Bobo Cujo

@kiwilove After having played the Mycea level (and occasionally a few others) repeatedly to test out the Joy2B changes (I still need to get through the secondary game on that one), I'm more or less in agreement with you. The right gameplay foundations are in place; it mostly needs some tweaking for the sake of game balance and preventing cheap deaths. I'll start a new thread to discuss this...

Here's Airball Joy2B (XEGS cart). Controls: Button 1: Jump Button 2: Pick up/drop objects (replaces the OPTION button function) Note that pressing any keyboard key (Space bar, letter key, ...) still works; this also picks up/drops objects. Airball - Joy2B.car

Here's Shadow World Joy2B (.xex file version, based on the one from Homesoft with XL/XE compatibility fixes) Existing controls: Button 1: Shoot Space bar: Smart Bomb (this still works in this Joy2B version) Joy2B additional controls: Button 2: Smart Bomb In a one-player game, only controller 1 can activate smart bombs (as it should be). In a two-player game, each person can activate a smart bomb from a shared pool (the game starts with 3 in reserve, with one added for every completed level). Shadow World - Joy2B.xex

Here's Picnic Paranoia Joy2B (.xex file version, based on the one from Homesoft with XL/XE compatibility fixes) Existing controls: Button 1: Swat Space bar: Bug Spray (this still works in this Joy2B version) Joy2B additional controls: Button 2: Bug Spray Note that you get a can of bug spray at 5000 points, and at every 10000 points thereafter (15000, 25000, ...) Confirmed working with both players. Picnic Paranoia - Joy2B.xex

And here's the 3-button version of the deobfuscated Spelunker cartridge, with the same slight tweak @Eyvind Bernhardsen mentioned (as applied in my rev-1 3button .atr file above) applied... spelunker-3button-deobfuscated.car

@Eyvind Bernhardsen @Roydea6 I'm really happy that the Spelunker Joy2B+ project brought about an actual working deobfuscated cartridge version of Spelunker (I also verified that "The Falls" works too) Thank you both for allowing me to actually load a properly working Spelunker from my Ultimate cart! I'm of two minds on having to hold left/right with button 2 for the Phantom Blaster: On one hand, it allows you to swap fan directions without moving. On the other hand, not having to hold left/right makes it easier to activate it immediately after landing on the ground, which is key if the ghost appeared while, say, riding a lift or climbing a bunch of ropes. I personally prefer the latter for my own muscle memory (the big Ropes section in "The Ropes" comes to mind, when a ghost is almost guaranteed to appear when you're jumping through 10 or so ropes), but IMO there's good reasons to prefer either one. At any rate, I've provided an alternate version of the .car file where pressing button 2 activates the fan regardless of joystick neutral/left/right. Perhaps one of you could add a preferences menu to the game (press, say, Select on the title screen) in the newly freed up RAM to switch between these, and perhaps also between 2/3 button mode for one unified Joy2B+ binary? spelunker-2btn-deobfuscated-alternate-button2-handling.car

Here's Tutankham Joy2B+ (based on the Fandal .xex version). This one requires a 3-button controller. Those of us on 2-button controllers (myself included) are better off playing the original version, which has dual-joystick functionality that mimics the original arcade game (joystick 2 left/right to shoot; joystick 2 button to activate Flash bombs). Joy2B+ new controls: Button 1: Shoot left Button 2: Shoot right Button 3: Flash bomb Tutankham - Joy2B+.xex

Here's Tank Commander Joy2B+. Existing controls (which still work in this version): Joystick up/down: Move forward/backward Joystick left/right: Turn left/right Hold Joystick Button 1 while pressing Joystick left/right: Turn turret left/right Release Joystick Button 1: Fire shell SELECT: Air Strike (up/down controls plane; Button 1 fires) OPTION: View map (hold down the button to keep the map onscreen) Joy2B+ additional controls: Button 2: Air Strike (up/down controls plane; Button 1 fires) Button 3: View map (hold down the button to keep the map onscreen) Since the keyboard controls still work, this version is effectively compatible with 1, 2, and 3 button controllers. See the manual on Atarimania for more information on Air Strikes and the map. For those wondering why I didn't bind the additional buttons to rotating the turret - honestly, in this game, the air strike/map are more critical. Especially the air strike (hide behind a mountain and have the plane take out the turrets/tanks for you...) Tank Commander - Joy2B+.xex

