You did a great jobbexplaining how to wire a joystick! When I was a little kid my brother got a cable and had a family member make a wooden box and he assembled a home made joystick. This idea is with me for more than 25 years :) Once I built one for myself out of a case of a cassette, punched holes with a pin heated up, it was so crude but I was happy I could copy my older brother’s idea :) Also, I love the part where you highlighted how to screw back in old screws with the click. I did repair on 4 SNESs today and I thought about it a lot during assembly.
Thanks for this video Adrian. I completed this mod on an original NES controller and am loving using this on my C64 and Atari 2600. Your explanation was perfect! (... and the jumper wire for the UP & A button is awesome!)
Talk about perfect timing - I'm right in the middle of modding an NES controller for this exact purpose! I've performed earlier for use on an Atari 7800 - highly recommended.
The pin-out of all DE9 plugs is standardized, looking at male front side (and female back) it's numbered form left to right, and of course the opposite direction for female front (and male backside). This is actually standard for all D-Sub connectors...
36:35 as much as I'm surprised when someone doesn't already know about the screwdriver trick (for letting the screw "find" an existing thread"), it's always delightful to see them find out about it and start using it.
@@silkwesir1444 another similar trick, though not as important in this circumstance, is to not tighten any of the screws down until you have all of them started. In some cases you need to be able to jiggle things around in order to get the screws (or more usually bolts) started which is made difficult or impossible if you have already fully tightened some of them.
That's equally good advice! As a cherry on top, you can then tighten them in a star pattern (tighten one, skip one or two, repeat until every screw's tightened) makes sure it's as secure as possible without overstressing any of the screws or insets.
I've been doing this for years. I first did back in the 80s after using a self-tapping screw to thread into white metal on a model railroad boxcar kit. I reasoned that if it cut the threads the first time, I didn't want to risk cutting new ones, so I started turning it backwards to find the threads.
EXCELLENT VIDEO! Love it when videos show people how to figure things out versus how to just do them. MEXICAN TANG UPDATE: Still loving it, but we've run out. Found out that the local Wal-Mart carries KLASS and ZUKO brand Mexican beverages which, albeit not sugar-free, taste just as good as the Mexican Tang! Thankfully, we're not diabetic here, yet. (Father-in-law was diabetic, so totally understand the diabetic challenges!)
10:42 you could use a pair of 'gender changers' to extend the connectors slightly. I put it in inverted commas because a gender changer is supposed to change the connector from male to female or vice versa, but you can get ones that are just simple passthroughs that don't change the gender at all. Nevertheless, they are still sold as 'gender changers' and that's what you need to search for. (They are sometimes sold as 'port savers' too). I have used them before when I have needed to pass a cable through a panel etc. DE9 ones are commonly available (sold for serial ports) and they are usually very cheap, just a buck or two a piece. They will extend the connectors out by about half an inch, which should give you the clearance you need.
There's nothing quite like using a computer that is about 40 times faster than the computer that it is plugged into purely for converting it's input. Also, lots of people talking about the letters "adb" in the config program but did anyone notice the "SNES64" on the title screen to Kung-Fu Master?
Cool controller adapter. I made and wired a running pad for the c64 joystick port back in the day. Used it to play the game Epyx summer olimpics. Worked better that wiggling the joystick back and forth. Plus got exercise. Thx
I like the competition pro and still have it. As a lot of games use the space bar as a secondary button I disconnected the second fire button and soldered two wires to it. These two lines I connected to Joystick port 1 fire which for most games acts as space bar. A few have code to detect if it's fire port 1 or space bar, with these it did not work.
Holy crap is this eerie. I built something near identical to this "Padswitcher64" here in the USA. I used a NES controller socket and an Atmel AtMega328, not 88. But mine is also dual port. I also wrote 64 "config" software, but my software is just a display terminal with the mega sending PETSCII and you interact with the mega directly for configuration. My design uses the concept of events and macros. Each (NES) button has a press event AND a release event. Then you define output (64-side) macros. The macros can have both a "setup" and "loop" section, to allow custom autofire or complex operations. It was over-engineered like I always do. It was/is prototype so I never made it compact, but I did make a dual plug shell out of delrin using a CNC. On top of it all, the mentioned arrival date and the release date of this video are both meaningful dates to me. Once again, eerie.
