>I went through a phase a few years back where i downloaded all those 8 bit
>games on my pc and played, but it's never the same as the joysticks and
I've seen instructions for making a joystick interface to plug Atari style joysticks into today's computers. It works by translating the Atari joystick switches into the Min/Max values an IBM joystick would generate as it's moved. I haven't tried it though. My electronics building projects haven't gone all that well. :)
>paddles (which i still have but aren't very operational) I'm such a geek i still have
Hehe, I have quite a bit of experience fixing controllers.
Paddles - There's not a whole lot to go wrong with paddles. The contacts usually get dirty, leading to erratic control. Take out the screws in the bottom of the controller and take the case apart. Pull the knob straight off, then unscrew the nut holding the pot (the round control inside) to the case. Look for an opening in it and spray in some Radio Shack Tuner/Contact Cleaner, then twist it back and forth several times, repeat if necessary. Do the same for the button if it's not registering well. When all is working ok, put it back together.
Joysticks - Atari brand sticks have a bunch of things that can go wrong with them, from the internal pegs that the stick sits on breaking, to the internal stick cracking. One problem that IS easily fixable is when the little metal bubble switches migrate off their assigned positions. To fix this, cut the plastic coating around the problem contact(s) and peel it off. Reposition the contact and stick it in place with clear packing/sealing tape (Scotch tape won't do it). The contacts tend to be sticky, so it's usually easier to stick them to the tape and then use that to position them. This also works on a bunch of Atari clone sticks.
A better solution would be to buy replacement joysticks. There are several places on the net where you can order Atari stuff. Wico sticks are well made and are basically an arcade quality controller in a home controller case. Tac-2 joysticks are pretty tough also, although I did have one break on me. You can also use Atari 7800 controllers on the 2600 and I've heard you can even use Sega Genesis controllers.
>alot of my old toys, including the tomy pocket games and some of those
>handheld computer games from the early 80's which were baseball, hockey..etc.
>(nothing but a red blip and alot of loud noises)
I have a lot of my old toys also. Still have almost all my video games (our Sears Arcade was given away as was my Coleco Telstar Arcade).
>The text-based adventure game for the computer that always sticks with me
>is "Zork." I actually finished the first "Zork" and was on the tip of completing the
>second. Also got pretty far in "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" - which was a
>game that had some strange ins and outs.
The three original Zork games have been released as free downloads, as well as Zork: The Undiscovered Underground. You can download them from;
Infocom Info The only difference I can see betwee the Windows and DOS versions is that the Windows ones are self-extracting archives. I haven't tested these, but all you should need are the story files (.DAT), then follow the Z-Machine Interpreters link and download a copy of Frotz for your OS. Frotz is a freeware interpreter for running Infocom-style story files (original Infocom and user created), that is much more flexible than the ones Infocom included.
This works with the various Lost Treasures of Infocom packages also, I've tested it personally.
Myself, I completed Infidel without any help, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with only a couple peaks at the hint book.
