Correct me if I am stupid and missing something? I don’t understand why developers go the insane amount of trouble to make new games but then provide an either/or between joystick (two button required games) and keyboard. The problem is to use joystick you need a second discreet fire button - so Toki I can’t play because I can’t jump. Xevious I can’t play because I can’t bomb. I just don’t understand why developers cannot provide a joystick/keyboard hybrid as most Amstrad users have one button joysticks - and no way to use fire 2. I just don’t get it? Sure I can play via keyboard but I’d rather not.
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I had the same rant against a few apparently joystick-only games. Or games where the keys seemed awkward and non-configurable.
I agree with you. Although the CPC supports 2 (3 according to hardware schematics?) fire buttons, the official fragile Amstrad Joystick has only one. And my joystick was broken. A game assuming two buttons are available is a bet. IIRC a number of games allow some key alternative (play with joystick, one key for second button).
For best player satisfaction I tried to make Just Get 9 maximally playable while keeping it simple: use either joystick or cursor keys or any combination of a preprogrammed set diamond-shaped or one-hand-horizontal one-hand vertical key sets. Also “action” can be via a fire button or copy or space bar or enter plus a few others. Secondary (open menu) is second fire button or Esc or P (for the GX-4000). Plus a few others like F which is the second fire button of the second joystick.
Oh, and given thay all keyboards are not QWERTY (some AZERTY or QWERTZ) I do not use AZQWM keys. This eliminates the awful WASD combo which says to the world “this author has never used a non-QWERTY keyboard”. This affects even more nowadays that emulators add an extra layer, with confusion between emulated CPC ROM, positional or symbolic keys policy, emulator being confused about what the host operating system knows about the hardware keyboard, not even talking about using all this from a remote machine. Robust key choices always just work without anyone noticing. Launch and play.
See the README in the download on Just Get 9 by cpcitor for the details about keys (or just try the keys, there are small surprises to discover 
).
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I suspect it’s because GX4000 gamepads are common, with a lot of people now using C4CPC or PicoGX to play on the console. That and the fact emulators all support two button gamepads (and PC controllers typically have far more than that).
It’s not that hard to have say SPACE act as a second fire button (assuming single player) but any kind of fixed controls on the keyboard get clunky if you might have two players. And writing redefinable key routines is hard and somewhat boring.
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Well I’ve got a few GX gamepads, all gathering dust on a shelf somewhere 
I’ve got much better joysticks to use with the real machines…
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You just need to develop better calluses, so you can’t feel the pain of using the awful dpad. 
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I like the GX4000 gamepad. And my kids like it too.
Up for jump in a joystick? Nope! It was never for me, and I guess that’s why I played with the keyboard.
Why didn’t the devs support a key for the second button as a fallback? No idea. The MSX games generally did it, at least the ones coming from Japan (e.g. Konami).
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I don’t have GX gamepad and they are aren’t easy to get - especially not outside UK and Europe. The postage on the ones I have seen are insane. I made the mistake of buying a Monster Joystick adapter because I (misread perhaps) that it supports two fire. But that shouldn’t really be a requirement to begin with.
Thank you for your consideration!
I saw this thread topic and prepared to rant about making a version of Bomb Jack with arcade-accurate scoring only to realise that almost nobody plays Bomb Jack seriously enough to notice…
The GX gamepads are ok. Better than the Sega Master System ones I reckon.
There are also new 2 button joysticks available like the RetroRadionics ArcadeR. I’m glad to see more games using two buttons. I don’t know why Amstrad didn’t give their terrible official joystick two buttons in the first place. Single button joysticks are the cursed legacy of the Atari 2600.
But I just include redefinable keys and read the keyboard and the joystick at the same time so you can use any combination you like. Dunno why anybody makes you choose between joystick and keys when you can easily have both at once.
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It’s not that hard to write a redefinable key routine. Do we need to put a standard one up on the wiki for people to cut and paste?
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Not hard, but kind of boring. Honestly there are probably a bunch of fairly tedious things like that we should collect up on the wiki to avoid people needing to reinvent the wheel.
Bomb Jack is exemplary in the fact that it overcomes most of the impediments of recent CPC games. From CRTC types to controls - it just works. It’s this type of universality and accessibility which makes it such an inspiring piece of work. OK when are you going do Galaga? As far as I know thats a glaring omission in the catalogue.
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Hmm, I think the worst gamepad is far better than any joystick on a home computer/console. Sticks are only good on arcade cabinets. But hey, that’s me. 
BTW i like using GX4000 gamepads not only with CPC but with MSX, Atari ST, Amiga too.
Uh…
yeah, no
I’m a QAOPSPACE kind of guy, so if I’m not using the keyboard, I might just skip ahead and use an arcade joystick for ease and precision.
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Ok ok that intellivision controller is too much 
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I’m pretty new to Amstrad homebrew stuff as I only recently got a PicoGX for my GX4000, but I’m loving trying out so many recent games on it.
I had a go at Just Get 9 and was immediately addicted! Best so far is a 8, and I plan on retrying until I finish it 
(edited as I’d said my best was 9, but it’s only 8!)
However, there didn’t seem to be a .cpr file with it for the GX4000 so I’ve made one if you want me to upload it? It plays really well on the GX4000 as you would expect!
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There is a thread for that: Games converted for the GX4000 (or created for) - The topic
And in the old forum: https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/games/converted-gx4000-cpr-the-topic/
Some gamedevs do CPR of their games. I know I do
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If I may weigh in: single-button joysticks were an absurdity even back then. While many consoles offered multiple action buttons, Amstrad’s engineers had wisely designed the system to support two or even three buttons. However, in the home computer market, it was the controller manufacturers who dictated the standards, and they stuck to the single-button Atari model. Amstrad itself followed suit by releasing a controller with just one fire button. We were thus saddled with an unnecessarily restrictive standard, even though our machines were natively capable of doing better.
It was already frustrating having to juggle between the joystick for movement and one or two keyboard keys for extra functions. But we were kids, and we got used to that controller-keyboard combo. Today, unless the CPC was the only platform you ever played on, I find it hard to accept carrying on like that.
Especially since alternatives exist: GX4000 gamepads are still fairly easy to find in Europe and the UK, as are modern reproductions of the Competition Pro 5000 with two independent buttons, and a simple pin-to-pin adapter allows you to use a Master System controller. Personally, I retired my old “stick” joysticks long ago. Having been a fan of the Speedking, I bought a Master System version that works perfectly on my GX4000.
That said, for those who want to stick to their old habits, the simplest solution is to offer both control modes simultaneously so everyone can use their preferred controller. On the other hand, I can’t stand games that ask you to select your input device at startup; having to press a keyboard key in a menu just so I can play with a controller drives me crazy!
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I should.
Also I wish I had time to support GX-4000 in cpc-dev-tool-chain (which has lots of unpublished improvements, I need to clean that up and make them usable without breaking existing projects).