Trackball CX22

[lmich391]

What games can I use this trackball on? 

[+DrVenkman]

17 minutes ago, lmich391 said:

What games can I use this trackball on? 

Assuming you have the version that has the mode switch (Joystick/Trak-Ball), you can use it in Trak-Ball mode on exactly 2 (two!) vintage titles: Atari MISSILE COMMAND and Synapse Software’s SLIME!. In both cases, press CTRL-T to tell the game to use Trak-Ball mode.

 

In Joystick mode, the Trak-Ball outputs only directional signals and will work with any title that expects a joystick, but without proportional Trak-Ball control of course. There are some modern hacks and homebrews that add true Trak-Ball control to older titles like Centipede. You can search the forum and find them. 

[lmich391]

I have one that has the switch. Thanks for information. 

[Paul Westphal]

Millipede, Centipede, Crystal Castles. Millipede is awesome with it! I also tried Galaxian with mixed results. I didn’t know about Slime, thanks. 

Edited March 30, 2020 by Paul Westphal

[+DrVenkman]

1 minute ago, Paul Westphal said:

Millipede, Centipede, Crystal Castles. Millipede is awesome with it! I also tried Galaxian with mixed results. I didn’t know about Slime, thanks. 

None of those work in true, proportional Trak-Ball mode. They may be fun to play with a Trak-Ball or with the WICO trackball, but they’re just joystick games. Play MISSILE COMMAND with CTRL-T before pressing START and you’ll see the difference. 

[+Nezgar]

Native trackball gray code support (not in joystick mode)

 

Planetary Defense by Tom Hudson

And followup Planetary Defense 2012

Maybe? I remember it for sure worked with my KoalaPad...

 

Centipede Arcade - patched to use native trackball - this one's pretty fun

 

Newer: Tempest Elite/xtreem

 

 

 

[jamm]

3 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

None of those work in true, proportional Trak-Ball mode. They may be fun to play with a Trak-Ball or with the WICO trackball, but they’re just joystick games. Play MISSILE COMMAND with CTRL-T before pressing START and you’ll see the difference. 

There's a port of the 5200 Centipede that does support true Trak-Ball mode.  But, yeah, it's a crime that Millipede and Crystal Castles don't support it.

[jamm]

Just now, Nezgar said:

Centipede Arcade - patched to use native trackball - this one's pretty fun

That's probably the one I was thinking of.

[+DrVenkman]

1 hour ago, jamm said:

There's a port of the 5200 Centipede that does support true Trak-Ball mode.  But, yeah, it's a crime that Millipede and Crystal Castles don't support it.

Right - one of those hacks and homebrews I referred to in my original response. It’s a great conversion but it’s not the first A8 CENTIPEDE most people are likely to find or run across. The vintage Atari-published CENTIPEDE does not support Trak-Ball mode, nor does 7800 Centipede, which is a damn shame. 

[SoundGammon]

There's this hack of the 7800 version of Centipede that uses a CX-22:

 

 

Also has a mode for 2 players to share one Trak-Ball!  Nice touch!

[jamm]

Kills me that Millipede says it supports the Trak-Ball right in the manual, but they don't mention it's only in joystick mode. 

[StickJock]

4 hours ago, Nezgar said:

Native trackball gray code support (not in joystick mode)

 

I haven't unpacked my trackball yet, but I seem to recall when I wrote some code for it back in the '80s that it did not report graycode, but rather processed the graycode and reported a pair of direction + toggle bits.  IIRC, for both X&Y, there was a bit that toggled with movement (like the LSB of graycode), and a separate sign/direction bit.  So if the motion/toggle bit changed, you would then check the sign/direction bit to see which way the movement was (left/right for X, up/down for Y).

 

The only game I remember using it with in trackball mode was missile command.  I never really liked the game, but as I recall, it was a lot more fun to play using the trackball!

 

I'll have to dig out my trackball and try some of the other games mentioned here.

[manterola]

Regarding the gray code support , it depends on the model of the trackball as I remember. The direction + speed version as far as I remember is what the 5200 trackball does. I modified one to make it work with 8bit computer missile command. 

Then I discovered that missile command also works with ST mouse, without any modification: that is pretty interesting and remarkable, I guess since my understanding was that cx22/cx80 in true trackball mode and ST mouse are different and need different routines .

 

[vitoco]

Some other software can be found in Michael Current's Atari 8bit Usenet FAQ, section 8.6, mirrored here:

http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe-what-programs-are-designed-for-a-true-trackball-controller_95.html