Trak-Ball Atari 2600 Trak-Ball Games

[Thomas Jentzsch]

You can find the instructions at Atarimania. Its not complicated.

 

I just replaced v1.1 with v1.11 which fixes the scoring at higher difficulty. I also adjust the city bonus scores starting from difficulty 5.

[BigO]

Ah, bank shot. That explains two things: why those big missiles are there and how you get past that force field.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Maybe you could make the aliens less "smart" so that they sometimes bomb also already destroyed cities?

I could add that as an option based on the right difficulty. Since left difficulty is reversed, I would reverse right difficulty here too (A = less smart targeting).

 

I think with that setting a 50% chance of dumb targeting would work well. So every 2nd alien missile would target a city without checking if it is already destroyed. That way, when most cities are destroyed, you get extra time for attacking the alien ships, but the remaining intact cities are still attacked frequently.

[alex_79]

The increased cursor area and adjusted difficulty ramp already addressed the excessive difficulty of the later levels, IMO.

Now those levels are hard, but in a challenging, not frustrating way.

Anyway, if the "dumb targeting" is easy to implement I think it's surely worth trying.

Maybe, even if the option is selected, it should be removed after a certain number of waves. The same for the bonus cities. In my opinion these kind of games shouldn't allow noone to become so good to being able to play forever. No matter how much you improve your skills, you must die at the end!

Edited January 9, 2017 by alex_79

[alex_79]

best score so far for latest version:

38400

 

(v 1.11 PAL60, level 6, left diff A)

[pimpmaul69]

I suppose it was made for Amiga or ST. So it should work like a CX80.

do you know if the cx-22 and cx-80 work with the 2600-daptor II in stella? Edited January 10, 2017 by pimpmaul69

[Thomas Jentzsch]

No clue. You should ask Stephen directly.

 

The specs for the adapter note 1000 transmits/second. That would be just 16 polls per frame. That way it might miss some very rapid Trak Ball state changes. But for most cases it should be sufficient.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Thomas Jentzsch

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Here is a screenshot of the coming update. Do you notice the difference?

[iesposta]

Here is a screenshot of the coming update. Do you notice the difference?

No HMOVE bars! Wow.

[alex_79]

do you know if the cx-22 and cx-80 work with the 2600-daptor II in stella?

 

They should, since the 2600-daptor II (as per the official website) will allow the computer to detect a trackball as a PC mouse, and Stella support trackball emulation using the mouse. You might have to adjust sensitivity in both your OS and in the emulator to closely match real hardware responsiveness.

 

 

I posted a test rom a while back that can be used to measure that (it can be used in stella when using a 2600-daptor too, to compare it with real hardware).

Results are obviously approximate, but should be good enough. Another method is to actually open the trackball and measure the mechanics (roller diameter and number of "teeth" or "gaps" in the encoder wheels).

 

So far I only have measurements of units modified to be compatible with the hacks: the "Sony GB7" (a trackball for MSX computers) that I'm using, plus the "Atari CX-53" (the Atari 5200 trackball) and the "Wico Command Control" (thanks to BigO for testing those).

 

Atari mouse / Amiga Mouse protocol:

 

Sony GB7: 28.8 steps/cm - 73.2 steps/inch

Atari CX-53: 34.0 steps/cm - 86.4 steps/inch

Wico Command Control: 24.0 steps/cm - 61.0 steps/inch

 

Atari Trak-Ball protocol

Sony GB7: 14.4 steps/cm - 36.6 steps/inch

Atari CX-53: 17.0 steps/cm - 43.2 steps/inch

 

Would be nice to have measurement of stock hardware (CX22, CX80, Atari STM1 mouse and others controllers compatible "out-of-the-box"), as those are what these hacks should be primarly targeted to.

[BigO]

I now own a CX22. I'll try to remember to run the test. Can you point me back to where you specified the test method? I was looking for that the other day.

 

I can say that it will be lower than the CX53, based on game play.

[alex_79]

Towards the end of this post:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/243453-atari-2600-trak-ball-games/page-13?do=findComment&comment=3397277

 

 

To estimate your trackball resolution, place a ruler on the trackball so that the '0' of the scale is in the center of the ball, reset the coordinates by pressing the button and slide the ruler along the horizontal or vertical axis for a determined distance (again, stop when the final distance on the scale is in the center of the ball). Take note of the value displayed (sign doesn't matter) and repeat a few times (also try the other axis and both directions on each axis using the same distance). It's important to avoid slipping to have accurate readings, so move slowly and try to move on-axis and not diagonally (The value of the other axis should stay as close to 0 as possible).

