Food fight and analog sticks

[PkingRoch]

One of our favs is food fight, however, we can't seem to figure out how to make the controls work properly.  I remember being able to stop and any of the food piles and just chuck food in any direction, but my setup (SlikStik classic) doesn't allow this to happen; I can't stop and chuck food, I keep moving while I'm chucking.  I did a search and saw a reference to using an analog stick, but I'm not sure if that's a wise decision.  Has anyone ever tried an analog stick with this game?  How did you interface it?

Thanks!
Paul

[Minwah]

This game used an analog stick in the arcades - from KLOV:

This game uses a special analog joystick that is comprised of a centering-bellows and two potentiometers.

I don't think I've ever played the game in MAME with an analog stick, but a PC analog stick should give you the same 'feel' more or less...

[Lilwolf]

Didn't it have a restrictor spider rubber band thingy on the bottom similar to sinistar?

[jerryjanis]

I just tested it with an analog controller...  As long as you are moving in a direction it works right, but when it's centered, I keep moving like you describe.

Sure seems like a Mame bug...  

[telengard]

Didn't it have a restrictor spider rubber band thingy on the bottom similar to sinistar?

I don't believe so.  IIRC it as a "hall effect" joystick.
Road Runner used the same one, and maybe I, Robot.

[Aceldamor]

I just tested it with an analog controller...  As long as you are moving in a direction it works right, but when it's centered, I keep moving like you describe.

Sure seems like a Mame bug...  

I thought i remembered another thread where u_rebelscum told everyone how to fix it so you can use an analog stick and have it stop when the stick is centered

[GamingGreg]

I believe it was a matter of callibrating your joystick and maybe using a bigger "analog joystick deadzone" setting in MAME.

[u_rebelscum]

I just tested it with an analog controller...  As long as you are moving in a direction it works right, but when it's centered, I keep moving like you describe.

Sure seems like a Mame bug...  

I thought i remembered another thread where u_rebelscum told everyone how to fix it so you can use an analog stick and have it stop when the stick is centered

Hmm, I don't remember that thread, but writing this post seems familiar...

I'm able to play with the analog stick on my gamepad, stand-n-throw and all (mostly).  In my case, I had to increase the X axis sensitivity to 125% so I could move straight left.  And to stand-n-throw, I need to be pushing a little in the direction I want to throw or else I face right.  Either I need to re-calibrate the gamepad in windows, or the default "center" in mame is a little to the right of what the game thinks is center.

To stand-n-throw, you need an analog stick.  Pushing a little in a direction makes you face (and throw) that way; pushing more makes you run that way.

If you have to play with a digital stick and want to be able to stop when the stick is centered, you can edit the source (src/drivers/foodf.c) and add the "IPF_CENTER" flag to the input type (lines 249, 252, 255 & 258, as of mame 0.72u2):
PORT_ANALOG( 0xff, 0x7f, IPT_AD_STICK_X | IPF_PLAYER1 | IPF_REVERSE | IPF_CENTER, 100, 10, 0, 255 )
However, standing and changing the direction you face without moving will be hard if not impossible.  Plus then you can't really throw in any direction but the 8-ways.

[u_rebelscum]

I believe it was a matter of callibrating your joystick and maybe using a bigger "analog joystick deadzone" setting in MAME.

"analog joystick deadzone" is only used when converting analog joystick device inputs to game digital inputs; ie: analog joystick to play pacman.  Since the FoodFight game input is analog too, mame does not use this setting.