Re: Why doesn't the Apple II have a gaming community like C64, Atari,DOS, etc

[Kevin Dady <kevin@hackaday.com>]

On Mar 15, 2:00 am, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
> Kevin Dady wrote:
> > On Mar 14, 12:38 pm, dog_...@macgui.com (D Finnigan) wrote:
>
> >>ict@ccess wrote:
>
> >>> That, and those
> >>>horrible game paddles which made game play awkward.
>
> >>I entirely agree with you. I believe it was Mr. Dady who said something
> >>along the lines of "ever play pac-man with a giant flight stick?"
>
> >>I would really love to have a Nintendo-style game pad for the Apple II,
> >>something with a digital u/d/l/r arranged in a cross instead of the usual
> >>joystick-type controllers that we have.
>
> >>I think that having a smooth controller interface to the game is a must,
> >>because then you can forget about the controller instead of fighting against
> >>it. In other words, your mind is free to concentrate on the game, not on how
> >>to control the game.
>
> >>--
> >>]DF$
> >>Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
> >>Macintosh computing.http://macgui.com/vault/
>
> > Also I think I got pretty close to a nintendo style gamepad with mine,
> > though it uses an analog joystick the travel is 23/32nds (18 ish mm)
> > of an inch, its really not that much travel for full analog range ...
> > its (slightly) less than a normal analog controller shipped with most
> > consoles (which is right at an inch of travel). The physical size is
> > similar to a NES pad given the radio shack box selection, its the same
> > X, slightly shorter Y and yes thicker Z (about 2x as much) but it
> > really is quite comfortable while playing.
>
> > Two things I dont like about it is 1) the buttons, which are radio
> > shack stock buttons, they have maybe 1/8th inch too much travel, and
> > its hard to rapid fire unless your holding it down half way, and gets
> > tiresome on the thumbs, PLUS they are too tall, about a quarter inch
> > above the Dpad ...
>
> > 2) since I am using a 10k joystick there is so much capacitance that
> > its a serious PITA to calibrate.
>
> > Now that I am employed again full time (hackaday.com is not something
> > you can base your full income on, though extra cash is cool, dont get
> > me wrong) I am going to do a upgrade. I have a 100k joystick on
> > order ... though I need a bunch of other junk from digikey so holding
> > off till I get the whole thing finalized, which will help with the
> > calibration issue since there wont be nearly as much capacitance to
> > nit pick over, and I have a couple of panel mount switches (with dome
> > tops, we will see how that works) which react pretty close to arcade
> > switches...
>
> > I think once I get done perfecting I will post a BOM and schematic ...
> > its one of those things that if you can operate a drill and can solder
> > a wire, I can boil it down to a simpler project
>
> >http://hackaday.com/2012/01/26/analog-joypad-for-your-retro-pc/
>
> Why not just get arcade switches?  They are pretty easy to find at
> places like Electronic Goldmine.
>
> Come to think of it, they had a full arcade joystick awhile back...
>
> -michael
>
> NadaNet 3.1 for Apple II parallel computing!
> Home page:  http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/
>
> "The wastebasket is our most important design
> tool--and it's seriously underused."

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