super nintendo actually uses 2 of the same shift registers one of them is wired "upside down" and that makes them work with nes and snes seemlesly, nes simply can't see extra inputs
@@yourdrinking 2 4021 in smd packages facing each other upside down on pcb, because nintendo decided to wire them in paralell for data, clock, power and ground and only latch is piggybacked from master to slave ic if nintendo really wanted to amaze people with buttons they could easyly use 4 extra inputs on 2nd ic for something, but they just left them terminated and 4 used inputs kind of fell into nes blind zone and snes pad should just work fine on nes, with wierd button layout but still seeing just the first ic if i remember corectly it is due the delayed latch on nes , kind of waiting for the inputs to being setit goes latch 8 clocks for data and extra clocks towait for a next latch and nes just ignores data that overflow the buffer where snes have just longer register on the input
Going by memory (I confirmed this with a few D-Subs) the convention for these D-Sub connectors is that the connector with the *pins* will have the numbering increment from left to right. The connector with *sockets* will be right to left (this would be the joystick cable). Of course this is with respect the the front of the connector, the rear will be opposite.. useful to remember if using the "solder pot" variant of the connectors (when making cables). Once the orientation is known, it makes reading these connector pinout diagrams a lot easier. Cheers Adrian :D
The NES controller seems to have pullups resistors made by carbon connections on the PCB. When you don't connect the 5V to the PCB the high levels can be affected. Also not powering the shift register can be cause level issues. Keep this in mind if you see ghost button presses.
For the NES pinout, if you have a multimeter with a continuity function, it's probably easier to hook one lead up to the common wire and tone out the legs while pressing each button. Then you don't have to worry about flipping the pinout in your head. Either that or just redraw your pinout reversed once you have it figured out. For the C64 side, I'd assume it uses the standard DB9 numbering and you can search for DB9 pinout to get the male and female pinout to compare with the chart you showed. I agree it would have been very handy for the page you showed to denote which it was.
I had a friend who had a Sega Master System and used one of the d-pads on that with my C=64. Worked perfect since they both used the same adapter plug.
Great video instructions on how to make the NES into a C64 gamepad! I want to ask about the chip in the NES board. The wires are soldered to the leg but the 5V line is not used. Am i correct to say the chip is not active and mere serve as a place holder and an easy reference point to solder the wires to? I am planning to make a C64 gamepad from a Megadrive gamepad. Other videos i have watched shown that all the guts (Chips, resistors, whatever) has all been removed and the wires are soldered directly to the touch point in the trace of the board. I believe the Megadrive is same line the NES...a 5V high by default which will fry the CIA in the C64 if not disabled.
Good video, Adrian. Only (minor) complaint: at 37:45 while demonstrating the extra "up" button during the NES conversion portion, you kept holding the controller up in front of the screen, blocking the view of you making the character "fly". I know it's often hard to tell what the camera's view is, so no big deal, only pointing it out to help you be aware for next time.
38:05 I thought the same; back in the day when H.E.R.O. was released (both for Atari & C64) the developers didnt intend to use a button for flying so the difficulty gets totally lowered by using a hacked mode controller nowadays; just my 2 cents at using these new modes on vintage original games
@@silkwesir1444 But not to the extent that current tech allows; that programmable microcontroller easily configured by software allows modes that were unthinkable 40 years back; one thing is taking an Atari joystick and re-wiring it but this supercharged 2 port dozen-mode interface can really be seen as cheating in many games
For the Amiga I use a competition pro CD32 gamepad as it works directly, there are even some standard Amiga games that can take advantage of the extra buttons. I don't know how well it would work on the C64 or other atari compatible machines.
I once took a Bally Arcade (Astrocade) joystick and rewired it to work with an Atari 1200XL. I do not know if you know what one of these joysticks looks like, but it is a gun handle with trigger with the joystick on top. The joystick worked great and was much more comfortable then the Atari joystick.
There were D-Pad controllers for the Atari 7800 which can also be used on the C64. (The ones which have that optional screw-in thumbstick thing.) However they are not as good d-pads as those on the Nintendo...
Just to let everybody know, another option is the Nunchuck64. Its a C64 to Wiimote Accessory adapter that lets you connect NES Mini, SNES Mini, Classic Controllers and pretty much all the Wii Joysticks to the C64. You can find more info on it on the german Forum64.
Cool! I’m in the process to make a controller for C64/Amiga the old school way and I’m planning to have a seconday button to have it as “up” instead of the up direction because some games are better to have a jump button and instead of using the direction. I’m planning to build in a switch to change between jump or secondary fire button for the second button because some Amiga games support a secondary fire (like Mortal Kombar 2 or Bubba&Stix).
Ever since I learned about latch-up I'm a lot more wary of connecting off of ICs in this way. But I think that as long as VCC and GND are connected to the IC, I would think it's okay.
Fran Blanch taught an entire youtube subculture how to properly re-fasten vintage plastics. Her tip is literally the most important thing I've ever learned from TH-cam.
Do you have a link for the video? In the late 90s, I worked for a small mom and pop computer store which happened to be an HP Authorized reseller and repair center. I recall reading in the service manuals how to reinstall the screws, basically the same tip that Adrian and others have learned from Fran.
@@davecarroll She does it in pretty much any video she does that involves taking apart retro plastic. Here's an example: th-cam.com/video/rY6R3U5k5OE/w-d-xo.html The gist is, turn the screw anticlockwise/counterclockwise/widdershins if you're from 1850...slowly. The screw will eventually 'drop' into the thread. That's when it's safe to screw it in. It's VERY helpful.
