Atari 5200: New version of Atari800 (Beta): two triggers (Moon Patrol!!!), hat start and exit buttons

Used2BeRX

That's great. I'll try it out. I'm wondering why yesterday code was automatically put in black boxes for me and today it's not.

future.child

@Used2BeRX As far as i can tell the python script makes adjustements to the /home/pi/.atari800.cfg file based on what joysticks are connected and configured in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-joypads/.cfg*.

I do not use this python script myself, neither do i use the global configuration file.
This is because i use different emulator settings per system/romlist.

As for the 2 player suport, a newer version is on it's way, this is just a temporary (ugly) quick fix, i'm trying to figure out a more elegant way to do it (and have it auto disable when second controller is actually being used).

Just to be sure there is no misunderstanding, with "properly code the 2nd player controller so we have 2 player support" , did you mean the first player now interferes with second player or 2 player does not work at all ?

Used2BeRX

@future.child I actually don't have a 2nd controller yet, so I can't tell you if this code is interfering with the 2nd controller. I just noticed that when loading the 2 player only game Ballblazer that the left joystick controls the 1st player movement and the right joystick controls the 2nd player. I assumed that this would happen so it didn't surprise me.

I'm really looking forward to your update. I'll have to get a 2nd USB controller to try it out when you get to that point.

I'm going to try your setup without the python script. I'll let you know if I notice anything not working with it that was working before.

BTW..... There are 2 games for the 5200 right now that you can't play without the keyboard attached. They are Beamrider and Congo Bongo. Both of these games require you to enter number of players (1-2) and Beamrider I believe asks also for skill level (1-4). Might be a good idea to map at least the 1+2 keys if possible. :)

This forum is no longer auto answering with @ either now. I don't know what's wrong. I'll have to reboot and see if that fixes these issues.

future.child

@Used2BeRX I'll see if i can add digits 1-3 as well (Beamrider has 1-3 skill levels).

auto answering works fine for me, you may want to clear your cache if reboot did not work.

Used2BeRX

@future-child Sounds great man.
I'm using your config now and I noticed that you don't have any of the "VIDEOMODE" lines in it. I still have the super small screen that's not stretched to full screen. Even when I add the VIDEOMODE lines in that should fix it, that doesn't sort the problem.

FYI for ya... While messing around all of the sudden Joust worked for me when I was getting a black screen before. I just figured out it was because I changed the config file to NTSC mode instead of PAL mode. Nice! One of the best games on the system wasn't working for me before but works now.

EDIT: Well..... no matter what I did to edit the configuration file manually, I could not get full screen. I decided to try it through the emulator itself by pressing Select+X. Going into Display Settings and then Video Mode Settings I turned "Fullscreen" to Yes and "Fullscreen Resolution" to 320x240 and now I have full screen again!

Everything is looking good so far. I'm going to have to retest all the games now. I might wait until you update the 2nd player code first though so I don't have to re-test everything again.

mediamogul

@Used2BeRX

I'm wondering why yesterday code was automatically put in black boxes for me and today it's not.

It could be that a moderator formatted it. There's nothing that detects code automatically though.

Used2BeRX

@mediamogul strange..... When I'm typing here there is a "Compose" window on the left and a "preview" window on the right. When I was putting code in here in the left window, the right window showed up different in black.....

Maybe I had copied and pasted somebody elses formatted code, now that I think about it. Thanks. I'll look into how to do it myself.

mediamogul

@Used2BeRX

Maybe I had copied and pasted somebody elses formatted code

That would do it.

Thanks. I'll look into how to do it myself.

Dankeschön!

future.child

@Used2BeRX
As requested i have made an updated version with the following modifications:

When player 2 presses the joystick trigger it automatically disables player1's joystick 2nd axis as input for player 2 until restart of the emulator.
Joystick buttons can be mapped to Numeric buttons 1, 2 and 3 (for i.e. Beamrider, Congo Bongo) .

New config parameters:

SDL_JOY_0_SECOND_AXIS_ENABLED=1
SDL_JOY_0_DIGIT_1=0
SDL_JOY_0_DIGIT_2=6
SDL_JOY_0_DIGIT_3=7

As far as i can tell it all works as intended (or at least nothing major is broken).
Comments or suggestions are welcome.

Used2BeRX

@future.child So, just being clear here, all I need to do to for all of this is to add those 4 lines of code into my atari500.cfg? That's amazing.

The 2nd player controller still isn't configured though, right?

Also, you say that the numeric buttons "can be" mapped. They aren't with this addition? How do I map them after adding this code? Thanks!

future.child

@Used2BeRX All you need to do is replace the binary and add the 4 lines to your config file.

to install the binary :

cd /opt/retropie/emulators/atari800/bin/
sudo cp atari800 atari800.original
sudo wget https://github.com/futurechild/atari800-rpi/blob/master/atari800?raw=true -O atari800
sudo chmod +x atari800

2nd player should all work as intended, if there is no player 2 you can use the 2nd axis on the first controller.
If there is a second player he/she can disable the 2nd axis input by pressing the trigger1 button.

Used2BeRX

@future.child Okay... well here's my results.

1 player - The right joystick is not responsive to the player's inputs. It is "working" somewhat though because you constantly fire diagonally to the NW.

2 player - I plugged in the 2nd player controller and the controls are split and everything seems to work right on the games that you can actually start up 2 players. Read below for specifics on games.

