Alternative Atari 800/5200 Emulator?
-
Whats up Han. I also tried the Atari800 emulator for my 5200 roms and didn't like it. I'm pretty sure MESS has a 5200 emulator but, I honestly haven't given it a go. IMO the 5200 games are poop anyway and no loss without em.
-
My dad bought an Atari 5200 when I was very little and I remember playing it until I got my NES in December of 1985 and I never looked back. I agree with @celly the games were poop. I still own this Atari 5200 with a handful of games (even though most of the buttons on the controllers don't work) but I just can't bring myself to play these games. I guess anything less than 8bit doesn't hold my attention very well.
I also tried getting the the Atari 800/5200 emulator(s) working I never get them to work. One time i got it to load up the Atari logo and then it would kick back out after that so yeah, this emulator is not ideal. I do have the Atari 2600 and 7800 working just fine even though I never play them.
-
I'm more interested in getting the Atari 800 computer system to work, rather than the 5200. This was THE gaming system we had growing up before we got a Sega Genesis. There's a lot of cool games on there I'd love to get playing again. Hopes are still high something will come around.
-
I have the Atari 800/5200 Emulator in Retropie up and running with full controller support. Along the way, I learned a few things that might be of some help here. First off, there seems to be a bug in that almost any setting that is altered from the menu GUI will corrupt the config file, resulting in a software lock-up the next time the emulator is launched. This can be solved by making all the alterations to the config file using an external text editor.
Secondly, I developed a joystick control scheme using xboxdrv that can handle both 5200 games and 800 games universally, including analog-based titles and keypad-based titles, as well as the actual emulator menu itself. I'll post my config below and highlight a few of it's features.
sudo /opt/retropie/supplementary/xboxdrv/bin/xboxdrv \ --evdev /dev/input/by-path/platform-3f980000.usb-usb-0:1.2:1.0-event-joystick \ --detach-kernel-driver \ --force-feedback \ --dpad-as-button \ --trigger-as-button \ --deadzone-trigger 15% \ --deadzone 4000 \ --device-name "Logitech Rumblepad 2 (xboxdrv)" \ --silent \ --axismap -Y1=Y1,-Y2=Y2 \ --buttonmap tl^toggle=tl \ --buttonmap tr^toggle=tr \ --evdev-absmap ABS_X=x1,ABS_Y=y1,ABS_Z=x2,ABS_RZ=y2,ABS_HAT0X=dpad_x,ABS_HAT0Y=dpad_y \ --evdev-keymap BTN_THUMB2=a,BTN_THUMB=b,BTN_TOP=x,BTN_TRIGGER=y,BTN_BASE3=back,BTN_BASE4=start,BTN_TOP2=lb,BTN_PINKIE=rb,BTN_BASE5=tl,BTN_BASE6=tr,BTN_BASE=lt,BTN_BASE2=rt \ --ui-axismap X1=KEY_KP4:KEY_KP6,Y1=KEY_KP8:KEY_KP5 \ --ui-axismap X2=KEY_1:KEY_2,Y2=KEY_3:KEY_4,lt+X2=KEY_5:KEY_6,lt+Y2=KEY_7:KEY_8,rt+X2=KEY_9:KEY_0,rt+Y2=KEY_KPASTERISK:KEY_EQUAL \ --ui-buttonmap b=KEY_RIGHTCTRL,a=KEY_F2,x=KEY_EQUAL,y=KEY_KPASTERISK,lb=KEY_UNKNOWN,rb=KEY_UNKNOWN,du=KEY_KP8,dd=KEY_KP5,dl=KEY_KP4,dr=KEY_KP6,start=KEY_F4,back=KEY_F3,lt=KEY_UNKNOWN,rt=KEY_UNKNOWN,tl=KEY_UNKNOWN,tr=KEY_UNKNOWN \ --ui-buttonmap back+x=KEY_F1,back+start=KEY_F9,back+b=KEY_F5 \ --ui-buttonmap rt+a=KEY_ENTER,rt+b=KEY_ESC,rt+du=KEY_UP,rt+dd=KEY_DOWN,rt+dl=KEY_LEFT,rt+dr=KEY_RIGHT \ --ui-axismap tl+x1=REL_X:20,tl+y1=REL_Y:20 \ --ui-buttonmap tr+b=BTN_LEFT,tr+a=BTN_RIGHT \ --ui-buttonmap lt+a=KEY_A,lt+b=KEY_B,lt+x=KEY_X,lt+y=KEY_Y,lt+lb=KEY_L,lt+rb=KEY_R,lt+du=KEY_UP,lt+dd=KEY_DOWN,lt+dl=KEY_LEFT,lt+dr=KEY_RIGHT,lt+start=KEY_T,lt+back=KEY_E \ --ui-buttonmap guide=voidThe key-map here makes use of the default key assignments in the emulator and is mapped to a Logitech RumblePad 2, which is functionally identical to a PS2/3 controller. Up,Down,Left and right on the DPad and the left analog stick are identically mapped so you can choose between the two on a game-by-game basis and 'B&A' act as the primary action buttons as one would expect.
