@@RetroGameCoders Is this method of reading analog input how some C64 games support 2-button joysticks, first standardized with the C64GS game console from 1990 ?
@@RetroGameCoders BTW, we all miss you here on RUclips. It's been more than a year since your last video! You're literally only a couple dozen away from reaching the 1,000 subscribers milestone. Any chance you'll be making a comeback soon?
@@endwigast5212 2022 was a horrible year with bereavements and subsequent move back to England so it really set us back as a family, hoping to get back into it though especially with more basic and also TRSE tutorials :)
It's a shame no-one bothered making analog joysticks for the C64 back in the day. They would have been great for flight games, but of course the software would have to be programmed to take advantage of analog input.
As an aspiring engineer I tried using the analog input of the original C64 to measure voltage signals. As it is a very crude and jittery A/D converter I changed my approach, created a 8bit A/D converter box using a 427(?) IC plus 'stuff', running all through the parallel port of the C64.. Speedy data collection and analysis was done in 6510 machine code. This turned the C64 into a really useful data collector and analyzer. E.g. pump speeds of vacuum pumps or a small oscilloscope for any signal interpretation. The final project was to do full blown mass spectrometry (reading data from a quadrupole scanner) on this 'toy', deciphering and graphically plotting gas contents. A self-made interrupt driven 'light' pen (just a photo diode!) allowed for TOUCH SCREEN style control: software sensed the electron beam fly-by at any position of the CRT to identify the pen's x/y coordinates. The 6510 and its sidekicks VIC (with its IRQ control) and SID (housing the A/Ds) were marvelous, offered incredibly useful functions and ports to utilze. Far beyond gaming. Back in 1984 this entire project earned me a top grade university diploma as an Engineer of Applied Physics - thanks to a simple breadbox C64! I still have a CBM64 in my basement today, and will get a C64mini tomorrow! As far as I know there was at least ONE analog control stick (for a unique C64 flight simulation program), that used the built-in analog ports.
@@88BlueKeys4U Great project. Can you provide more details about that analog stick for the C64, like brand name? - I converted a controller of the game console Interton VC 4000, which has an analog stick, for the C64. Also was jittery, thought it may be an issue with the potentiometers in that stick not fitting the C64, but, as you said, it seems to be a general problem with the A/D converter.
As for software making use of an analog stick - the graphics software Blazing Paddles works like a charm with the Interton stick I mentioned in my previous comment. Without the jitter, it would be a faster workflow than with a mouse I think.
@@NuntiusLegis Sorry, all this happened decades ago, so I do not recall all the details. AFAIK the real and rare C64 analog joystick was related to flight simulation (for obvious reasons of more precise steering). Maybe Gravis did something for the C64? They offered analog sticks for other consoles. Google is your friend here; it may take considerable effort to hunt the facts down, leave alone such a rare controller. Good luck and a safe landing!
Very interesting. I never thought of attaching an analog joystick. That could have some interesting applications…
Let me know if you experiment :)
@@RetroGameCoders Is this method of reading analog input how some C64 games support 2-button joysticks, first standardized with the C64GS game console from 1990 ?
@@endwigast5212 Good question, I don’t know! Possibly because it would be logical for sure
@@RetroGameCoders BTW, we all miss you here on RUclips. It's been more than a year since your last video! You're literally only a couple dozen away from reaching the 1,000 subscribers milestone. Any chance you'll be making a comeback soon?
@@endwigast5212 2022 was a horrible year with bereavements and subsequent move back to England so it really set us back as a family, hoping to get back into it though especially with more basic and also TRSE tutorials :)
It's a shame no-one bothered making analog joysticks for the C64 back in the day. They would have been great for flight games, but of course the software would have to be programmed to take advantage of analog input.
As an aspiring engineer I tried using the analog input of the original C64 to measure voltage signals. As it is a very crude and jittery A/D converter I changed my approach, created a 8bit A/D converter box using a 427(?) IC plus 'stuff', running all through the parallel port of the C64.. Speedy data collection and analysis was done in 6510 machine code. This turned the C64 into a really useful data collector and analyzer. E.g. pump speeds of vacuum pumps or a small oscilloscope for any signal interpretation. The final project was to do full blown mass spectrometry (reading data from a quadrupole scanner) on this 'toy', deciphering and graphically plotting gas contents. A self-made interrupt driven 'light' pen (just a photo diode!) allowed for TOUCH SCREEN style control: software sensed the electron beam fly-by at any position of the CRT to identify the pen's x/y coordinates. The 6510 and its sidekicks VIC (with its IRQ control) and SID (housing the A/Ds) were marvelous, offered incredibly useful functions and ports to utilze. Far beyond gaming.
Back in 1984 this entire project earned me a top grade university diploma as an Engineer of Applied Physics - thanks to a simple breadbox C64! I still have a CBM64 in my basement today, and will get a C64mini tomorrow!
As far as I know there was at least ONE analog control stick (for a unique C64 flight simulation program), that used the built-in analog ports.
@@88BlueKeys4U Great project. Can you provide more details about that analog stick for the C64, like brand name? - I converted a controller of the game console Interton VC 4000, which has an analog stick, for the C64. Also was jittery, thought it may be an issue with the potentiometers in that stick not fitting the C64, but, as you said, it seems to be a general problem with the A/D converter.
As for software making use of an analog stick - the graphics software Blazing Paddles works like a charm with the Interton stick I mentioned in my previous comment. Without the jitter, it would be a faster workflow than with a mouse I think.
@@NuntiusLegis Sorry, all this happened decades ago, so I do not recall all the details. AFAIK the real and rare C64 analog joystick was related to flight simulation (for obvious reasons of more precise steering). Maybe Gravis did something for the C64? They offered analog sticks for other consoles.
Google is your friend here; it may take considerable effort to hunt the facts down, leave alone such a rare controller. Good luck and a safe landing!
@@88BlueKeys4U I googled without success before asking. :-)