Karateka, Asteroids, and/or Pro-Line joystick problems.

[Ikariniku]

First post here, bummed it's gotta be about a problem. And, yes, I did search the forums to see if I could find an answer.

I recently picked up a 7800 from a local pawn shop. It seems to work great with most games as long as it's a one button game played with a 2600 or Genesis controller (Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. being favorites of mine).

However, when I try to play Karateka or Asteroids, I can't. Karateka won't do anything except have the titular karateka dither in and out of fighting stance, and Asteroids does nothing except pop the ship into and out of hyperspace until it is destroyed.

I've tested the games with 2600 controllers, Genesis controllers, the Pro-Line joysticks, and even a Colecovision Super Action controller, but none yield any different results. An added wrinkle is that the Pro-Lines I have don't seem to have functioning buttons. When tested on Donkey Kong, I can make Mario move, but not jump.

Can someone help me figure out what's going on in this perfect storm of problems? Is it a controller issue? A hardware issue? A cartridge issue? Heck, I'll even take my lumps if it's just human error. I just have no idea what the issue could be.

[RickR]

Sounds like your machine thinks the "down" direction is being constantly pushed. It doesn't do this in all games? For example, if you play donkey kong and stand at the top of the ladder and don't touch the joystick, does Mario stay stationary or go down?

[Trebor]

As you noted, Ikariniku, your Prolines don't seem to have functioning buttons. That being the case, falling back on using controllers without (7800 compatible) 2 independent buttons support is likely the source of your problem(s).

Karateka requires a 2 independent buttons 7800 compatible joystick to function properly. 7800 Asteroids *may* play with 1 button but you *might* have to flip the difficulty switches (Next to the joystick ports) to get it to register properly (Plus with only a one button joystick you may 'lose' a feature).

The Genesis controller appears to be 'stock' and not mod to have 2 independent buttons support on the 7800. In other words, despite the multiple buttons on the controller it will 'behave' like a Atari 2600 controller with only one action button. The ColecoVision controller you mentioned will behave similarly.

The short of it is you need genuine 2 button Atari 7800 controllers, or at least something 'fixed' to work as one. There are the Euro gamepads available, if you can find them when/as available, various modded controllers, or the stock (working) Atari 7800 controllers that will fix your dilemma.

See this list (Thanks to Mitch) for a breakdown of 7800 games button/controller requirements.

 

As a side note, it is highly recommended if/when you do obtain a stock 7800 joystick to send it to Yurkie for his modification to the joystick portion of the controller. He does fantastic, meticulous work and the modification greatly reduces the torque along with the consequential hand fatigue from the joystick.

Welcome to the 7800 community.

[Ikariniku]

Sounds like your machine thinks the "down" direction is being constantly pushed. It doesn't do this in all games? For example, if you play donkey kong and stand at the top of the ladder and don't touch the joystick, does Mario stay stationary or go down?

 

Mario stays stationary. I thought "down" was being held, too, but "down" isn't how fighting stance is activated in Karateka. There, it seems like the second button is being hammered on and off. I remember reading another post on this forum that said the second button rapidly firing is the standard for single-button controllers used with two-button 7800 games. Is button 2 another trigger for hyperspace in Asteroids?

 

 

 

As you noted, Ikariniku, your Prolines don't seem to have functioning buttons. That being the case, falling back on using controllers without (7800 compatible) 2 independent buttons support is likely the source of your problem(s).

 

Karateka requires a 2 independent buttons 7800 compatible joystick to function properly. 7800 Asteroids *may* play with 1 button but you *might* have to flip the difficulty switches (Next to the joystick ports) to get it to register properly (Plus with only a one button joystick you may 'lose' a feature).

 

The Genesis controller appears to be 'stock' and not mod to have 2 independent buttons support on the 7800. In other words, despite the multiple buttons on the controller it will 'behave' like a Atari 2600 controller with only one action button. The ColecoVision controller you mentioned will behave similarly.

 

The short of it is you need genuine 2 button Atari 7800 controllers, or at least something 'fixed' to work as one. There are the Euro gamepads available, if you can find them when/as available, various modded controllers, or the stock (working) Atari 7800 controllers that will fix your dilemma.

 

See this list (Thanks to Mitch) for a breakdown of 7800 games button/controller requirements.

 

As a side note, it is highly recommended if/when you do obtain a stock 7800 joystick to send it to Yurkie for his modification to the joystick portion of the controller. He does fantastic, meticulous work and the modification greatly reduces the torque along with the consequential hand fatigue from the joystick.

 

Welcome to the 7800 community.

I understand that my Genesis controller and 2600 controllers won't work with 2-button 7800 games. What most concerns me is that my Pro-Lines return the same result. Even if the buttons were broken, wouldn't the game still respond properly to them? I thought my Colecovision Super Action controller would be fully compatible, but it seems that's not the case, either.

 

Additionally, I tried two player mode in Asteroids, and both controllers failed in both ports. That is, I still had the random hyperspace warping for both players.

 

My true problem is that I don't have a fully compatible controller that I know works, so I can't tell if this is a problem with my controllers or with the 7800 controller ports. I'm hoping someone with more expertise has run across this problem and can help me troubleshoot it before I bite the bullet and buy another controller.

 

Thanks for the help and the welcome.

[Trebor]

The same button which changes the stance in Karateka from fighting to running causes hyperspace/warp in Asteroids.

 

From the information provided, it seems highly likely the button(s) on the 7800 controllers are faulty, rather than both controller ports in the console are bad; especially considering one button games perform fine.

 

Your Genesis controller may act flaky with Asteroids, Karateka, and any other two button game as well.