How much interest is there in this adapter?

[Bryan]

I've whipped up a prototype 5200->Jaguar controller adapter. The Jag controller is one of the few that has the requisite number of buttons.

 

Right now it works as follows:

 

All functions are as you would imagine except:

 

OPTION is START

A is top button

B is bottom button

 

RESET could be implemented as C+OPTION (not sure yet)

 

Stick can operate as analog (varies as you hold direction) or digital (snaps to extreme positions).

 

I'm working on the details, but it would end up being a very small inline device. I'm not sure whether to try and pot it, or put it in a small box. How much interest would there be in this?

 

-Bry

Edited September 6, 2007 by Bryan

[mimo]

me for one, maybe 2

[Jess Ragan]

I never cared for the Jaguar controller, but may consider a purchase anyway if the price is right. What I'd suggest is adding a 9-pin port on the bottom of the controller, so that it can double as an adapter for those of us who would rather use a Genesis controller. You're already wiring up a digital controller... adding the adapter would simply be a matter of running a few extra wires out to that port.

[Bryan]

adding the adapter would simply be a matter of running a few extra wires out to that port.

Well, not it's not that easy because of the way the joypad directions are multiplexed in the Jaguar controller. The current design can't handle another form of input.

[GrizzLee]

Me would be interested.

-Lee

 

I've whipped up a prototype 5200->Jaguar controller adapter. The Jag controller is one of the few that has the requisite number of buttons.

 

Right now it works as follows:

 

All functions are as you would imagine except:

 

OPTION is START

A is top button

B is bottom button

 

RESET could be implemented as C+OPTION (not sure yet)

 

Stick can operate as analog (varies as you hold direction) or digital (snaps to extreme positions).

 

I'm working on the details, but it would end up being a very small inline device. I'm not sure whether to try and pot it, or put it in a small box. How much interest would there be in this?

 

-Bry

[Shannon]

I've always liked the Jag controller and it certainly would make for a good excuse to drag them both out.

[+Allan]

I'd be interested in one.

 

Allan

[Lord Helmet]

Count me in as well. I'm always looking for alternatives to the stock 5200 stick.

[+remowilliams]

Cool, I'd be interested in one or two.

[phaxda]

I'd be down for one...depending on price.

 

Cool, I'd be interested in one or two.

[jboypacman]

Am intrested in it as well just give us price on it my friend.

[Marc Oberhäuser]

Count me in for at least 1 adapter.

[SINGLE TOOTH]

1, maybe 2 if price allows.

 

Any word on compatibility for amount of games?

[Prodos8]

This sounds very interesting. I'm more of a DIY type so I'd be more interested in getting a peek at the schematic. I'm really curious as to how your decoding the jag controller and saving the state of the various buttons.

[SRGilbert]

If you can use the keypad too, I'd buy it!

[jetset]

MEMEMEMEMEMEMEME!!!!!!!

 

At least one!

[Bryan]

This sounds very interesting. I'm more of a DIY type so I'd be more interested in getting a peek at the schematic. I'm really curious as to how your decoding the jag controller and saving the state of the various buttons.

I'll try to get some details posted this weekend.

 

Basically, the 5200 pulls 4 lines low in sequence, and samples 4 return lines to see if any keys have pressed. The Jaguar controller also requires that 4 lines be pulled low alternately to read all button combinations. An Atmel AVR (ATtiny2313) microcontroller watches the Jaguar return lines and sends back the proper codes to the 5200.

 

The pot inputs are simulated in a PWM fashion. The 5200 has caps on the pot lines which must be charged to a certain voltage to trigger a reading. The pots add delay to the charge time so the POT registers are actually timer values (how much delay before charged). The microcontroller's POT outputs rapidly alternate between 5V (charge) and high-impedance (no charge) states. The ratio of time between the two states determines the simulated resistance.

 

The parts count is very low and if a surface mount AVR is used, the PCB can be very small.

 

I'd like to put some key combination features in it, like the ability to remap keys for certain games (there's an EEPROM in the micro). Not sure how far to push it.