Robotron 2084 - It's possible to play 2 players, but the controls don't shift to the 2nd player. Both players move with 1 joystick and shoot with 2nd joystick. The original game was likely programmed that way. You don't use #2 to select 2 players in this game. It is an option you can scroll through with the # pound sign.

Beamrider - Left trigger selects 1 player/level. Right trigger selects 3 player/level. No way to select 2 player/level. You can't select 4 players either, but I can't ever imagine a situation in my life where I'm actually going to have 3 other people who want to sit down and play Beamrider with me. :)

Ballblazer - This seems to work perfectly now. I can control movement and ball shot with both players. (you don't press 2 for 2nd player on this game. It is part of the options that you can scroll through before beginning a match when you choose either "human" or a different level of "droid" for either player.

Congo Bongo - Can't select 2 players. 1 player works fine. From what I can tell Left Trigger = 1, Right Trigger = 3. I can't figure out what 2 is mapped to.

Space Dungeon - Right Trigger is definitely 3 in Space Dungeon because it brings up "Demo Mode". Can't figure out how to start 2 players in Space Dungeon though. Left Trigger does nothing. Title screen says "1" for 1 player version, "2" for two players and "3" for demonstration, but above that it says "Press start for 1 player game" so start button selects 1 player.

Maybe something is wrong with my controls in the atari5200.cfg? Could you post your controls scheme part for me to compare mine too? In the meantime, maybe you could try these games on your own and see if you're having any of the same issues.

We're almost there! :)

EDIT: Assuming nothing else changed in your configuration file for the joysticks, I did notice that both the "SDL_JOY_0_DIGIT_1" and the "SDL_JOY_0_ASTERISK" are now both mapped to "0" Maybe there is a conflict there?

I'm kind of baffled about this though. I've tested my controller and I know that LT is "6" for my controller. and SQUARE is "0" for my controller. I would have thought that "2" would work on the LT, 3 on the RT and the conflict would be "1" and "ASTERISK" both sharing the SQUARE button......

EDIT2: I made it so SDL=JOY_0_DIGIT_1=12, which is the "Home Button" on my joystick Now what happens is the LT and Home are for 1 player, and RT is still for the number 3. I think possibly you coded in the number 1 twice and didn't code in the number 2?

future.child

@Used2BeRX
My button mapping is like this (ps3 controller):

SDL_JOY_0_DIGIT_1=0          // triangle
SDL_JOY_0_TRIGGER1=1         // circle
SDL_JOY_0_TRIGGER2=2         // cross
SDL_JOY_0_ASTERISK=3         // square
SDL_JOY_0_HASH=4             // left shoulder
SDL_JOY_0_OPTION=5           // right shoulder
SDL_JOY_0_DIGIT_2=6          // left trigger
SDL_JOY_0_DIGIT_3=7          // right trigger
SDL_JOY_0_SELECT=8           // select
SDL_JOY_0_START=9            // start

I did just now make a new version because the hash and option buttons no longer functioned correctly.
Installation procedure is the same as described above.
Maybe this will also fix a few of your issues as well.

Used2BeRX

@future.child This build still has the robotron problem. You just automatically fire to the NW in both robotron and space dungeon, and the 2nd player just moves to the NW on ballblazer. Your old build the other day did not have this problem.

I'm going to test the 2 player stuff on the other games and see if that's fixed. I'll edit this post with that testing if you haven't responded yet.

future.child

@Used2BeRX I just found out numerical input 1 and 2 is not working in space dungeon atari 5200 mode.
I'll see what's going on because in atari 400/800 mode they work correctly, as does 3 in both modes.

As for robotron, controller input is working correct for me, are you sure your analog stick is center calibrated ?
I remember having issues with my previous old controller not keeping it's center calibration while functioning correct on the ps3.
I don't know if there's a calibration utility available for retropie ?

And afaik for robotron joystick1 is for movement and joystick2 is directional fire, even in 2 player mode.

Used2BeRX

@future.child Yep. That makes perfect sense. I'm using 5200 carts in 5200 mode. 2 doesn't work at all. For whatever reason, the left trigger does work for number 1, but that's not what you intended. Number 3 does work on all games with the right trigger though.

Nevermind about the Robotron controls not working. User error. I somehow reverted to an old controller config that didn't even have the "HAT" line in it. I don't know if just missing that line created the problems or if it was something else, but it's working as designed again.

future.child

@Used2BeRX Great, I'll see if i can have the numerical buttons sorted.
I think i found the cause (i mapped the numerical buttons to the atari keyboard ....which the 5200 doesn't have).
A new version will be available sometime tomorrow.

Used2BeRX

@future.child Sweet man. Looking forward to it. I'll have time to test it out and let you know how it works after you post it. I'll keep a lookout. :)

future.child

@Used2BeRX I just uploaded the new version with fixed numerical buttons 1-3.
They should now function correctly on both the 400/800 and 5200 (they at least do so for me).
Installation procedure is the same as described previous.

Used2BeRX

Perfecto!

2nd player joystick hijacked with just one controller plugged in for Robotron 2084 and Space Dungeon (and also Ballblazer). It splits perfect when you have the 2nd player joystick plugged in. (I didn't test plugging it in mid game, but for sure when you start with both plugged in it works).

1, 2 and 3 are now working as designed and were tested in Beamrider, Congo Bongo and Space Dungeon.

All of my testing was for the Atari 5200 emulator. I'm not personally using the Atari800.

Thanks so much man!

EDIT: I don't know how you guys go about these things in here, but my vote is that your update as it is now should be part of the official updates for the emulators. I don't see any downside to it, and it's so much better with these additions.