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Post by spannernick on Dec 19, 2021 11:59:54 GMT
***IMPORTANT***This updates the gamecontollerdb.txt file in the machine and changes other stuff as well so DO NOT use Firmware Mode in PCUAE to update your machine, update it using a new USB Stick if you have one or if you have Autoboot Mode enabled in PCUAE then you can rename the fake update on the PCUAE USB Stick(theC64-9_9_90.bin file) so your machine see update 1.6.1 when you put the update on the root of the PCUAE USB stick, then start up the machine without the PCUAE USB Stick in so it boots the firmware and then put the PCUAE USB Stick back in and then you should be able to update it ok then, ones its restarted back into PCUAE you can start Firmware Mode to see if its updated and go to the System Information page to see if its updated or turn machine off then unplug PCUAE USB Stick then restart it and once its booted up go back to the System Information page to see if its updated.
There is a update coming from RGL, a Xmas update for all THEC64 machines...  I wonder if they added the VIC 20 to THEC64 Mini...? Download... retrogames.biz/support/upgrade-thec64
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Post by c64stuff on Dec 21, 2021 0:56:21 GMT
One thing you gotta say for them is they've done a pretty good job of doing updates and also listening to the requests of people, such as adding a way to swap joysticks with a combination of buttons so you don't have to do it via file tags. Hopefully they'll add that Vic20 support to the mini. I'm guessing you were lucky if you got one or two updates from most mini console manufacturers.
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Post by c64stuff on Dec 21, 2021 15:53:02 GMT
I'm excited about mouse support, and I'm sure others who are fans of things like GEOS will be as well . No doubt they did this so people will buy the new mouse they're going to offer separately that comes in the A500 mini package. The gamepad being added in compatibility is for the same reason, as they're going to offer that controller that comes with the A500 package separately as well.
Few Questions:
Hopefully the gamepad compatibility means it also by virtue of that ends up making the mini and Maxi more compatible with various other controllers without need to tweak the config text file.
Other thing I'm wondering about is if this mouse compatibility will thusly mean any USB mouse is also compatible? I hope so, and I can't wait to play various C64 or Amiga games that used a mouse, such as Empire War Game Of The Century, Arkanoid, etc, etc.
My other question is does this mean many paddle only games might work with a mouse by some form of software option to make the game think you're using a paddle? I'm itching to play the game Lemans Commodore sold on cartridge (not talking about the other Lemans racing game somebody else made which stunk).
Final question: Does this mouse compatibly open up the possibility that paddles or other paddle-like input devices might actually work now? Like say a spinner, trackball, or USB paddles, or even original Atari paddles by using a Atari plug to USB adapter dongle such as the ICode?
There's so many great games for the Amiga, C64, and Atari 2600 that used a mouse or paddles, so I'm hoping all this is possible via Project Carousel now thanks to the firmware update of mouse compatibility.
Oh, one last question: Would or could this mouse compatibility possibly mean it may be possible to get a serial modem to work somehow as well, cuz in a sense a mouse is a serial variable input device?
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Post by volkytolky on Dec 22, 2021 8:45:52 GMT
Features introduced in version 1.6.1 [All models] Adds Commodore 1351 mouse support to the C64 [All models] Adds support for up to four joysticks [All models] Adds support for THEMOUSE [All models] Adds support for THEGAMEPAD [All models] Adds a new game Space Lords, a multi-player game that utilizes the new mouse and multi-joystick support Icon theC64-1_6_1.bin 15,742 KB SHA256 Checksum: dc0ed512ea9ba98901222cc086bdffdd1b4977ba63b127fa066462e6abdd166f Note: Upgrade files are hosted on Google Drive retrogames.biz/thec64/support/upgrade-thec64# |
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Post by c64stuff on Dec 24, 2021 9:16:30 GMT
So has anybody tried using a regular mouse with the firmware update yet? If so, does it work? I haven't updated my mini to try that yet.
If it does work, is it working for other emulators such as for the Amiga? I really want to relive the hours I spent playing the epic war strategy game Empire, War Game Of The Century. Hoping it works for C64 or Amiga games too that uses a paddle, such as Arkanoid on the C64.
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Post by spannernick on Dec 24, 2021 10:58:12 GMT
Have not yet but will when I have added the Carousel to PCUAE, not sure if I should just update 1.5.2 to 1.6.1 or added it as another carousel, updating 1.5.2 would be better cause 1.6.1 has the same stuff in it.
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Post by ronny on Dec 24, 2021 14:31:38 GMT
Ive tried my PC mouse with the game Space Lords and it doesnt work.