I invoke the emulator GUI menu with 'select+x' to Match the RetroArch cores. From there, I can navigate the menus by first pressing the 'R2' button. This acts as a modifier which allows me to then press up,down,left and right on my controller with the 'A&B' buttons now functioning as forward and backward. I also mapped the entirety of the keypad to the right analog stick. Keypad buttons 1-4 are mapped to U,D,L&R, 5-8 are mapped to 'RT'+U,D,L&R and 9,0,*,# are mapped to 'RT'+U,D,L&R.
The last major feature of note is analog control. This is important for playing some games that will not respond to any other control scheme, such as Atari 800 mouse-based games as well as the basic pack-in title for the 5200, 'Super Break-Out'. Seeing as how these games are in the minority, I chose to use a toggle modifier that would change the left analog stick to mouse movement only when I needed it. I decided to use button 'L3' on my controller, as it normally goes unused 99% of the time. Once pressed, the emulator sees the left analog stick as if it were a normal mouse and the 'A&B' buttons function as they normally would. However, if you also press the 'R3' toggle button, the 'A&B' buttons function as a left and right mouse click, allowing Atari 800 mouse-based games to function right from the controller.
In closing, I'll include my mapping for Player 2 which is functionally identical, but obviously mapped for player 2 input.
sudo /opt/retropie/supplementary/xboxdrv/bin/xboxdrv \ --evdev /dev/input/by-path/platform-3f980000.usb-usb-0:1.4:1.0-event-joystick \ --detach-kernel-driver \ --force-feedback \ --dpad-as-button \ --trigger-as-button \ --deadzone-trigger 15% \ --deadzone 4000 \ --device-name "Logitech Rumblepad 2 (xboxdrv)" \ --silent \ --axismap -Y1=Y1,-Y2=Y2 \ --buttonmap tl^toggle=tl \ --evdev-absmap ABS_X=x1,ABS_Y=y1,ABS_Z=x2,ABS_RZ=y2,ABS_HAT0X=dpad_x,ABS_HAT0Y=dpad_y \ --evdev-keymap BTN_THUMB2=a,BTN_THUMB=b,BTN_TOP=x,BTN_TRIGGER=y,BTN_BASE3=back,BTN_BASE4=start,BTN_TOP2=lb,BTN_PINKIE=rb,BTN_BASE5=tl,BTN_BASE6=tr,BTN_BASE=lt,BTN_BASE2=rt \ --ui-axismap X1=KEY_A:KEY_D,Y1=KEY_W:KEY_S \ --ui-axismap X2=KEY_1:KEY_2,Y2=KEY_3:KEY_4,lt+X2=KEY_5:KEY_6,lt+Y2=KEY_7:KEY_8,rt+X2=KEY_9:KEY_0,rt+Y2=KEY_KPASTERISK:KEY_EQUAL \ --ui-buttonmap b=KEY_LEFTCTRL,a=KEY_F2,x=KEY_EQUAL,y=KEY_KPASTERISK,lb=KEY_UNKNOWN,rb=KEY_UNKNOWN,du=KEY_W,dd=KEY_S,dl=KEY_A,dr=KEY_D,start=KEY_F4,back=KEY_F3,lt=KEY_UNKNOWN,rt=KEY_UNKNOWN,tl=KEY_UNKNOWN,tr=KEY_UNKNOWN \ --ui-buttonmap back+x=KEY_F1,back+start=KEY_F9,back+b=KEY_F5 \ --ui-buttonmap rt+a=KEY_ENTER,rt+b=KEY_ESC,rt+du=KEY_UP,rt+dd=KEY_DOWN,rt+dl=KEY_LEFT,rt+dr=KEY_RIGHT \ --ui-axismap tl+x1=REL_X:20,tl+y1=REL_Y:20 \ --ui-buttonmap tl+rb=BTN_LEFT,tl+lb=BTN_RIGHT \ --ui-buttonmap lt+a=KEY_A,lt+b=KEY_B,lt+x=KEY_X,lt+y=KEY_Y,lt+lb=KEY_L,lt+rb=KEY_R,lt+du=KEY_UP,lt+dd=KEY_DOWN,lt+dl=KEY_LEFT,lt+dr=KEY_RIGHT,lt+start=KEY_T,lt+back=KEY_E \ --ui-buttonmap guide=void -
@mediamogul
In what file and where are you putting this? -
It works in conjunction with this guide.
-
Wow, that's really confusing.. :(
-
Hah! Yeah, it's a bit daunting at first and it took me a while to wrap my head around it as well. However, once you have it down, there's really almost nothing you can't control in RetroPie with just about any device imaginable. I have 36 systems installed and the only time I need to bring out a keyboard is for Z-Machine titles ;). The end result is a setup that really feels like a console gaming environment in every system.
-
@mediamogul said in Alternative Atari 800/5200 Emulator?:
Hah! Yeah, it's a bit daunting at first and it took me a while to wrap my head around it as well. However, once you have it down, there's really almost nothing you can't control in RetroPie with just about any device imaginable. I have 36 systems installed and the only time I need to bring out a keyboard is for Z-Machine titles ;). The end result is a setup that really feels like a console gaming environment in every system.
Sorry to necropost, but how in the world did you install Atari 800 emulator on RetroPie 4????
-
Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.
Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.