Tim 🎮

Aussie gamer making new memories from the old. He/him. Writing from Ngunnawal/Ngambri land.

I built a giant Gravis GamePad and am working on USB adapters for old controllers. I beta-tested Secret Agent HD and UnDune2. I once made Toshiba mad at me over copyright. I post mostly #retrogaming, #3dprinting and #arduino stuff here.

Projects:
#Plasbeams
#Thrixels
#CGAPrints
#SerialStinger
#SimpleBreakouts
#SolderingStation
#GravisGamePad

Tim 🎮 (npub1x70…qqwa)">https://justmytoots.com/Tim 🎮 (npub1x70…qqwa)

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@timixretroplays
My 3d designs on Printables: https://www.printables.com/@timixretropl_1311503
Stuff I've preserved at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@timixretroplays_gmail_com
My previous Mastodon account: https://fosstodon.org/@timixretroplays

Public Key

npub1x70q7w05ramc0mz3r34n8rjmkmrktmuwynmt3lxprq9t8untp7ysx2qqwa

NIP-05 Address

timixretroplays_at_digipres.club@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsr08s0886p7au8a3g3c6en3edmd3m9a78zfa4clnq3sz4n7f4slzg7pajr3

Author Public Key

npub1x70q7w05ramc0mz3r34n8rjmkmrktmuwynmt3lxprq9t8untp7ysx2qqwa

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Published at

2024-08-09T13:18:04Z

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0 Metadata

Event JSON

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Last Notes

2024-09-19 02:50:43

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what an excellent reason for a roadtrip. Safe travels home!

2024-07-19 23:19:40

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still chuckling at this an hour later, thanks - it's beautiful

2024-07-06 23:25:37

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fun fact: roosters use their bony crests as weapons when butting heads in fights for dominance over the rest of the pack

2024-06-21 07:12:38

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I think the photo box might be done? The LED bars just sit loosely in a couple of little brackets that were a one-off design and print effort, and I'm happy I'm at the point I can reliably just make something and have it work from the start.
Here's another big box in my collection - the Gravis GrIP system is a multi-port adapter for two 15-pin gameport devices, or four 9-pin GrIP pads, to connect through a single gameport on your PC. Four-way local multiplayer, years before USB was a thing!
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/653/293/099/580/262/original/0ecd03ab6b59fa20.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/653/351/208/204/165/original/f2351781d0da3c6e.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/653/351/306/776/807/original/bad21e7c2db1395d.jpeg

2024-06-21 02:43:54

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nice! What do you remember playing with it?

2024-06-21 01:18:48

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These photos are barely lit at all, but shows my setup is definitely big enough to isolate and photograph some of the bigger items in the collection. Cat for scale in the last pic.
This is the Gravis Phoenix "Flight and Weapons Control System" from 1994, an enormous PC joystick that plugged not only into your gameport, but also your DIN or PS/2 port - it had so many buttons it had to pretend to be a keyboard as well, in order for all the different inputs to work. #retrogaming
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/651/952/145/787/654/original/b783d006d8244b70.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/651/952/397/751/821/original/2c2a1e1c40de0e93.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/651/952/602/413/858/original/af2fd01eb38e0848.jpeg

2024-06-20 03:58:25

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Initial results are not too shoddy, considering this is with the wrong light (still waiting on some long LED bars), nowhere near enough towel coverage, and some very quick snaps with a Pixel 4A.
This is the Philips Touchpad, a Gravis GamePad licensed for the CD-i platform. While it has four action buttons, the CD-i really only had two - so two do the same thing, and one actually presses both 1 + 2 at the same time - something I think I've only ever seen on one gamepad for the PC! #retrogaming
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/646/921/225/495/927/original/e5ebb36bce1fb88f.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/646/921/476/738/834/original/3e398bbd49de49df.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/646/921/683/734/487/original/102e9199d347769b.jpeg

