X-Arcade on Amiga?

[mahen]

I've just been sent this URL :

http://aminet.net/search?query=PSX+pad

Building this PSX -> CD32 pad adapter would definitely enable us to use the X-Arcade (with the official PSX X-Arcade adapter).

Problem : it requires technical knowledge & some equipment. Anyone willing to build a few ones for us ?

[HenryCase]

@All
You're overcomplicating this issue way too much. All you need is an adapter that allows a PC keyboard to be used on an Amiga. The X-Arcade has programmable buttons so you can resolve any control issues once you've got the device connected.

Here's a suitable adapter project:
http://aminet.net/search?query=Epic1_2
Here's a picture of a completed board based on this project:
http://www.amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=1551=38
Cost is around £6.

Now that an easy solution has been found, I wonder how many people will actually buy an X-Arcade for Amiga use...

[mahen]

HenryCase : you do make a point, however, what many of us would like to achieve, is playing classical hardware banging OCS/AGA games, which are usually not playable with the keyboard

Besides, I assume this thread is rather about people who already own an X-Arcade, as there may be easier solutions for the others

[HenryCase]

@mahen
Please name me a handful of OCS/ECS/AGA games you want to play that can't be played using a keyboard. Thanks.

[orange]

er.. almost all of them?
 but I don't see why is all this such a big problem, just open the damn thing and solder some wires to switches (preferably keeping the wires that are already there)

[HenryCase]

@orange
Almost all of them?

Ok, this is some useful information for building a X-Arcade adapter from scratch:
http://pinouts.ru/Inputs/KeyboardPC6_pinout.shtml
http://pinouts.ru/Inputs/AmigaMouseJoy_pinout.shtml
http://www.computer-engineering.org/ps2keyboard/scancodes2.html
http://www.aminet.net/docs/misc/cd32joy.lha
http://www.epanorama.net/documents/joystick/intro.html

What you'd need to do is use a programmable chip, a PIC for example, that read the PS/2 codes and triggered a signal which the Amiga could understand as joystick input. Shouldn't be too hard.

[HenryCase]

@All
I think I've found another ready made solution, but first I need someone to answer this question: Do joysticks designed for the C64 work with Amigas? I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, but I'd like some confirmation before I post my idea.

[McVenco]

Wouldn't it be easier to use this thing for playing games under WHDLoad, rather than "native"?

I think it's far easier to make WHDLoad use the X-Arcade as a joystick, than to make some sort of adapter to make it being recognised by the Amiga as a joystick via the joystick port..

Just my €0,02

[spirantho]

McVenco wrote:
Wouldn't it be easier to use this thing for playing games under WHDLoad, rather than "native"?

Ummm... no. Not even slightly. It's just not that simple, I'm afraid.

[Speelgoedmannetje]

I was thinking about making one myself, of spare parts :-)

[mahen]

OK so I finally tested the Megadrive Gamepadconverter along with the X-Arcade PSX adapter : it doesn't work, probably due to the incompatibility of the Amiga with many Megadrive gamepads.

Actually, it behaves as if the player was always going to the left while pressing the fire button

[HenryCase]

Ok, so nobody bothered to answer my question about C64 joysticks, but I thought I'd post the idea anyway. Actually, I realised after my post that Pertinax had found the same solution earlier, to use the Shredz64 control adapter.

This is the main summary of the Shredz64 project from its homepage:
"The Shredz64 project is an attempt to build an interface to connect the Playstation Guitar Hero controller (and any other PS controller) to the Commodore 64 computer, then create a Guitar Hero like game on the C64 utilizing the guitar controller."

So if we use the PSX control converter for X-Arcade, and plug it in to the Shredz64 PSX to C64 joystick converter  (known as the PSX64) we'll have a way of using an X-Arcade stick on an Amiga. This way all games will work without modification (WHDLoad, etc...).

I've just e-mailed Toni Westbrook (creator of the Shredz64 project), let's see if we can get this solution off the ground.

[tiffers]

For what it's worth... you can get a blank X-Arcade panel, sticks and buttons parts, and built your own PCB / Wiring etc.

http://www.x-arcade.com/mame-arcade-stick.shtml

Should be very easy to make your own.

tiffers

[tiffers]

For that matter, if you can buy arcade bits (sitcks, buttons etc) it shouldn't be too hard to make your own enclosure and everything, looking at the way they've built theirs.

A moulded plastic 'cheap' enclosure might not be so easy, but if you take a look at http://www.lemon64.com/museum/view.php?id=77&genre=advertmisc you can see that a very nice joystick can be boxy and best used on a table top. These things were the best Amiga joystick I ever used.

tiffers

[HenryCase]

@Tiffers
You can make your own X-Arcade stick, but this doesn't help with compatibility because if you build one purely for Amiga use you lose the ability to use the stick with other platforms, which is why an Amiga adapter is the best solution. Also, whilst its possible to build a nice joystick from scratch this topic is about the X-Arcade in particular as I gather a number of people already own the device. However, your ideas are worth discussing, especially if someone is looking for the ultimate Amiga arcade stick, as this is much more likely to be achieved by building your own arcade stick (with quality parts, Hori and Happ being the market leaders AFAIK).

As for X-Arcade owners, I have good news, the PSX64 (part of the Shredz64 project by Toni Westbrook) will definitely let you use an X-Arcade stick on an Amiga. Here are two 'exclusive' pictures sent to me by Toni himself (playing Shadow of the Beast on an A1200):




Schematics for the PSX64 are due out in the next couple of months, and Toni also told me he would be selling fully assembled PSX64 adapters soon after. Things are looking good!

[mahen]

HenryCase : oops, sorry for not replying earlier. It definitely sounds great !

However, I wonder if the second amiga joystick button will be mapped ?