Post subject: An unfortunate loss
JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
It was a day like any other, dancing through the nuances of a tool-assisted speedrun. Today's was Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. I was preparing to slide when I realized my buttons weren't registering. Obviously Windows was doing something idiotic. After a few uninstalls and reinstalls of the driver, I began to rethink this claim. I tried my other PS2->USB adapter, still with no luck. Finally, I tried another PS controller, and... it worked. I regret to inform everyone that my trusty Performance PS1 controller, which I have used on every TAS I've done so far (except Smash TV), has been called for its time. I especially liked the D-pad on this controller. Very easy to press, and clear which direction I was pressing in (unlike standard PS controllers). Rest In Peace, buddy!
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Former player
Joined: 7/12/2004
Posts: 524
Location: USA
Funny, just today my old and trustee PSX controller I've had for years and use with a USB adapter started messing up. The R1 button doesn't work anymore. :\ Atleast I have two other buttons I can map it to. RIP JXQ's controller!
Working on: Command and Conquer PSX Nod Campaign
Former player
Joined: 3/30/2004
Posts: 1354
Location: Heather's imagination
Well, I'm glad someone at least likes circular D-pads. I personally hate them quite a bit.
someone is out there who will like you. take off your mask so they can find you faster. I support the new Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun.
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Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 2687
Location: Seattle, WA
While I generally dislike using gamepads with frame advance, I still empathize.
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Joined: 4/24/2005
Posts: 612
When using a gamepad, are you able to configure frame advance to a button on the gamepad? I don't remember if that is possible since my PS2 USB adaptor died out quite some time ago. If that is possible (with Mupen at least) then I think I'd start doing a couple of N64 Tases. Oh Yeah, sorry about your gamepad. It's dead now! I remember I had a PS2 controller with turbo (which isn't anything new) that allowed PSX games that didn't support the analog sticks to be able to use the left analog stick for the D-Pads movement, it wasn't perfect but it was really cool. This isn't really relevant to the topic, I'm afraid.
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Location: Massachussetts, USA
VANDAL wrote:
When using a gamepad, are you able to configure frame advance to a button on the gamepad? I don't remember if that is possible since my PS2 USB adaptor died out quite some time ago. If that is possible (with Mupen at least) then I think I'd start doing a couple of N64 Tases.
I would as well- I'm sorta cheating out by doing Kirby 64 100%, of which there is no need for the analog stick. hehe I also don't have any such controllers to plug into the computer, I use my keyboard.
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Tub
Joined: 6/25/2005
Posts: 1377
It's in a better place now.
m00
Joined: 5/3/2004
Posts: 1203
I am reminded of Gary Leising's desolate hymn:
Afterlife You'll get out of one car, slide into another, and when the road beneath it stops rolling away, you'll know you're there. At first light, the rooster tells the truth: he crows whenever you want to wake up—his calling advises the balloon that lifts the sun. When you're dirty, it will rain, the water any temperature you like. In your small home—a fairy tale one, once home to three bears or Red-Riding-Hood's grandmother— you'll find a family of gray foxes. They'll forage in the nearby woods for food, and drop what they find in your picnic basket. You'll spend days lying in flowerbeds, only your face poking through the thick blanket of pansies, where you wait for butterflies to land on your tongue. Their flavors, matched to wing-colors, delight you so. Until one day, twenty, maybe thirty years later, you swallow a solid black one. Its taste, a mix of licorice and blood, makes you realize, finally, you're alone.
Joined: 5/2/2006
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Location: Boulder, CO
40 on the curb TT
Has never colored a dinosaur.
Skilled player (1886)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2160
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
So you TAS with a gamepad too, JXQ? I have an almost identical gamepad myself when I TAS. Do you have any hotkeys assigned to any buttons? I have assigned pause game to "R1", save state to "R2", frame advance to "L1" and load state to "L2". So you can imagine me buttonmashing those L and R buttons when I speedrun. :) other than that, I have the normal buttons assigned to the rest. I think it's really comfortable to TAS with a gamepad, and I can't think about doing it without it, but that's probably just me. :P Oh, and I'm sorry about your loss, but hopefully you can TAS as well with a PS-controller. Good luck!
Former player
Joined: 3/10/2006
Posts: 347
Location: Maryland, United States
I originally used my PS2 controller for TASing, but I found the regular ol' keyboard to be a lot more easier on my fingers.
JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
I actually don't assign the hotkeys to the controller as well. The reason is because there aren't enough buttons for me to assign them all to the controller, so I would end up using the keyboard for some anyway. It also puts a nice distinction in my mind - for things the game normally does, I use the game's normal button on the controller. For the TAS aspect, I have a secondary device which is "above" the normal control of the game, so to speak. Frame advance: Backslash Pause: Enter Speed up: Equals Speed down: Minus Speed 100%: Backspace Fast-Forward: Tab Load State: 0 through 9 Save State: Shift-0 through Shift-9 Read-only Toggle: Shift-F8 I switch the loading and saving to number keys instead of F-keys because the F-keys on my laptop, which I sometimes TAS on, are really really small. Thanks for the support everyone! :')
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
With every great end, there is a new beginning to find..
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
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Joined: 4/20/2005
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Location: Norrköping, Sweden
Haha, cool, my gamepad is almost identical to yours. :) My roommate has that exact gamepad I think. Mine is a little special though, it has analog sticks and a program that assigns keys to the gamepad's buttons. :P But that gamepad is pretty close to the PS gamepad, so I think you'll like it.
JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
It actually is approx. fifty times better than a PS pad because my directional pad isn't hidden behind the controller frame where I can barely push a diagonal! Ten bucks at Target!
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Former player
Joined: 2/2/2005
Posts: 198
Gamepads, pff. Real men TAS with keyboards.
JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
Real men must have trouble when they have to press more than three keys at once!
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Former player
Joined: 2/2/2005
Posts: 198
That's what the "hold key" function is for, you son of a silly person.
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Location: Newfoundland, Canada
My PSX -> USB controller stopped working like a week ago for 2 days... but works fine now.
Editor, Experienced player (730)
Joined: 6/13/2006
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Location: Massachussetts, USA
Randil wrote:
Haha, cool, my gamepad is almost identical to yours. :) My roommate has that exact gamepad I think. Mine is a little special though, it has analog sticks and a program that assigns keys to the gamepad's buttons. :P But that gamepad is pretty close to the PS gamepad, so I think you'll like it.
I actually bought a Logitech gamepad that is pretty much the same setup as yours, with two analog sticks, a circular D-Pad, and 10 configurable buttons, 4 of them on the front side like in JXQ's. I actually find putting pause/unpause and Frame advance as two different buttons on the gamepad is very nice, since I use JoyToKey I can also use the kryboard to do those two things, since holding the frame advance button on the gamepad does not make it go in frame advance slow motion, wheras holding the keyboard key does. I love my gamepad, it is perfect for doing test runs/experimenting in real time with levels, and is essential for N64 games.
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Tub
Joined: 6/25/2005
Posts: 1377
JXQ wrote:
It actually is approx. fifty times better than a PS pad because my directional pad isn't hidden behind the controller frame where I can barely push a diagonal!
I will not have you talk like that about your deceased controller. It never let you down it's whole life. Show some respect! It must be rolling in it's grave to see just grab the next best cheap thing around, touching it in it's most sensitive areas. on another note, how do you gamepad-users keep control over 4 buttons with just one thumb? I once tried playing Super Metroid with my gamepad, and failed miserably. On my keyboard I have 3 fingers for 4 buttons, and all is well.
m00
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Location: Massachussetts, USA
I find Snes I use the keyboard, since Z X C V can handle the B X Y A buttons on the Snes controller. I find L and R not used, but they're Q and W for ease. plus F for Frame advance and D for pause/unpause. The gamepad really comes in handy for N64 emulation, since the analog stick is superior to the TAS input Plugin for a few things. while the plugin can have much greater precision control, you must use frame advance exclusively to do so, and cannot do real time test runs of levels.
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JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
Tub, the Playstation controller I'm referring to is the standard one that I've only used for a few weeks since my previous awesome (also Playstation, but off-brand) controller stopped working. And my new controller is only cheap because many players don't see the value in a non-dual-analog controller anymore. No disrespect to my old (good) controller :) But that standard PS controller bites. The only reason it hasn't died too is because I try to use it as little as possible for the sake of my hand. With Super Metroid, I could press a direction, L, B, A, X and still use my pinky for frame advance, which is what I normally use. Of course, I'm using more than one thumb to press these, so I might be misunderstand something about your question. Super Metroid is one of the tougher games to keep button presses straight, though.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Morrison
He/Him
Former player
Joined: 8/2/2006
Posts: 195
Location: USA
I can't imagine tasing with a controller. Sounds far too awkward for me. Someone should make a poll, because after reading this thread, I get the impression that most players use controllers.
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I tried using my gamepad to do some practice runs, but I couldn't get FCEU to bind any functions (frame advance etc) to the buttons.