2024-06-19 11:14:09

This week I'm focusing on my #plasbeams photobox, because it's nearly complete enough to be functional, and as soon as it's done I can start properly documenting my controller collection.
I've been mulling over the best way to cover this thing - blackout curtains? Foamboard cut to fit? 3D print panels? Nah - a $6 towel from K-mart will do for now.
It just needs to be a matte white surface so the lighting doesn't look too weird - and in the meantime, it can serve as the cool cats' clubhouse.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/642/949/559/929/897/original/45e2a2d5bdf77b52.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/642/951/447/957/205/original/0445cd69720f8bdd.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/642/951/590/447/180/original/0142bcfeea6d7a5b.jpeg

2024-06-17 09:29:02

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tl;dr: In a world where companies will fleece you, scammers will steal your grandmother's savings, your chat program algorithmically charts your gender, and your car's manufacturer sells analytics about the way you drive without a second thought:
The only thing that matters is kindness, and we could all do with a lot more of it.
Also, I'm going to go have a drink or two now. Holy hell, that little rant has been building up for a while now.

2024-06-17 09:24:52

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Do you work in IT? Do you support a system? Do you work on a helpdesk? Do you take calls, answer emails?
Congratulations. That's no longer your job title. From the moment you read this, you're a user advocate.
Process issue holding something up? Bug in the app? Is a particular system always down? Advocate for your users. Go to bat for them with the teams responsible for their struggles.
Folks will say "oh thank christ, it's you" when they hear your voice on the phone if you advocate for them.

2024-06-17 09:19:36

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This shit is why, when banks announced they were going to stop processing physical checks and a whole wave of elderly folks protested, I understood. It's one of the last fleeting vestiges of anything in their lives that still makes sense, and arguing about the cost of supporting obsolete systems is an absolute red herring.
It's not about the money. It's not about the tech. It's about kindness, and being fucking human to each other.

2024-06-17 09:16:14

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And here's the thing: None of this stuff makes me angry. Annoyed, sure, but I've been around computers since I was a toddler, and I have to solve shit problems like these for myself every day.
What makes me angry is: What about all the folks who aren't computer people? How the absolute fuck do they survive in a world where you can no longer function as an employee, a family member, any sort of citizen without encountering this stuff?
Those people are fucking heroes, and I'm angry for them.

2024-06-17 09:08:40

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You buy a second-hand but still quite new wireless gamepad. It dies unexpectedly at the approximate age of 16 months. There's a listing for a replacement battery on Amazon and a disassembly guide on iFixit, so you take a punt on a new battery and swap it in.
The gamepad's still dead, so you email its manufacturer for A) a repair, or B) spare parts, or C) to offer them even more money to fix it, but they don't provide any of those for a device still sold new today.
Get fucked, Steelseries.

2024-06-17 09:00:50

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Your cheap home PC doesn't have the physical space for another hard drive inside, so you buy an external one and your wireless keybbbbbbbbboard starts acting up when you're backing up.
Seriously, USB 3 devices put out a bunch of 2.4GHz interference and it fucks up wireless gear. Put your dongles on cheap USB extension cables and blutack them to the underside of your desk, I promise you'll stop hating Bluetooth quite so much if you do this.
Bluetooth is still shit, but this one's USB's fault.

2024-06-17 08:44:47

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That 168-hours-and-a-bit slowly cycles later and later into each passing week, and you fucking dread when it reaches late Friday afternoon, because it means Monday morning will be written off by logging in, rebooting, and patting multiple Microsoft applications on the head, and you're useless to your busy colleagues until you do.
This program with no icon or name is preventing you from restarting. You click Cancel. It restarts anyway.
Also, how likely are you to recommend Teams to a friend?

2024-06-17 08:38:50

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Your login session at work lasts exactly 168 hours (24*7) and at 168 hours and one minute, you get two MFA prompts simultaneously. You can't click on Outlook yet because the MFA system "didn't hear from you". After logging on, you join your daily Teams standup anonymously, because you don't have time to dig through dialog boxes that ding at you when you click on them to find the one with the working login button. A password prompt appears for a moment, you start typing, then it disappears again.

