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Console Emulators and Joysticks
Peja:
Hey everyone.....now that my monitor is working, it is time to focus on my control panel for my dynamo showcase cab. I am going with a quad panel since I will entertain friends and family often with it.
I want to play MAME, NES, SNES, and Dreamcast for sure....possibly N64 as well. But mostly it is for MAME and Dreamcast (Virtua Tennis, PowerStone, Blitz, NBA Jamz).
Are the Dreamcast controllers originally analog? Is my only option really a U360 joystick or does Dreamcast play just fine with an 8-way? Perhaps someone who has these emulators set up on their system can let me know.
Thanks,
Peja
mgb:
I've never used the Dreamcast emulators but I have a Dreamcast so I can tell you that it kinda depends on the game. The controller has both a thumb d-pad and an analog stick. Besides it 4 digital buttons, it also has 2 analog triggers.
I believe alot of games will control with either the analog stick or the d-pad but there maybe some games that will not play well with your setup.
This is some times the problem with home stand up emulation cabs. We just can't play every game (not the way they were meant to be played, anyway)
I have Virtua Tennis, so I can see how it plays with the d-pad but I think the analog would be smoother.
With most emulators, I'd think you'd be able to configure the controls for however it suits you, so if a game normally uses an analog control, I would think the emulator would allow you to set it up for use with an 8-way, but gameplay may not be as enjoyable.
Aberran:
U360 is about the only analog solution that is what I would consider affordable. Combining it with other controls can be limiting. You have very few options for trigger buttons but most games short of racing do not use the analog inputs for them. If your playing a racing game why not just use some pedals right? Most games will work with the digital controls the few that don't you can either play with a gamepad or not at all or hobble together some virtual control setup with a U360 and your other controls (might only be needed in games that need a dpad and analog and more than 4 other buttons). As you can see with all those qualifiers you down to a small amount of games that are going need it but if they are ones you plan on wanting to play arcade style I say go for it.
Most analog only games use the same stick for menus some use the dpad the latter are going be your most problematic. I am planning on making a modular designed arcade controller "portable like" not cabinet like. In it I would make a "hitbox" like panel in which buttons replace a dpad for menus. I guess you could also get a compact style digital stick and put it up to one corner out of the way for the times you need two sticks. My ideal setup would be a switch to toggle between dpad and analog stick so it could serve double duty, but I warn you now that is much more trouble than its worth.
Hope all that makes sense ... its just what I have discovered so far.
Aberran
Peja:
Interesting Abberan( I have followed your other post about on the fly switching)......I guess I pretty much have to go with the U360 then. Hopefully it plays nice with nullDC and the Dreamcast games. Unfortunately, it may be kind of pricy since I will probably need 4 of them. Unless, I should just go with 4/8 way for player 3 and 4, but when playing games like Virtua Tennis and Powerstone you kind of need the whole range of motion which an analog would provide. Hopefully the few games I do plan on playing will use the analog as an up and down for menus. Too bad there is no document that lets you know which games do and which don't.....wishful thinking I suppose.
I assume a dedicated 4 way wouldn't act as a dpad for menus would it? Since I am going with the pre-made north coast panel cut out, I could always put one in there. Otherwise I will leave it out and just use the U360s.
mgb......concerning the two rear analog triggers, could something like that be mapped to two of my buttons on my CP? Each player will have 6-7 buttons at their station.
Thanks for the response from both of you.
nick3092:
Or for DC games, you could just use some wireless 360 controllers with the windows receiver. The layout is pretty close to the original. Then use your regular controls for other stuff.