Playing Trackball Games with a Stick

[Zobeid]

When I designed my control panel I knew I wanted it small and simple, and one way I achieved that was by not having a trackball.  I took a hard look at the small number of trackball games that interested me and decided it wasn't worth putting one in.  I mean. . .   Missile Command, Centipede & Millipede, Marble Madness.  I knew there were others around, but those were the trackball games I really remembered and liked from ye good olde days.  (I did see a Quantum machine once, but it was merely a novelty to me.)

And yet, once the thing was built, it was inevitable that at some point I was going to try playing those games just to see how they worked with a stick. 

Wait!  Is that heresy?  Or just plain old sacrilege?

Remember that all of these games were ported to home computers and game consoles, and the ports generally used 8-way sticks.  So I figured, playing them with a U360 analog stick might not be authentic, but at least it beats an 8-way stick.

The first thing I learned was, I had to configure the "dead zone" of the stick to about 0.06 or 0.07.  That keeps it from wandering around when I'm not pushing on it, but it doesn't leave a large gap or blind spot in the middle of its range.

Next thing to adjust is sensitivity.  I started with 20% on Millipede and my gun was moving pretty fast, it was hard to control precisely.  I experimented a little and ended up at 9%.  It's a compromise between having fine control and being able to dart around the screen quickly.

Marble Madness I reduced from 30% to 17%.  Obviously it doesn't feel the same as spinning a trackball, but in terms of game playing success -- I did about as well as I ever do.  (Which is nothing to brag on.)

It is possible to get by without a trackball.  Die hard fans of these games would never be happy playing them with a stick, I'm sure. . .  but I can live with it.