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
Amstrad CPC does sport only one Joystick connector, yet a simple montage allows to dispatch 2 joysticks on the same connector.
The Plus range features this internally.
But as a result it is theorically possible to customise some kind of 6+ buttons Joystick quite easily, if only softwares would support 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 Buttons, easy to use in 1 player games : you then put one joypad in each hand (the "nunchaku" technic).
- 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 which may make full use of the 2-buttons features (Cartridges games) or when dealing with modern CPC/Plus games including this feature in gameplay.
Some old CPC era games included a more flexible "redefine keys/controls" option so you could use the second button but post 1990 games rarely did actually... mostly because the gameplay was rarely conceived to include more than one button. Even games with a second button needed often relied on keyboard and you couldn't even re-define the 2nd button's function if you have the chance to get a compatible 2-button Joystick.
And even some Cartridge games where stricts "CPC to cart ports" and didn't even featured the 2 button option in their gameplay.
Or unless you properly rewire a modern Joystick (completly possible and not even that hard, just find a proper connector and rewire all thoses with some diodes or resistors perhaps...
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.
Even 16bit comuter such as Amiga or Atari ST rarely made use of a 2-button per joystick gameplay (often you had to add some Keys with the keyboard to complete the gameplay...for Pause or Quit game, but also for alternatives firing sometimes, just like on some CPC games...)
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 Controlers
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 if the game allows to re-define joystick/controls (not only keyboard) with enough flexibility, and if it can stand with the 2nd button, then it is 100% compatible...really, just "redefine keys" each time you run the programm.
Also the 16bit SEGA paddle is a lot better than the poor and faulty Amstrad Pad, so it remains a nice choice for every gamers, and quite often easy to find.
You may even also get your hands on the rare "Amstrad Megadrive paddle" thx to the Amstrad PC with the megadrive inside (Amstrad Mega-PC ?), 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.
The use of 2 buttons would need a "re-wiring" solution (a "flexible" modular adaptator may be fine) so it can't always fit unchanged on Plus range.
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
As said above, it is possible to achieve 8 buttons control (directionnal+4 or 2xdirectionnal...even more) with 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 (direction+2 buttons), 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 and/or need a custom connecting cable/box, a "reversed Y-cable", or even the game to allow a proper "redefine controls" option.
- Right hand easily achieve a 4 fire button config by using directional pad from the 2nd joypad (one for each thumb yet the cable would be a nuisance)
- or a fixed Joystick (any hand, directions) + a paddle (other hand, fires) may be fine too...
(pictures to come soon)