 

-Bry

[SINGLE TOOTH]

I'd like to put some key combination features in it, like the ability to remap keys for certain games (there's an EEPROM in the micro). Not sure how far to push it.

 

-Bry

 

 

F-it. Go all out. You can never have enough joystick choices for a 5200!

 

Also, I hate y-cables, storing y-cables, hooking up y-cables, buying controllers that don't have the y-cable, ETC. I like that this will be an all in one unit for use with the jag controller.

[S1500]

I've whipped up a prototype 5200->Jaguar controller adapter. The Jag controller is one of the few that has the requisite number of buttons.

 

 

 

-Bry

 

 

Devil's advocate: Why substitute one bad controller for another bad controller? Wouldn't it be better to sub a 5200 controller, with, I dunno, a vectrex controller? That has an analog stick. Just...anything but a Jag controller.

[Paranoid]

By the time you go to all of this trouble...

 

Don't you arrive at ultimately more or less the same thing as playing 5200 games via emulation on a PC using a modern Playstation 2 style D-pad USB controller with analog thumbsticks and digital D-pad?

 

I mean, isn't that what the Jaguar controller is more or less? A first generation D-pad design?

 

It just seems ironic... the evolution of this whole retro game thing is kind of a circle.

 

You emulate, but keyboards as controllers suck. So you try PC joystick solutions through the soundcard gameport, but they suck too... so you go to e-bay and buy the real deal... but the joysticks are dead and don't always work that good for some people's tastes even if they're working right... so you start seeking alternatives... so you end up with a Redemption and a Genesis controller...

 

Which is basically right back where you started with emulation and a PC d-pad controller.

 

yuk yuk yuk...

[SRGilbert]

I've whipped up a prototype 5200->Jaguar controller adapter. The Jag controller is one of the few that has the requisite number of buttons.

 

 

 

-Bry

 

 

Devil's advocate: Why substitute one bad controller for another bad controller? Wouldn't it be better to sub a 5200 controller, with, I dunno, a vectrex controller? That has an analog stick. Just...anything but a Jag controller.

Well, first of all, the Vec controller doesn't have nearly enough buttons to be total replacement. Like Single Tooth said, it would be nice to not have Y-cables like all the other adapters. Second, have you priced out Vec controllers lately?

[Prodos8]

Well, first of all, the Vec controller doesn't have nearly enough buttons to be total replacement. Like Single Tooth said, it would be nice to not have Y-cables like all the other adapters. Second, have you priced out Vec controllers lately?

 

I actually revere the wico y-cables. In fact when I built my DIY masterplay I integrated it into the design to simplify the thing. I only needed commonly available 9 pin-connectors and didn't need to worry about spliting the wires for the keypad.

[Jess Ragan]

I'd like a controller- ANY controller!- that can divorce the 5200 from those insidious analog joysticks. I just wired up an adapter that lets me connect PC joysticks to the Atari 5200, and it works extremely well... far better than the stock controller ever had, that's for sure. However, without an adequate keypad, I'm still forced to start games with that rotten thing. I need to determine the pinout for that Atari keypad I purchased from BG Electronics... once I've figured it out, I'll be able to throw those awful stock controllers in the closet for good.

[Artlover]

No interest by me, I don't like the Jag controller.

 

Now if it was reversable and could let me use a 5200 controller on the Jag, you might have something.

[Bryan]

Don't you arrive at ultimately more or less the same thing as playing 5200 games via emulation on a PC using a modern Playstation 2 style D-pad USB controller with analog thumbsticks and digital D-pad?

 

I figure if you're playing a real 5200 on a real TV, then no. You're just gaining the use of a single controller that's likely to work every time you use it. It's like having another after-market controller.

 

I mean, isn't that what the Jaguar controller is more or less? A first generation D-pad design?

 

I'd call the NES controllers first gen. I think the ergonomics of the Jag controller make it at least 2nd gen.

 

The Jag controller isn't my favorite either but giving people access to a readily available alternative to the stock stick seems worthwhile to me. Too bad the Jag wasn't around long enough to spawn a selection of controller types.