Intymike Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 How common are those units, certainly a consideration worth using regardless? I was just thinking the less buttons, more players approach using the defaulted 18 pins could be enjoyed by anyone with an Intellivision. Oh I see, there's a little hatch you open and plug them into, neat. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/169018-replacement-controller-ideas/ Take a look: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/227859-project-l/page-18?hl=%2Bworld+%2Bcup+%2Bsoccer&do=findComment&comment=3041287 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BladeJunker Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Mocked up an alternate 4 Player Controller.-9 pins/2=4 pins per player.-Mode switch.-Mode#1 is a 4-way D-pad and Mode#2 is Left&Right+Fire1=Fire2. Got to thinking of a competitive maze game and how to make it more comfortable. Guessing it would be some kind of race to capture the flag or powerup. Limited but paddle games on 2600 couldn't do a lot either. Mode#2 has a few uses like Platforming games where Up and Down aren't used at all. Space Invaders and a lot of early arcade games had Left and Right buttons rather than 4 or 8-way joysticks. Games like Gyruss or Tempest pretty much only rotate left and right around a central spoke path so games like that could work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) I had a pretty good game several weeks ago with my friend, his 5 year old daughter and her mother. At one point we really played 4 players. Most of the time the 5 year old was player 1 and 2, her dad was player 3 and I was player 4. We played for about an hour. She happens to be the only 5 year old I know so I agree my options are limited, but still, it is possible. (I knew I should have taken pics of us all playing so I had proof). That's awesome, I'm sure it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, most of us have wives that do not share the enthusiasm of retro video games, and friends that have no interests in playing video games -- or particularly, Intellivision games -- now. Not really.z 2 people and 2 computers, or 1 people and 3 computers... hmmm, I think even 0 people and 4 computers is possible if no one touches a controller when the game starts. Would be a nice upgrade for ECS support of up to 4 people. I think a better deal would be to upgrade people's households to support four simultaneous players. Anything is possible with the right adapter and alternate controller Unfortunately, not everything is possible, unless the right adapter includes a couple of extra players in it. How common are those units, certainly a consideration worth using regardless? I am willing to bet that ECS units are a lot more common than households with more than one Intellivision player in them. -dZ. Edited March 20, 2016 by DZ-Jay 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) Four player games are fine as long as three players can be computer controlled. Actually in World Cup Soccer, it doesn't work so well. The ball carrier does not automatically switch to the controller in order to support multiple controllers. The game's not as much fun this way. jZintv supports four controllers using any USB gamepads, but not with default settings. A few lines would have to be added to your "keyboard hackfile" like below. Where JS2/3 are the third and fourth USB joysticks and PD1L/R are the ECS left and right controllers. JS2_BTN_00 PD1L_A_TJS2_BTN_01 PD1L_A_LJS2_BTN_02 PD1L_A_RJS2_BTN_08 PD1L_KP1JS2_BTN_09 PD1L_KP2JS2_BTN_10 PD1L_KP3JS2_BTN_11 PD1L_KP4JS2_BTN_12 PD1L_KP5JS2_BTN_13 PD1L_KP6JS2_BTN_14 PD1L_KP7JS2_BTN_15 PD1L_KP8JS2_BTN_16 PD1L_KP9JS2_BTN_17 PD1L_KPCJS2_BTN_18 PD1L_KP0JS2_BTN_19 PD1L_KPEJS2_E PD1L_J_EJS2_ENE PD1L_J_ENEJS2_NE PD1L_J_NEJS2_NNE PD1L_J_NNEJS2_N PD1L_J_NJS2_NNW PD1L_J_NNWJS2_NW PD1L_J_NWJS2_WNW PD1L_J_WNWJS2_W PD1L_J_WJS2_WSW PD1L_J_WSWJS2_SW PD1L_J_SWJS2_SSW PD1L_J_SSWJS2_S PD1L_J_SJS2_SSE PD1L_J_SSEJS2_SE PD1L_J_SEJS2_ESE PD1L_J_ESE Edited March 20, 2016 by mr_me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 4 player blix! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 4 player blix! What is blix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byte Knight Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Is Snafu a 4 player game? No, but this is a game begging for a four-player hack! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 I was going to have 4 player "hockey mode" in my Pong game, but... other things happened... Someone should really make sure there's a 4 player Pong mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) How common are those units, certainly a consideration worth using regardless? I was just thinking the less buttons, more players approach using the defaulted 18 pins could be enjoyed by anyone with an Intellivision. Oh I see, there's a little hatch you open and plug them into, neat. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/169018-replacement-controller-ideas/ With JzIntv, you can use two CGC or two UPCI, or maybe one of each, so you don't need real ECS hardware. So using 4 controllers is doable in RetroPie. But I hear what else you are asking, but you can't take an existing controller port and split it. You can't use the disc and number keypad at the same time. So you can't have one controller use only the disc signals and the other use only the keypad signals. I guess if the game controller port was split so that 8 disc directions were used for one controller and the other 8 directions were used for another controller (and remapped accordingly in the game), and then each controller can use 8 directions and one side button can be assigned to each controller. Something like that is possible; theoretically. Edited March 20, 2016 by fdr4prez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 And if a new controller set was created to split one Inty port (like to Atari paddles wired to one port) then in theory when used with ECS you can have up to 8 players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lathe26 Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 How common are those units, certainly a consideration worth using regardless? I was just thinking the less buttons, more players approach using the defaulted 18 pins could be enjoyed by anyone with an Intellivision. Oh I see, there's a little hatch you open and plug them into, neat. