Atari 800XL emulation on the VCS using Classic Joystick?

[Joost70NL]

Hi all,

 

Maybe it's discussed before, but as I am a child of the seventies (actually conceived in the sixties, born in the seventies :-), one thing I really would love to do on the VCS is to play the games from my childhood like I did back then - so with the joystick. Antstream Arcade has some 8-bit games, but not the ones I really would love to play (like Gyruss, Zaxxon, Qix, Bounty Bob Strikes Back) I know there are a lot of emulators out there that can be run on a Windows machine, but I don't know whether they support the Classic Controller. Anyone any tips?

 

[justclaws]

3 hours ago, Joost70NL said:

I know there are a lot of emulators out there that can be run on a Windows machine, but I don't know whether they support the Classic Controller. Anyone any tips?

 

I've not tried an Atari XL emulator, but I remember others running one. (I never had an Atari XL.)
On emulation, 3 things come to mind.

- Both the classic and modern controllers can operate in Xbox compatible mode, when on USB,
as well as Atari mode, so I'm sure that would already be supported. On Bluetooth, the device is
recognised differently, as that is Atari mode only.

- The classic controller spinner appears in software like a 15-bit X/Y axis of a normal controller,
returning values 0-32767 (and wrapping), so if the emulator supports any kind of remapping,
as they usually do, spinner should work too, in the same way as a mouse, perhaps. 

- I read that a couple of emulators had (or were pending) updates for both the controllers. ?

[zzip]

4 hours ago, Joost70NL said:

Hi all,

 

Maybe it's discussed before, but as I am a child of the seventies (actually conceived in the sixties, born in the seventies :-), one thing I really would love to do on the VCS is to play the games from my childhood like I did back then - so with the joystick. Antstream Arcade has some 8-bit games, but not the ones I really would love to play (like Gyruss, Zaxxon, Qix, Bounty Bob Strikes Back) I know there are a lot of emulators out there that can be run on a Windows machine, but I don't know whether they support the Classic Controller. Anyone any tips?

 

Most emulators will allow you to map the controls to your liking,  so even if it doesn't support the classic controller out of the box,  you should be able to go into the configuration and it will ask you to push what you want to use for up, down, fire button, etc.    I don't have a classic controller to test this with at the moment though

[0_obeWAN]

Hello,

 

I just tested quickly the Atari 800 emulator on Batocera  to see what Zaxxon looked like. The name sounded in my mind, but I couldn't find it. It was in fact my older brother who played it on Mattel Intellivision. 
I got a ROM to test here The game starts and the "modern controller" is well recognized on USB. There is no reason why the "classic joystick" should not be recognized as well. 

[Joost70NL]

Thanks!

Now my next quest will be to find out how to install Batocera on a USB-flash drive to boot from... ?

[0_obeWAN]

Really easy to do, just require an USB disk, prefered SSD

Download x64 version here https://batocera.org/download

Use Balena etcher in 3 steps. https://www.balena.io/etcher/

1/ Indicate batocera image file path you just downloaded

2/ Indicate your USB disk path (All disk will be format, data lose)

3/ Star flash and wait to succefull

When done, plug USB disk, start console, wait Batocera finilise install and start  Well done

Most important, Batocera need to desactivate Enforce secure boot in BIOS (UEFI) to let run

[Jack Burton 1]

Here's a video link to walk you through it.

 

How To Turn Your Old PC Into An Emulation Powerhouse Using Batocera - YouTube

[leech]

Doesn't Batocera still require you to bypass secure boot? 

 

I should just create a Debian based liveUSB image that boots to retroarch or something (not hard to do at all).  Make it plug and play so you just plop it into the VCS and fire it up.  Wonder how hard it'd be to auto-config the classic controller for it as well.  Then all you'd need is a properly sized keyboard, replace the case of the VCS with an Atari 400 one and go at it!  

[Jack Burton 1]

It does require you to bypass secure boot. I was able to do that by changing the boot mode from UEFI (the default) to "legacy". Once I did that I was able to disable secure boot. 

