Joystick questions on the 2600 and Colecovision?

[Mac-Abre]

So, I'm working on these units and I had a question concerning the joysticks. Are they four way or eight way?

[chadtower]

If the joystick can control an object diagonally, it is 8 way.

This concept applies a whole lot less to console controllers, btw, than arcade sticks. Sticks use an entirely different mechanism (physical switches) than console sticks. Console sticks use open contacts and a conductor that is then applied to them to complete the circuit. Sticks use a switch and the bottom of the stick pushes the switch closed. You can easily make an 8 way arcade stick into a 4 way by simply restricting movement in the diagonal directions.

[omnedon]

restrictor plates!

[chadtower]

Yep... try making a restrictor plate for a 2600 stick, though... I think I'd rather build an arcade 4 way for the 2600 than try to restrict a real 2600 stick.

[chadtower]

More accurately... if the stick can be moved diagonally. Whether or not it can control an object diagonally is more dependent on the programmer :)

I consider that less accurate, since we're talking about the stick and not a game. I was talking about the ability to do it in any game in general, not any specific individual game. If it can control an object diagonally in ANY game, just one, the stick is 8 way.

[slapdash]

Well, this is a tech forum, so let's take another tack...

The 2600 stick is inherently four-direction, since there are only four switches, one for each orthogonal direction.

However, you can read the ports to see if more than one switch is down at a time, and use that to provide diagonals for an eight-direction movement in-game.

Technically, you could build a controller that allowed even more possibilities and make a game to go with it, though I think you can't quite get to 16-direction control unless you count the "nothing pressed" state or involve the fire button.

I don't know about the Colecovision controller though -- guess I never took one of those apart.

[john_soper]

Technically, you could build a controller that allowed even more possibilities and make a game to go with it, though I think you can't quite get to 16-direction control unless you count the "nothing pressed" state or involve the fire button.

I don't know about the Colecovision controller though -- guess I never took one of those apart.
The CV controllers the same, four contacts.
I was thinking once of modifying a 2600 stick with an extra button that pulled North and South low at the same time (no game ever does this AFAIK). Then having an extra circuit in the 2600 that monitors for this and takes some action like Reset or toggling the Col/BW switch.

[chadtower]

Most 4 or 8 way sticks are 4 contacts. Arcade 8 way sticks are like that too, diagonal just presses two contacts. You make it 4 way by not allowing it to press two switches at once.