[...]

Divide the (average) counts value by the distance you used to get the resolution in counts/cm (or counts/inches)

Edited January 10, 2017 by alex_79

[pimpmaul69]

 

They should, since the 2600-daptor II (as per the official website) will allow the computer to detect a trackball as a PC mouse, and Stella support trackball emulation using the mouse. You might have to adjust sensitivity in both your OS and in the emulator to closely match real hardware responsiveness.

 

 

I posted a test rom a while back that can be used to measure that (it can be used in stella when using a 2600-daptor too, to compare it with real hardware).

Results are obviously approximate, but should be good enough. Another method is to actually open the trackball and measure the mechanics (roller diameter and number of "teeth" or "gaps" in the encoder wheels).

 

So far I only have measurements of units modified to be compatible with the hacks: the "Sony GB7" (a trackball for MSX computers) that I'm using, plus the "Atari CX-53" (the Atari 5200 trackball) and the "Wico Command Control" (thanks to BigO for testing those).

 

Atari mouse / Amiga Mouse protocol:

 

Sony GB7: 28.8 steps/cm - 73.2 steps/inch

Atari CX-53: 34.0 steps/cm - 86.4 steps/inch

Wico Command Control: 24.0 steps/cm - 61.0 steps/inch

 

Atari Trak-Ball protocol

Sony GB7: 14.4 steps/cm - 36.6 steps/inch

Atari CX-53: 17.0 steps/cm - 43.2 steps/inch

 

Would be nice to have measurement of stock hardware (CX22, CX80, Atari STM1 mouse and others controllers compatible "out-of-the-box"), as those are what these hacks should be primarly targeted to.

i have standalone stella(not libretro version) on my raspberry pi in retropie and in the tab menu in input settings/ devices and ports, i have use mouse as a controller set to always and it works as a slow joystick and a paddle. I cant find any settings for trak-ball and it doesnt work in it on these trak-ball games Edited January 10, 2017 by pimpmaul69

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Don't you have a controller option for e.g. "CX-22 Trakball"?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Just added Missile Control version 1.12 to the first post.

 

Changes:

• removed all HMOVE blanks
• right difficulty = A: 50% chance of random city targeting
• enhanced the sounds a bit
• no bonus cities during wave at highest difficulty
• removed some small graphic problems
• the usual multiple small fixes...

Please report if you notice any problems.

[+SpiceWare]

i have standalone stella(not libretro version) on my raspberry pi in retropie and in the tab menu in input settings/ devices and ports, i have use mouse as a controller set to always and it works as a slow joystick and a paddle. I cant find any settings for trak-ball and it doesnt work in it on these trak-ball games

 

 

 

Load the game:

 

Hit TAB to bring up in-game menu:

 

Click on Game Properties:

 

Click on Controller tab:

 

Click on controller to change:

 

Select trackball, click OK, click Exit Menu, finally hit CONTROL-R on your keyboard to reload game.

[pimpmaul69]

 

 

 

Load the game:

Screen Shot 2017-01-10 at 3.32.48 PM.png

 

Hit TAB to bring up in-game menu:

Screen Shot 2017-01-10 at 3.32.52 PM.png

 

Click on Game Properties:

Screen Shot 2017-01-10 at 3.32.59 PM.png

 

Click on Controller tab:

Screen Shot 2017-01-10 at 3.33.03 PM.png

 

Click on controller to change:

Screen Shot 2017-01-10 at 3.33.08 PM.png

 

Select trackball, click OK, click Exit Menu, finally hit CONTROL-R on your keyboard to reload game.

you are awesome!! Thank you both for your time. Now i can buy a trak ball to use on my 2600-daptor ii.

[alex_79]

right difficulty = A: 50% chance of random city targeting

 

The option doesn't seem to be working right: I started on level 6 with both diff switches on "A" and went over 100000 points because the aliens kept bombing already destroyed cities. Flipping the switch to "B" didn't seem to have any effect, even if I started a new round with the RESET switch.

