The Pin-outs of the Amstrad CPC Digital Joystick are based on the Atari standard, but only the Fire button (aka "Fire 2" in Amstrad language) and direction switches are properly implemented.
Pin-Outs
_______________ | 1 2 3 4 5 | | 6 7 8 9 | \_____________/
| Pin No. | Amstrad CPC Joystick Port | Atari 2600 and Commodore C64 |
| 1 | Up | Up |
| 2 | Down | Down |
| 3 | Left | Left |
| 4 | Right | Right |
| 5 | Fire 3 (undoc) | Pot 0 (analog) |
| 6 | Fire 2 (default) | Fire |
| 7 | Fire 1 (extra) | Supply +5V |
| 8 | COM | Supply GND |
| 9 | COM2 | Pot 1 (analog) |
Fire Button Notes
- Pin 5 - Fire 3 - This is an undocumented and very rarely used input (used by the AMX Mouse for example).
- Pin 6 - Fire 2 - This is the standard button, used by most games.
- Pin 7 - Fire 1 - This is the extra button, used only by a few games.
Following the Atari-standard, most joysticks have only one button (the "Fire 2" one). Games that support two buttons are usually optionally allowing to use the SPACE key instead instead of Fire 1.
Note Amstrad called the "Fire 3" signal "Spare", that name doesn't mean it isn't connected. On the old CPCs it was connected. However, according to the schematics, it is NOT connected on CPC+.
Select Signals (COM and COM2)
COM is the "common" pin for the Joystick 1's direction/button switches. COM2 for Joystick 2 accordingly. The COM/COM2 pins go LOW when selecting the corresponding keyboard row.
Y-Cable
For a wiring diagram of an Y-cable with which you can use two joysticks on your Amstrad/Schneider CPC, see Joystick Y-cables.
The CPC+/GX4000 they have two digital joystick ports (which works same as with the Y-cable, including for the Y-cable-style diodes, these diodes can cause problems with peripherals that use the joystick port as bi-directional I/O port).