Issue 33: July 2003
Features
- | Foreword
- | JagFest UK 2003
- | Atari Preservation Project 2003
- | Tip of the day
- | Brain Wave Lab
- | Error In Line 3
- | The Greatest Sequencer Known To Man
JagFest highlights
- | Rotary Controller
- | Nuon Experience
- | How to Win
- | My Atari Moments
- | Nuon be Good?
- | Jaguar Lightgun
- | WarBalls
- | JagStick Interface
Reviews
- | Enter the Matrix
- | Manga Puzzle 1.1
- | Atari Anniversary Edition
| Rotary Controller Matthew Bacon interviews Nick Turner (Tyrant) at JagFest UK Matthew: Hi Nick, thanks for letting us interview you. For readers who may not know you, please introduce yourself - who is Nick Turner? Nick: I'm 22, a programmer, web designer, and all-round techie. I'm a big fan of Atari in general, and the Jaguar in particular, I enjoy creating games as well as playing them, although I haven't as yet managed to learn any assembly language. Most of the games I've made were done for PCs using Visual Basic, and while graphically simple, they were great fun, especially multi-player. In all things I do, I like to make them as simple and uncomplicated as possible. Matthew: When I met you yesterday morning, you kindly offered me a badge with the slogan "The D-Pad is dead! Long live the knob!", what was that all about? Nick: That was one of those silly ideas that turned out really well. I had all of these D-pads left over, after making up rotary controllers for the Jaguar, so I decided I might as well turn them into little badges to help promote my controllers here at the JagFest. Matthew: Not being a follower of the Jaguar forums, I must admit that I was unaware of your rotary controller. What is it? Nick: During the final days of development on Tempest 2000, Jeff Minter was handed a hacked-up controller made out of an old 2600 driving controller, and told to "make it work with this", so he did. The controller basically allows you to move at a variable speed, left and right, so you can move faster and with more precision than using a normal D-pad controller. Twist the knob slowly and you can do precise movements, but if you need to really move, twist it fast and you'll fly round the web really fast. Matthew: Cosmetically it looks extremely similar to the original Atari Jaguar controller. How have you built the controller, and what are its main features? Nick: It looks so similar because it was originally a normal Jaguar controller; I took out the D-pad, and installed a high precision mechanical rotary encoder in its place, and one of these lovely black anodised solid aluminium knobs. A lot of work goes into each one, making sure the encoder has room to fit inside the case, that there is adequate support and stability, that all the extra wiring is secure, and of course each controller is fully tested before being sold. All of the parts I use are new, including the original controller itself, since I was lucky enough to buy a large batch of them still in shrink-wrap when I first decided I was going to start making these. Matthew: When and why did you decide to develop the rotary controller? Nick: I've always wanted one since I first heard about them. Like many people here it seems, Tempest 2000 is one of my favourite Jaguar games, and when I first learnt it was possible to have a different kind of controller I was really excited. I searched for information about them for ages, but didn't find all that much. It looked like the only options were to make one using a 2600 driving controller, which apparently are very unresponsive, or buy one of the ones a guy called Jedi Jeff made, but they were rarer than hens' teeth since he had stopped making them and nobody wanted to sell theirs. Then one day I decided it was time to sit down and make one up, shortly after that I decided I should make lots of them and sell them to other people like me, who wanted one and didn't know where to go. Since I wanted to avoid using old 2600 controllers, I spent ages trying to find a suitable encoder, checking lots of companies, in the end I found this one, and I'm very happy with the feel and precision of it. As you can feel, it's got a very slight detent effect, making it step gently around, instead of spinning freely, which makes it much easier to control the menus and special stages, but doesn't interfere with normal gameplay because it's very soft and easy to turn fast. Surprisingly, the hardest component of the whole thing to find was the little plastic disc used to make the hole in the case smaller. For weeks I had my first prototype finished, but with the encoder hanging loose out of the hole left by the D-pad because I couldn't find this one little plastic disc the right size to fit.
Great care is taken to present the controller looking stock. It comes in the original polythene bag, even the cable tie is never released during modification and testing, and despite the newly protruding knob, it still fits in the original Atari box.
Matthew: In your opinion, what are the main benefits of the controller? Is it better for some games and than others? Nick: Well it only works for one game, Tempest 2000. Because of the way the controller works, the programmer has to write special code to use it, and as far as anyone knows, Tempest 2000 is the only game that is capable of being used with one of these, so far. Hopefully soon I'll be helping some of the people who still write Jaguar games integrate support for these controllers into their games. Sinister Developments' Asteroids is a good example of games that could run quite nicely with them, and shouldn't require much work to add in support. The main advantage of these controllers is the way that you can move at a variable speed with them, in a way that is, in my opinion at least, much more natural and comfortable. You can quickly dash across the web to grab a power-up you would otherwise have lost, and it makes it much easier to attack Tankers and Fuseballs, since you can rapidly spin left and right, filling several sections of web with fire. Matthew: I've certainly enjoyed using one of your controllers here at JagFest UK during the Tempest tournament, what prompted you to organize it? Nick: Well I wanted to get involved with the organization and help make the event a success, since it was the first JagFest in the UK, and I wanted to make sure there would be one every year, and running a tournament seemed a good thing to do. Had I known quite how much work would be involved I might have reconsidered though, this interview is the first chance I've had to sit down in ages. The choice of Tempest 2000 was pretty easy, since everyone loves it, and it gives people an opportunity to try out my controllers before they buy one. Also, it's something unique, I don't think anyone has run a tournament using rotary controllers before, and I love doing things nobody has done before. So far the competition has been really fun, there are some incredible players here, and everyone is adapting to the controllers very quickly. I'd keep an eye on the Demming brothers, they're just plain evil at this game, I guess they have a lot of practice, and I expect they'll do very well in the final rounds. Matthew: Is the development of the rotary controller finished or are you planning to improve the controller further? If so, how? Nick: There's not really very much I could do to improve it, there have been a few subtle changes like the type of wire used, but nothing that impacts on the function of the controller. Also, by making them in batches, I've managed to shorten the time it takes to make each one, but it still takes 2-3 hours per controller. Matthew: Thank you for letting us interview you, we will let you get back to the tournament now. Nick: You're welcome, thank you for continuing to produce a great publication each month.
Nick Turner, also known as Tyrant, has been an Atari fan since childhood, and is mainly focused on the Atari Jaguar, for which he makes rotary controllers, available to buy periodically via eBay, and soon via 16/32 Systems. He can be found regularly posting on the AtariAge.com Jaguar forum, or contact him via e-mail at tyrant@btinternet.com
matt@myatari.net
Useful link
16/32 Systems http://www.1632systems.co.uk
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