 

Also the screen "jumps" for a moment when a new city appears after completing a wave on PAL60. PAL50 doesn't have this glitch.

 

P.S: I only tested the "Atari Mouse" version so far.

Edited January 10, 2017 by alex_79

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Sorry, that was a late change which caused the problem. I will update this soon.

 

EDIT: Update v1.13 posted.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Thomas Jentzsch

[Andromeda Stardust]

do you know if the cx-22 and cx-80 work with the 2600-daptor II in stella?

There is no "CX-80" mode. The vast majority of CX-80s function as CX-22s. A small minority of CX-80s were factory modded to use gray code like an ST-Mouse.

 

Also the CX-22 has half the spatial resolution of the ST-Mouse. That's something to keep in mind when programming games.

[BigO]

Also the CX-22 has half the spatial resolution of the ST-Mouse. That's something to keep in mind when programming games.

True. Significant effort has been put in to make sure that the games discussed in this thread behave the same regardless of which type of Trak-Ball is used.

I have tested with one piece of hardware that acts like both a CX22 and an ST-Mouse. I couldn't see any real difference between the CX22 vs. ST-Mouse versions of the games.

 

Having said that, if you can lay hands on one, I'd recommend that you get an ST-Mouse (Quadrature/Gray Code) compatible trackball as that will allow you to navigate the Harmony Cart menu with the controller instead of trying to use the console switches or swapping out controllers.

Edited January 11, 2017 by BigO

[+sramirez2008]

My word!!! I finally got a chance to play the Missile Control TB hack and it is great. Thank you Thomas Jentzsch for working and continuing to refine this gem and thanks to iesposta for suggesting TB compatibility.

 

Only had a chance for one game, but I can't wait to play this again.

 

[BigO]

Modded CX-53

CX-22 mode: 170

ST Mouse mode: 340

Atari CX-22: 16.2 steps/cm

 

-------------------------------------------

Samples taken:

482 @ 30 cm = 16.1 steps/cm

326 @ 20 cm = 16.3 steps/cm

163 @ 10 cm = 16.3 steps/cm

 

(16.3 + 16.1 + 16.3)/3 = 16.233333/cm avg

-------------------------------------------

 

< 5% difference from the CX53 in that mode. Somehow, that's less than I was expecting.

I'm not cheating nearly as much as I thought.

Edited January 11, 2017 by BigO

[Andromeda Stardust]

True. Significant effort has been put in to make sure that the games discussed in this thread behave the same regardless of which type of Trak-Ball is used.

I have tested with one piece of hardware that acts like both a CX22 and an ST-Mouse. I couldn't see any real difference between the CX22 vs. ST-Mouse versions of the games.

 

Having said that, if you can lay hands on one, I'd recommend that you get an ST-Mouse (Quadrature/Gray Code) compatible trackball as that will allow you to navigate the Harmony Cart menu with the controller instead of trying to use the console switches or swapping out controllers.

I know how to do it. I mapped out where the raw quadrature outputs of the logic buffer go into the conversion circuitry on my CX-80 (functions as CX-22). In a nutshell, The A/B side of things, one of the inputs gets passed to the output unchanged. The other uses a parity bit to determine direction of last actuation. The parity bit (currently left and up on the CX-22 encoding) can be swapped out with the raw output from the logic buffer chip using nothing more than a DPDT switch, hookup wire, and soldering. The down and right pins are pass-through from the original logic buffer. I traced it some while ago and made a diagram in Paint, though I never determined which was the "A" and "B" signal.

 

WARNING: UNTESTED MODS! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/243434-what-2600-titles-couldshould-have-trak-ball-support-added/?p=3378873

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/243453-atari-2600-trak-ball-games/?p=3382235

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/243453-atari-2600-trak-ball-games/?p=3391862

[Thomas Jentzsch]

True. Significant effort has been put in to make sure that the games discussed in this thread behave the same regardless of which type of Trak-Ball is used.

I have tested with one piece of hardware that acts like both a CX22 and an ST-Mouse. I couldn't see any real difference between the CX22 vs. ST-Mouse versions of the games.

Yup. For the CX22, I have doubled the values received from the Trak-Ball. Minus 1, to allow slow, precise movement. That way it behaves like an Atari or Amiga mouse.