advice of another Atariage member and put a rubber band on the joystick to make it 'sort of' self centering. It actually works to improve my scores a little! Sure, it's not pretty but it works... for now. I'm eventually going to need an adapter that allows me to use the keypad but also use my Wico Ball for some some games that only use the X/Y axis. The diagonal movement is killing my scores in some games. Anyway I'm quite pleased with it's operation, but would really like a RESET BUTTON so I do not have to turn the console on and off every time I want to load a new game. So now I have a couple of questions... 1) Is there a reset mod for the 5200? 2) What recommendations do you have for an adapter that will allow me to use my 2600 compatible Wico joystick along with the 5200 for the button selections? 3) Are there any other mods you would recommend? Surprises! The Freecell and Chess games were nice to find. Now maybe I missed it among the many games (so far), but no Tetris? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 20, 2018 Author Share Posted July 20, 2018 The one dissapointing thing I've found so far.. the image I have of Pole Position for the Atarimax pulls to the left and will not go to the right. My real Pole Position cartridge works just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 That rubber band mod is in the best tradition of NASA's "gotta-fix-it-now" ingenuity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemoretime Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 its going to take something like a masterplay to make a 2600 controller work on that guy. I purchased a couple of extra nice reproductions from user name atariguy1021a couple of years ago. Others are making them too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smbaker Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 1) Is there a reset mod for the 5200? I haven't confirmed this, but I would think interrupting the interlock on the cartridge connector (pins 18 and 36) would do it. This would have the same effect as removing and inserting a new cartridge. After making my own 16-in-1 cartridge over the weekend, I'm kicking myself for not putting a momentary toggle in my cartridge to do this. I figured I'd just power-cycle, but power-cycling doesn't doesn't seem all that reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 The one dissapointing thing I've found so far.. the image I have of Pole Position for the Atarimax pulls to the left and will not go to the right. My real Pole Position cartridge works just fine. There’s a rom hack in a thread called “pole position won’t steer” that will fix that issue on the Ultimate SD. I’d link to it but I can’t figure out how to do that in Tapatalk [emoji30] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 its going to take something like a masterplay to make a 2600 controller work on that guy. I purchased a couple of extra nice reproductions from user name atariguy1021a couple of years ago. Others are making them too. +1 on atariguy1021 and his Masterplay Clone. I have a couple too. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/255618-the-atari-5200-podcast-new-podcast/?p=4061899 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 20, 2018 Author Share Posted July 20, 2018 There’s a rom hack in a thread called “pole position won’t steer” that will fix that issue on the Ultimate SD. I’d link to it but I can’t figure out how to do that in Tapatalk [emoji30] Found it with your search term << HERE >> THANKS!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Seems to me the masterplay clone needs another run. The bohoki PC Gameport converter is a nice fix at only $12. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Just to add, that I found the original SD card that comes with the Ultimate SD was slow on mine and causing the Bad Apple demo to run choppy. Putting in a faster rated SD card took care of that issue so it might not be important, but I was surprised that the speed of the SD card does matter in the Ultimate SD like this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Just to add, that I found the original SD card that comes with the Ultimate SD was slow on mine and causing the Bad Apple demo to run choppy. Putting in a faster rated SD card took care of that issue so it might not be important, but I was surprised that the speed of the SD card does matter in the Ultimate SD like this. Good tip! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 21, 2018 Author Share Posted July 21, 2018 That rubber band mod is in the best tradition of NASA's "gotta-fix-it-now" ingenuity. Actually I'm kind of surprised that after all these DECADES no one has made a black rubber strap to go around the upper part of the joystick with a hole for the joystick. I would look much better and stay truly centered. Go figure! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Wait? Let me make sure I understand the situation here... You want to put a rubber on your joystick after you get an extension for it? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lizard King Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Wait? Let me make sure I understand the situation here... You want to put a rubber on your joystick after you get an extension for it? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 (edited) A reset mod'd be quite difficult as the system stores the rom in memory. You can actually remove a game cart while playing and it will still run until turned off. I'm glad to see some appreciation of my rubber band method, lol. A southern original for sure. thetrisfinal5200.bin Edited July 22, 2018 by zylon 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Exactly! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 A reset mod'd be quite difficult as the system stores the rom in memory. You can actually remove a game cart while playing and it will still run until turned off. I'm glad to see some appreciation of my rubber band method, lol. A southern original for sure. Are we talking reset without power interruption? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 A reset mod'd be quite difficult as the system stores the rom in memory. You can actually remove a game cart while playing and it will still run until turned off. I'm glad to see some appreciation of my rubber band method, lol. A southern original for sure. DUDE! That Tetris game is so freaking good! Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 As you can see my first game (high score list) was not the best, but this game it totally rockin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 DUDE! That Tetris game is so freaking good! Thanks so much! Dudess will suffice, lol We ran that one once in the regular HSC under my tenure. Perhaps it will surface again there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemoretime Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Dudess will suffice, lol We ran that one once in the regular HSC under my tenure. Perhaps it will surface again there. It looks to be quite amazing. I hope to give it a test drive soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 Dudess will suffice, lol We ran that one once in the regular HSC under my tenure. Perhaps it will surface again there. Oops! Apologies! Just wanted to let you know, it's currently my favorite and most played game on the 5200 and will be the first in my collection to enter the "AWESOME" folder on the Atarimax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Are we talking reset without power interruption? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro I believe so. I tested that accidentally once with a system that had a sluggish power/rf box. When turned off, you had to wait until the power discharged enough for the switchbox to reopen the power circuit fully for the last rom played to clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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