2024-06-17 08:25:36

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Your oven - a device with one moving part, and which functionally can be either "on" or "off" - stops working because a tiny capacitor exploded on the circuit board buried deep in the control panel and it costs hundreds of dollars to get a visit from an authorised screwdriver turner to replace it. The oven still doesn't work until you collectively figure out you have to set the time on the digital clock first, and you're reminded of this needless complication every time there's a power outage.

2024-06-17 08:00:08

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The call centre's scripts are circular and they flat out lie to you about getting a call back or any sort of update or movement happening. The website says it's gone back to the airport but you drive three hours to a courier's warehouse in western Sydney on a hunch and your parcel is sitting on the shelf in plain sight behind the underpaid girl at the counter. You pay extra to refuel your car because you didn't have time to find an app that tells you prices and the pump plays a video ad at you.

2024-06-17 07:55:22

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You hand over your entire life story to a website for a shipping quote just for it to tell you the thing's out of stock and the product page is just weasel words. Everything you've ever told any website ever has already been sold to other companies and other countries. The thing you buy never arrives because it's possible for a courier company to operate in Australia without delivering to PO boxes. Amazon mixes legit stock with counterfeits but at least your lucky dip item ships free with Prime.

2024-06-17 07:49:30

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My phone sometimes hangs hard and reboots when I plug it into my car. It's too many taps to navigate to the single digit number of locations I have saved. I'll be mid-playlist, and Spotify will forget and switch to random songs based on the last one it played. People can't hear me on a whatsapp call even after granting it every permission it asks for. The album I had on last week won't play anymore because licensing.
And at the end of the drive it asks me if the fucking sound quality was okay.

2024-06-17 07:41:23

I think I'm becoming utterly disillusioned on tech stuff lately. I'm hugely aware of the "you like stuff you grew up with" and "you have less patience for stuff as you age" biases, but even so...
Streaming is shit.
Searching is shit.
Researching is shit.
Shopping is shit.
Troubleshooting is shit.
My phone is shit. Autocorrect, touchscreen keyboards, Bluetooth, AI, Android Auto, Spotify, all shit.
It's not even capitalism or consumerism, I'm just tired of arguing and fighting with things I own.

2024-06-14 11:14:52

It's Friday night, it's cold outside and I'm still working on that whole social life thing, so here's a long rambly thread about the 15-pin PC gameport and its historical significance, because it's something I want to practice writing about at length (if anyone was silly enough to give me a PhD for something, it'd be for this nonsense).
Feel free to mute this thread if that's not your thing - or if it is, bookmark it for later, or prepare to be en-knowledge-ified!
#retrocomputing #retrogaming
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/614/674/440/731/833/original/cafc682b95ed80af.jpeg

2024-06-07 02:18:48

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it was an unfortunate incident during a secret ceremony the night before the photographer was due in. The engineering team were invited to collectively put a finger on CM040 serial number 0000 before chanting "Connection Machines!" together but #9 used a bit too much force and cracked their only working prototype.
Technically the tenth guy did see the chip, but not das blinkenlights.

2024-06-07 02:08:43

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unfortunately that ninth person was why there was never a tenth or eleventh

2024-06-05 21:54:50

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ooh, measuring tape lanyard is a cool idea!

2024-06-03 03:29:36

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And, yep - with Windows 10 told to enable serial mouse detection on boot, all you need is the right kind of adapter installed and a serial mouse plugged in when you boot up. Here's the FTDI-derived one working with my Microsoft Home serial mouse - you can see the adapter blinking to say it's receiving data when I move it around. #retrocomputing
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/550/547/646/201/166/original/b9f55ab735a01dfa.mp4

2024-06-03 03:23:22

This is an IOCREST-brand USB to RS-232 serial adapter, which I bought from a seller on AliExpress. It arrived in exactly the same time as an identical eBay listing said it would, for literally half the price - if eBay is still your default go-to for weird stuff like this, keep in mind dropshippers are probably fleecing you.
This adapter contains an FTDI chipset, not the much cheaper CH340, and it's time to see if this is the reason I couldn't get serial mice working natively on Windows 10.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/550/533/529/313/086/original/9506d10cb2f9b0ab.jpeg

2024-06-01 21:45:50

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there's a smartphone app I've used in a pinch before that detects everything about your screen size- and DPI-wise and displays a ruler along the long edge of your phone screen. Not quite what you're looking for if you're set on getting a physical tool, but if your EDC is already quite bulky maybe a virtual tool is an option!

