Buying a CD32 compatible gamepad is cool but...

[Mounty]

Building one is a lot more fun...

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=1zxy0kg&s=5

(WIP)

[Lord Aga]

Whoa, way to go man
Now there's a solution for the finite amount of Amiga controllers. We'll build our own

[Mounty]

Build those suckers!!!!! 5 quid a pop!!

[LongLifeA1200]

Would have liked to see the photo. That's the trouble with using 3rd party image hosting sites.

The original CD32 control pad looks interesting but I've never handled one. Is it comfortable compared to the SNES or SEGA Genesis control pads? Do they feel right when playing games?

[robinsonb5]

Originally Posted by LongLifeA1200

The original CD32 control pad looks interesting but I've never handled one. Is it comfortable compared to the SNES or SEGA Genesis control pads? Do they feel right when playing games?

They're not great, to be honest. They work reasonably well, but they're not particularly comfortable compared with either the SNES or Sega pads.

[darkwave]

Originally Posted by LongLifeA1200

The original CD32 control pad looks interesting but I've never handled one. Is it comfortable compared to the SNES or SEGA Genesis control pads? Do they feel right when playing games?

The original CD32 pads always surprise me with how large they feel in comparison to SNES and Mega Drive pads. The chunkiness doesn't make them uncomfortable, but the real downside is the circular and jauntily angled d-pad. It makes it awkward to hit any direction accurately, diagonals especially.


I much prefer the Competition Pro CD32 pads.

[Gordon]

I think its very comfy to hold but the D pad quality is terrible and the buttons get mushy very quick...shame.

[Glen M]

I have no issue with the original pads design. The D pad is at a slight angle but the angle your hand is at when holding it makes the angle of the d-pad natural. It is a bit bigger than others but its comfortable to hold.

The only complaint would be the feel of the buttons and d-pad leave a lot to be desired. Very mushy rubber domes in there. I made one of my pads clicky with microswitches which work really well under the buttons but under the d-pad they eventually tire your thumb given they are stiff compared to the rubber.

[AmigaHope]

I'd like a d-pad with a physical octo-gate behind it, like a miniature gated joystick. That way you could easily feel where you are in terms of the digital inputs you're providing to the system.

[Glen M]

Originally Posted by AmigaHope

I'd like a d-pad with a physical octo-gate behind it, like a miniature gated joystick. That way you could easily feel where you are in terms of the digital inputs you're providing to the system.

Don't know if it would be possible to do a an octo-gate on a d-pad. Would you not need an analogue stick of some sort to make that work?

[AmigaHope]

Originally Posted by Glen M

Don't know if it would be possible to do a an octo-gate on a d-pad. Would you not need an analogue stick of some sort to make that work?

Gates are used on digital joysticks with microswitches, not analog sticks. (Well, analog sticks have gates too but they're generally just to limit travel to prevent damage, not provide guidance for direction).

The way to make it work on a dpad would be to make the gate extremely small (relative to the small amount of travel in a dpad).

[Glen M]

Interesting idea.

The traditional dpad pivots on a single point though so I don't see how it could work as there is no linear movement to restrict.

Might be worth more investigation though. Anything to improve the dpad would be worth it.

[AmigaHope]

Originally Posted by Glen M

Interesting idea.

The traditional dpad pivots on a single point though so I don't see how it could work as there is no linear movement to restrict.

Might be worth more investigation though. Anything to improve the dpad would be worth it.

Easy, have a post stick out the bottom of the dpad and into the controller body (sort of an inverse joystick on the other side of the dpad), that post goes into the gate. i.e. place the gate behind the switches instead of in front of them.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by Gordon

I think its very comfy to hold but the D pad quality is terrible and the buttons get mushy very quick...shame.

I think its an awsome controller. Love using mine.

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by LongLifeA1200

Would have liked to see the photo. That's the trouble with using 3rd party image hosting sites.

The original CD32 control pad looks interesting but I've never handled one. Is it comfortable compared to the SNES or SEGA Genesis control pads? Do they feel right when playing games?

"It's not as stupid as it looks" but like some ppl here mentioned, the build quality is usually a bigger issue than the weird design (which isnt good but also not terrible, lets face it if it was a good design, someone would have re-used it during the last 25+ years, AFAIK no one has or even been close).

However, I would say that for its time the cheap feel of the D-pad wasn't that much worse than some of the competitors.. So I think we judge it harsher now than we did back then.. I think Controllers started to feel more premium with PS2 and onwards ~-ish. Compare a DualSchock4 with a early 90s gamepad and its a whole different level of design and build quality involved.

[Daedalus]

I dunno, the SNES D-pad still holds up quite well these days. On the other hand, I never felt that the Megadrive D-pad was particularly nice, and the competition Pro / Honeybee CD32 controller is very similar - a little too big for my liking, but that's subjective.

I reckon the original CD32 controller D-pad is pretty dire though. I've never used one of the ones that has the cross glued on top of the circle, but using just the circle isn't very comfortable for any great length of time.