Prejudiced against...

[+thegoldenband]

I thought there was some hardwired problem in the Intellivision where certain combinations of button presses can mimic, or interfere with, the normal operation of the controller -- hence the two-fisted solution. There are a bunch of games where you can't shoot and move at the same time otherwise, right? I seem to remember that Night Stalker and Tron: Deadly Discs have that problem.

 

And there are only nine pins going out of the thing....hmmm. Maybe one of the Intellivision gurus can clear this up, since I can't seem to find a good reference.

 

EDIT: Ah, here we go:

 

The disc is capable of 16 different directions. The current direction is output using 6 wires (#2 to #6, #1 as common). As you can see, these are in conflict with the 'telephone' buttons. This is why the 'telephone' buttons and rotating disc are not usable together.

Edited October 21, 2009 by thegoldenband

[Video]

My complaint for the INTV controller, is the vertical format. I mean, seriously, I actually like the disc, but it's so damn awkward. I got an INTV 2 and built my own controller, it's almost exactly alike, but the buttons are on the bottome, and the discs directions are rotated 90degrees, so ti plays just like a nintendo controller.

 

Also, some games use the disc like a roto controller, but it ruins the buttons under the disc, and then it doesn't work. Not as big a deal on an INTV 2, but if it's an INTV1, you're pretty well screwed. (well, it's actually not as hard to change out the controller as people will make out, but it does involve more than just plug and unplug )

 

Anyhow, yeah, the controller is a mess inside...though I just moded a stock controller, it was fairly easy to follow.

Edited October 21, 2009 by Video

[+thegoldenband]

That homemade controller sounds great. What parts did you use? Was it a mod of the existing controllers, or...?

 

I wonder if there's any way to set up some sort of switchbox so that the Controller 1 keypad maps to the Controller 2 input, and vice versa. I'm guessing you'd need either a custom chip, or a modified controller of some sort. The controllers on the original INTV aren't hardwired, right? Do they just attach to DB-9 connectors on the internal board?

Edited October 21, 2009 by thegoldenband

[Video]

That homemade controller sounds great. What parts did you use? Was it a mod of the existing controllers, or...?

 

I wonder if there's any way to set up some sort of switchbox so that the Controller 1 keypad maps to the Controller 2 input, and vice versa. I'm guessing you'd need either a custom chip, or a modified controller of some sort. The controllers on the original INTV aren't hardwired, right? Do they just attach to DB-9 connectors on the internal board?

 

I used heavy aluminum (well, I guess only about 16 or 1/8 thick) and lots of those tiny push buttons from Radiosack. I just used a stock controller as a blueprint so i knew what I was doing.

 

As for mapping the keypad to the other controller, I don't see why it couldn't have been designed that way, but then you moving and another player pushing buttons may interfere with each other Been a while since I looked, but I believe it's escentually two controllers anyways, one for the D and buttons, and another for the keypad.

 

As for now the controllers are attached, I'm sure they are just plugged in internally, never had a model 1 apart. But it might use a weird connection like an Odyssey^2 does....