Ive also tried the Controller from the PlayStation Classic and Mega Drive Mini, they dont work too.
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Post by c64stuff on Dec 24, 2021 20:40:13 GMT
Ive tried my PC mouse with the game Space Lords and it doesnt work. Ive also tried the Controller from the PlayStation Classic and Mega Drive Mini, they dont work too. Did you plug in the mouse before booting? Cuz the other guy says it does have general mouse support. Or maybe they have a procedure to go through, such as plugging in the mouse at a certain time, or only having the mouse plugged in at power up and plugging in the joystick later? I doubt that though. Far as controllers go you can edit the config text file to get them to probably work. There's threads here on that. |
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Post by codingandthings on Dec 26, 2021 5:21:15 GMT
I managed to get a wired mouse (two different ones in-fact) working with no fuss. It didn’t like my wireless one though. Seems you can plug the mouse in at any time without hassle.
Space Lords doesn’t seem to work with it, no matter what I tried.
I was able to confirm the mouse was working by creating a small assembly program and running it. Was able to move a sprite around with the mouse nicely. As a coder, this is an exciting update. It will open up a new genre of gaming for the mighty beast!
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Post by c64stuff on Dec 26, 2021 11:05:45 GMT
If the firmware still won't allow paddle games to work with a paddle, spinner, or mouse, maybe somebody can write a small machine language routine to convert mouse movements to paddle. Then you could launch the game after that and hopefully it doesn't overwrite the machine language translator code depending on where it's lurking in memory. A variable input prompt upon the initial launch of the code would also be handy so you can set the speed of input for various games.
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Post by c64stuff on Dec 30, 2021 18:10:58 GMT
New video from WifiSheep demonstrating use of a regular USB mouse with the mini and maxi, Geos, etc... If somebody figures out a kernal or machine code hack to get paddles or a spinner to work for paddle games via this new mouse support then it's going to make a lot of great games playable like Arkanoid. Even a way to get paddle games to work with a mouse would be better than using a joystick. In fact some paddle games are better to play using a mouse when the option was available on some Amiga games, etc.
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Post by hgdc84 on Jan 3, 2022 16:03:48 GMT
I tested using a normal PC gaming mouse (SteelSeries) and got it working almost straight away with Space Lords. (For those struggling to make it work, try holding the mouse button down and moving the mouse at the same time. Also, try if plugging the mouse in before turning on TheC64 and waiting a while makes a difference.) So yes, any general PC USB mouse should work.
Attempting to configure it to make it work with Nostalgia version of De Ja Vu/Uninvited cart version. First couldn't make it work besides the mouse clicking working, but after configuring the CJM file correctly got it to work with just the the joystick or just the mouse perfectly.
What I am attempting to figure out next is how to configure it so you could play either using the joystick or the mouse with the same settings. I have almost made it: Everything else works, but when I try playing with joystick, it refuses to go straight or diagonally up in the game even when all other directions and fire button work and mouse works perfectly. Wonder what am I doing wrong here?
As for the firmware update itself, I have slightly mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I am very happy for having an update in general after all this time, and for that it now supports more than two joysticks on some games (the Competition Pro on my bookshelf got some usage after all!), and the mouse support is also a nice touch. Also, the additional game seems nice enough (haven't tried with friends yet though).
What I found less satisfying though was that they still haven't seemed to fix the joystick mapping problem with TheC64 key and joystick (can't seem to make it work with joystick at all), and also seems like I can't map keyboard keys to a third joystick for games that have three-player option with two joysticks and keyboard (such as Rampage and Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-Road). Would really enjoy it if three players could all use joysticks with these kinds of games. Plus the forementioned joystick-refusing-to-go-up problem, I think that also might be a mapping glitch or something in a similar manner (I DID have joystick up direction mentioned in the CJM file).
If they managed to fix these, then I would find TheC64 Maxi an almost perfect machine. The only things missing after that I could imagine (yet find not obligatory) would be printer and modem/wifi/broadband support.
A great, but not perfect, update IMHO.
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Post by c64stuff on Jan 3, 2022 23:46:11 GMT
Somebody needs to get a campaign together to lobby these people to do another update that allows wifi for BBS use, as well as USB printer and paddle (via a paddle, spinner, or trackball, etc) use. This would also open the door to USB dongles to both use Atari to USB dongles so you can use original Atari paddles, as well as existing USB dongles that allow you to use original Commododisk drives with a PC, and thusly use them on the mini and maxi.
As a sidenote, RetroRecioies did do a video this past year where he was able to use a USB 3.5" disk drive with it. He even mocked up the drive to look like a 1541. The drive he used is I believe he said the only one still being manufactured new and you can find it on Amazon.
