29 replies to this topic

[kool kitty89]

There's a middleground for joystick and d-pad, and that would be a thumbstick. (like early master system controllers and some Gravis PC gamepads had to screw into the d-pad) Honestly though, the original colecovisions controller's short stak broad, flat knobbed joystick tends to function better as a thumbpad, that would depend on personal prefrence though. (and the button positioning makes it pain to use as such, especially for 2-button games, not so bad for keypad usage and games with no buttons or rare use of buttons) As depicted here: (if you don't know of this guy, he's a big atari and sega fan, growing up with the 2600, 7800, and Genesis)


Of course the Intellivision's disc is more like a d-pad in that sense, but probably less functional as one than the CV controller is as a thumbstick (due to the somewhat slippery and recessed disc as well as the 16 directions), plus is at a less convienient location compared to the CV. (in terms of grasping the controller single handed)
And of couse there's the 5200, which might have been a pretty good configuration with a digital joystick (both as a thumbstick and finger gripped joystick), well that and better buttons. (ie larger, and less prone to wearing out -using ones more like the paddles or 7800)
But the key example of a gamepad like arrangement would probably be the vectrex, albeit that's with an analog thumbstick rather than a d-pad.

Edited by kool kitty89, Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:24 PM.

[Pixelboy]

I had a talk with doubledown last year about keypads, and here's what he had to say:

Quote

The biggest problem with a CV keypad is that it has to be of the single bus/common pole variation. Which means that there is one common (ground) and one contact for each button. So 1 keypad has 13 contacts. Most of the one's you'll find readily available on the internet are of the more common "matrix" style. Which means that there is one contact for each row and one for each column, containing a total of 7 contacts. These types of keypads are a lot more common, but unusable by the CV due to its diode array within the controller, and the decoder built onto the CV PCB.

So my question is: Would it be difficult to create some kind of interface between a "matrix style" keypad and the CV?

[opcode]

Pixelboy, on Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:45 AM, said:

I had a talk with doubledown last year about keypads, and here's what he had to say:

Quote

The biggest problem with a CV keypad is that it has to be of the single bus/common pole variation. Which means that there is one common (ground) and one contact for each button. So 1 keypad has 13 contacts. Most of the one's you'll find readily available on the internet are of the more common "matrix" style. Which means that there is one contact for each row and one for each column, containing a total of 7 contacts. These types of keypads are a lot more common, but unusable by the CV due to its diode array within the controller, and the decoder built onto the CV PCB.

So my question is: Would it be difficult to create some kind of interface between a "matrix style" keypad and the CV?

Yep, you can translate using a microcontroller or CPLD.

[Murph74]

kool kitty89, on Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:23 PM, said:

There's a middleground for joystick and d-pad, and that would be a thumbstick. (like early master system controllers and some Gravis PC gamepads had to screw into the d-pad) Honestly though, the original colecovisions controller's short stak broad, flat knobbed joystick tends to function better as a thumbpad, that would depend on personal prefrence though. (and the button positioning makes it pain to use as such, especially for 2-button games, not so bad for keypad usage and games with no buttons or rare use of buttons) As depicted here: (if you don't know of this guy, he's a big atari and sega fan, growing up with the 2600, 7800, and Genesis)


Of course the Intellivision's disc is more like a d-pad in that sense, but probably less functional as one than the CV controller is as a thumbstick (due to the somewhat slippery and recessed disc as well as the 16 directions), plus is at a less convienient location compared to the CV. (in terms of grasping the controller single handed)
And of couse there's the 5200, which might have been a pretty good configuration with a digital joystick (both as a thumbstick and finger gripped joystick), well that and better buttons. (ie larger, and less prone to wearing out -using ones more like the paddles or 7800)
But the key example of a gamepad like arrangement would probably be the vectrex, albeit that's with an analog thumbstick rather than a d-pad.

Quite a bit off topic to reply to, but felt the need. While I'm sure he means well, I think that review is whack-- I've NEVER seen anyone hold a CV controller like that or use one the way he does! Everyone I've ever seen play CV pinches the sides of the disc-- even on the cover of CV Experience the guy is pinching the stick, not thumbing it!

[jeremysart]

kool kitty89, on Mon Feb 8, 2010 12:28 AM, said:

Does anyone here have the pinout information for the CV controllers/controller ports? (U/D/L/R and button 1 match VCS and thush SMS and MD, but the other button is the contenton point, with SMS using pin 9) If both buttons match, SMS/MD controllers should be fine for any games not using the keypad.

The Jaguar pad was my first though for a reemagined CV controller though, and what do you know:
http://www.atariage....controller-mod/

You know, that does work pretty well. But luck fining Jag controllers en mass for a reasonable price.

How about something like a Gravis Gamepad or SMS controller/ CD-i, where there is a d-pad with a screw hole to attach an optional joystick? Just a thought.