Because I believe in overengineered solutions, I designed a whole replacement PCB for one of those modern USB NES pads which one can solder a DB9 cable to!
There was a thing called the NCE Joycard with a D-pad and two buttons that could be plugged straight into a C64 with a 9-pin D-connector. I had one several years ago. It was terrible.
With the two turbo columns, is that to give you opposite phases on a 50% duty cycle? I can see setting one channel to turbo Left and the other channel to turbo Right and doing really well at those decathlon games that made you waggle the joystick left and right to run.
Hah yeah I didn't even think about that. I'm not sure it works for directions but can you imagine if it did. Probably something that can be added so the controller source code.
It would be useful to have a switch so that only one of up or 2nd button is actually active at any one time. If you have more buttons it can also be useful to do the same with down as well. For instance Chuckie Egg plays way better with up/down on their own buttons. I have a 6- button USB fight stick with the buttons wired to a DB9 for use on 8-bit systems, with up/down switchable to buttons.
Can you please make a video of yourself playing the games IK+, Barbarian/Death Sword and Master of the Lamps on the C64, using a gamepad? I'd love to see how you handle the diagonal movements required by these games, using a D-pad.
I tried modding a modern controller sold (very very cheaply by a clearance store near me for 99p!!!) for the NES Mini in the same manner to use with my Amiga, never got round to testing it though, kind of in fear of breaking something... :P
Some very late "dogbone" official NES/FC controllers have a surface mount shift register/encoder chips. They are all short cable Japanese dogbone controllers.
Hi Adrian and all commodore lovers! I have built a 555 autofire for my joystick but when I connect my joystick the keyboard acts funny. I think this could be normal because the fire buttons shares some pins with the keyboard but I wanted to ask if this is safe or if I am risking my c64's health. Thanks!
For those without a spare NES controller, another option is to simply use a Sega Master System controller. Although may be a little difficult for our North American friends where the SMS didn’t sell well (you guys missed out BTW 😁)
That was pretty neat, I'd have probably just mapped directly to pins but then I wouldn't have all those neat legacy options. A lot of thought and care put into that adapter. Looks like your carbon contacts are a little shiny in your NES controllers, that can hurt contact success but IPA and swab will fix it right up, duller is better. Usually Cheetos dust in there anyway. ^_^ Worth noting all 9-pin ports that support two paddles can convert said pins to two digital buttons, the joystick just leaves them unconnected by default unfortunately. Takes a few components but they could have done A, B, and Start/Pause from the beginning all the way back on the 2600.
This is something I cannot imagine ever doing; the C64 has so great joysticks that D-Pads just seem a primitive cheap way to control a game. I worship my Suzo The Arcade joysticks.
Nice project, and I do not intend to take away from this in any way, but if you're not too particular about which D-pad you use, the controllers for the Sega Master System, the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive and all Atari consoles and computers are compatible with the Commodore 64 right out of the box (edit: see elsewhere about potential issues using a Genesis controller; I haven't had direct experience with that myself, but of course I don't recommend doing anything that might fry something valuable). The standard controllers for the Sega Master System and Genesis/MegaDrive use D-pads, and Atari released a D-pad controller for the Atari 7800 in Europe. (Additional edit: More info on Genesis controller issues here: www.floodgap.com/retrobits/ckb/display.cgi?26 This is specific to the Commodore 64; the Genesis controller can still be used safely on other Atari-compatible systems, and in fact homebrewers have figured how to make Atari 2600 games recognize one of the other buttons on a Genesis controller, to create games with 2-button support.)
Having fried a C64's joystick ports with a Genesis controller myself 20+ years ago, I can vouch for this being a genuine problem. Don't plug your Genesis gamepads into your C64! Atari itself made an NES-style gamepad for the European 7800 consoles. I wonder if it would work with the C64. It works fine with the 2600, after all.
I have a nes one that works on the NES or Us then a SNES USB one I emulate right now I am working on getting a C64 but for now I emulate it and the SNES controller is my favorite it's so comfortable and the NES is my second favorite but with a SNES you can emulate most systems including DS so it's a good one to have for all the old Nintendo systems and sega ones plus atari and c64
Any chance you can explain to 8bit it that what he did with taking a Dremel to an ibm workstation instead of actually getting the right bits, angle grindering the psu, using a paperclip as a fuse, not bothering to make sure there was a slo burn fuse, not asking for advice.... Is all bad for such a rare machine?
He didn't use it as a fuse, he used it as a switch. Which was a bit stupid in hindsight, because he had no real clue how the actual switch worked nor which voltages he was actually dealing with.
Yeah, I it feels like David was in a rush and wasn’t thinking straight. That dremmel was painful and the shot... Especially if it was some rare prototype machine he just killed, it pains me double!