It's a crying shame they haven't yet took the time to do the simple matter of turning that already existing ability on in Vice so the C64 community can roam free in utilizing their creation to it's full potential.
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Post by hgdc84 on Jan 4, 2022 19:36:42 GMT
A small update to my previous message: It turns out that there are special, 3-joystick versions of both Rampage and Super Off-Road, also some other 3- and 4-player games specifically modified for this purpose. So my problem was partially solved.
However, I bet there still are many C64 games that have 3 players using two for joysticks and one for keyboard. Would be nice if the third joystick could be configured to replicate the keyboard presses for these games (like is usually possible with joysticks in port 1 and 2). For now, I haven't managed to make it work.
We'll see how this turns out.
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Post by jj0 on Jan 4, 2022 20:54:55 GMT
A small update to my previous message: It turns out that there are special, 3-joystick versions of both Rampage and Super Off-Road, also some other 3- and 4-player games specifically modified for this purpose. So my problem was partially solved. However, I bet there still are many C64 games that have 3 players using two for joysticks and one for keyboard. Would be nice if the third joystick could be configured to replicate the keyboard presses for these games (like is usually possible with joysticks in port 1 and 2). For now, I haven't managed to make it work. We'll see how this turns out. posted the following on Facebook: |
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Post by hgdc84 on Jan 4, 2022 21:40:04 GMT
A small update to my previous message: It turns out that there are special, 3-joystick versions of both Rampage and Super Off-Road, also some other 3- and 4-player games specifically modified for this purpose. So my problem was partially solved. However, I bet there still are many C64 games that have 3 players using two for joysticks and one for keyboard. Would be nice if the third joystick could be configured to replicate the keyboard presses for these games (like is usually possible with joysticks in port 1 and 2). For now, I haven't managed to make it work. We'll see how this turns out. posted the following on Facebook: Okay, I guess I'll have to research this more. When I tried that earlier on with the forementioned Super Off-Road (not the 3-joystick version but the original), it didn't work for me. Not sure though if that was because it uses some special keys such as @ and ( that may not be recognized by joystick mapping file (my guess is it doesn't because I've had problems with it earlier on, for instance, with the TheC64 key). You happen to know him (or other people who have developed TheC64 hardware), or possibly even be one of them? I've tried to contact them through their website but haven't had much success, and I am not willing to create or use a Facebook account just for that. |
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Post by hgdc84 on Jan 7, 2022 20:35:41 GMT
I got both the mouse and joystick working on the De Ja Vu/Uninvited cart version. I defined both controls in port 2 with joystick marked with asterisk. The trick here was to NOT enable the Nostalgia trainer's mouse support but to use the original game's method (pressing and holding the arrow left key in the upper left corner of the keyboard while the game's intro sequence starts) they left in despite implementing their own mouse support. I wonder what makes the difference between the choices here, but I'm glad I got it working :-)
Now if I only could pull the same thing with the US version of Operation Wolf...
EDIT: Managed to do it also with Operation Wolf. The essential thing here seems to be defining the mouse and joystick the following way in the .cjm file if they are supposed to be used through the same port:
J:2M:
J:2*:JU,JD,JL,JR,JF,JF,SP,SP,JF,CU,CD,EN,JF,Y,N (the controls can be whatever is needed, but the parts forehand must be EXACTLY this way in order to work)
So put the mouse first, then the joystick, then add the asterisk for the joystick and not for the mouse.
One less problem for me (and hopefully to others too!)
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Post by rhester72 on Feb 12, 2022 20:47:02 GMT
Somebody needs to get a campaign together to lobby these people to do another update that allows wifi for BBS use, as well as USB printer and paddle (via a paddle, spinner, or trackball, etc) use. This would also open the door to USB dongles to both use Atari to USB dongles so you can use original Atari paddles, as well as existing USB dongles that allow you to use original Commododisk drives with a PC, and thusly use them on the mini and maxi. As a sidenote, RetroRecioies did do a video this past year where he was able to use a USB 3.5" disk drive with it. He even mocked up the drive to look like a 1541. The drive he used is I believe he said the only one still being manufactured new and you can find it on Amazon. It's a crying shame they haven't yet took the time to do the simple matter of turning that already existing ability on in Vice so the C64 community can roam free in utilizing their creation to it's full potential. What you describe needs a full host operating system in order to function...something none of the RGL devices actually have. This is completely ignoring the fact that, for RGL as a business, even if it WAS technically possible, it would be a support nightmare of the highest order. |
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I wonder if they added the VIC 20 to THEC64 Mini...?
