Son Of General Retro Discussion

Steve X2

Andrew76 wrote: »

That's a bit weird why the joystick input is registered on the C64 main screen but not in a game.

Oh hold on a sec, you sure the joystick is connected to the same C64 as the one with a game loaded? You know how you like to have two of everything.

Ahh, now I see my mistake

Sparks43 wrote: »

The joysticks worked on only port 1 or 2 on the c64

Boulder dash was port 2 if i remember right

I've tried the 2 ports on all the test games, just in case.

.

Sparks43

Is there an autofire function

and is it on?

Looks like somethings damaged:mad:

Sparks43

When a mouse or joystick doesn't work, it's not always obvious where the
problem lies... in the device or the computer. Unless you have several
input devices to cross-check, it's difficult to determine, but with a
few simple tests, a small BASIC program and your VOM (volt-ohmmeter),
you can run diagnostic tests yourself. It's helpful to know how a device
functions when it's working normally, so that's where I'll begin with
this article. Later, I'll explain how to test the joystick, proportional
mouse, graphics tablet, and game paddles. But first, let's examine the
computers control ports...
The two control ports on the right side of a C64/C128 are 9 pin male
D subminature connectors. They contain two separate sets of inputs, five
digital or switch inputs and two analog or variable voltage inputs. One
pin is +5 volts from the power supply and one pin is ground. Each device
uses different input lines. The ports, as viewed facing the computer
connectors, look like this:

.

---

.
\ 1 2 3 4 5 /
\ /
\ 6 7 8 9/
'

---

'

1 joy 0 (UP)
2 joy 1 (DOWN)
3 joy 2 (LEFT)
4 joy 3 (RIGHT)
5 POT X (proportional mouse or graphics tablet UP-DOWN, paddle input)
6 joystick fire button, left mouse button or light pen (port 1 only)
7 +5VDC from computer power supply
8 ground or negative
9 POT Y (proportional mouse or graphics tablet LEFT-RIGHT, paddle input)

Pins 1 through 4 and pin 6 go directly to one of the CIA chips and
share data lines with the keyboard. Therefore, a problem with one, such
as a shorted switch or stuck key, can interfere with the other. That
information is useful when trying to determine if a problem is in the
computer or not. The keyboard is a matrix (pulses pass through it when a
key is pressed) and doesn't ground data lines like a joystick does.
One exception is the RESTORE key on the C64.
Signals from the two analog input pins 5 and 9 go through a "switch"
IC and on to the SID chip POT inputs where they are converted to digital
signals. The name POT refers to one way those inputs can be used, namely
with potentiometers (mechanically adjustable resistors) found in game
paddles. Potentiometers were commonly used for such things as the volume
control in TV and radio before microprocessor controlled circuits
eliminated the need for them.
Since there are two ports and two analog inputs per port, that's a
total of four inputs, but there is only one SID chip with its two POT
lines. To allow for four inputs, the two ports are "time shared" (switched
back and forth) by the computer via the 4066 analog switch IC, U28 in the
C64 and U2 in the C128.
Pin 6 of control port 1 can also be used as an input for a light pen.
It is a device with a sensor in its tip that is placed against the TV or
monitor screen to detect when the electron beam passes under it. With the
proper software, the pen can be used for computer control using the screen
as a "touch panel". That obviously requires holding your arm up to the
screen... perhaps the reason lightpens never really caught on. Some games
used a "pistol" to capture the light from the TV screen as input.

CONTROL PORT TEST PROGRAMS
The following C64 BASIC program can be used to test the joystick
inputs of the two control ports. It first clears the screen, then
repeatedly PEEKs two memory locations that represent the two ports
and prints the results on the screen. The two numbers that appear
reflect which function is activated by a joystick in both ports. I have
included the port input pins driven and corresponding keyboard keys
that should produce the same numbers on the screen. The dual entries
(example: Commodore key & F3) indicate two simultanious keypresses.

