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Are some games too fast or am I too old?
negative1:
--- Quote from: Zebidee on October 07, 2022, 08:56:28 pm ---
--- Quote from: negative1 on October 07, 2022, 11:16:19 am ---i use 8 way joystick for pac-man - can still hit the killscreen
--- Quote from: leapinlew on October 06, 2022, 06:21:10 pm ---Defender - must have leaf buttons. Qbert has to have angled joystick. It's subjective to the game.
I've seen people struggle with Ms. Pacman and an 8 way joystick, but it sure didn't seem to impact their enjoyment. They just didn't care and I guess they assumed it was their lack of skill.
--- End quote ---
i can hit 200k on defender with a 4 way joystick, don't need the original.
qbert, just use an 8 way - still hit a million
you don't need the originals to play well, just need enough knowlege of the
levels and enemy behaviour.
--- End quote ---
I used to play Defender with a keyboard and was deadly at it :lol (PC version of course, in olden days before mame).
More important IMO for all these games is dedicated single-player controls. No two or four-player panels, like most of our first mame cabs. You want the joystick (whatever it is) right in front of you, and you right in front of the screen. Especially for the 4-way games on an 8-way. Otherwise it is too easy to mix up right with right-up, and so forth.
A while back I restored/rebuilt a 20" vertical cab with a single 8-way joystick and a couple of buttons. Threw in a 60-in-one PCB. Loved it for all those classic games, was the best for Galaga. Emulation wasn't perfect but the controls were. Still, Ladybug was challenging, is a fun 4-way game and you have to get the turns perfectly like in Pacman. I still suck at both.
I'm going to build another little 20" vertical cab soon, and it will have just one joystick. Watch this space... :D
--- End quote ---
i only play single player games, so multiple controls don't impact me at all.
later
-1
Zebidee:
--- Quote from: negative1 on October 10, 2022, 08:59:59 am ---i only play single player games, so multiple controls don't impact me at all.
--- End quote ---
On a single-player control panel? Then we have found something we definitely agree upon \o/
RandyT:
Most people don't devote their lives to achieving high-scores and just want to play games as true to the originals as is currently possible. In that sense, poor controls just make the games more difficult (even than they were in the arcades) and generally less enjoyable to play.
IMHO, if you are playing an old-school, rapid-fire game like Defender or digital pinball with anything on your buttons but true leaf-switches, then you are doing it wrong :)
leapinlew:
--- Quote from: negative1 on October 10, 2022, 08:58:37 am ---
--- Quote from: leapinlew on October 07, 2022, 03:16:36 pm ---
--- Quote from: negative1 on October 07, 2022, 11:16:19 am ---i can hit 200k on defender with a 4 way joystick, don't need the original.
qbert, just use an 8 way - still hit a million
you don't need the originals to play well, just need enough knowlege of the
levels and enemy behaviour.
--
even marble madness 2 which i'm playing now uses a joystick instead of a trackball,
and its still very playable. (although i haven't finished it yet, although many others have).
--- End quote ---
For Defender, I was specifically referring to leafswitch buttons, not joystick. And Marble Madness 2 was designed for a joystick, so....
Understood that people can adapt. I'm sure people are scoring high scores playing paperboy with a joystick on the Arcade1up's, but I would hope we would all agree that the original controls enhance the game. For some people "enhancing the game" means high scores, but a high score isn't the only metric to be used. The original sentiment of the thread is that for many folks, the original controls are best because the game was designed with them in mind. I don't think that you can argue against that. Basically, using different controls will most likely equal different results.
My example specifically stated that it was easier to use alternate controls, therefore, getting a high score isn't a good way to determine if it helps or hurts the game.
--- End quote ---
i don't really care what type of buttons are being used, still doesn't make a difference for me.
as far as high scores go, what else is there.
if you really don't care, then there's no point in playing, might as well randomly hit buttons,
and throw your quarter down the drain.
also, if you don't care about scores, the controls don't matter either.
later
-1
--- End quote ---
Getting further in the game? Completing the game quickly? Enjoying the experience? It's not just score. Sheesh. I can flip Galaga, and I do very well at lots of other games, so it's not like I'm not able to achieve high score. I'm just not foolish enough to say the controls don't matter.
negative1:
--- Quote from: leapinlew on October 10, 2022, 10:26:26 pm ---
--- Quote from: negative1 on October 10, 2022, 08:58:37 am ---
--- Quote from: leapinlew on October 07, 2022, 03:16:36 pm ---
--- Quote from: negative1 on October 07, 2022, 11:16:19 am ---i can hit 200k on defender with a 4 way joystick, don't need the original.
qbert, just use an 8 way - still hit a million
you don't need the originals to play well, just need enough knowlege of the
levels and enemy behaviour.
--
even marble madness 2 which i'm playing now uses a joystick instead of a trackball,
and its still very playable. (although i haven't finished it yet, although many others have).
--- End quote ---
For Defender, I was specifically referring to leafswitch buttons, not joystick. And Marble Madness 2 was designed for a joystick, so....
Understood that people can adapt. I'm sure people are scoring high scores playing paperboy with a joystick on the Arcade1up's, but I would hope we would all agree that the original controls enhance the game. For some people "enhancing the game" means high scores, but a high score isn't the only metric to be used. The original sentiment of the thread is that for many folks, the original controls are best because the game was designed with them in mind. I don't think that you can argue against that. Basically, using different controls will most likely equal different results.
My example specifically stated that it was easier to use alternate controls, therefore, getting a high score isn't a good way to determine if it helps or hurts the game.
--- End quote ---
i don't really care what type of buttons are being used, still doesn't make a difference for me.
as far as high scores go, what else is there.
if you really don't care, then there's no point in playing, might as well randomly hit buttons,
and throw your quarter down the drain.
also, if you don't care about scores, the controls don't matter either.
later
-1
--- End quote ---
Getting further in the game? Completing the game quickly? Enjoying the experience? It's not just score. Sheesh. I can flip Galaga, and I do very well at lots of other games, so it's not like I'm not able to achieve high score. I'm just not foolish enough to say the controls don't matter.
--- End quote ---
true. some games are time based and speed. (marble madness)
some are about getting to the end (dragons lair)
some are about just enjoying the premise.
but the vast majority have scores tied to the gameplay.
and anything that has a leaderboard, are definitely about the scores.
if it didn't matter, they wouldn't let you enter initials or name.
the earliest ones (space invaders, pac man, ms pac man), would only
record the highest score, but no name. so people would definitely be chasing scores on them.
again, for the vast majority of casual players, if the game is hard or the controls are bad, it would make NO difference
since they're only the machine for a few minutes.
i was watching people struggle to play marble madness in a barcade a few years ago.
they just couldn't understand the faster you rolled the trackball, the faster you went.
so people could only get to the 2nd level.
i've mastered the game, so made it to the end. of course i was furiously rolling the trackball,
and people were watching and making comments, like oh that looks hard. well, its supposed to be hard.
only people that played (or wasted) tons of money would get that.
even if the trackballs weren't working, they still wouldn't have made any progress on it.
but i can recognize when things don't work or out of sync, and can adjust.
later
-1