Trackballs
Last modified: Sun Mar 16 14:04:14 EDT 2008
Preface
I like Classic DOOM. Although
the game was originally designed to be playable with keyboard alone
and most people play it with a standard mouse, there is in fact only
one true way to play Classic DOOM:
- The home row keys for the left hand—S, D, and F—are
mapped to strafe left, fire, and strafe right, respectively.
- A trackball on the right hand controls moving and turning.
Addison Technology Professional Trackball
 |
|
| Ball weight | | 3 oz |
| Ball diameter | | 2 inches |
| Sensing | | Mechanical |
| Resolution | | 300 dpi |
| Tracking speed | | Up to 600 mm/s |
| Interface | | 9-pin serial (RS-232 DE9) |
| Price | | $15 (1994) |
With a modern GPU, OpenGL DOOM source port, high screen resolution,
and FPS approaching ωP,
the limited resolution of this trackball becomes noticeable and
distracting. However, it is the ideal input device for a retro
gaming rig running Vanilla DOOM under DOS if you can't get USB to work.
As of 2007, there is a company called Addison Technology, but they
only make cables.
|
Following are the additions to /etc/X11/xorg.conf that are needed
to activate the trackball as a secondary mouse on a modern GNU/Linux
installation of X11.
# **********************************************************************
# Trak Ball on COM1
# **********************************************************************
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Trak Ball"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "microsoft"
Option "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
Option "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
# Add this after the regular CorePointer
InputDevice "Trak Ball"
EndSection
Logitech Marble Mouse
 |
|
| Ball weight | | 1.6 oz |
| Ball diameter | | 1.5 inches |
| Sensing | | Optical |
| Resolution | | ? |
| Tracking speed | | ? |
| Interface | | USB HID v1.10 |
| Price | | $22.98 (2007-09-15) |
The Marble is less than an ideal replacement. It is designed
to be worked with the fingertips rather than the palm of the hand,
which would never do for Missile
Command. But it has higher resolution, it's USB, and it
works.
|
The Marble works with no changes to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
 |
|
| Ball weight | | 4.1 oz |
| Ball diameter | | 2.1 inches |
| Sensing | | Optical |
| Resolution | | ? |
| Tracking speed | | ? |
| Interface | | USB HID v1.10 |
| Price | | $86.99 (2008-01-20) |
I finally caved in and bought the expensive Kensington trackball, the only
trackball with a large, center-mounted ball that is still commercially
available. While it takes some getting used to, I'd say it's a worthy
replacement for the old Addison. The ball is actually slightly larger and
heavier than the one in the Addison, and the included wrist rest does much to
improve comfort.
|
Unlike the Addison, the Kensington has a usable arrangement of
buttons. The left mouse button can be worked with the thumb, and you do
actually have a middle button (or two). A rotating ring substitutes for
the scroll wheel found on most modern mice. In much the same way that a
track ball avoids the problem of mousing off the desktop when trying to move a
long distance, the scroll ring avoids the problem of having to wheel repeatedly
to scroll a long distance. If you are careful, you can rotate it
indefinitely in a single motion.
My only gripe, a minor one, is that the friction on the ball is
too much for my preference. I'd prefer if it kept going for a while after
I gave it a good throw, but it seems to be specifically designed not to do
that.
Update 20080205: The friction seems to have diminished after some
use. It can now achieve a respectable spin.
KB
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