methods of input (Part 1)

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I think that resistance is what makes a lot of people say Korean sticks aren’t “suitable” for 2D fighters. Really, use whatever works for you if you’re not planning to be stuck in a Japanese arcade playing on cabinets.

The Steam controller works a lot better than I expected to for some games, if you’re willing to tweak settings and rig up your own controls. It’s DIY in an era of the “standardized” 360-style dual analog, dual-trigger, four-face-buttons controller schemes. It works well for games where you need mouse control only sometimes, too, like menus in RPGs that otherwise can be cleanly mapped to “normal” gamepad controls.

I picked up some of those Mayflash USB adapters for six-button Mega Drive and Saturn joypads, so I’m basically set for life.

For arcade stuff or anything close to it, I have a Hori RAP V3.SA for home use, and a Qanba Q4RAF Ice Blue for out and about. 3D stuff is either KB/M, or a DualShock 4 with an XInput wrapper.

I would love to be surprised, but that Steam controller still looks ridiculous.

I think so far my main complaint with the Steam controller is who does Valve think they’re trying to kid by putting that cross-shaped indent on the left pad, the pad itself is too big and offers not enough feedback to be considered a sane replacement for a proper dpad. With that said, I’m like, a level away from beating Freedom Planet with the thing, so it can’t be that bad.

The pas+gyro trick it can do is a nice refinement over what Nintendo was going for in Splatoon (the issue in that game being that you only pick one sensitivity that affects both sick and the gamepad’s gyro alike) since you can dial in the gyro so that it doesn’t go crazy on movement. It’s still not up to snuff with proper mouse control (and it probably will never be for those of us that like to crank sensitivities and DPI down) but it’s a damn sight better than straight stick aiming.

I should take a pic of the terrible mess I’ve driven the living room table to become

What would be the reason you’d use one of these ‘at home’ and the other ‘out and about’? Also, does the Hori RAP work on PC or just PS3?

If I had an excess of disposable income I might get one of those crazy gamepads with all the extra triggers and adjustable buttons and junk. But I don’t even play any games that require that level of precision anymore.

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The Hori is a nice, lightweight stick that works fine with Directinput, so it’s the one I go for when I’m on my arse and want to play some shmups. The Qanba is heavier and has a 360/PS3/PC switch, so I can just lug it around and be ready for fights.

i used to use a hori pad ex2 turbo for 360 games, i never had a real intensive use for it but the d-pad and the buttons were a dream, real clicky feeling buttons.
was a bit trash for fps though since the thing was huge and the sticks had higher tension and larger space than i was used to

nowadays i used that there steelseries rival for my mousing needs
pretty much the best sensor out there and it’s great if you have large hands but mine are quite small and as a result i find it pretty heavy. very stable and controllable though so it has its pluses and minuses even for the same application. e.g. i play csgo with it and minute adjustments of aim are easier but throwing it around the mousepad with low sensitivity gets to be a chore.
considering something smaller like a zowie fk but i can’t really justify $60 on a mouse when i already have one. maybe i’ll just get a hard mousepad to go with my clothpad (qck+)

oooo, I have a Zowie FK

It is the perfect mouse ever since I got too used to MS 1.1a-style shape and sensor and I couldn’t source any locally anymore (which was kind of upsetting since the Microcenter around here literally had bins of the things and I only ever bought one).

Hey look, more Steam controller beta update things

The prophecy is fulfilled

On that note, I wish Valve would get with it already and just give us an external, non-Steam (or at least non-Big Picture Mode) solution to configuring the thing

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For most controller-based PC games, the Xbox One pad is my go to. Also notable that the wireless adapter that only worked on Windows 10 at release now supports Windows 7/8.1 with official drivers, just plug and play. Or you can just plug it in via standard USB.

For any PC games I want to play with a stick, I use a stock (and beautiful) Virtua Stick High Grade.

It reeks of iTunes bloat to me. I wouldn’t tolerate a mandatory tray app for any other peripheral. My Zowie mouse has a hardware switch for DPI Like I Like It.

I love the DPI switch on mine, it lets me be lazy with actually figuring out sensitivities in games. Instead, I can just go “Shootman? Low DPI. Blizzard game? High DPI.”

Honestly, it bugs me that once you set up the Steam controller for a game, it’ll load that profile regardless of how you launch the game again, but then you’re shit out of luck if you want to change the config while playing and you didn’t start from BPM and, honestly, you will want to do that. I’ve done it 3-4 times per game getting things juuust right. After which point it is an amazing thing, but fuck it before that point.

The Xbone controller is the best standard controller for the current gen systems by virtue of using AAs instead of an internal battery that isn’t beefy enough to support the myriad of gimmicks the controllers burden. Like a second screen or a flashlight. While I’m in the area, fuck speakers on controllers too.

Preach it.

The Xbone controller is tops except I think the skateboard grip material on the sticks is exfoliating my thumbs constantly and it lacks any indicator of which profile is signed in to which controller (a vestigial absence from Kinect). The construction feels more robust than the DS4 thanks to the internal fins and Eneloops are better than any built in battery.

I want the Steam controller haptics in everything that isn’t a mechanical switch.

I have to admit, I find that part strangely satisfying.

The bat top on that stick is pretty cool.

I have been thinking about controllers a lot.

For NES games I love the dogbone controller. The buttons are spaced really close together which makes pressing both at the same time feel good. Games like Double Dragon II and Super Mario Bros 1 and 3 are better with these.