2024-05-28 03:21:35

Retro PC games:
✅ Download quickly
✅ Can be played with a D-pad or a joystick and a couple of buttons
✅ Are incredibly well-documented now
✅ Had their DRM stripped out decades ago, or... see point above
✅ Will run on 0.03% of your PC's capabilities
✅ Are cheap to acquire in digital form
✅ Are interesting historical artefacts
✅ Are celebrated by inclusive and collaborative online communities
Save a classic gamepad from ewaste and start playing retro games today! 🎮
#retrogaming #retrocomputing
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/516/517/296/546/303/original/e7995c3b5c654f26.jpeg

2024-05-26 10:20:30

Sigh - you open a game to take a couple of brief screenshots for an idea you had for a toot, and-- hey, when did it become night-time? #retrogaming #xcom #openxcom
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/506/879/478/029/540/original/261698ad12bf85a1.jpeg

2024-05-25 05:06:06

I saw an inexpensive listing on eBay for a Logitech Sensa mouse last month, so I jumped on it without really looking at it - and the result arrived this week. As far as I can tell, "Sensa" was a sub-brand of their at-the-time MouseMan models, with interesting external finishes - I've seen wood-grain, carbon fibre, and... whatever this thing is, Damascus Plastic? #retrocomputing
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/499/967/479/984/920/original/c4559d9cc8f6aced.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/499/967/615/400/004/original/d27c0145b9deb9d4.jpeg

2024-05-24 06:00:41

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And with that, my new home workstation is open for business. This setup is the result of 20 years of development, experimentation, the march of technology, and not just shaping my workflow to suit my work, but adapting myself to it as well. Reaching this point has made me very, very happy, and I'm going to make some really cool stuff here in the coming years.
If someone could take a moment to appreciate what I've done with my monitor arms, that'd be swell. Also there's a cat on a laptop.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/494/499/915/158/966/original/6f278b44d32ae3db.jpeg

2024-05-24 05:08:56

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I know this because the #FractalDesign Ridge, which claims compatibility with Noctua's NH-L12S cooler, actually doesn't have enough room for it with some boards, unless you buy a crazy adapter to move the cooler 7mm downslope. My PSU also put the power socket at an odd angle, so wrangling that to fit was tough. I also don't love Fractal's apparently random use of identical-looking #6-32 and M3 screws throughout... but when all's said and done, this is the most beautiful my PC has ever looked.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/494/330/446/817/611/original/02e86dd6207788f6.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/494/331/235/089/011/original/79da8c674e4c7017.jpeg

2024-05-24 04:56:32

Fun language/free market convergence thing: A "right angle" is where two lines intersect at a 90 degree angle, and you can buy "right angle cables", where the plug at one end is rotated to point at a 90 degree angle away from the cable.
But what if you want a cable to go the *other* way? Well, in that case, you want to search for a "left angle" cable, and it'll point in the opposite direction to a typical "right angle" cable.
There also exist "up angle" and "down angle" adapters, like these.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/494/273/191/138/886/original/724b19d2d5475887.jpeg

2024-05-24 00:35:48

Here's a great article (in Dutch, your browser can translate) about efforts to archive and preserve Dutch-language educational games, and some of the challenges involved (copyright law has its good points, but really does hold back a lot of good-faith excellence). https://tweakers.net/reviews/12068/nationaal-archief-educatieve-games-nostalgie-van-redcat-tot-lingo.html
#retrogaming #pcgaming #retrocomputing

2024-05-20 02:45:26

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Abby continues to micromanage the re-construction efforts. She admits she doesn't really understand the project brief, but thinks it's pretty cool regardless. #CatsOfMastodon
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/471/115/816/391/922/original/0a23c7e8fdd356e4.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/471/115/966/994/929/original/0c0714a813e28713.jpeg

