7800Basic controller types

[+Muddyfunster]

Probably one for @RevEng

 

I noted from the documentation that 7800Basic supports other controller types, like keypad etc which opens up more possibilities. However when reading the thread on A7800 last night,  I read that A7800 reads or can see controllers, such as Atari ST and Amiga Mice.

 

Would support for reading these be possible in 7800Basic, even if it was a bit of custom assembly code? I had a quick search and couldn't see that this had been covered already.

 

Nothing more than curiosity on my part right now

 

 

 

 

[RevEng]

As you probably suspected, every controller emulated by a7800 will eventually be supported in 7800basic. Lightguns are even on the list, but I'll need to get my hands on working hardware. Atari ST and Amiga mice are already supported in the 7800basic github master, so they'll be in the next official release, along with additional XM device support.

 

These mice are pretty expensive, so I picked up a ps2 to st/amiga mouse converter, which works amazingly well on the 7800, though there's some assembly required for the one I purchased. I also dremmeled off the metal shield, so it fits better in a 7800 port.

 

The big picture is that a 7800basic game should be able to offer multiple controllers for hot-swap in it's setup menu, and the game itself should only need minimal code to support working with controllers that have similar inputs. e.g. a paddle game could support paddles, driving controllers, trakballs, or mice, with no extra code. Adding joystick support to that same paddle game would require extra code in the game, since that controller doesn't have a similar range-of-values input.

 

BTW, the a7800 mouse button emulation is presently wrong, but fixed in the a7800 github master. I'll also be working on the XM emulation functionality, for the next a7800 release.

[+Muddyfunster]

Thanks for the update @RevEngLooking forward to the next release!

 

The ps2 to ST / Amiga adaptors work great. I have a USB rather than PS2 version as well as some really old original Amiga tank mice and an old Logic 3 speed mouse for the ST.

 

Mouse/trackball emulation opens up a lot of possibilities.