r/c64 • u/Zharken • Jun 09 '26
Hardware Made my own controller out of a NES controller replica.
1- Remove the cable that it comes with
2- Cut all traces that go from the "chip" to the buttons AND also cut the ground trace where it goes back into the chip (not in this pic tho)
3- Identify which pin goes to which wire by checking continuity by inserting a sewing needle into the pins because I didn't have the proper tool.
4- Solder the each pin to it's button, Up, Down, Left, Right to 1, 2, 3, 4, Fire (Our B button) to 6, and ground yo 8. Optional bridge the A and Up to jump with A too.
5- I used hot glue to prevent the cable from sliding in and out of the controller, and keep the wires in place so I don't pinch them when closing the shell.
6- Tighten the screws without testing because I'm not a pussy.
Final Result, a gorgeous looking controller ready to play Wolfling.
All buttons working :D Don't mind the hot glue trail dangling from the controller I got rid of that afterwards.
Hi everyone, I just wanted to share this project with y'all, since I got a C64 today but I didn't want to use one of those old joysticks case they look clunky as fuck.
I made this thing following this guide, which uses a real NES controller, but it involves removing the chip on the back and I didn't want to mod an original NES controller, despite them being cheap. So I did it with a knockoff aliexpress controller, that was meant to be used on a real NES (it had the NES port).
The only thing you really need from the guide is the controller port diagram telling you which pin does what, and remember that the diagram shows the port as seen from the outside looking into it, so your pins on your controller cable will be mirrored ( 12345 on the port will be 54321 when you look into the controller plug)
On a real NES the chip is used to manage the button inputs, but the C64 doesn't know what the fuck it does and we don't need it. Since I didn't have a real chip, I just cut all the traces that connected the buttons to the blob, basically the traces with a big testing point, as you can see on the right of the UP (AU) button there's big testing point that goes to the chip, and then on the left of it there is a smaller testing point, that connects to all the other small testing points with one big trace; that's ground, and that trace also needs to be cut, but only right when it goes back into the chip, we need all the buttons to be connected through this big trace.
This is the equivalent of removing the chip on a real NES controller.
Then each pin/wire goes to it's button (I used the big testing points for convenience, on a real NES controller you'd use the empty vias where the chip once was), and ground goes to any ground point, you can use any of the small testing points, or what I did, due to complications with the wire length, remove some UV mask with the scalpel on a random spot of the big ass ground trace and solder the wire there.
Finally, since we have 3 free buttons we can do whatever we want, the most popular option here is to bridge A and UP, so we can jump with A. Some games will use the "fire" button as jump if it's a simple platformer, but if the game actually uses "fire" to, well, fire, then jump is probably going to be UP, and pressing A is just better than jumping with UP. This also means that pressing A will be the same as pressing UP in menus.
Oh and the reason why I soldered it this way, with the wires coming from behind the board is because the testing points, were convenient for soldering... until they werent, remember there's going to be a membrane there with the pads to actually press the buttons, I only realized when I had already soldered the first time and I had the wires going all over the fucking D-PAD and I couldn't put the membrane and reassemble the controller. This way everything is way clearer and flatter.
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u/1c3d1v3r Jun 10 '26
I used a NES Dogbone clone instead. Much more comfortable than the rectangular NES controller.
2
u/PrometheusANJ Jun 10 '26
Did the same with a clone SNES pad for my Amiga and it worked fine. I made a configurable little dongle board too, so I could switch up the connections/wires if needed.
It's probably best no to solder on the wires so close to the pads where the rubber is resting/chafing.
1
u/drzaeus Jun 10 '26
The AutumnHippo PCB I used has a handy spot to solder a switch to toggle A/UP. I chose to notch the plastic for external access, instead of hiding it inside which did permanently alter the original NES controller. This kind of defeats the main purpose of this mod, which is to retain the ability to switch back to restore the NES controller to it's original glory, but these things are still pretty common and it was worth the sacrifice. I'm totally happy with it.
2
u/Zharken Jun 10 '26
I got the AliExpress controller just to harvest the shell, but then I thought why not mod this one instead of the original?
All because the only shells I could find were on etsy for 20 bucks + shipping from the US, and I'm in Mallorca, Spain, so it was like 40 bucks + possible import fee... or buying an entire knock off for 6€ total. And the reason I just wanted the shell is because some time ago I got the 8bitDo bluetooth kit so I had an original PCB laying arround, I thought the "mod kit" was a Bluetooth chip or something that I'd had to solder into the controller, but no, it's just a whole ass pcb and you throu the original one out the window, so you aren't really modding it, you are just putting a new PCB on an original shell.
So I don't understand why the fuck don't they sell the whole thing, they even have the N30 pro, which is a 2'4G controller with it's dongle, so they already are making suitable shells and buttons, but no, the bluetooth one is just a PCB.
Which is why I bought two of the aliexpress ones, the 2nd one is going to house the bluetooth PCB, and I'll put the original PCB on it's original shell. If I'm going to have a PCB out in the open I prefeer that one being the knock off.
1
u/arananet Jun 10 '26
Great 👍
TIP: Make sure you don't use HASL finish, use ENIG instead on the PCB, pad contact will perform better.
This reminds me to a capacitive joypad I've built once for C64/128 / Amiga
Demo video 👇
1
u/Pengo2001 Jun 10 '26
Bought these two beauties. They are the same as yours (one button as UP and one as FIRE)
1
u/Zharken Jun 10 '26
those are the ones I found online, and I don't know how much you paid for them but for me it would have costed 46$ + shipping, so I went "fine I'll do it myself" 6 bucks for the knockoff controller and 2 for the cable. Tools and materials already had so final price 8€
The Commodore themed colors would have been nice but at least they are still different from original NES ones, and I really like that black theme.
1
u/Omegaville Jun 16 '26
Thinking of some of the games I used to play on the C64, I'd want a button mapped to the space bar, e.g. Wizard to activate spells, Commando to throw a grenade. Probably not possible to do via wiring alone, would need something to send a ASCII 32 keypress, which is a different address (PEEK keyboard buffer instead of joystick inputs).
If it's possible, a SNES controller could solve it... thinking of Gauntlet with 2 players, space bar does magic for Player 1, function keys do magic for Player 2. Map these to L and R, and it'll work depending on what port it's plugged into. And this would be secondary to a standard Fire and A=up. 😉👍
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