10 PRINTCHR$(147)
20 PRINT"PORT 1:"PEEK(56321),"PORT 2:"PEEK(56320)CHR$(19):GOTO20

PIN FUNCTION CONTROL PORT 1 CONTROL PORT 2

NONE 255 127
1 UP 254 (1) 126 (C= & F3)
2 DOWN 253 (LEFT ARROW) 125 (C= & S)
3 LEFT 251 (CTRL) 123 (C= & F)
4 RIGHT 247 (2) 119 (C= & H)
6 FIRE 239 (SPACEBAR) 111 (C= & K)

A more complex machine language program is needed to check the
POT inputs, and BASIC is not recommended because it's inaccurate.
However, since we only want to verify whether they work or not, I
chose BASIC for troubleshooting purposes. The following program tests
all inputs of the two control ports and prints the results on the
screen. It works on the C64 and the C128 in 64 mode...

10 PRINTCHR$(147):REM CTRL PORT TEST PGM
20 PRINT"JOYSTICK PORT 1:"PEEK(56321)
30 PRINT"JOYSTICK PORT 2:"PEEK(56320)
40 PRINT:POKE56333,127:POKE56320,64
50 PRINT"PORT 1 POT X:"PEEK(54298)
60 PRINT"PORT 1 POT Y:"PEEK(54297)
70 POKE56320,128
80 PRINT"PORT 2 POT X:"PEEK(54298)
90 PRINT"PORT 2 POT Y:"PEEK(54297)
100 POKE56333,129:PRINTCHR$(19):GOTO20

The first line clears the screen. Then, as in the first program,
two memory locations (joystick) are PEEKed and printed to the screen.
The keyboard is turned off in line 40 so it doesn't interfere with
the POT lines, the next poke switches the POT lines to read from
control port 1, then those memory locations are PEEKed. Line 70 is
used to switch to control port 2 so those POT lines can be PEEKed.
Line 100 reactivates the keyboard, shifts the cursor back to the
top of the screen, then the program loops and re-reads all the lines.
The screen should look like this with the program running and nothing
plugged into the ports...

JOYSTICK PORT 1: 255
JOYSTICK PORT 2: 127

PORT 1 POT X: 255
PORT 1 POT Y: 255
PORT 2 POT X: 255
PORT 2 POT Y: 255

Myrddin

Sparks43 wrote: »

Hugely intelligent & informative post

Also seen here - http://staff.washington.edu/rrcc/cbm/ctrlport.txt

Steve X2

Cheers, Sparks.

I've tested about 7 sticks on it including a new one I got yesterday and still no joy(some have auto fire and some don't).
I'll try out that basic test thing tonight or when I come back from London on Monday and see what happens.

.

Doge

"Volt Ohmeter" - lolz!

Sparks43

waveform wrote: »

"Volt-Ohm Meter" - lolz!

fixed

DinoRex

DickyC

Well worth a read through:pac:
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/shooters/games-that-defined-the-shmups-genre

DinoRex

Anyone else on the Diablo 3 beta test this weekend?

It's pretty good fun, but just about running on my laptop.

Andrew76

DinoRex wrote: »

Anyone else on the Diablo 3 beta test this weekend?

It's pretty good fun, but just about running on my laptop.

Downloaded the client last night but can't log into the game this morning, getting those errors Blizz says its working on. Looks like the stress test is doing it's job anyway. Might try later tonight but not too bothered - much more looking forward to the Guild Wars 2 BWE next weekend. :eek: :cool:

Oh and you were correct - those feckin spiders in Grimrock! :mad:

DinoRex

Andrew76 wrote: »

Downloaded the client last night but can't log into the game this morning, getting those errors Blizz says its working on. Looks like the stress test is doing it's job anyway. Might try later tonight but not too bothered - much more looking forward to the Guild Wars 2 BWE next weekend. :eek: :cool:

Oh and you were correct - those feckin spiders in Grimrock! :mad:

heh heh... There's a Grimrock patch out now as well, which adds a quick save.

Guess I got lucky getting into Diablo last night. Had to do it very late though.

