Tutorial for hacking an Atari 2600 paddle to PC...

[WaverBoy]

Check this out:

http://random64.emuhq.com/doc3/Paddle2600-PC_eng.shtml

Has anyone here done this?  Success?

[IceCold]

Check this out:

http://random64.emuhq.com/doc3/Paddle2600-PC_eng.shtml

Has anyone here done this?  Success?

I tried it unsucessfully about a week ago.

[RandyT]

Check this out:

http://random64.emuhq.com/doc3/Paddle2600-PC_eng.shtml

Has anyone here done this?  Success?

IMHO, this is a hair-brained idea at best

The paddle controls have potentiometers in them and therefore have limited travel.  Even if you were nutty enough to spend a lot of time getting this to work, you would have problems using it.  

For example, you start a game with the modified paddle near the end of one direction of travel.  But your avitar starts at the middle of the screen.  This means you are stuck because you can't move the dial any further in one direction.  If you started with the dial in the middle, it might work for a bit, but after a few fast movements, you would eventually end up not being able to move properly.

I'm also having trouble figuring out what one would gain from this.  A normal spinner works on the same principle as the modified paddle, but doesn't have the limited travel.  

I think this one falls under the saying "Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should"  

RandyT

[Wade]

Randy,

    It might make no sense at all to modify a Paddle this way, but there are also the atari driving controls which look the same but don't have limited travel.  However, I'm not sure if the driving controls will work properly with atari games that are supposed to use Paddles.

Wade

[paigeoliver]

If you were going to hack a pair of Atari paddles, wouldn't it make a lot more sense just to wire the pair up as a single analog joystick through the gameport?

Each POT would be an axis and the buttons would be buttons.

[RandyT]

Randy,

    It might make no sense at all to modify a Paddle this way, but there are also the atari driving controls which look the same but don't have limited travel.  However, I'm not sure if the driving controls will work properly with atari games that are supposed to use Paddles.

Wade

I thought about those when writing my response.  I decided not to bring them up because they are less common than the paddle controllers and it'd be a shame to cut them up .

In the end, you would still basically have a "spinner" control that wouldn't really spin all that well.  

The author of the mod guide stated something like "play those games as they were meant to be played", when in reality, they were meant to be played with a real potentiometer based paddle control, not an optical spinner.  Anyone who has ever tried to play Circus or Avalanche with a spinner control can tell you that a spinner just doesn't cut it for the speed and accuracy these titles require.  Instantaneous precise positioning from one side of the screen to the other is difficult for a spinner to achieve.  It's hard to explain the difference, but it can certainly be felt.

I'm with PO on this one.  Rig up (or replace) the pot so it looks like a joystick axis.  True analog control can be achieved that way.

RandyT

 

[MameFan]

The Atari 2600 driving controls work exactly like a mouse/trackball/spinner, but in a more rudimentary way.

The driving controllers have what looks like one of those 1 pole-12 position rotary switches you can get at RadioShack (ala a tuner input select knob from old 1970's radios).

However there are no dentens, so it doesn't click while it's turned.  Basically it has a blade that makes contact with 0, 1 or both (tri-state) as it spins.   Physically one contact is the LEFT direction, one contact is the RIGHT direction. (Therefore you can simulate this with a taken apart atari 2600 joystick).  It works like this: (or is it UP/DOWN??--I forget, been a while since I used them)


LEFT
LEFT+RIGHT
RIGHT
LEFT
LEFT+RIGHT
RIGHT
...

This is very similar to the way an optical encoding wheel works by toggling the state of a couple bits, and watching how they "roll", you can distinguish the direction it is moving.  (you can tell at any point by seeing the next position and knowing which way it is going to).


However I think optical encoders do a 4 state (2 bit) signal instead of 3 state (1.5 bit ) signal.  But the intent is the same.

This would be much more successful hacking a driving controller than a paddle due to the hard stop (unless you of course break the potentiometer's limiting pieces off)

[IceCold]

the only thing about wiring up the pots(which would be WAY easier), is that I don't think any emulator supports this .  That's the only reason I'd want to interface them to pc, not for spinner games, but 2600 paddle games.

I'd really like a spinner too, but the difficulty of making a homemade one, and even the cost of a homemade one, it's not worth it to me.

[RandyT]

the only thing about wiring up the pots(which would be WAY easier), is that I don't think any emulator supports this .  That's the only reason I'd want to interface them to pc, not for spinner games, but 2600 paddle games.

I'd really like a spinner too, but the difficulty of making a homemade one, and even the cost of a homemade one, it's not worth it to me.

I might be wrong here, but I would think that any program that would work with an analog stick, would work with one of it's axis (pots) yanked out and used in paddle form .

But granted, if your options are limited to keyboard and mouse, this won't help you much.

RandyT

[IceCold]

the only thing about wiring up the pots(which would be WAY easier), is that I don't think any emulator supports this .  That's the only reason I'd want to interface them to pc, not for spinner games, but 2600 paddle games.

I'd really like a spinner too, but the difficulty of making a homemade one, and even the cost of a homemade one, it's not worth it to me.

I might be wrong here, but I would think that any program that would work with an analog stick, would work with one of it's axis (pots) yanked out and used in paddle form .

But granted, if your options are limited to keyboard and mouse, this won't help you much.

RandyT

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure all the emulators use mouse movements for the paddle, not joystick .  If you know of any 2600 emulators that use joysticks for paddle games, please let me know.  That's what the Atari 5200 uses for paddle games, an analog joystick(I made myself a 5200 paddle controller, it's awesome).  If any emulators use analog joysticks for paddle control, that would be awesome!