For almost everything else my favorite controller is the Super Famicom controller.
The buttons are beautiful, round, and painted bright happy colors. The d-pad is good. The shoulder buttons feel really good too. They are clicky buttons, with just enough give to make them feel a little more comfortable then a simple click.

For fighting games I really like Hori 6 button controllers.

I’ve got two ps1 6 button controllers, one black and one grey. The black one looks good, but the grey one is gorgeous. They are very comfortable to hold, but when I use them I find the shoulder buttons a little distracting. They are a little bigger then my other Hori 6 button controllers.

The Sega Saturn Hori pad isn’t as pretty, but it might be the most comfortable 6 button controller I’ve ever held. The spacing between the d-pad and buttons seems perfect. I wish they had released a version without the shoulder buttons. When playing fighting games they just make the controller slightly less comfortable. When playing anything else though they need to be there. They make it fully compatible with all the games the regular Sega Saturn controller could be used for. I understand why they’re there, but I wish they weren’t there.

The Super Famicom Hori Fighting Commander doesn’t have shoulder buttons!
I love it. I bought two and they are leaving Japan with me, even if the other controllers don’t. The start and select buttons are in an unusual place. They are on the left, rather then in the center of the controller. At first it felt really strange, because I’ve always hit the start button with my right hand. The more I use it, the less strange it seems. Though the spacing between d-pad and buttons is about the same as a regular Super Famicom controller, the perfect spacing for a four button controller is a little too wide for a 6 button controller. They’re comfortable, and I love that they don’t have shoulder buttons, but they’re not as comfortable as the Saturn pads would be if there was a version without shoulder buttons.

For Analog controllers I have some Wii Classic (not Classic Pro) controllers, because they are some of the smallest analog controllers around, and their adapters are small. Their shoulder buttons are terrible, but they are otherwise acceptable controllers.

Prior to settling on the Wii Classic
I had been trying various iterations of Dual Shock controllers. I find the buttons more satisfying on the original Dual Shock, but the analog sticks seem kind of odd. If you just spin one of the made in Japan ps1 Dual Shock sticks you’ll find they move very smoothly. In actual use the slightly more resistant almost gated feel of the later Korean and Chinese made PS2 Dual Shock sticks seems to be better. My prettiest Dual Shock is a matte black made in Korea PS1 Dual Shock.

Among the more modern controllers, I find the Xbox 360 is the most comfortable. It also has better plug and play compatibility on pc then any other controller. Many games work without any configuration. The stick favors upward movements and feels really good for FPS and TPS, but feels slightly off if you try playing a 2D scrolling shooter with one. The shoulder buttons are nice. I find the shoulder buttons nicer then the Xbox One shoulder buttons. It’s not ideal for me, but I can see why people like them.

Considering I spent good time and dough making my own hitbox (fightstick with no stick fyi) I should really use it more but it doesn’t really work for 3S with its stricter diagonal input demands and that’s the only fightman, even in 2015-going-on-16, I think is worth my time so I suppose it’ll keep

I used to have a pair of these. They were fucking great.

I really like grey boxes. NES, PS1, etc. I really wish I had that 20th anniversary PS4.

@mothmanspirit or @notbov we’re designing a “Zelda” style game for PC and we’re wondering how many realisticly-used-for-gameplay buttons the Steam controller could have. Essentially we want the player to sync an item to each button, but we want to make sure that this game is Steam Controller Compatible ™ © etc. I think we all know that standard controllers have 4 face buttons 4 shoulder buttons and 2 stick buttons. We can probably use start/select (god, I like start/select as much as I like grey, which is a lot) if we need to as well, but…

Anyways, I’m asking in this thread for button count because I think the granularity of my question is important. Can the trackpads be separated into separate buttons? I mean, is it comfortable to have up/down/left/right clicking be separate functions? Also, are there two shoulder buttons per side? I can’t tell by images or videos or whatever. Anyways, these kinds of unknowns got me to write a two paragraph post that is essentially, “how many buttons?”. Cheers

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Both trackpads can be separated out to 4 buttons diamond-style, though the left trackpad is usually left to emulating a dpad. You can also assign a button press to either pad’s push-in (like modern analog sticks) and then it also has the two paddle buttons underneath (which, honestly, are only good for presses and not for hold-style actions). Now, I don’t know the extent to which you can have a Steam controller-native mode (I tried L4D2 and it had assignable actions instead of inputs) so what you can make it do or emulate (you can mix and match KB and Xinput binds) will probably dictate.

Also note that you don’t necessarily have to build for it, since any idiot can jump in and put custom binds on every button and Valve has a default profile for 360-style pads. But, in theory, the answer of “how many buttons” is 20 (4 face, 8 emulated on trackpad press, 4 shoulders, 2 paddles, start+select. Add another if you want to count the analog stick press.).

edit: whoops, almost forgot, you can set shift-modes at one-per button, so, in theory, if you used the paddles for shifts, you would double or triple the face buttons available

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So from normal “resting” there are 4 face, 4 shoulder, 2 paddles, and analog stick click available for 11 total. That makes 2 more than the standard setup (3 more if you’re like me and would go dpad > analogue > trackpad). And if we treat the trackpads as 4 button setups that’s at least 15 which is probably the overall max. I suppose I could use stick flicks as buttons with a 360/PS4 setup as well…