button config for Escape from the Planet of Robot Monsters?

[hulkster]

i used to play this game all the time, anybody else?  well i played it with a keyboard and it worked fine.  it stills "works" on my cab, but the movements arent right.  like, if i dont push anything, the guy will just keep walking and walking, and in order to make him stop i have to push the attack (fire) button, then when i quit firing, he keeps on walking.  anyone else have this problem?  i want to make it so that when i quit pushing ont he joystick, he stops (duh)....anybody help here?

[Rocky]

Escape for the Planet of Robot Monsters uses an analog joystick for input.  Your 8-way stick cannot control it very well.  Try hooking a regular PC joystick up to your computer and try it.

Rocky

[hulkster]

hmm, is there another way?  just seems like the problem is, the guy wont stop walking.  anybody know?

[u_rebelscum]

Either use an analog joystick or edit four lines in the source code.

The best is to use an analog stick.  The original machine used them*, and for the most realistic game play you should use them too.  With digital sticks/keyboard, it's very hard to shoot the "22.5^o" angles (half way between the cardinals and the diags).

If you must use digital inputs, you can edit src/drivers/eprom.c, lines 249, 253, 257, & 261 by adding the IPF_CENTER flag (ie add "| IPF_CENTER") and recompile.  There are problems with this though, as you will find out: shooting the "22.5^o"s will be even harder than before, and facing a certain direction without shooting will be harder, too.  Here's the code

Code: [Select]

PORT_START   /* ADC0 @ 0x260020 */
PORT_ANALOG( 0x00ff, 0x0080, IPT_AD_STICK_Y | IPF_PLAYER1 | IPF_CENTER, 100, 10, 0x10, 0xf0 )
PORT_BIT( 0xff00, IP_ACTIVE_LOW, IPT_UNUSED )

PORT_START   /* ADC1 @ 0x260022 */
PORT_ANALOG( 0x00ff, 0x0080, IPT_AD_STICK_X | IPF_REVERSE | IPF_PLAYER1 | IPF_CENTER, 100, 10, 0x10, 0xf0 )
PORT_BIT( 0xff00, IP_ACTIVE_LOW, IPT_UNUSED )

PORT_START   /* ADC0 @ 0x260024 */
PORT_ANALOG( 0x00ff, 0x0080, IPT_AD_STICK_Y | IPF_PLAYER2 | IPF_CENTER, 100, 10, 0x10, 0xf0 )
PORT_BIT( 0xff00, IP_ACTIVE_LOW, IPT_UNUSED )

PORT_START   /* ADC1 @ 0x260026 */
PORT_ANALOG( 0x00ff, 0x0080, IPT_AD_STICK_X | IPF_REVERSE | IPF_PLAYER2 | IPF_CENTER, 100, 10, 0x10, 0xf0 )

*Yes, the machines used "Hall Effect" joysticks, but this is just a type of analog joystick; two other types are "POT" (most common) and "optical" (optical is a type of digital stick, too).  (FWIW, the three types of digital sticks: (leaf, microswitch, and optical), and the two types of mice: (optical and encoder wheel).

[hulkster]

thanks for that!