3D ProgramPad Hack

[PacManFan]

Hey everyone,
PacManFan here,
    I was browsing through my local Ollie's agains, and I ran across the 3D ProgramPad by InterAct for only $2.99 !! I had seen this before in the Interface section of this site and at www.arcadeathome.com by Tim Eckel. Basically, this is a game pad that plugs into your keyboard and joystick port. It's got 18 buttons (including the directional control) which are all programmable to be any keyboard key, or input on the joystick port. It also has a keyboard passthrough. I bought 2 and brought them home to test out. I daisy - chained them both together and programmed them to be player 1 & 2 with a few other buttons (`,tab,1,2,5,6,pause,esc,enter,etc...). I tested them out in a keyboard blocking/ghosting program, and they passed with flying colors! (20 buttons at once, I couldn't press anymore by myself).
They don't need to be plugged into the gameport if they are programmed to send only keystrokes.
You can program them directly from the keyboard, or through the application they send on disk.

This seems like a good and very cheap alternative to a keyboard hack or buying a $30 - $200 keyboard encoder.

2 controllers @ $2.99 each = 36 fully programmable inputs  w/ keyboard passthrough for only $6.30 w/ tax (SCORE!!!!)

Has anyone else had any experience with these controllers besides Tim Eckel? It looks like he only used one controller in his CP.

If anyone wants some of these things, PM me and I'll pick a few more up, or if you are in the Metro DC area, I'll tell you where to find them.

-PacManFan

[Brad Lee]

I have one of these pads and have been very satisfied with it(both for its responsiveness and programmability)

Used it right up until I finally found a playstation->usb box

Never popped it open so I don't have any info on the ease of hacking, if its got good terminals etc, but all in all a nice cheap pad

[1UP]

This is a golden oldie.  I have an old one with a transparent shell!  Can't find it at the moment...  These were great back when gamepads had at most 4 buttons, and keymapping was non-existent!  I used to program moves into the shoulder buttons and whoop my wife's butt on Virtua Fighter...  

If I can find it tonight, I'll try to take some pics of the insides, but odds are it's in storage over at U-Haul...

[tom61]

The only problem with the pads I've found is that after a month or two lack of use they forget their programming. Both pads I have do this regularly.  Sometimes they forget thier programming, even if you have used them resently, but it's not as common.

[MrBond]

Good old Ollies.  I found my trigger joysticks there for $2 each.  

Hey, they also have a $30 steering wheel.  It said only compatible with win98 though...maybe the analog would still work for MAME??  It's an Interact V4 forcefeedback wheel.  Anyone have this up and running???

[TapeWurm]

I, too, have the clear one. I LOVED this controller when I first got it. For some reason, though, about a month into owning it, the directional pad went goofy and could never be calibrated again. It would always be jumpy and waaay off center. Too bad, cuz it had tons of hack possibilities.