[Joost70NL]

On 5/11/2021 at 12:06 AM, 0_obeWAN said:

Hello,

 

I just tested quickly the Atari 800 emulator on Batocera  to see what Zaxxon looked like. The name sounded in my mind, but I couldn't find it. It was in fact my older brother who played it on Mattel Intellivision. 
I got a ROM to test here The game starts and the "modern controller" is well recognized on USB. There is no reason why the "classic joystick" should not be recognized as well. 

Thanks for the help. I managed to install Batocera, even put the Zaxxon-file in the right folder, but still need an Atari OS? And whenever I find that, do I just put that in the same folder?

 

[0_obeWAN]

Just now, Joost70NL said:

Thanks for the help. I managed to install Batocera, even put the Zaxxon-file in the right folder, but still need an Atari OS? And whenever I find that, do I just put that in the same folder?

 

In Batocera "share" partition you got two importants folders

"bios" folder where you have to place (copy) the bios for supported emulator/console

"roms" folder where you place yours roms in corresponding emulator/console folders

 

Note: In bios folder, find readme.txt that explain for example what you need for Atari 800 bios

 

Atari 5200 / Atari 800:
281f20ea4320404ec820fb7ec0693b38 bios/5200.rom
06daac977823773a3eea3422fd26a703 bios/ATARIXL.ROM
0bac0c6a50104045d902df4503a4c30b bios/ATARIBAS.ROM
eb1f32f5d9f382db1bbfb8d7f9cb343a bios/ATARIOSA.ROM
a3e8d617c95d08031fe1b20d541434b2 bios/ATARIOSB.ROM

 

You could easely find bios on Web with google given MD5 checksum

 

I wish you a good game

[Joost70NL]

Okay, so I put all the files in the right folder but I still get this:

Anyone knows what I’m doing wrong?

[zzip]

2 hours ago, Joost70NL said:

Okay, so I put all the files in the right folder but I still get this:

Anyone knows what I’m doing wrong?

That's a sign you don't have the right rom files, or they are located in a different place than it expects.

 

Hit F1 to get the Atari800 config menu

go to "Emulator Configuration", and then scroll down to "System ROM Settings"

 

There will be options here to help you find the roms, and set the location where they are

[leech]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

That's a sign you don't have the right rom files, or they are located in a different place than it expects.

 

Hit F1 to get the Atari800 config menu

go to "Emulator Configuration", and then scroll down to "System ROM Settings"

 

There will be options here to help you find the roms, and set the location where they are

Also, remember Linux is case sensitive.  So if they are named something that the emulator isn't looking for, it may not pick it up if it is ATARIOSA.ROM vs atariosa.rom

[Joost70NL]

6 hours ago, zzip said:

That's a sign you don't have the right rom files, or they are located in a different place than it expects.

 

Hit F1 to get the Atari800 config menu

go to "Emulator Configuration", and then scroll down to "System ROM Settings"

 

There will be options here to help you find the roms, and set the location where they are

Thanks a lot! I’m almost there. Zaxxon will load but other games give me the green screen I haven’t seen since 1985 when our Atari 600XL refused to boot up anymore and we had to send it for repair which took three months. ? Any more tips? 

[0_obeWAN]

13 hours ago, Joost70NL said:

Thanks a lot! I’m almost there. Zaxxon will load but other games give me the green screen I haven’t seen since 1985 when our Atari 600XL refused to boot up anymore and we had to send it for repair which took three months. ? Any more tips? 

this image is one of two roms, the game is the other roms 

Detail

Zaxxon (1983, Datasoft, Inc.).cas = show a tools to verify memory and matérial 

Zaxxon_Datasoft.atr = is the game itself 

[0_obeWAN]

10 minutes ago, 0_obeWAN said:

this image is one of two roms, the game is the other roms 

Detail

Zaxxon (1983, Datasoft, Inc.).cas = show a tools to verify memory and matérial 

Zaxxon_Datasoft.atr = is the game itself 

Start Zaxxon_Datasoft

 

[+skr]

Way before I got my VCS (last Sunday) I got two controllers (one of each flavour) and connected it to my MacBookPro to play Games with the Atari800MacX emulator. Super easy install, no latency and I get extreme highscores in nearly any game. I really love that stick. Should ask Mark Grebe, if he can bring Atari800MacX to the VCS, as I need the Mac for work.