GristlyEnd

Found these while clearing out a wardrobe. Think I'll give them away.

johnny_ultimate

DarrenG wrote: »

Found these while clearing out a wardrobe. Think I'll give them away.

Did I ever tell you you're my best friend, Darren :pac:

Also, Nintendo have announced New Super Mario Bros 2 for the 3DS. ****tin' em out at the moment, Nintendo are!

Pyongyang

What region is that release date for Darius Force? It won't be USA as it was called Super Nova. Not sure what the PAL region was called, if it even got a release in PAL territories at all anyway.

Super rare title now... of which I have a CIB copy.

If no-one wants those magazines, I will gladly take them away for you.

Andrew76

DinoRex wrote: »

heh heh... There's a Grimrock patch out now as well, which adds a quick save.

Guess I got lucky getting into Diablo last night. Had to do it very late though.

Think I'll stay away from that patch for the time being, some folks reporting issues with it. Got into D3 for a few mins this morning but can't get back in now, too many reminders of full servers back in my WoW days so feck that. Back to Grimrock it is.

o1s1n

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Also, Nintendo have announced New Super Mario Bros 2 for the 3DS. ****tin' em out at the moment, Nintendo are!

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OwaynOTT

Nintendo are lissing me off with all these great games lately. Selfish pri*ks!

CiDeRmAn

Sweet!
NSMB2!
Now we need Paper Mario asap, but will it be like the Wii game or will it be more like the Mario&Luigi titles from the DS, or will the latter continue on it's own trajectory on the 3DS?

COME ON NINTENDO!
LETS SEE F-ZERO GX-3D NOW!!!!!

OwaynOTT

Neo geo question here and now. So prepare.

It's model no. neo-o
Rating 8w
Use pro pow 3 ac only
Serial no. 90a 162574

Do I have a jp NTSC or an us NTSC or a pal model. I'm afraid to plug it in. If its NTSC I need a step down right?
The plug I have is a sega one for a pal console. Can't use that can I?

Atavan-Halen

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Neo geo question here and now. So prepare.

It's model no. neo-o
Rating 8w
Use pro pow 3 ac only
Serial no. 90a 162574

Do I have a jp NTSC or an us NTSC or a pal model. I'm afraid to plug it in. If its NTSC I need a step down right?
The plug I have is a sega one for a pal console. Can't use that can I?

If it outputs the same specs as the neo geo takes then it should be fine. I use a model 1 megadrive PSU for the Famicom and it works. Just do a bit of googling and you can see the specs. NTSC is just a tv signal (I think)

Atavan-Halen

Speaking of NTSC, are there any advantages in picking up a US SNES apart from the easier to stack carts and 60hz? Any great US exclusives? Always had a soft spot for the design even if it does look like an aborted transformer.

OwaynOTT

atavan-halen wrote: »

Speaking of NTSC, are there any advantages in picking up a US SNES apart from the easier to stack carts and 60hz? Any great US exclusives? Always had a soft spot for the design even if it does look like an aborted transformer.

Earthbound! Looks like gorgeous does the console.

Retr0gamer

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Also, Nintendo have announced New Super Mario Bros 2 for the 3DS. ****tin' em out at the moment, Nintendo are!

It better be more like the Wii game and not the dull DS one.

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNHejeIK8Cw

Atavan-Halen

Sera wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNHejeIK8Cw

O.o



I'd like to se her play NSMB on the ds and get the mega mushroom.

johnny_ultimate

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It better be more like the Wii game and not the dull DS one.

Almost posted it out of curiosity to see if you'd respond with that

You never disappoint :pac:

Doge

Sera please don't post naughty videos like that at this time of the weekend, when we're most vulnerable!

o1s1n

He's becoming more and more predictable, isn't he? :pac:

Retr0gamer

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Almost posted it out of curiosity to see if you'd respond with that

You never disappoint :pac:

:P

It's the truth though. NSMB DS felt like the donkey kong country series to me. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the game but the level design was just so bland and uninspired at times and there was no challenge. NSMB Wii was much better where every level brought a new experience.