John R. Conrad's Custom Controllers Bring Authenticity to Apple II Emulation
Analog joysticks and paddles deliver a convincing Apple II experience — and let a new generation experience the games Conrad wrote.
Retired professor of physics and software developer John R. Conrad is treating his grandkids to gaming the way it used to be — by building a set of analog joystick and paddle controllers for use with Apple II emulators.
"I embarked on this project so that my grandchildren Lily, Mack, Zach, and Naomi could experience the early childhood Apple II software programs that I wrote in the early 80s and which were distributed by the software publisher Edu-Ware," Conrad explains. "I first wanted to do this for Lily when she was born almost decades ago. But until recently, I have been thwarted by the compatibility of well-behaved Apple II Emulators for [Apple] macOS and by the lack of modern two-player game paddles that would work with the emulators."
The launch of higher-quality, more compatible emulators for the Apple II — released by the company as a successor to the original Apple Computer, later known as the Apple 1, in 1977 — solved the first problem, but Conrad found nothing to fix the second. The solution: building his own replica rotary paddles and analog joysticks, designed to mimic the feel of the originals while providing USB connectivity for use with a modern Macintosh.
Conrad's controllers are driven by Arduino Pro Micro microcontroller boards inside off-the-shelf project boxes, connected to either a linear taper potentiometer for the paddles or a two-axis potentiometer for the joystick. Unlike later game controllers associated with the Atari, Commodore, and Sinclair families of home computers, which used digital inputs, Apple's controllers were analog — and so are Conrad's recreations.
The controllers are compatible with a wide range of Apple II software, but Conrad had some specific titles in mind: Spelling Bee and Spelling Bee Games, Introduction to Counting, Webster's Numbers, Wizard of Where, and Ampergraph — "edutatinment" titles he coded for Edu-Ware in the late 1980s and early 1980s.
The project is documented in full on Conrad's Instructables page, along with links to suggested emulators and even disk images of his games for you to try yourself.
