Post by dshadoff on Oct 5, 2022 16:42:22 GMT
I just wanted to drop a note that I've made a converter to provide XE1-AP analog controller support to the PC Engine (and beyond), based on a Playstation 4 USB controller.
This started from a reverse-engineering of the protocol (a summary can be found here: github.com/dshadoff/PCE_Controller_Info ), after which I added support into the PC Engine core for MiSTer (although not in the official release yet, the code has been merged and test builds are out there).
The PC Engine only supports "analog" input from this joystick on 4 games:
- AfterBurner II
- Forgotten Worlds
- Operation Wolf
- Outrun
The controller was created by Micomsoft, and was originally built to be used with Japanese PCs such as: MSX, X68000, FM Towns, PC-98, etc., and the XHE-3 adapter was created for use with the PC Engine. A special mode switch also existed on the controller to support Megadrive... which is nearly the same as J-PC support, except 3 wires are switched around.
Additionally, there are other controllers which use the same communicatinos protocol - the Micomsoft XE-1AJ, and the Sharp CyberStick.
I'm using the analog sticks from the Sony PS4 controller (or Hori above) in the same layout as the XE-1AP however.
Currently, only Sony PS4 and the Hori controller above are supported, but I expect more controllers to be supported soon, since there are many compatible controls and only the USB id needs to be listed in many cases (example code from TinyUSB has been used).
I have also built a "Japanese PC" version of the controller for the systems listed above, although it's hard to find any information about games which support this.
I did find this, however, for the X68000: gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:cyber_stick
I have tested this by plugging it into the XHE-3 converter for the PC Engine, and playing a round of Operation Wolf, and it works great.
...I should have the Megadrive board ready soon too...
Plans can be found here in the 'XE1AP' section:
github.com/dshadoff/PC_Engine_RP2040_Projects
This started from a reverse-engineering of the protocol (a summary can be found here: github.com/dshadoff/PCE_Controller_Info ), after which I added support into the PC Engine core for MiSTer (although not in the official release yet, the code has been merged and test builds are out there).
The PC Engine only supports "analog" input from this joystick on 4 games:
- AfterBurner II
- Forgotten Worlds
- Operation Wolf
- Outrun
The controller was created by Micomsoft, and was originally built to be used with Japanese PCs such as: MSX, X68000, FM Towns, PC-98, etc., and the XHE-3 adapter was created for use with the PC Engine. A special mode switch also existed on the controller to support Megadrive... which is nearly the same as J-PC support, except 3 wires are switched around.
Additionally, there are other controllers which use the same communicatinos protocol - the Micomsoft XE-1AJ, and the Sharp CyberStick.
I'm using the analog sticks from the Sony PS4 controller (or Hori above) in the same layout as the XE-1AP however.
Currently, only Sony PS4 and the Hori controller above are supported, but I expect more controllers to be supported soon, since there are many compatible controls and only the USB id needs to be listed in many cases (example code from TinyUSB has been used).
I have also built a "Japanese PC" version of the controller for the systems listed above, although it's hard to find any information about games which support this.
I did find this, however, for the X68000: gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:cyber_stick
I have tested this by plugging it into the XHE-3 converter for the PC Engine, and playing a round of Operation Wolf, and it works great.
...I should have the Megadrive board ready soon too...
Plans can be found here in the 'XE1AP' section:
github.com/dshadoff/PC_Engine_RP2040_Projects