Here's Rockball (final version, cartridge - a recently unearthed Roklan game, from the developer of Star Island/Galactic Chase). Old controls: Left/Right: Rotate ship Fire Button: Shoot Up: Thrust, Force spawning of player (on new life) New controls: Left/Right: Rotate ship Button 1: Shoot Button 2: Thrust, Force spawning of player (on new life) Tested with both players. Rockball (Final) - Joy2B.car

...and here's the actual Sinistar file (whoops). Sinistar - Joy2B.xex

Here's Sinistar (Atari prototype, .xex version from Homesoft). Old controls: Fire button: Shoot (or Fire Sinibomb if "Auto Shooting" is enabled) Space Bar: Fire Sinibomb New controls: Button 1: Shoot (or Fire Sinibomb if "Auto Shooting" is enabled) Button 2: Fire Sinibomb Naturally, "Manual shooting" is highly recommended here (it defaults to Auto). Tested with both players, and verified that I was able to actually destroy a Sinistar.

@Eyvind Bernhardsen That sounds reasonable. Here's a revised 3-button version of Spelunker that addresses this: Spelunker - Joy2B - 3 Buttons - Rev 1.atr

I just tested getting beyond "The Ropes" on the disk and cartridge versions I just posted. The disk versions work fine, and saving high scores doesn't overwrite the button handling code. The cartridge versions... unfortunately have the same issue as the .xex versions, which is the game going to a black screen upon hitting the Ropes exit instead of actually going to "The Falls". ? Hopefully someone can patch the cartridge version to actually load in the level data upon exiting "The Ropes"...

And here's the Joy2B disk versions of Spelunker (same controls as above), which of course also save high scores ? Special thanks (once again) to @Eyvind Bernhardsen for figuring out the obfuscated jump call and the correct part of free memory to use - these are based on the spelunkertest.atr file mentioned above. Spelunker - Joy2B - 3 Buttons.atr Spelunker - Joy2B - 2 Buttons.atr

On that note: I probably wouldn't have gotten ANY of these Joy2B hacks off the ground if it weren't for the amazing Altirra and its even more amazing debugger. Thanks a ton, @phaeron! dis6502 has been helpful, too (to get a 10,000 foot view of the overall code, at least for <16K titles/xex games). And thank you @ascrnet and everyone else on this thread for getting this whole Joy2B project off the ground! I've been wanting a proper standardized multi-button solution on the Atari 8-bit for as long as I can remember ?

OK, here's the Joy2B Cartridge versions of Spelunker (based on the version available at atarionline.pl, as mentioned above). A recap of the controls: Existing controls: Button 1 (Fire Button): Jump F : Launch Flare (to deal with birds) D : Place dynamite (to blow up big "hills") Space: Activate Phantom Blaster (to deal with ghosts) 2-button version additional controls: Button 2 + UP: Launch flare Button 2 + DOWN: Place dynamite Button 2 without UP or DOWN: Activate Phantom Blaster All of the above will still work if the player is moving left or right. 3-button version additional controls: Button 2 + UP: Launch flare Button 2 + DOWN: Place dynamite Button 3: Activate Phantom Blaster All of the above will still work if the player is moving left or right. I've verified the controls in the first hallway (yay conveniently available flares/dynamite :-)) on real hardware (for the 2-button version) and in Altirra (both versions). I'll try to see if I can beat The Ropes to make sure that part actually works properly... Spelunker - Joy2B - 3 Buttons.car Spelunker - Joy2B - 2 Buttons.car

Thanks for the cartridge file link, @tane and @ascrnet! @Eyvind Bernhardsen Good catch on the empty space after the high score table! I patched your code into the .car file and tried this on a real NTSC Atari 800XL with a Sega Genesis controller (2 button), but unfortunately, the 2-button detection doesn't seem to work (I can't activate the fan with Button 2). ? (This is true whether or not I include the initializing $FFs in the new routine's variables.) I'll patch the .car file with the 2 and 3 button code later tonight (and properly relocated into the post-high-score table space.

