C64 controller on Vectrex

[gliptitude]

Ok, this is not very useful but it amused me so i am sharing.

I happen to have a Commodore 64 which I never use (picked up for almost nothing a few years ago). ... I had been looking at various old computer joysticks online, reading a bit about converting Tandy ones to Vectrex, when I remembered I had this C64. So I dug it out and found the joystick I had. It was a tiny thing, that I remember not liking the feel of at all. Certainly not analog or satisfying in design like some of the others I was looking at online.



But I saw it had the same connector as the Vectrex one. ... Against my better judgement I plugged it in, without doing any research.

It works, sort of.

The buttons do nothing, but the stick corresponds to the Vectrex 1 to 4 buttons.

Up = 1, Down = 2, Left = 3, Right = 4.

Should I stop messing with this? Could it mess up my Vectrex?

When held sideways, it's actually not a terrible way to play Space Frenzy (Left = steer left, Right = steer right, pull back = thrust, push forward = shoot). But of course menu navigation is impossible. Not sure what other games it might work with, I suppose a similar selection as works with Starblast.

Seemed to stop working with Space Frenzy after a few minutes, and I thought maybe the little guy got fried. But I subsequently tried on WotW, and all buttons worked, (too bad that game doesn't include the 4 button arcade controls option). ... Hard to press only one at the same time though.

So I imagine C64 controllers in general are semi compatible like this, but I've never heard that.

I think I've heard the C64 controllers are semi compatible with Atari or something (don't play either system so I wouldn't really know). ... It seems like if this really had any application to Vectrex it would have already been a well discussed subject, since the controller is such an issue and commodity. ... So I am guessing that there IS some electrical reason not to plug this stuff into Vectrex.

... Photo I linked above is not working, so still looking for a photo of it.

[VectorX]

Technically you're probably talking an Atari 2600 joystick, since those were used for the 2600, Atari and Commodore home computers. If not, they're all compatible with each other. Can't say for sure since the image isn't coming up though.

[TrekMD]

I think the C64 controllers and the 2600 controllers are compatible.

[gliptitude]

Uh, to clarify, my interest is VECTREX. I wasn't trying to alert anyone to the usefulness of C64 controllers on 2600 or vice versa. I'm asking if anyone has ever plugged this stuff into a Vectrex, and found any purpose for that.

Most Vectrex controller mods seem to involve a modified Sega Genesis cord, but this one fits in without modification.

Specifically, I am looking inside a Starblast controller, seeing that it is a pretty simple assembly, but that the cord is still cut to fit at the end, like the Genesis ones. But if only the 4 buttons are used in this design, couldn't I just as well make one of these from a C64 cord? (That is my curiosity in this endeavor, that maybe I could make a simple controller of my own design using C64 or 2600 parts)

[gliptitude]

(image attached below)

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[VectorX]

Holy crap, I have a very similar joystick to that! ;D Is it real uncomfortable?

[gliptitude]

Feb 6, 2013 17:40:37 GMT -5 VectorX said:

Holy crap, I have a very similar joystick to that! ;D Is it real uncomfortable?

Yes it is a piece of junk. Not so much uncomfortable, but more that there is no satisfaction at all to moving the stick around. Not very gratifying.

It is kind of cool how small it is though. ... I wouldn't want to use this as it was intended, as a directional stick. But I've just been "playing" War of the Worlds with it, imagining how awesome it would be (if Vec 1 and 2 were move left and move right). Just shooting, sheilding and pausing, without being able to move left/right, isn't much of a game, .

[gliptitude]

ok, not sure what is going on, but I managed to move UP and RIGHT with this C64 stick. Moving right was extremely unpredictable, but moving up I was able to repeat.

... I had decided to try it with I, Cyborg. I always found it difficult that you have to use two buttons to fire left/right in this game. And if you recall one of my first posts on these forums (dual stick vectrex controller idea), I imagined the second stick substituting for the 4 buttons, and that it could be 8 directions (for games specifically programmed for it) by making diagonal directions a combination of the two buttons that direction is in between. Well, that's kind of how this C64 stick works (very annoying when you are actually trying to press only one button at a time).

... This C64 stick was nice for firing left in I, Cyborg, since left = vec 3 and down = vec 4. But firing right was impossible (because you can't move the stick left (3) and right (4) at the same time.

Anyway, at one point during this I, Cyborg trial, I managed to move forward and to the right. It had something to do with pressing the side buttons, in combination with the joystick.

So I took the controller apart and messed around a bit. Took some pictures.

I'm thinking that this controller is not very good at doing what it is intended to do, so it is difficult for me to evaluate. ...

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[gliptitude]

(Inside the "power stick")

Separate posts here because I can only attach one image file per post and I have 4 images.

.. Found one of these currently for sale on ebay and it is called (by that seller at least) "Power Stick". Pretty inappropriate and hilarious name.

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[gliptitude]

... The purpose of the two side buttons appears to be to press this small lever, creating a fifth contact on the pcb.

In this pic, the lever has been removed.

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[gliptitude]

Here is the tiny pcb inside this tiny controller.

4 contacts provide the intended directional controls, presumably very easily operating with 8 directions when operated by the stick, as it strongly tends to register both signals when you move the stick diagonally.

5th contact is supposed to be action button???

C64 action button seems to maybe equal Vectrex stick UP? But it is very hard to press this button. When I managed to move forward in I, Cyborg, I was pressing both side buttons and moving the stick at the same time. Sporadically moved right during this process.

Was able to repeat the move forward by again pressing both buttons and also pressing the stick in and up.

Just wondering why I've never heard mention of partial compatibility with Vectrex.

Still waiting to hear if this is potentially a hazard to my Vectrex, or to the C64 controller.

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[TrekMD]

I ran a search to see if there was info about using the C64 joystick with the Vectrex and couldn't find anything. So, for all we know, you may be the first person testing this.

[VectorX]

Feb 6, 2013 20:07:56 GMT -5 gliptitude said:

Separate posts here because I can only attach one image file per post and I have 4 images.

That shouldn't be, unless this was just suddenly changed on Proboards recently that I don't know about. TrekMD was posting multiple images in the nature thread a few days ago.

[gliptitude]

Feb 6, 2013 20:26:03 GMT -5 TrekMD said:

I ran a search to see if there was info about using the C64 joystick with the Vectrex and couldn't find anything. So, for all we know, you may be the first person testing this.

yeh, if that were the case I suppose it would lend a little bit of credibility to my junior level controller hacking experiment. My electronics knowledge is approximately zero.

[TrekMD]

Feb 6, 2013 20:29:39 GMT -5 VectorX said:

Feb 6, 2013 20:07:56 GMT -5 gliptitude said:

Separate posts here because I can only attach one image file per post and I have 4 images.

That shouldn't be, unless this was just suddenly changed on Proboards recently that I don't know about. TrekMD was posting multiple images in the nature thread a few days ago.

I just posted 3 new images on that thread to test it out. It worked just fine.