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/169018-replacement-controller-ideas/ ECSs are not common but they are not rare either. They cost roughly $40 loose (give or take). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 I was going to have 4 player "hockey mode" in my Pong game, but... other things happened... Someone should really make sure there's a 4 player Pong mode. maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byte Knight Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 With being able to play 4 players in emulation and also with the ECS, there should be a fair market for 4 player games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BladeJunker Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Unfortunately, not everything is possible, unless the right adapter includes a couple of extra players in it. I hear you, that is true. I was thinking casual 4 player games seem to get some party play though, my cousin's friends don't play much but you throw on some Mario Party or similar game and they'll play along with some beer too lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 When my family gets together, 3- and 4-player games see a lot of playtime, e.g. Warlords and Medieval Mayhem on the Atari 2600. It'd be more of a hassle to bust out the ECS and the extra controllers on the Intellivision, but maybe it's one of those "if you build it, they* will come" situations. *Actually "he will come" -- sort of like how Bogart never actually said "Play it again, Sam", Gold Hat never said "We don't need no stinking badges", etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BladeJunker Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) With JzIntv, you can use two CGC or two UPCI, or maybe one of each, so you don't need real ECS hardware. So using 4 controllers is doable in RetroPie. But I hear what else you are asking, but you can't take an existing controller port and split it. You can't use the disc and number keypad at the same time. So you can't have one controller use only the disc signals and the other use only the keypad signals. I guess if the game controller port was split so that 8 disc directions were used for one controller and the other 8 directions were used for another controller (and remapped accordingly in the game), and then each controller can use 8 directions and one side button can be assigned to each controller. Something like that is possible; theoretically. Well that is the power of emulation, multiple virtual machines. I didn't split the controller in my first idea, 2 people just hold one controller on the top and bottom. Also the keypad wasn't used, just the Disc and side buttons. Problem was it would uncomfortable as hell for 2 of the 4 players. Well when it comes to 4 or 8-way input you only need 4 technically at least in a D-pad. With a INTV 8-way you'd lose some precision but you would still retain the mechanical functions of the Disc, but you like you say that would be 2 competing matrix inputs. Mostly in my design it was the reduction method of adding more players, you lose control variety but you add more players. Edited March 20, 2016 by BladeJunker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 With being able to play 4 players in emulation and also with the ECS, there should be a fair market for 4 player games. I got partway into making a 4-player Warlords. It lends itself very well to the Intellivision's graphics. I think it'd be awesome. Unfortunately the number of people who can find 3 friends to actually play with can probably be counted on one hand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byte Knight Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I got partway into making a 4-player Warlords. It lends itself very well to the Intellivision's graphics. I think it'd be awesome. Unfortunately the number of people who can find 3 friends to actually play with can probably be counted on one hand. Build it and they will come! I play a ton of Warlords and Medieval Mayham on the 2600 with the kids and it's a great party game. Finish the game - I agree that it would be awesome to play on the Intellivision! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I got partway into making a 4-player Warlords. It lends itself very well to the Intellivision's graphics. I think it'd be awesome. Unfortunately the number of people who can find 3 friends to actually play with can probably be counted on one hand. What control scheme would it use? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 What control scheme would it use? Ironically this is what stalled the project for me. At the time, I had no way to work out a control scheme on real hardware. I think the disc would lend itself quite nicely to this style of game - imagine "rolling" the disc to corner your shield. Basically point the disc where you want the shield to be - for the top left player, it's SW for the absolute far left, N for the furthest to the top, SE for the corner as pictured, and everything in between. Depending on how you did it, the 16-way disc would allow for some really fine control. Here's an early concept - like I said, I think it would translate very well to the Intellivison. I wasn't really trying hard for much here other than a mock layout. I even had a nice flashing fireball that unfortunately didn't get picked up in the screen grab. Use some half-cards for the bricks and you have yourself a game. The score would either be on the playfield, or hiding in the corner as it is for the orange player - maybe the score is your "castle" that you're trying to protect. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 What is blix? *slap* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 *slap* What is slap? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zendocon Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 I'm just seeing this thread now. How did FUBAR never come up in the conversation? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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