PS3 NeGcon - Can it be done???

[BulletWraith]

couple quick thoughts

about the d-dap I fully agree, lol one of my sketches places the neGcons D-pad into the DS3, yesterday I was looking at Fighting game pads made for the PS3 to see if I could locate one with a good D-pad for conversion options, I hear great things about the Madcats Streetfighter pad but also negative stuff about its reliability

you might have seenmy lame concept for a new neG ages ago
I think it would work really well as it would get the sixaxis sensor centred and controllable whilst steering

if anyone has broken Black neG's they should send them your way, if mine ever karks it it's yours

it's so nice finding someone on a similar wavelength but with the proper knowledge and tools to do the ideas justice
perhaps you've intercepted some of the thought's I've been puking into the cosmic either


ahh one more thing about the DS3 over a neGcon, the force feedback is another reason I would use a DS3, not much room for the lil motor's in the neG, I find the feedback provides an important element in immersion into what I'm playing



sorry another thing
ever thought of gutting a Hori Zerotech for the parts? they're ace!


good day to you sir
-zershen

[IH8YOU]

Project not dead - still working on it. Boss making me work tons of OT - speaking of - time to sleep, have work in 5 hours. Bah.

I predict tomorrow will happen like this:
: coffee

After all that - PS3 controller time.

[Sausehuhn]

Ehehehe. I know that feeling

[element42]

I've just seen this and I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Surely we could use an arduino to convert the Negcon output into something the PS3 could use?
An arduino is a great little microcontroller that you can program to do virtually anything assuming you have the electronics knowledge to build the appropriate circuit - which I don't, really!

I guess it would be easier to convert to a PS2/PS1 controller output and wire it in to a PS2 -> PS3 usb converter dongle. Some interesting info here... will have to work on this.

[IH8YOU]

You had to do that.... Pandoras box is open.

Thanks for the info - I will put this into consideration.

Approach thus-far has been to hybrid both controllers, as I do lack the programming, micro-controller / PIC expertise required for that. (though with guidance I'm able to do it, as I have done so before)

Oh yes - for everyone - the project is not dead - been busy month - serious family related things dealing with. Will resume once life returns to "normal".

[RDC]

Hope the OP doesn't mind, seems like the place to ask this instead of starting up a new thread.

How would you guys want it setup versus the PS3 controller? because there are going to be some limitations..

In WipEout HD for example, the steering and pitch is controlled by the left stick, and this can't be duplicated with the neGcon, it lacks the second Axis (up/down) that a Stick has and adding in buttons to duplicate it isn't really a serious option as that isn't Analog and ya loose the precision, it's doable, but not how I'd prefer to go about it. Also using the Tilt function for that is right out as twisting the neGcon will play havoc with the Accelerometer (if kept internal) or be useless if the board is left out of the neGcon, so either way that's no option.


Since the PS3 controller has 17 buttons and 4 axis in total versus the neGcon's 11 button and 1 Axis, some things are going to have to either go or be dealt with in some fashion to make it even half usable for some games and almost sure to cripple it for others. Adding in the Select and PS buttons are not a big deal at all, neither is getting around the common ground setup of the neGcon versus the 3 common line setup of the PS3 controller, nor is adding any additional buttons to make up for the neGcon's lack thereof, but Axis are another thing, as are maintaining the majority of the PS3 controller buttons Analog feature.

Stripping the neGcon and 'piggy backing' it onto a PS3 controller isn't the real issue, it's getting it setup to actually be usable in a game that is the PITA since it's really a half controller half steering wheel, or 1/3 of what a normal PS3 controller is capable of, and since the game doesn't know you're using the neGcon it can't reconfigure itself for using it properly, like it can on the PS1 where in game ya have control over it's settings, as far as the PS3 is concerned you're using a PS3 controller.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...con/neGcon.jpg

..this is just the Twist and I/II buttons wired up to the Left Stick (left/right) and R1/R2 for a quickie test in MotoGP '08 (demo, and yes, yes I know it's not WipEout, apologies for that, just fired it up for a test is all ). There's no LED lit up on the controller either because all of them have been removed.

http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...=neGcon022.flv


I plan to mess around slowly on this project, tinker on it from time to time as I have another project in the works that's taking up my real play/hack time, and I may take this in a different direction once I get some time to really spend on it, I'll have to wait and see on that one.

Also, just so anyone that's interested knows, there are at present 10 versions of known wireless PS3 controllers (none really like any PS controller layout before it) and any of them can be used for something like this. The major version changes are different from each other with each having it's advantage/disadvantage to using it, which makes it an even bigger mess, so if ya have any serious aspirations about doing this be prepared to do some research and a lot of figuring some things out, like the newer 4 leg 'Digital POTs', which aren't anything more than Hall Effect sensors and Op-Amps, almost identical to Dreamcast controllers, and it all boils down to the exact same thing in the end as what the Potentiometer did in there once ya figure it all out. The controller used in the above pic/vid is one of the newer DS3 versions, MSU_3.5X 1.14, that has the newer Digital POTs.

Getting the PS3 controller stuffed into the neGcon is pretty much right out as well, not without really hacking down and rebuilding the PS3 controller, I could probably get it stuffed in there (I managed to get a wired 360 controller into a PS3 shell, a few times ) but even then that's only half of the battle as ya still have the battery to deal with, so keeping it external is really the best way to go.

I agree that using some type of PIC/MCU/AVR would be the best way to go, but even then it would have to either be connected to some PS3 controller to work, unless the PS3 controller protocols are out there, and even then it'll have to be modeled after one controller or another. Doing it that way the neGcon can be kept 100% intact plus you'd have carte blanche over what did what and could put back in the sensitivity and dead zone options (on the control box) that the game lacks because it's going on the fact that a PS3 controller is being used, but as IH8YOU touched on, that takes some serious programming/coding skillz to pull off, where as a hardware hack isn't that difficult, as the crappy vid above already shows, but even it lacks in some places for certain things, so both ways are viable options with their own advantages/disadvantages.

[RDC]

Here's a short WipEout vid to make up for the MotoGP one.

http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...=neGcon023.flv