David appeared to use a fast acting fuse to replace a Slo-Blo (literally a slow blow), which is safer than going the other way. He didn't say in the video that he'd done that, so I'm not sure if he couldn't find a Slo-Blo or what. The video and audio get recorded separately, so hard to tell. Yes, he screwed up with the paper clip, but more for rushing into jumpering the wrong things than for trying to use a wire heavy enough to support the current. As for the rarity of it, from what little I could dig up on it, the units appear to be part of a Point Of Sale (POS) system, like used at a store checkout line, so maybe not so rare. Did I like seeing him do those things? Of course not. But now there's practically a lynch mob in the comments for David's video; he even admits in the video that he screwed up, and sounds tired and frustrated. The guy makes tons of videos and does amazing things, has one video where he messes up and suddenly tons of people are going after him. 《SIGH. Sorry, just venting my frustrations.》
If your hands hurt holding an Atari classic CX40 joystick, you're doing it wrong. It's a very easy controller to hold but with a light touch. It was easy to rewire an NES controller so I could use it on my 2600 with the fire button on the left and the cross key on the right. (I also removed the chip...) Don't throw out the rest of the CX40. Sell it on eBay as a Joystick Repair Kit. The Atari joystick is a very good tight and responsive joystick! I've played lots of great games with them. The Gemini Gemstick comes close to it. Joysticks with too much loose throw are unacceptable for the kind of game play the 2600 presents to players.
Instead of hacking up an old Atari joystick to get the needed female DB9 cable end for the NES controller mod, you can use a Sega Genesis Controller Extension Cable instead. I used them to fix a couple Commodore 1311 joysticks. The extension cables have all 9 wires so you have to tone out with a multimeter which color wire connects to what pin, but they are cheap and plentiful and work just fine once they are wired up. www.amazon.com/Controller-Extension-Compatible-Sega-Genesis-Dreamcast/dp/B07CPJLJDZ
Apparently this can cause damage to the 6526 if your pushing buttons and keys at the same time. Can't remember the details but you can modify the genesis controller if you're doing it
I think the original mapped buttons on "A" spelled out ADB for Adrian's Digital Basement.
Haha yup, lower case "adb"
Damn! You beat me to the comment. I thought the same thing.
ohhhh that's what adb means. lol I did catch "adb" though.
Good catch
I can't believe he missed it. Everyone else shouting "adb!" :)
I missed it and after people pointed it out, I can not believe how I missed it. Our brains works in mysterious ways.
I seen that too lol
i love that the NES port is facing upwards - much more aesthetic
When you load A the dots makes the letters a d b. Adrian's digital basement 😉
just wanted to write the same thing :)
C64 pixel art in the controller mapping.
You did a great jobbexplaining how to wire a joystick! When I was a little kid my brother got a cable and had a family member make a wooden box and he assembled a home made joystick. This idea is with me for more than 25 years :) Once I built one for myself out of a case of a cassette, punched holes with a pin heated up, it was so crude but I was happy I could copy my older brother’s idea :) Also, I love the part where you highlighted how to screw back in old screws with the click. I did repair on 4 SNESs today and I thought about it a lot during assembly.
The trick of turning screws in plastic housings backwards before turning them in the right direction, I'm using too! Very helpful!
Thanks for this video Adrian. I completed this mod on an original NES controller and am loving using this on my C64 and Atari 2600. Your explanation was perfect! (... and the jumper wire for the UP & A button is awesome!)
I'm glad you mentioned cutting/not connecting the 5V, because i was getting concerned when you didn't know if the common was ground.
Talk about perfect timing - I'm right in the middle of modding an NES controller for this exact purpose! I've performed earlier for use on an Atari 7800 - highly recommended.
The pin-out of all DE9 plugs is standardized, looking at male front side (and female back) it's numbered form left to right, and of course the opposite direction for female front (and male backside). This is actually standard for all D-Sub connectors...
36:35 as much as I'm surprised when someone doesn't already know about the screwdriver trick (for letting the screw "find" an existing thread"), it's always delightful to see them find out about it and start using it.
I just found out about it from this video.
Gave me one of those "why didn't I think about that?" moments...
@@silkwesir1444 another similar trick, though not as important in this circumstance, is to not tighten any of the screws down until you have all of them started. In some cases you need to be able to jiggle things around in order to get the screws (or more usually bolts) started which is made difficult or impossible if you have already fully tightened some of them.
That's equally good advice! As a cherry on top, you can then tighten them in a star pattern (tighten one, skip one or two, repeat until every screw's tightened) makes sure it's as secure as possible without overstressing any of the screws or insets.
@@borismatesin That makes sense. It's how you tighten lugnuts on a car tire.
I've been doing this for years. I first did back in the 80s after using a self-tapping screw to thread into white metal on a model railroad boxcar kit. I reasoned that if it cut the threads the first time, I didn't want to risk cutting new ones, so I started turning it backwards to find the threads.
Thanks Adrian, this Video helped me so much to modify my old MS Sidewinder Gamepad. Now I can use it on my Amiga.
This would be a good way to implement support for the SNES mouse.
