Are there any coleco emulators that are actually good?

stebbinsd

New member
I've tried out two Colecovision emulators. One is the Koleko, and the other is the Virtual Colecovision.

Neither of them work, and they both suck for the same reason: The controls!

Let's start with the Koleko. I'm playing Montazuma's Revenge, and I usually like to use my Xbox 360 gamepad to play emulator games. Well, when I press the F4 key to switch to the gamepad (yeah, having to press F4 was a pain in the ass to figure out, in and of itself), then the gamepad works... wait, no it doesn't. The D-Pad doesn't work, and the D-stick (which I assume is supposed to stand in for the joystick on the actual Colecovision) works, but not very well. Even when I take my thumb off the D-Stick, the guy keeps moving. He'll even keep moving after he dies and respawns!

So, apparently, the keyboard is my only plausible option. Unfortunately, even it doesn't work. First of all, it's awkward. The directional keys control the movement, and either A or S causes the guy to jump. Ok, so that's awkward; I'm moving with my right hand, and jumping with my left hand. I'm used to it being the other way around.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. When I play with the keyboard, left and right make sense. He goes left; he goes right. However, I can't get past the first screen because he won't climb down the ladder! I'll stand above the ladder, and I'll press the down key, and NOTHING HAPPENS! Why don't they just let me have full customizing ability on the controls, just like on emulators that are actually GOOD, like Visual Boy Advance or ZSNES!

Ok, so, screw it. I'm going to try another emulator. Well, I find this one called the Virtual Colecovision. Believe it or not, the control is even worse. At least with the Koleko, I can figure out what the controls are! I can't figure out anything about the controls on the Virtual Colecovision!

Please, somebody help me out! All I want to do is play Montazuma's Revenge, because I saw it on AVGN and it looked really fun!
 
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ulaoulao

Controller Man
Staff member
Let's start with the Koleko. I'm playing Montazuma's Revenge, and I usually like to use my Xbox 360 gamepad to play emulator games. Well, when I press the F4 key to switch to the gamepad (yeah, having to press F4 was a pain in the ass to figure out, in and of itself), then the gamepad works... wait, no it doesn't. The D-Pad doesn't work, and the D-stick (which I assume is supposed to stand in for the joystick on the actual Colecovision) works, but not very well. Even when I take my thumb off the D-Stick, the guy keeps moving. He'll even keep moving after he dies and respawns!
- Yeah, the big down fall is that Coleco, as you know, is not analog and your using an analog stick. So it moves on its own because there are no dead zone controls. There are only two options. One get software to fix it like Xpadder and pad the analogs to keys ( yes it has dead zone support ) or get an adapter to use an original coleco controller ( see my sig ).

If its Montezuma's Revengethat you want why are you using coleco?
Montezuma's Revenge is a video game for Atari home computers, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Apple II, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Sega Master System, and ZX Spectrum (as Panama Joe).
 
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stebbinsd

New member
- Yeah this big down fall is that Coleco as you know is not analog, and your using an analog stick. So it moves on its own because there are no dead zone controls.

Something doesn't sit right with that statement.

I can use my D-Stick on my Visual Boy Advance and my ZSNES, without those kinds of problems. I do have a problem (namely, I can't move diagonally, unless I use the D-Pad), but nothing like this.

Also, how come I can use my D-Stick on my Atari 2600 emulator (Stella), and it works like a charm, just like the actual Atari 2600 joystick?

Honestly, why can't I use the D-Pad? If I can use the keys, why can't I use the D-Pad? Or, better yet, why not give me full customization over the controller layout?
 
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ulaoulao

Controller Man
Staff member
I figured you were using the analog stick. I'm not sure why you have issues with a d-pad? Maybe the dpad you are using is not pressing up and left. The hardware to the coleco didnt have diagonals. To go up and left you needed to send the up and left buttons at the same time. So if you mapped up as up an down as down and your dpad is actually a 8 button pad, it will never work. I dont know about that controller so its a guess.

Again, you could use xpadder to fix this. If I knew more about the 360 gamepad I could be more helpful, sorry.

