don't click here

Megadrive Gamepad for PC

Discussion in 'Engineering & Reverse Engineering' started by Qjimbo, Oct 14, 2004.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Oct 14, 2004 #1
    Qjimbo

    Qjimbo

    Your friendly neighbourhood lemming. Oldbie
    4,514
    33
    28
    Vancouver
    Well today I thought of a cool idea, what if I take one of my old Megadrive Controllers, and refit is with the components of a gamepad I got free with a game ages ago:
    http://jameshansen.com/controller/gamepad.png (bad webcam pic)
    After a few hours I managed to produce this:
    http://jameshansen.com/controller/File0001.jpg - Inside Internal Stuff (lots of selotape xD)
    http://jameshansen.com/controller/File0002.jpg - Neat Front

    The thing with the gamepad I had chosen that was most useful was the top "L" and "R" buttons, as inside the controller these had a little sensor for each one which could be moved and used anywhere else. Also the main buttons were like this
    ...x...
    x....x
    ...x...

    I used the highlighted ones for A & B buttons, and extended the "R" buttons lead for C and used the "L" button for start. It works like a dream ;)

    I was thinking of doing a tutorial but since I ended up blagging it I couldn't do a proper one. Basically it's damn easy to do if you have the patience.
     
  2. Oct 15, 2004 #2
    Hayate

    Hayate

    Tech Member
    2,379
    0
    0
    Torquay, England
    Heh, nice one.

    But whoever decided the Start button should be where it is should be shot. XD
     
  3. Oct 15, 2004 #3
    Rika Chou

    Rika Chou

    Tech Member
    5,276
    169
    43
    So should you.
     
  4. Oct 15, 2004 #4
    Syren

    Syren

    Member
    4,330
    0
    0
    Teesside, UK
    Reintergration
    I said it once and I'll say it again - Sweet :D

    Maybe I might try that. I've been meaning to get a game controller for ages anyway.
     
  5. Oct 15, 2004 #5
    Dude

    Dude

    Tech Member
    3,138
    0
    16
    Southbridge, MA
    Random VR/AR trash
    I agree. The centered start button (on most GENESIS gamepades :P) completely thrash the one above the abc buttons.
     
  6. Oct 15, 2004 #6
    Hayate

    Hayate

    Tech Member
    2,379
    0
    0
    Torquay, England
    Precisely. It's more comfortable if the start button is in the middle.
     
  7. Oct 15, 2004 #7
    Megane

    Megane

    PONY TIME Member
    472
    0
    0
    Leaping through time, putting things right that once went wrong, and hoping each time that the next leap will be the leap home.
    I always wanted to do that.
     
  8. Oct 15, 2004 #8
    Lostgame

    Lostgame

    producer/turnablist. homebrew dev. cosplayer. Oldbie
    4,134
    58
    28
    Toronto, ON
    The O.I.C.
    Sega always will own the controller stuff. From Genesis to Dreamcast, I never disliked the controllers. (saturn's was a tad small) (and XBOX's controller is a direct ripoff of DC's.)
     
  9. Oct 15, 2004 #9
    G3K

    G3K

    Internet needs more petrol Member
    184
    0
    0
    Airdrie, Scotland
    Alphabet successfully learned, now working on numbers 1-10
    Nice sellotape job. *blam*

    In all seriousness though, well done; I could never persuade myself to dissect one of my old Megadrive pads :lol:
     
  10. Oct 15, 2004 #10
    Qjimbo

    Qjimbo

    Your friendly neighbourhood lemming. Oldbie
    4,514
    33
    28
    Vancouver
    I'm happy with the start button where it is, I can easily reach it with my thumb. And besides, this is the controller I played Sonic with years ago, so the ergonomics are of little concern. I made this purely for nostalgia reasons :D
    EDIT:
    Glad you liked it :D Yeah I was worried about dissecting the pads, I thought I might end up with 2 that were broken, but luck provailed ^^
     
  11. Oct 15, 2004 #11
    Muffin man

    Muffin man

    NO YOU. Member
    561
    0
    0
    The same place I was last time you read this
    That seems pretty cool. I wonder if you would be able to do that with any other systems.
     
  12. Oct 16, 2004 #12
    LOst

    LOst

    Tech Member
    4,891
    8
    18
    The last gamepads fixed that issue, and they also got a little bigger like the old ones, so you get a good grip.
     
  13. Nov 2, 2004 #13
    XFox Prower

    XFox Prower

    Member
    1,196
    0
    0
    x86 Assembly, Tails Search Assistant
    I've become used to the layout of the Docs and SG Propad 2 controllers for the Genesis. On both, the start button was to the left of the ABC buttons (in the center of he controller). Instead of having a start button above the B button, the Docs pads have one above A, B, and C which act as turbo buttons (all nice red bar-looking buttons; simply hold them down). The SG Propad 2 controllers had X, Y, and Z buttons instead of turbo, but you can assign what buttons you want to have turbo. They also had L and R buttons (The only game I've seen use them was Doom for the 32X). No other console's official gamepads had the start button in any other area other than the center as far as I know (except when centered to the right of a select button). The Z button on Gamecube controllers does seem similar though.
     
  14. Nov 19, 2004 #14
    Aquaslash

    Aquaslash

    <The Has-been Legend> Moderator
    2,819
    11
    18
    <Traveler>
    That is awesome! You could make more and sell them on ebay for a killing!
     
  15. Dec 27, 2004 #15
    NemUK

    NemUK

    Probably lurkin'. Member
    104
    0
    16
    East Yorkshire, United Kingdom
    Nothing yet!
    nice one. I feel like doing that myself! can you send instructions? (Pin - out diagrams?)

    Might be good for emulation purposes!
     
  16. Dec 28, 2004 #16
    Vangar

    Vangar

    Member
    3,654
    62
    28
    You could have done what I was talking about in this post instead.

    Make a SMD Driver?

    But hey, whatever you choose to play SMD On your computer! :)
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.