2024-05-19 00:35:47

First full assembly of the photobox (and of course Abby immediately claimed it for cat-kind). It's clear I built it too big - it sags, it sways, and my carefully fussed-over hinge clamp assemblies just glide apart with this much mass behind them - but because #plasbeams are totally modular I can now pare it down beam by beam until it reaches a stable size. It's still the largest 3D printed thing I've ever made, and that's pretty cool.
#3DPrinting @npub1d4n…dptf @npub1hgu…ljf3
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/464/921/500/030/786/original/fe0f8fffe4ee4f1c.jpeg

2024-05-17 02:24:49

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I'm most interested about the joystick ports on this thing. This thing pre-dates the Gravis GRiP protocol, which allowed daisy-chaining of multiple controllers using digital serial comms, so where the instructions say it functions as a "Y adapter", it means everything's connected to the first port, but buttons 3 and 4 will be wired to 1 and 2 on the second port, leaving two buttons for each of your two joysticks or gamepads.
#retrogaming #retrocomputing

2024-05-17 02:21:23

This is probably the only Gravis UltraSound-related thing I'll sensibly collect. This is the Gravis MIDI and Joystick Adapter, and I'm super thrilled to have picked one up for a reasonable price in this condition. At some point I'll carefully pull things out for a closer look, including scanning the paperwork, but in the meantime - did you ever have/use one of these? What'd you use it for/with? Let me know!
#retrogaming #retrocomputing
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/454/013/206/528/337/original/211aea89efbfb44c.jpeg
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/454/013/500/366/653/original/c70d4f5c2650914e.jpeg

2024-05-15 11:47:13

Bedside lamps need a "see me home" feature like modern car headlights that stay on for a few moments after you switch everything off. I don't want to reach back out from under a warm blanket just to turn a light off once I'm settled.

2024-05-09 13:24:51

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Q-Connect? I wish every motherboard manufacturer started using that the moment ASUS had the idea. Unfortunately ASUS boards haven't been the right value choice for any of the builds I've done in the last little while, and I'm not a fan of spending $20-30 extra to pick a board with a feature that will save me a couple of minutes two or three times in my life.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/411/339/098/474/955/original/be0c778d9798988d.jpg

2024-05-09 10:50:39

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This is literally all the information I have ever needed from a motherboard manual. It's the only header that needs to be plugged in manually, every other connector is a standard plug and only goes in one way. Print this on the back of the PCB or something and stop shipping a book of USB and ATX pinouts with every PC motherboard ever!
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/410/730/923/447/336/original/e7fac5d7b8c8078b.png

2024-05-09 08:55:58

Building computers continues to be harder than it should be. Gigabyte didn't label the front panel connector pins on my motherboard, likely because they ran out of space in which to do so, but it seems like their support website has also run out of something today.
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/112/410/282/755/581/559/original/ffbe3445a149c41e.png

2024-02-26 07:56:27

So, uh, I collect old game controllers - mostly gamepads, but a few joysticks, mice, and weirder things here and there. You can see some of them in the photo below. This collection - and attempting to appropriately document and meaningfully share it - is why I joined Mastodon in the first place. For those of you who follow me for #retrogaming and #retrocomputing stuff but have been cursed by endless 3D printing posts - sorry, the good stuff's coming, I promise. 1/🧵
https://digipres.club/system/media_attachments/files/111/996/637/598/186/231/original/16f65c4a50e6de2d.jpeg

2023-09-30 12:11:54

New server, new #introduction! I'm Tim, an Aussie #retrogaming maker and collector. Right now I'm working on some USB adapters for old gaming controllers, which I collect and research - ask me about Advanced Gravis!
I do a lot of #3dprinting and design, and make a lot of little gadgets to make life easier or more fun. I also collect, scan and upload rare manuals for things, and used to be fairly active in the #righttorepair space (and still quietly run my old laptop service manuals site).