snes - mario all stars (multiple emulators)

[Venomouse]

Hi Guys,

I have created an arcade cabinet with 8 way joysticks etc,
I am playing Super mario 1 (tried multiple emulators) zsnes etc..

The trouble I'm finding in using a joystick vs the gamepad....

with the gamepad you can make small adjustments with your jump in the air to help with landing, with the joystick, this doesn't appear to work.


anyone else seen this or know how to fix? (arcade controls work fine for all other games and emulators)

Cheers
V

[Venomouse]

maybe i just suck now ?

[DaveMMR]

I'm guessing here but it could have to do with the travel and dead zone on your stick. If it takes more distance to trigger the direction (unlike an official game pad which triggers with standard pressure), it is going to be harder to adjust jumps.

I think the old Nintendo Vs. machines had a small amount of travel - less than , for example, SFII or MK. 

If you have a U360 or something similar, you can create a map with a smaller dead zone. Otherwise, short of making a shorter-throw stick or panel, you may have to relearn these games for your machine.

[Howard_Casto]

And here it pops up.  Whenever somebody starts a thread regarding playing console games on a arcade cab I tell them quite bluntly not to do it because they won't be satisfied with the experience.  This is one of the reasons why.  Games originally meant for a gamepad don't play well on anything other than that gamepad.  Of course I always get chewed out for my advice.... 

As Dave points out, Nintendo used a custom joystick for their arcade games, including VS SMB.  It's essentially a micro joystick, with a very short throw, so it works with a lot of console games.  Your typical suzo/happs giant  8-way is going to be fairly awful for console games though. 

[Vigo]

People have had USB gamepads that they have hanging on their machine for cases where they don't want a joystick.

[Venomouse]

cheers  at least it makes sense now

[Howard_Casto]

A shorter shaft equates to a short throw in this instance because the joystick itself is so tiny.  You can't compensate for a jump with a larger stick, it just takes too much time to rock it back and forth, but you can with the nintendo stick. 

I'm sorry your thumbs are slow, most people's aren't. 

Most people play track and field on a gamepad with a finger on each button, just like in the arcades.  You've been doing it wrong. 

Again, I'm not sure what issues you have with your thumb, but I've actually found fighters, even arcade fighters to play BETTER with a d-pad.... it's more accurate then most joysticks... not that it has anything to do with this particular question, I just thought I would mention it since you said so matter of factly that arcade controls are more accurate when in fact they have a lot of "slop" due to their long throws and spring loaded nature.  Many people prefer them, myself included, but they are actually less accurate compared to a d-pad.  (p.s.  Only nintendo does a true d-pad, they have a patent for it. All other companies have to make it slightly different, thus why the d-pad on a 360 controller or psx controller sucks.  So when I say d-pad, I'm referring to a nintendo controller.) 

There is a black and white answer in this case.....  games play differently on different control setups.... this isn't an opinion, it's fact.  Now which one you prefer is another story, but odds are, if you are used to playing a game in the arcade you are going to have trouble adjusting to using a gamepad and vice-versa. 

My stance has never been that one or the other is better, but rather that the games were deisgned with one control type in mind and if you use the wrong one you are not getting the intended experience.  Emulation doesn't end at the software... the interfeace plays a part as well, or else we would all be playing this stuff on our keyboard.