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Cheetah 125 Autofire

brownb2brownb2
edited May 2009 in Sinclair Miscellaneous
I have two of these fine joysticks (I never did like the competition pro style) but cannot seem to get the autofire working - switching it on seems to have no effect. In basic the control directions and fire show various numbers, but autofire does nothing...

Does software have to be specially written to take advantage of autofire, if not, how do I get it working? :)
Post edited by brownb2 on

Comments

  • ewgfewgf
    edited May 2009
    brownb2 wrote: »
    I have two of these fine joysticks (I never did like the competition pro style) but cannot seem to get the autofire working - switching it on seems to have no effect. In basic the control directions and fire show various numbers, but autofire does nothing...

    Does software have to be specially written to take advantage of autofire, if not, how do I get it working? :)

    Are you actually holding down the fire button when autofire is on? I can't remember if you have to do that or not.
  • MattLambMattLamb
    edited May 2009
    ewgf wrote: »
    Are you actually holding down the fire button when autofire is on? I can't remember if you have to do that or not.

    You do need to hold down the button, as was the case on all auto-fire joysticks of the time. As far as I know, any game would work with them - no special code was required. Of course, plenty of games you wouldn't be wanting auto-fire.
  • DunnyDunny
    edited May 2009
    MattLamb wrote: »
    As far as I know, any game would work with them - no special code was required.

    Not strictly true. Many joysticks had a small timer circuit that would toggle the fire button signal every so often. Some games (particularly R-Type, iirc) would take variable amounts of time between button reads, and could easily miss the on-off-on sequence, with the result that nothing happens, or you end up charging super-shots constantly with no way to actually fire them. I had a joystick that had a variable autofire rate, and I had to remember what setting to put it to for different games.

    D.
  • brownb2brownb2
    edited May 2009
    ewgf wrote: »
    Are you actually holding down the fire button when autofire is on? I can't remember if you have to do that or not.

    No but I can't remember needing that in the past - holding the fire down produces the same effect with/without autofire.

    I'm wondering if the cheetahs I have have both got broken autofire, but that seems less likely since my second one was bought as mint unopened*, unless age killed it.

    * The joys of opening mint vintage products to actually use them... :)
  • MattLambMattLamb
    edited May 2009
    I seem to remember having to hold the button down to use auto-fire, though I was more of a Quickshot II user myself, before totally abandoning joysticks/pads and using the keyboard.

    Here is a nice little stroll down memory lane:
    http://pelikonepeijoonit.net/articles/joystickz.html
  • VertigoVertigo
    edited May 2009
    MattLamb wrote: »
    I seem to remember having to hold the button down to use auto-fire, though I was more of a Quickshot II user myself, before totally abandoning joysticks/pads and using the keyboard.

    Here is a nice little stroll down memory lane:
    http://pelikonepeijoonit.net/articles/joystickz.html
    Ah they even have my old stick o' choice, the rather suspicious looking Multi-coloured Powerplay Cruiser :)
    I was pretty sure all the sticks and pads I've used that have auto fire required you to hold the button down.
    And to stop this thread turning into one of those threads, read this one instead http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20999
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