🙃agreed
15:20 I don't get it at the first time, but than I saw the three letter "adb". Than I got it - "adb" -> "Adrian's Digital Basement". This was fun. LOL
EXCELLENT VIDEO! Love it when videos show people how to figure things out versus how to just do them. MEXICAN TANG UPDATE: Still loving it, but we've run out. Found out that the local Wal-Mart carries KLASS and ZUKO brand Mexican beverages which, albeit not sugar-free, taste just as good as the Mexican Tang! Thankfully, we're not diabetic here, yet. (Father-in-law was diabetic, so totally understand the diabetic challenges!)
10:42 you could use a pair of 'gender changers' to extend the connectors slightly. I put it in inverted commas because a gender changer is supposed to change the connector from male to female or vice versa, but you can get ones that are just simple passthroughs that don't change the gender at all. Nevertheless, they are still sold as 'gender changers' and that's what you need to search for. (They are sometimes sold as 'port savers' too). I have used them before when I have needed to pass a cable through a panel etc.
DE9 ones are commonly available (sold for serial ports) and they are usually very cheap, just a buck or two a piece.
They will extend the connectors out by about half an inch, which should give you the clearance you need.
your intro music makes me remember my childhood moment..
There's nothing quite like using a computer that is about 40 times faster than the computer that it is plugged into purely for converting it's input.
Also, lots of people talking about the letters "adb" in the config program but did anyone notice the "SNES64" on the title screen to Kung-Fu Master?
Cool controller adapter. I made and wired a running pad for the c64 joystick port back in the day. Used it to play the game Epyx summer olimpics. Worked better that wiggling the joystick back and forth. Plus got exercise. Thx
I like the competition pro and still have it. As a lot of games use the space bar as a secondary button I disconnected the second fire button and soldered two wires to it. These two lines I connected to Joystick port 1 fire which for most games acts as space bar. A few have code to detect if it's fire port 1 or space bar, with these it did not work.
that's why I am a fan of the MSX/MSX2 line of computers from the 80s. They had a d-pad controller.
Just added a 8bit joystick interface to my Z80 computer! This is great!
I did a similar thing with numeric keypad. Made it a lot easier to enter in all those peek and poke numbers.
Holy crap is this eerie. I built something near identical to this "Padswitcher64" here in the USA. I used a NES controller socket and an Atmel AtMega328, not 88. But mine is also dual port. I also wrote 64 "config" software, but my software is just a display terminal with the mega sending PETSCII and you interact with the mega directly for configuration. My design uses the concept of events and macros. Each (NES) button has a press event AND a release event. Then you define output (64-side) macros. The macros can have both a "setup" and "loop" section, to allow custom autofire or complex operations. It was over-engineered like I always do. It was/is prototype so I never made it compact, but I did make a dual plug shell out of delrin using a CNC. On top of it all, the mentioned arrival date and the release date of this video are both meaningful dates to me. Once again, eerie.
It's because of the complexity of understanding and defining "release macros" I felt my project wasn't really well suited to the public.
super nintendo actually uses 2 of the same shift registers one of them is wired "upside down" and that makes them work with nes and snes seemlesly, nes simply can't see extra inputs
@@yourdrinking 2 4021 in smd packages facing each other upside down on pcb, because nintendo decided to wire them in paralell for data, clock, power and ground and only latch is piggybacked from master to slave ic
if nintendo really wanted to amaze people with buttons they could easyly use 4 extra inputs on 2nd ic for something, but they just left them terminated and 4 used inputs kind of fell into nes blind zone and snes pad should just work fine on nes, with wierd button layout but still seeing just the first ic
if i remember corectly it is due the delayed latch on nes , kind of waiting for the inputs to being setit goes latch 8 clocks for data and extra clocks towait for a next latch and nes just ignores data that overflow the buffer where snes have just longer register on the input
Going by memory (I confirmed this with a few D-Subs) the convention for these D-Sub connectors is that the connector with the *pins* will have the numbering increment from left to right. The connector with *sockets* will be right to left (this would be the joystick cable).
Of course this is with respect the the front of the connector, the rear will be opposite.. useful to remember if using the "solder pot" variant of the connectors (when making cables).
Once the orientation is known, it makes reading these connector pinout diagrams a lot easier.
Cheers Adrian :D
but will you remember this the next time? better to check it to be sure.
The NES controller seems to have pullups resistors made by carbon connections on the PCB. When you don't connect the 5V to the PCB the high levels can be affected. Also not powering the shift register can be cause level issues. Keep this in mind if you see ghost button presses.
For the NES pinout, if you have a multimeter with a continuity function, it's probably easier to hook one lead up to the common wire and tone out the legs while pressing each button. Then you don't have to worry about flipping the pinout in your head. Either that or just redraw your pinout reversed once you have it figured out.
For the C64 side, I'd assume it uses the standard DB9 numbering and you can search for DB9 pinout to get the male and female pinout to compare with the chart you showed. I agree it would have been very handy for the page you showed to denote which it was.
This. Just clip one lead the common chip leg and the other to another chip leg to test.
