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/vr/ - Retro Games


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File: 75 KB, 564x753, genesis controller to 7800 adapter.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4235563 No.4235563 [Reply] [Original]

What I was working on today:

The Atari 7800 ProSystem has the worst controllers ever devised by a man. They just SUCK. The original Atari 2600 controllers are worlds better. But what's best? Sega Genesis controllers.

A few people may not know this, but Sega Genesis controllers work perfectly with an Atari 2600 and an Atari 7800. Use the B button as your fire button. Those are *so* much better.

The only problem with this method on a 7800 is, the 7800 controllers had two buttons and about half of the games for that system require the use of button 2. Obviously the Sega Genesis controller has 3 buttons, so this should be no problem, right? On the two button games, yes, there is a problem. There are some differences between the way the Sega and 7800 treat that second button, so you have to build a circuit for it to work correctly. Well, here is the solution I made this plug this wire into the 7800, then the Genesis controller into the other side of the wire. The 7404 inverter chip takes care of all of the rest for you, I got the plans online.

Now when playing a 7800 game, Buttons B and C on the controller are working. I can now play Choplifter, Pole Position II, and Commando the way they're supposed to be played. (Choplifter is nearly impossible without button 2).

>> No.4235602

Awesome work! Love stuff like this. I wonder if its possible to make the 'A' button read as B+C simultaneously.

>> No.4235875

>>4235602
Thanks man, I appreciate it. Took me about 45 minutes to do the first cable because I had to probe each wire to figure out what color wire corresponded to which pin. Now that I know what I'm doing, I can probably make one of these in about 20 minutes and I bought enough supplies to make 10 of them.

Wire: 3 foot 9-pin female to male D-sub from Monoprice item 4880

Chip: 7404 IC from Mouser

Project box: Hammond 1551NBK from Mouser

Plans: www94.pair.com/jsoper/7800_gen_adap.html

>> No.4236317

I bought a Game Gear of of craigslist. Wasn't working, just powered on. I recapped it and tried it again. This was my result. Any idea what I can do? Every game does something similar.

>> No.4236323
File: 2.08 MB, 3848x2992, _20170903_204701.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4236323

>>4236317
Forgot pic...

>> No.4236868

>>4235563
Would have gone with a design that works with 2600 games but I'm just a crazy old coot who doesn't have a hex inverter fetish. If you're ok with just inverting I have a SMD dual inverter part I use for GB bivert that's so small it could fit in the space between the two cut ends and you could just stick the thing together with heat shrink.

>> No.4236895

>>4236868
The not working with 2600 games didn't bother me. Just bypass the cable.

Which inverter are you referring to? It's a SMD 7404 or something?

>> No.4236908

>>4236323
Connection to screen needs to be reheated. Be very careful

>> No.4237281

>>4236895
A SMD hex inverter will still be a hex inverter. You only need 2 circuits. I use a few parts but usually a 74LVC2G04 as it's the smallest I can find. You might need something a bit beefier and something you can, you know, solder to.

>> No.4237447
File: 2.17 MB, 4212x2810, _20170904_104040.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4237447

>>4236908
Are you sure? Because I can put slight pressure on the ribbon and it doesn't change the graphics except for making a section of the screen blank out. Also, after fiddling with the cartridge a bit, it does change the graphics...

>> No.4237452
File: 2.49 MB, 4045x2918, _20170904_104109.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4237452

>>4237447
Here's another. Something else I koticed was certain sprites seemed unaffected, such as the rings and numbers when appearing I certain locations

>> No.4237625
File: 2.30 MB, 1024x576, untitled.webm [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4237625

Here's a clip of me playing my AV modded Famicom (video captured from a Dazzle so the quality is kind of shit). This video highlights some of the problems I've seen, such as the rainbowing on the ladder at the start and some geometry issues (more towards the edge of the screen). That said, I'm very pleased with the results, considering I hadn't touched a soldering iron before last Tuesday. There's some dot crawl which is to be expected, but the colors are very vibrant on my CRT and there are really no visible jailbars.

>> No.4237673

>>4237625
Famicom didn't have AV outputs? Wow, that sucks.

>> No.4237796

>>4237673
Yeah, but they did make an AV Famicom later on; it's pretty much the same thing as a top loader but has the Nintendo multi-out port on the back (this means you can use the same AV cables for FC, SFC, N64, and GCN!). Ironically, the American top loader removed the AV out that the original NES had and only output RF.

Anyways, the Famicom AV mod is super easy and I had fun doing it, not to mention that it looks really nice for composite (certainly higher fidelity than the Genesis). I'd recommend it to anyone looking to purchase a Famicom.

>> No.4237835

>>4237796
Cool. I've been doing a bunch of Atari 2600 and 7800 AV mods lately. They get pretty decent cash on eBay, too.

>> No.4237838
File: 398 KB, 1520x2048, atari 2600 av mod.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4237838

>>4237796
This is one of the ones I did just this weekend.

>> No.4237949

>>4237838
Nice! I just ordered an s-video mod kit for my Genesis; it seems even easier than the Famicom mod, and is definitely needed since Genesis composite video is so blurry (this is supposed to hide dithering, but I prefer the sharper s-video look).

>> No.4237956

>>4237949
For my Genesis, I got the HD Retrovision cable. DUUUUUUUDE. It fucking rocks. And just plug it in and go. Only caveat is you have to have a TV that works with the cable. It has to accept 240p inputs. Most Samsungs do, most Vizio's don't.

Good luck on that S-Video mod! Keep us posted!