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

[Kevin Dady <kevin@hackaday.com>]

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/