@Adrian's Digital Basement : Nice job on the NES controller! Back in the day I converted one that had a cracked PCB to work on my Tandy CoCo 3. :D
Great video Adrian. Thank you very much!
What about a pass-through adapter for a Sega Genesis controller, with button remapping? Doesn't seem like it would be hard.
You can do it for the Master System, the genesis pad is more complicated: it has a chip that switches the signal for some of the buttons.
Looks to me that you can use this controller mod for just about any retro computer.. nicely done!
I had a friend who had a Sega Master System and used one of the d-pads on that with my C=64. Worked perfect since they both used the same adapter plug.
@Lassi Kinnunen I believe the start button is the dangerous one on the Megadrive. If you hit start you send +5v someplace bad.
Great video instructions on how to make the NES into a C64 gamepad! I want to ask about the chip in the NES board. The wires are soldered to the leg but the 5V line is not used. Am i correct to say the chip is not active and mere serve as a place holder and an easy reference point to solder the wires to? I am planning to make a C64 gamepad from a Megadrive gamepad. Other videos i have watched shown that all the guts (Chips, resistors, whatever) has all been removed and the wires are soldered directly to the touch point in the trace of the board. I believe the Megadrive is same line the NES...a 5V high by default which will fry the CIA in the C64 if not disabled.
I wonder if the 8Bitdo SNES retro receiver would work with this for some wireless gameplay
Good video, Adrian.
Only (minor) complaint: at 37:45 while demonstrating the extra "up" button during the NES conversion portion, you kept holding the controller up in front of the screen, blocking the view of you making the character "fly". I know it's often hard to tell what the camera's view is, so no big deal, only pointing it out to help you be aware for next time.
38:05 I thought the same; back in the day when H.E.R.O. was released (both for Atari & C64) the developers didnt intend to use a button for flying so the difficulty gets totally lowered by using a hacked mode controller nowadays; just my 2 cents at using these new modes on vintage original games
people were making controller modifications back in the day already. a lot of C64 users were tinkerers.
@@silkwesir1444 But not to the extent that current tech allows; that programmable microcontroller easily configured by software allows modes that were unthinkable 40 years back; one thing is taking an Atari joystick and re-wiring it but this supercharged 2 port dozen-mode interface can really be seen as cheating in many games
Hi Adrian thanks for the video keep up the good work
The mapping in 1st position said adb
Adrian's digital basement. 😊
How to use D-Pad controller on the C64? My mind while I click on the video: "as long as you don't use a paperclip for it..."
Paperclips are for rare retro devices.
@@Okurka. Why do I have the feeling, this thing will become a meme?
Or a machine gun!
@@stefankrause5138 He'll be known as The Paperclip Guy.
8-bit guy uses paperclips... checkout his latest video!
For the Amiga I use a competition pro CD32 gamepad as it works directly, there are even some standard Amiga games that can take advantage of the extra buttons. I don't know how well it would work on the C64 or other atari compatible machines.
I once took a Bally Arcade (Astrocade) joystick and rewired it to work with an Atari 1200XL. I do not know if you know what one of these joysticks looks like, but it is a gun handle with trigger with the joystick on top. The joystick worked great and was much more comfortable then the Atari joystick.
There were D-Pad controllers for the Atari 7800 which can also be used on the C64. (The ones which have that optional screw-in thumbstick thing.) However they are not as good d-pads as those on the Nintendo...
Just to let everybody know, another option is the Nunchuck64. Its a C64 to Wiimote Accessory adapter that lets you connect NES Mini, SNES Mini, Classic Controllers and pretty much all the Wii Joysticks to the C64. You can find more info on it on the german Forum64.
Cool! I’m in the process to make a controller for C64/Amiga the old school way and I’m planning to have a seconday button to have it as “up” instead of the up direction because some games are better to have a jump button and instead of using the direction. I’m planning to build in a switch to change between jump or secondary fire button for the second button because some Amiga games support a secondary fire (like Mortal Kombar 2 or Bubba&Stix).
Ever since I learned about latch-up I'm a lot more wary of connecting off of ICs in this way. But I think that as long as VCC and GND are connected to the IC, I would think it's okay.
Fran Blanch taught an entire youtube subculture how to properly re-fasten vintage plastics. Her tip is literally the most important thing I've ever learned from TH-cam.
Do you have a link for the video?
In the late 90s, I worked for a small mom and pop computer store which happened to be an HP Authorized reseller and repair center. I recall reading in the service manuals how to reinstall the screws, basically the same tip that Adrian and others have learned from Fran.
@@davecarroll She does it in pretty much any video she does that involves taking apart retro plastic. Here's an example: th-cam.com/video/rY6R3U5k5OE/w-d-xo.html
The gist is, turn the screw anticlockwise/counterclockwise/widdershins if you're from 1850...slowly. The screw will eventually 'drop' into the thread. That's when it's safe to screw it in. It's VERY helpful.
Is there a similar adapter to use a PlayStation 1 controller on the C64?
