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Designing a Handheld Game Controller (Gamepad)
dandare:
what kind of console are you building?
i take it its not an uzebox type console, as you could just use snes pads. is it pc based running emulators?
also why do you need 16 buttons? the only thing i can think of that comes close is the atari jaguar pad. maybe that can be hacked?
Kyre:
I am indeed considering emptying an existing controller, but I would rather make the controller myself if I can.
Could it be that there are some off-the-shelf controllers that might be able to interface with the IPAC directly?
I figured I would need 16 buttons (that includes 4 directional buttons) to run all the games I want.
If you think of some fighting games, for example, you can easily get close to that figure (e.g. 4 directions + High/Low Punch/Kick, Block, Run, Start, Select = 12 already), and I might like to have a key or two for system use.
Le Chuck:
I'm still not following why a regular controller won't work with a USB adapter. Why do you need the minipac/ipac?
If it's because you need to have key presses instead of button presses registered you can just use a program like JoytoKey or XPadder to get your key presses out of your joystick. Maybe I'm not tracking the full extent of what you need but it sounds like there are software solutions already in the community to allow you to use a commercial off the shelf game pad to accomplish your goal... unless your goal is to build your own for the sake of doing it.
It sounds like some of your inputs are administrative so I'd recommend shifted functions (e.g. left shoulder + start = save state) which you can also setup with the aforementioned programs.
Kyre:
The thing is, I need the buttons on the controller to generate different key presses based on the game that is running.
I'm not familiar with the programs you mentioned; can they do this, and do they work in DOS?
Le Chuck:
DOS... no idea. I'd have to look, or you could take a google over to their development pages and check. Why do you need DOS? There are a lot of benefits to using a paired down version of XP or even TinyXP.
If they are DOS compliant and don't require all the wonderful drivers and stuff you get with XP or any other OS then yes. You can absolutely set up one key map for MAME, one for DAPHNE, one for ZSNES etc etc. If you go with windows and use a FE like MALA you can even get that program to very easily open the map you need when you launch the emu then close it after and return to whatever default map you have for navigation... better yet, MALA can navigate with programmable joystick inputs so you don't even need to worry about a default... and if you want to navigate windows on MALA exit you can set that up so your Joy or analog stick works like a mouse.
XP+MALA+Joytokey+whatever joystick you throw at it = whatever you want to do
There are other ways to skin the cat of course but this is a very tried and true way for those who are set on using a controller for primary input
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