18 replies to this topic

[BigErn]

I tried playing Centipede with a Trak-Ball and it was pretty horrible. Does Millipede respond any better? I am aware Atari never produced any games that took advantage of the Trak-Ball's analog control, but I was surprised at how poorly it functioned with Centipede. It was even way too slow to use on Missile Command.

I've been spoiled by the Missile Command TB hack. I just bought a copy from the AA store, and I can't put it down. I wish there were more games that utilized the TB to its full extent.

[StanJr]

Yeah, the trak-ball was a great idea that went horribly wrong.

Have you tried it with Crystal Castles?

[iesposta]

I had a WICO trackball back in the 80's and I remember liking it.

I never had Millipede though. I've been playing lots of Millipede recently through emulation. Very fun!

Who should we ask that can mod Millipede for the trackball?

Remember that arcade centipede had a limit of how fast the shooter went left / right, it wasn't as fast as you could spin it. The trackball shines in the fine positioning of up down left right where you're shooting.

[BigErn]

StanJr, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 4:25 PM, said:

Yeah, the trak-ball was a great idea that went horribly wrong.

Have you tried it with Crystal Castles?

I have never tried it with Crystal Castles, the teddy bear on the box put me off it.

iesposta, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 5:00 PM, said:

I had a WICO trackball back in the 80's and I remember liking it.

I never had Millipede though. I've been playing lots of Millipede recently through emulation. Very fun!

Who should we ask that can mod Millipede for the trackball?

Remember that arcade centipede had a limit of how fast the shooter went left / right, it wasn't as fast as you could spin it. The trackball shines in the fine positioning of up down left right where you're shooting.

I can't get any fine positioning on my TB. Maybe the WICO TB is better. I was going to buy one, but then I read that it only works in joystick mode, so it couldn't be used to play the Missile Command TB hack. And why do almost all of the TB's have a yellow ball? It looks like earwax. Black or stainless steel would have looked so much cooler.

And I agree, someone needs to mod Millipede for the TB. I would definitely buy a copy.

[jaybird3rd]

The problem is that the trackball is emulating the joystick, so it is being "mapped" to the directionals without taking the speed into account. That gives you a lot less control than you would have if the game was designed to use the trackball natively, without the joystick emulation.

The trackball with the yellow ball that you're referring to is the CX-22, and I don't like it, either. I've got two of them, but they all have rusty bearings. I much prefer the CX-80, which is all-black and a better stylistic match for the 2600.

[esplonky]

nobody ever pays me in gum...

[iesposta]

I read in the old thread that there needs to be processor time in the display kernel to add analogue trackball control. Millipede and Centipede are far too busy to read the trackball, Missile Command had processor cycles available to make that hack work.

[BigErn]

iesposta, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 8:07 PM, said:

I read in the old thread that there needs to be processor time in the display kernel to add analogue trackball control. Millipede and Centipede are far too busy to read the trackball, Missile Command had processor cycles available to make that hack work.

nooooooo

Maybe we'll get an original homebrew...

[RJ]

Quote

the teddy bear on the box put me off it.

Bad reason to miss out on a great game.

[VicViper]

BigErn, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 5:27 PM, said:

StanJr, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 4:25 PM, said:

Yeah, the trak-ball was a great idea that went horribly wrong.

Have you tried it with Crystal Castles?

I have never tried it with Crystal Castles, the teddy bear on the box put me off it.

iesposta, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 5:00 PM, said:

I had a WICO trackball back in the 80's and I remember liking it.

I never had Millipede though. I've been playing lots of Millipede recently through emulation. Very fun!

Who should we ask that can mod Millipede for the trackball?

Remember that arcade centipede had a limit of how fast the shooter went left / right, it wasn't as fast as you could spin it. The trackball shines in the fine positioning of up down left right where you're shooting.

I can't get any fine positioning on my TB. Maybe the WICO TB is better. I was going to buy one, but then I read that it only works in joystick mode, so it couldn't be used to play the Missile Command TB hack. And why do almost all of the TB's have a yellow ball? It looks like earwax. Black or stainless steel would have looked so much cooler.

And I agree, someone needs to mod Millipede for the TB. I would definitely buy a copy.

What someone REALLY needs to do is a TB compatible Millipede hack based on the 7800 version of Centipede.

[Ataritard]

I'm a fan of the Atari 2600 Trackball. (That's right, I said it.)

[Bentley Bear!]

BigErn, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 5:27 PM, said:

I have never tried it with Crystal Castles, the teddy bear on the box put me off it.

RACIST!

[BigErn]

Ataritard, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 10:55 PM, said:

I'm a fan of the Atari 2600 Trackball. (That's right, I said it.)

What games are good to use with the Trak-Ball? I just tried Activision's Skiing with the TB and it was pretty fun. With Centipede the left/right motions are always diagonal and slow.

[BigErn]

Bentley Bear!, on Thu Nov 10, 2011 12:48 PM, said:

BigErn, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 5:27 PM, said:

I have never tried it with Crystal Castles, the teddy bear on the box put me off it.

RACIST!

speechless

[maiki]

jaybird3rd, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 5:41 PM, said:

The problem is that the trackball is emulating the joystick, so it is being "mapped" to the directionals without taking the speed into account.

If this is true then no sence buing any Atari trackballs. A trackball should always be analogue. PERIOD.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

maiki, on Sat Nov 12, 2011 3:57 AM, said:

jaybird3rd, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 5:41 PM, said:

The problem is that the trackball is emulating the joystick, so it is being "mapped" to the directionals without taking the speed into account.

If this is true then no sence buing any Atari trackballs. A trackball should always be analogue. PERIOD.

Emulating a joystick is just an option, so that you can also play games which are programmed for joystick usage. For games programmed for trackball usage, you can switch to analogue.

[slamthedoor]

BigErn, on Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:06 PM, said:

Ataritard, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 10:55 PM, said:

I'm a fan of the Atari 2600 Trackball. (That's right, I said it.)

What games are good to use with the Trak-Ball? I just tried Activision's Skiing with the TB and it was pretty fun.

Decathalon was good. You barely have to move the ball and can get great scores.

[Rik]

I bought a WICO, COMMAND CONTROL trackball for $7.99 at Value Village a little while ago, and i love it, works fantastic.BTW, I use the Atari 2600 Track & Field control for Decathlon on my ColecoVision and any other game or console that utilizes it, the blue one with 2 white buttons on bottom and one red one on top, saves a lot of wear and tear on joysticks, and Decathlon AFAIK is the worse for that.

Edited by Rik, Fri Nov 18, 2011 9:40 AM.

[SRGilbert]

If you want Atari Trak-ball action, then look no further than the 5200 baby! You simply won't find better trak-ball gameplay than that.