Because I believe in overengineered solutions, I designed a whole replacement PCB for one of those modern USB NES pads which one can solder a DB9 cable to!
There was a thing called the NCE Joycard with a D-pad and two buttons that could be plugged straight into a C64 with a 9-pin D-connector. I had one several years ago. It was terrible.
You can program an Mega328P with code of a the Mega88. the M328p has only more memory
With the two turbo columns, is that to give you opposite phases on a 50% duty cycle? I can see setting one channel to turbo Left and the other channel to turbo Right and doing really well at those decathlon games that made you waggle the joystick left and right to run.
Hah yeah I didn't even think about that. I'm not sure it works for directions but can you imagine if it did. Probably something that can be added so the controller source code.
That first mapping wasn't a mapping it was done like text that reads "adb" What does adb mean? no clue. Someone's initials maybe?
never mind it's adrian's digital basement. lol
Adrian, would you pretty please with a cherry on top make one for TI99/4a?
I would love to play my games using my sms gamepad. Love the vids.
It would be useful to have a switch so that only one of up or 2nd button is actually active at any one time. If you have more buttons it can also be useful to do the same with down as well. For instance Chuckie Egg plays way better with up/down on their own buttons. I have a 6- button USB fight stick with the buttons wired to a DB9 for use on 8-bit systems, with up/down switchable to buttons.
Can you please make a video of yourself playing the games IK+, Barbarian/Death Sword and Master of the Lamps on the C64, using a gamepad? I'd love to see how you handle the diagonal movements required by these games, using a D-pad.
Hi Adrian take a look at the latest 8bitguy video....I think you can help him out with a very rare IBM pc.
Maybe he can lend a paperclip.
Ryan Hatcher hahahaha
@@xredhead7135x That was really bad.
8-bit guy should redirect all his donated items to Adrian Black.
Oyg. I just went and found and watched that video. Horrific.
Kinda curious if it will work with 8bitdo controllers.
Very cool. Great idea. I have found c64 games are more accessible and playable with a sega or similar controller
I tried modding a modern controller sold (very very cheaply by a clearance store near me for 99p!!!) for the NES Mini in the same manner to use with my Amiga, never got round to testing it though, kind of in fear of breaking something... :P
How to add autofite option to Nintendo controller wiring?
You would need additional circuitry that would make/break the contact for you repeatedly. Like a 555timer chip, or similar clock circuit.
You could try Spy Hunter. That utilizes the fire buttons on both joysticks.
I have the adapters to be able to use PS2 controllers on the c64. Its pretty cool stuff! 😃
Thank you Adrian.
Would it not be possible to make a replacement PCB instead of destroying a nes one?
Does this moded nes controller work in any computer that has 9pin connection for joystick?
Last Ninja 2 was Fire left + down to pickup things 5:30
I wonder if you could map all the snes controler buttons on say a game like elite 🤔
Down+Fire button is grat eg. for Blue Max. The plane drops a bomb with that combination.
Some very late "dogbone" official NES/FC controllers have a surface mount shift register/encoder chips. They are all short cable Japanese dogbone controllers.
Hello Adrian, fellow UK viewer here.
Hi Adrian and all commodore lovers!
I have built a 555 autofire for my joystick but when I connect my joystick the keyboard acts funny.
I think this could be normal because the fire buttons shares some pins with the keyboard but I wanted to ask if this is safe or if I am risking my c64's health.
Thanks!
You can now use a Genesis/Megadrive controller on the C64 without causing any issues, as long as you have a special adaptor
Unit 3, nice Neon Genesis reference!
For those without a spare NES controller, another option is to simply use a Sega Master System controller. Although may be a little difficult for our North American friends where the SMS didn’t sell well (you guys missed out BTW 😁)
Hey Adrian, what do you think of the way David treated that rare IBM?
Pretty cool... this looks similar to the old 64JPX adapter.
That was pretty neat, I'd have probably just mapped directly to pins but then I wouldn't have all those neat legacy options. A lot of thought and care put into that adapter.
Looks like your carbon contacts are a little shiny in your NES controllers, that can hurt contact success but IPA and swab will fix it right up, duller is better. Usually Cheetos dust in there anyway. ^_^
Worth noting all 9-pin ports that support two paddles can convert said pins to two digital buttons, the joystick just leaves them unconnected by default unfortunately. Takes a few components but they could have done A, B, and Start/Pause from the beginning all the way back on the 2600.
This is something I cannot imagine ever doing; the C64 has so great joysticks that D-Pads just seem a primitive cheap way to control a game. I worship my Suzo The Arcade joysticks.
Nice project, and I do not intend to take away from this in any way, but if you're not too particular about which D-pad you use, the controllers for the Sega Master System, the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive and all Atari consoles and computers are compatible with the Commodore 64 right out of the box (edit: see elsewhere about potential issues using a Genesis controller; I haven't had direct experience with that myself, but of course I don't recommend doing anything that might fry something valuable). The standard controllers for the Sega Master System and Genesis/MegaDrive use D-pads, and Atari released a D-pad controller for the Atari 7800 in Europe.
