Lotus 2 - accelerate cancelled when turning if using keyboard (real A1200)

[vroom6sri]

My eldest lad and I spent a bit of time on Lotus 2 over the weekend on my real A1200. I couldn't be ar5ed to find my 2nd joystick so I opted for keyboard controls but I have noticed that the accelerator input from the spacebar is cancelled when steering left or right, like it can only read 1 input at a time and the steering trumps the accelerator.

I'm using version 1.9 which I see isn't the latest version but the release history doesn't mention anything about this issue being noticed/fixed in newer versions.

Has anyone else noticed this?

[jotd]

It can be a A1200 hardware issue. I remember Z-Out J+K cheat keys wouldn't work as on a A1200 you can't press both keys. But I can't say for sure if that's the case for this particular set of controls.

Time to fire the game to find out.

[Calabazam]

I have noticed this behaviour only when playing player 2 with an USB wireless keyboard with my A600 and an internal USB adapter (i had so many keyboard membranes falling in that one that i installed permanently a way to use an external keyboard and avoid touching the real one).Seems like a hardware limitation of the adapter to be only able to press one key at a time.
As for the regular Amiga keyboard, it works normally with several keys.
There may be a hardware fault on your computer.

[Minuous]

Originally Posted by Calabazam

As for the regular Amiga keyboard, it works normally with several keys.

It depends on exactly which keys and which model of Amiga. Real Amiga keyboards are certainly not immune from ghosting issues; IIRC it is discussed at some length in the HRM, although since that predates the A1200 it won't help much with A1200-only issues.

[Calabazam]

Originally Posted by Minuous

It depends on exactly which keys and which model of Amiga. Real Amiga keyboards are certainly not immune from ghosting issues; IIRC it is discussed at some length in the HRM, although since that predates the A1200 it won't help much with A1200-only issues.

Can't tell but i am answering about that particular game Lotus 2. It sure works fine with the Amiga keyboard. I had to switch from my external wireless keyboard to the real one to catch my daughter racing with the joypad because of this acceleration issue.

[van_dammesque]

Originally Posted by jotd

It can be a A1200 hardware issue. I remember Z-Out J+K cheat keys wouldn't work as on a A1200 you can't press both keys. But I can't say for sure if that's the case for this particular set of controls.Time to fire the game to find out.

Yep, F1GP had the same issues for me. Typical C= skimping on the keyboard controller electronics!

[roondar]

I've had similar problems on my A1200's. Both the wedge and towered A1200 I have often have issues with keyboard controls. I'm not sure if Lotus II allows for remapping of keys, but I did have more luck using the arrow keys on the wedge A1200. Many other combinations didn't work, with the computer(s) only recognising 1 keypress at a time (well, plus some keys like shift & crtl).

[vroom6sri]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

I loaded up a program that lets me test the keyboard inputs and I noticed that holding down the Space Bar is cancelled out if I push any of the letter keys on the lowest row of keys but not so for the other keys. Frustratingly the Z and X keys for steering are on the lowest row so I guess it's joysticks only for 2 player on Lotus 2.

[jotd]

that can be fixed in whdload

[vroom6sri]

Originally Posted by jotd

that can be fixed in whdload

Cool! Is it something an unskilled person like myself can do?

[jotd]

no. You have to locate the keyboard routine and replace keypresses by some other keypresses. Easy but not exactly trivial, as just rebuilding a slave from source requires some asm knowledge & properly installed tools.

[vroom6sri]

Bugger. Thanks for the info.

[jotd]

I've already adapted & rebuilt the slave for vasm

[vroom6sri]

Please excuse my ignorance but does that mean you’ll release an updated slave that will fix this issue? I’m genuinely asking, I’m not trying to pressure you into doing it.

[jotd]

yes, I'll update the slave.

[Mick]

This is a common issue on PC's too, it's known as n-key rollover. Do the modern replacement mechanical keyboards by kipper etc fix it or is it a controller limitation?

[jotd]

there are 5 supported versions, so it could take more time than expected

[vroom6sri]

Thank you so much for taking it on, JOTD. That's really very kind of you.

[Calabazam]

Perhaps it will work too with my wireless keyboard then?

[van_dammesque]

Originally Posted by Mick

This is a common issue on PC's too, it's known as n-key rollover. Do the modern replacement mechanical keyboards by kipper etc fix it or is it a controller limitation?

The A500 didn't exhibit the problems I had, only when moving to an A1200. I think it was certain clusters of the keys that suffered, the way in which the scan dealt with inputs as you say n-key rollover but on wiki more like ghosting in that article section.

I don't think it was solved when I went with a PC keyboard connected to a EZ keyboard converter (?).