Augh, it turns out that the Homesoft version of Spelunker (and by extension, the Joy2B version) crashes after reaching the exit in "The Ropes" (level 2). Presumably, it's because it tries to load in the second half of the game map from disk, but the data isn't in the .xex... @ascrnet I don't suppose you have a cartridge version of this one? ? (I tried this one but I couldn't get it to actually boot in Altirra, either with 128K XEGS or 128K Switchable XEGS...)

As for Hawkquest: Given that there haven't been any reported issues with the last beta (yet), and given that I know that the new code isn't clobbering existing data, I'm going to go ahead and declare this the first proper release. I'll happily update it if anyone finds any issues. (note: If you got beta 1 earlier, it's the same file with no changes) At some point in the future, I still need to play through the entire game with it, and to see if @playsoft's version might still be more optimal (in the Altirra profiler). @ascrnet This and the above files (from Qix onward) are ready for upload to the Joy2B git/wiki ? Hawkquest - Joy2B.car

Here's a 3-button version of Spelunker, too. Additional controls: Button 2 + UP: Launch flare Button 2 + DOWN: Place dynamite Button 3: Activate fan Phantom Blaster All of the above will still work if the player is moving left or right. Again, the keyboard controls still work in this version. Spelunker - Joy2B - 3 Buttons.xex

Of all of the Atari games that do direction+button to fire a bomb or other secondary weapon, I actually think that Blue Max does one of the best jobs working it into its game design. Forcing the player to drop in altitude to bomb prevents the player from spending practically the entire game at "strafing altitude" (the altitude where your guns can destroy minor gun targets) and thus making bombing targets way too easy. With that said, moving diagonally and trying to hit planes without accidentally changing altitude is something that could be improved. Someday, I'd like to do a 2-joystick mod of the game, where stick 2 controls altitude/bombing (with up/down rebound to moving straight up/down) and stick 1 controls x/y direction and firing. I'd probably leave gravity permanently on to prevent the problem I mentioned above. Ditto for Blue Max 2001, which probably needs a 2-joystick mod far more than the original Blue Max...

...And I mistyped a byte in Spelunker, causing the button debouncing to not actually work - yay dropping dynamite and then activating the Phantom Blaster, thus being unable to move away from the dynamite. ? Here's a fix. Also, apparently it's a Phantom Blaster, not a fan. Who knew... @www.atarimania.com That link above is for an Atari manual of the game - you may wish to contact the site author about adding it to Atarimania... Spelunker - Joy2B - 2 Buttons - Rev 1.xex

Here's Spelunker - 2 Button version. (Broderbund release with the animated intro, based on the .xex version from Homesoft's page) Unlike many of my previous hacks, I purposely kept the keyboard controls intact this time. Existing controls: Button 1 (Fire Button): Jump F : Launch Flare (to deal with birds) D : Place dynamite (to blow up big "hills") Space: Activate fan (to deal with ghosts) Additional controls: Button 2 + UP: Launch flare Button 2 + DOWN: Place dynamite Button 2 without UP or DOWN: Activate fan All of the above will still work if the player is moving left or right. Please try this out and let me know if I've introduced any bugs/crashes; it's hard to tell what's actually free memory... (3 button version coming later - that one will have a dedicated fan button) Spelunker - Joy2B - 2 Buttons.xex

It turns out I introduced a bug in Star Trek where the player can't shoot photon torpedoes after running out of warp energy. Here's a revised version... And while I'm at it, here's a 3-button Star Trek version too, also with the above fix. 3-button version controls: Left/Right: Steer ship Up: Thrust Button 1: Fire Button 2: Warp Speed (it's still possible to steer in this mode) Button 3: Photon Torpedoes Star Trek - Joy2B - 3 Buttons.car Star Trek - Joy2B - 2 Buttons - Rev 1.car

That's correct (Sega master system controllers will work too). I use Genesis 3 button controllers on my own real Ataris for 2 button support. Sadly, I don't have a 3-button Joy2B+ stick.