(Additional edit: More info on Genesis controller issues here: www.floodgap.com/retrobits/ckb/display.cgi?26 This is specific to the Commodore 64; the Genesis controller can still be used safely on other Atari-compatible systems, and in fact homebrewers have figured how to make Atari 2600 games recognize one of the other buttons on a Genesis controller, to create games with 2-button support.)
Having fried a C64's joystick ports with a Genesis controller myself 20+ years ago, I can vouch for this being a genuine problem. Don't plug your Genesis gamepads into your C64!
Atari itself made an NES-style gamepad for the European 7800 consoles. I wonder if it would work with the C64. It works fine with the 2600, after all.
Is that a bare KeyTronic keyboard in the background?
I've been waiting for the development of the joy shtick controller since the 1980's.
Cool. Now we need one for a 2 player version
Wouldn't a couple of serial extension cables solve all the issues about the way the module interfaces with the C64?
Or have it in the style of a Y connector, with the 2 DB9 cables then connecting directly to the PCB with the atmel chip on it.
Simon Quigley yes!
I have a nes one that works on the NES or Us then a SNES USB one I emulate right now I am working on getting a C64 but for now I emulate it and the SNES controller is my favorite it's so comfortable and the NES is my second favorite but with a SNES you can emulate most systems including DS so it's a good one to have for all the old Nintendo systems and sega ones plus atari and c64
i like the shout outs to franlab!
Ui, what is that light brownish, early-mid 70s looking thing in the back of the first 30 seconds? :)
had the old tac-2 its an arcade stick that would wreck your hands thats for sure, built like a tank though
Any chance you can explain to 8bit it that what he did with taking a Dremel to an ibm workstation instead of actually getting the right bits, angle grindering the psu, using a paperclip as a fuse, not bothering to make sure there was a slo burn fuse, not asking for advice....
Is all bad for such a rare machine?
He didn't use it as a fuse, he used it as a switch. Which was a bit stupid in hindsight, because he had no real clue how the actual switch worked nor which voltages he was actually dealing with.
Yeah, I it feels like David was in a rush and wasn’t thinking straight. That dremmel was painful and the shot... Especially if it was some rare prototype machine he just killed, it pains me double!
You didnt read the comments on that video?🤣 He gets the point.
David appeared to use a fast acting fuse to replace a Slo-Blo (literally a slow blow), which is safer than going the other way. He didn't say in the video that he'd done that, so I'm not sure if he couldn't find a Slo-Blo or what. The video and audio get recorded separately, so hard to tell.
Yes, he screwed up with the paper clip, but more for rushing into jumpering the wrong things than for trying to use a wire heavy enough to support the current.
As for the rarity of it, from what little I could dig up on it, the units appear to be part of a Point Of Sale (POS) system, like used at a store checkout line, so maybe not so rare.
Did I like seeing him do those things? Of course not. But now there's practically a lynch mob in the comments for David's video; he even admits in the video that he screwed up, and sounds tired and frustrated. The guy makes tons of videos and does amazing things, has one video where he messes up and suddenly tons of people are going after him.
《SIGH. Sorry, just venting my frustrations.》
Well, maybe thats because of an attitude thingy I gues.
hi adrian.... from the UK :D
Down + fire sounds like a very Rick Dangerous combination
If your hands hurt holding an Atari classic CX40 joystick, you're doing it wrong. It's a very easy controller to hold but with a light touch. It was easy to rewire an NES controller so I could use it on my 2600 with the fire button on the left and the cross key on the right. (I also removed the chip...)
Don't throw out the rest of the CX40. Sell it on eBay as a Joystick Repair Kit. The Atari joystick is a very good tight and responsive joystick! I've played lots of great games with them. The Gemini Gemstick comes close to it. Joysticks with too much loose throw are unacceptable for the kind of game play the 2600 presents to players.
The sticks can also be used to repair the somewhat rare wireless controllers for the 2600.
Instead of hacking up an old Atari joystick to get the needed female DB9 cable end for the NES controller mod, you can use a Sega Genesis Controller Extension Cable instead. I used them to fix a couple Commodore 1311 joysticks. The extension cables have all 9 wires so you have to tone out with a multimeter which color wire connects to what pin, but they are cheap and plentiful and work just fine once they are wired up. www.amazon.com/Controller-Extension-Compatible-Sega-Genesis-Dreamcast/dp/B07CPJLJDZ
38:00 *blocks the screen with the controller so we can't see what he's trying to demonstrate* 😅
I just used a Sega master system controller, no mods needed!
I used to use a sega genesis controller in my c64 in the early 90s.
Apparently this can cause damage to the 6526 if your pushing buttons and keys at the same time. Can't remember the details but you can modify the genesis controller if you're doing it
Freaking awesome!!!
I just use a master system controller. They're analog and completely safe for the sid chip.
i have fond memories of the c64 but not of most of the controllers..