Go in to the game pad controller panel and operate the d-pad, if its is using the POV stick ( 8 direction ) then that is your issue.
 
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stebbinsd

New member
To go up and left you needed to send the up and left buttons at the same time.
Yes, I'm aware of that. On the ZSNES, if I'm using the keyboard, pressing A and W at the same time sends Link walking northwest.

So if you mapped up as up an down as down
How do I map it like that on one of the Celocovision emulators?

Go in to the game pad controller panel
Where's the gamepad controller panel? Are you referring to Koleko or Virtual Colecovision?
 

ulaoulao

Controller Man
Staff member
Where's the gamepad controller panel?
its part of the OS. Look in the control panel.

How do I map it like that on one of the Celocovision emulators?
Lets start with the POV test, I think that is your issue. Find the control panel and tell me what responds to the d pad.

A normal d-pad is 4 switches. u,d,l,r. Just like the coleco, its possible m$ in there dogmatic point of view, may do things there own way. For example
1:up
2:up/left
3:left
4:left/down
5:down
6:down/right
7:right
8:right/up
So when you press up and to the left your sending 2 not 1 and 3. Thus there is no way possible to use it on a coleco emulator unless you could tell the HID to report 1 and 3, when 2 is pressed.
 
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stebbinsd

New member
its part of the OS. Look in the control panel.

Lets start with the POV test, I think that is your issue. Find the control panel and tell me what responds to the d pad.

Which emulator? Koleko, or Virtual Colecovision?

And, where do I find the OS for these emulators? Or, are you referring to Windows? If you're referring to Windows, I'm using Vista Home Premium.
 

ulaoulao

Controller Man
Staff member
Whoa.. I over estimated your knowledge a bit. The emulator is irrelevant for this part. Your OS is the Operating System. Vista puts things in weird locations. I dont have it here so your on your own.

Your looking for this.
vista_game_control.jpg

normally its Click on start button > Settings > Control Panel > Gaming Options / Game Controllers


BTW: you never mentioned the best emulator, ADAMEm. See more here.
 
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serros

New member
I've tried out two Colecovision emulators. One is the Koleko, and the other is the Virtual Colecovision.

Neither of them work, and they both suck for the same reason: The controls!

Let's start with the Koleko. I'm playing Montazuma's Revenge, and I usually like to use my Xbox 360 gamepad to play emulator games. Well, when I press the F4 key to switch to the gamepad (yeah, having to press F4 was a pain in the ass to figure out, in and of itself), then the gamepad works... wait, no it doesn't. The D-Pad doesn't work, and the D-stick (which I assume is supposed to stand in for the joystick on the actual Colecovision) works, but not very well. Even when I take my thumb off the D-Stick, the guy keeps moving. He'll even keep moving after he dies and respawns!

So, apparently, the keyboard is my only plausible option. Unfortunately, even it doesn't work. First of all, it's awkward. The directional keys control the movement, and either A or S causes the guy to jump. Ok, so that's awkward; I'm moving with my right hand, and jumping with my left hand. I'm used to it being the other way around.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. When I play with the keyboard, left and right make sense. He goes left; he goes right. However, I can't get past the first screen because he won't climb down the ladder! I'll stand above the ladder, and I'll press the down key, and NOTHING HAPPENS! Why don't they just let me have full customizing ability on the controls, just like on emulators that are actually GOOD, like Visual Boy Advance or ZSNES!

Ok, so, screw it. I'm going to try another emulator. Well, I find this one called the Virtual Colecovision. Believe it or not, the control is even worse. At least with the Koleko, I can figure out what the controls are! I can't figure out anything about the controls on the Virtual Colecovision!

Please, somebody help me out! All I want to do is play Montazuma's Revenge, because I saw it on AVGN and it looked really fun!



Hi,check the blueMSX emulator and this link for further help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RzbuZggj_A
I hope this will help you, it works fine with me.
PS:I downloaded this emulator for EXACTLY the same reason,AVGN rules!!!
 
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