I'm using RetroArch to emulate Sinclair ZX Spectrum - what joystick type should I assign it as default?

[PurpleTentacle]

So I just added a bunch of Spectrum games to LaunchBox, and it took me a bit to realize that I needed to make one of the inputs into the Sinclair Keyboard. I read that the Kempston Joystick Adapter was one of the most popular joystick adapters, so as of now, that's what I made my first input. Is that the ideal default choice though? I'm really not familiar with the Spectrum, except from watching people talk about it on YouTube & such, so I'm still learning the in's & out's.

[neil9000]

28 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

So I just added a bunch of Spectrum games to LaunchBox, and it took me a bit to realize that I needed to make one of the inputs into the Sinclair Keyboard. I read that the Kempston Joystick Adapter was one of the most popular joystick adapters, so as of now, that's what I made my first input. Is that the ideal default choice though? I'm really not familiar with the Spectrum, except from watching people talk about it on YouTube & such, so I'm still learning the in's & out's.

I have mine set to Kempston also, as you say it was the most used interface. You will need to press the correct spectrum key to start a game with that though and its different per game. It will say on the title screen press "insert key here" to start with kempston, so just bring up the keyboard overlay with back/select and press the corresponding button to start the game.

Dizzy here for example says "press K for kempston" on the title screen.

So bring up the overlay and press K.

[PurpleTentacle]

7 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

I have mine set to Kempston also, as you say it was the most used interface. You will need to press the correct spectrum key to start a game with that though and its different per game. It will say on the title screen press "insert key here" to start with kempston, so just bring up the keyboard overlay with back/select and press the corresponding button to start the game.

Dizzy here for example says "press K for kempston" on the title screen.

So bring up the overlay and press K.

Ok, glad to get it confirmed that I chose the ideal setting. Thanks.

 

I did notice that a lot of games had multiple options for joysticks/keyboard, etc... I do find that this is part of the fun (and often frustration) of diving into emulation (or real hardware) because it gives you perspective on what it was like to get these things running in their time. I sometimes forget how handy it is to have USB everything, as opposed to different formats, which can lead to incompatibility. At least these days, if a Speccy game doesn't support Kempston, it's as easy as changing a setting. A lot better than simply not being able to play the game (or having to buy the right joystick/adapter).