Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Zobeid on May 17, 2008, 11:00:12 pm
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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.