motley6 wrote:I was wondering if someone could set me straight on a few things regarding joysticks. I recently started getting back into vint […]
Show full quote
I was wondering if someone could set me straight on a few things regarding joysticks. I recently started getting back into vintage gaming and just bought a 486 of eBay. It has a standard 15 pin joystick port and I'll be running only pure DOS 6.23.
1) What is the protocol for using analog, digital, or both? Do newer digital gamepads work with older PC games? For example, I want use a gamepad in mid-80s games like Activision's Portal and old Sierra AGI adventure games, but some games like these don't specify which kind they use.
2) Do DOS games automatically detect Gamepads/Joysticks or are drivers necessary?
3) Are there Gamepads which switch between digital and analog for DOS games?
4) If not, can get some kind of 15 pin splitter and hook one digital and one analog device at once instead of rehooking one up every time?
Thanks
1. The protocol is analog using a quad 558 timer driven by a resistor-capacitor network. "Digital" gamepads do not work with games unless they specifically support the gamepad in question. This is usually only found in late games. It is not something that Sierra's AGI games are going to support.
2. If the game supports a joystick, then it will automatically detect it or ask you to select the joystick function through an install or setup program or configuration menu or key. You will likely have to calibrate it.
3. The Gravis Gamepad is a gamepad that acts like a gamepad but looks like a joystick to games. It essentially reports three resistance value for each axis : minimal resistance, mid-point resistance and maximum resistance. This corresponds to pressing the game pad in one direction, not pressing it and pressing it in the opposite direction. If your game does not care about analog control, all it will see and all it needs are the three resistance values. Usually only flight and racing simulators really care for true analog control.
4. A PC joystick splitter is not going to work, it will give you an analog joystick for one player and a digital joystick for the second player. What you need is a DA-15 switchbox, if such a thing exists.
http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/ - Nerdly Pleasures - My Retro Gaming, Computing & Tech Blog