Digital Joystick Related
The Amstrad Joy port is some kind of limited keyboard.
It can also support LightGuns or Lightpens, and mousescan be achieved using it too.
getting more buttons
As Amstrad CPC does sport only one Joystick connector, but it is theorically possible to customise some kind of 6 buttons Joystick quite easily, if only softwares supported this.
- Simplest way : using the 4 directions of the second Joystick (on a plus or using a Y-double connector/cable on a CPC) as additionnal fire, for use in 1 player games.
- Meaner way : re-cable a modern joystick/paddle/game controller sporting a shitton of buttons...a Playstation gamepad may be re-wired a such to allows a total of easily 10or12 buttons
Explanation : 4 directions per joysticks (8), and 1-2 buttons per joysticks (+2 or +4)...
Perhaps even more as the Fire3 is undocumented yet seems used in AMX mouse... but did it used such integrated joystick doubler...?
Such a custom device would need 2 controllers connectors to be used on an Amstrad plus, but may be implemented directly for a CPC (old) usage.
Finding proper joysticks
It is not that easy, especially for the PLUS range.
Until you properly rewire a modern one.
Not that Amstrad was uncompatible with most Atari Standard joysticks.
Most traditionnal controllers (with 1 button) working on Amiga 500 or Atari ST will work just fine on a good old CPC.
But few games made use of the possibility to have a second button, yet some controllers did feature this alongside Autofire.
The "not that easy" part comes from the fact one of the simpler way is to use SEGA joysticks and paddles.
Sega ranges of consoles (Master system and Genesis/megadrive) were the most common Atari Standard 2+ buttons user Hardwares.
In a way the "9-pin Atari standard" had become the "IBM PC 9-pin serial" (mouses) or the "Sega Joystick standard"
The commonest available "retro-vintage" 2+ buttons joysticks remains the sega ones.
They may need some kind of adaptator then
(to be done here or in a DIY page).
Sega Controllers
Source : http://pinouts.ru/Game/
- Sega Genesis (MegaDrive too?)
It' used a slightly different approach in joystick connection than Atari. The Sega joystick pinout seems to be the "standard" 2-button joystick configuration where pins 6 and 9 are used for buttons which ground the pin when pressed. The only strange thing is that the joystick seems to also want +5V at pin 5. Sega has added a 6-button model in addition to its original 3-button configuration. The 6-button joysticks use essentially the same interface, but add more buttons by using extra circuitry that multiplexes the new button signals with the existing joystick signals, using the control bit in connector pin 7. The chip inside the controller is a 74HC157. This is a high-speed CMOS quad 2-line to 1-line multiplexer. The console can, with help of the Select pin, choose from two functions on each input.
| Pin No. | Name (Select=GND) | Name (Select=+5V) |
| 1 | Up | Up |
| 2 | Down | Down |
| 3 | Gnd / Left | |
| 4 | Gnd / Right | |
| 5 | +5VDC | +5VDC |
| 6 | Button A | Button B |
| 7 | Select | Select |
| 8 | Ground | Ground |
| 9 | Start | Button C |
The genesis Paddle can be used almost unchanged on an Amstrad.
Directions work well.
Fire buttons A becomes Fire2 on Amstrad, and Select button becomes Fire 1 on Amstrad.
Not always practical, yet usable.
Also the 16bit SEGA paddle is a lot better than the poor Amstrad Pad, so a nice choice for every gamers, often quite easy to find.
You may also get the Amstrad Megadrive paddle thx to the Amstrad PC with the megadrive inside, a must have to all of us...
- SEGA Master System
The SMS gamepads are almost exactly the same as normal Atari standard.
| Pin No. | Signal Name | Description |
| 1 | Up | |
| 2 | Down | |
| 3 | Left | |
| 4 | Right | |
| 5 | Power | |
| 6 | Button 1 | |
| 7 | N/C | |
| 8 | GND | |
| 9 | Button 2 |
Each button (left, right, button 1 ect.) is in fact a voltage(very small), this voltage is grounded to result in movement, fire, jump ect. For standard master system controllers this is directly feed to the system via wires only (some other controllers use a micro chip) they also are not connected to voltage, while some others do. The Sega Genesis (in Europe sold as Sega MegaDrive) pads are an extension to the Sega Master System pads. They use more buttons (3+1, 5+1, 6+1). They use the one usnused pin as a select pin for reading more buttons.
Those SMS standard controlers may be used alsmot unchanged on a CPC if the software allows to redefine controls. As a result you may use only one button : the fire 2 wich would be the button 1 on the controller.
It seems the "Power" button on SMS controlers is used when the controler is fitted with AutoFire option (needs to be checked) or when using the Lightgun.
Nunchakus technique
It is possible to achieve a pseudo Nintendo WII feeling by using 2 paddles, one for each hand.
If the game allows to redefine controls and the use of 2 joysticks, then you use :
- left hand as directional one, using an amstrad paddle turned 90° Clockwise.
Left = Up
Right = Down
Up = Right
down = left
(using your thumb)
- Right Hand as firing one, with a second paddle turned 90° Counterclockwise.
Access to fire 1 and 2 with the thumb.
By this mean, the cables don't mess with your hands... Also it is a nice way to deal with the shitty Amstrad Plus controllers size/quality. Yet this works only with 1 player games or need a custom connecting cable/box, a "reversed Y-cable".
You may also easily achieve a 4 fire button config by using both directional pads (one for each thumb yet the cable would be a nuisance) or a fixed Joystick (right hand, directions) + a paddle (left hand, fires).
