• As part of the relaunch of Skullheart, ALL previous threads have been archived. You can find them at the bottom of the forum in the Archives (2021) section. The archives are locked, so please use the new forum sections to create new discussion threads.

Controller/Stick General Questions and Discussion

I got a random question that doesn't warrant its own thread: Which lasts longer, sticks or gamepads?

Whether fighting sticks or controllers are better is irrelevant, since it's a matter of preference, but I'm starting to wonder if sticks can take more use than gamepads. Their parts are mechanical, more modular and replaceable, easily skinned and prettied up, etc.

One of my friends from the MvC3 scene said he could get so many thousands of presses out of a gamepad before the buttons stopped working. Rubber contacts can only take so much, I guess? (Probably fixable with fresh buttons, but I've never encountered this problem myself to know. I've never killed a controller before, even while modding their PCBs.)

Or maybe first-party controllers last seemingly forever, I didn't ask him if he used third-party stuff. My old, USB-modded, S-Type original XBOX controller is still going fine 68 hours into playing SkullGirls, and there's no telling what abuse it took before I bought it used.
 
I have never met anyone who hasn't said that sticks last longer than pads. Even people who prefer playing pad say that pads will usually last a few months, I have never had a pad last longer than 6 months and I was kinda pushing it at that point. Meanwhile sticks will easily last for years. The tradeoff of course is that sticks are more expensive than pads, but I think sticks will still be more cost efficient over time.
 
You get what you pay for, I agree. I always pay extra for things I want to last.

It's good to know that's a general consensus on sticks vs pads! I had a gut feeling that was the case, but I wanted to be sure and ask somebody who knew about this stuff. I'll think about researching for a stick when I have the money to drop on a good one.
 
Bleediss said:
Anyone ever used a Hori Commander 4 for this game? If so, how well would you say it worked for you?
like, the button layout or the hardware?
 
The d pad is amazing, the buttons are well placed enough, but you will need to use the triggers to press multiple buttons without screwing up
 
Bleediss said:
Anyone ever used a Hori Commander 4 for this game? If so, how well would you say it worked for you?

i was gonna be all sarcastic because i remembered posting about the fc4 before and I thought it was on the previous page of this thread but apparently i posted it in an entirely different thread whoops. Anyway, copypasting:

Pickles said:
Good buttons, good dpad. The one downside (and the reason I returned mine) is that on console versions of SG (haven't tested with other games) L3/R3 do not register as buttons (this applies to both the fc4 and the other one). The reason this can be an issue is because the x and square buttons on the pad are much lower relative to the shoulder buttons, so if you don't play with 6 face buttons and want to use it like a dualshock controller its a bit of a stretch for your hand. Fortunately the pad has a setting you can change to allow the r1/r2 buttons on the shoulder to be L3/R3 instead so that the R1/R2 buttons on the face are different than the ones on the shoulder; however, as mentioned this will not work on console versions of SG. If you only play on PC though then its fine.

tl;dr great pad but if you want to use it with 4 face buttons and 4 shoulder buttons like a more conventional pad its harder.
 
It's pretty much muscle memory for every controller?
Just grind them combos for 30 minutes, if you can't get it down at least 7 times out of 10 you should probably go back to what you were using before.
 
Last edited:
Fumako said:
Just grind them combos for 30 minutes, if you can't get it down at least 7 times out of 10 you should probably go back to what you were using before.

this is probably true when comparing controllers of the same design but I would expect it would take a lot longer than half an hour to go from 6 face button to 4 face button controller.

Combos usually end up being mostly muscle memory yes, so the only solution is to just practice until you either learn it or decide you really don't like a new control scheme.
 
Well, I got stupidly lucky on Saturday. A game shop at one of the local malls was liquidating because their lease expired, and I found a MadCatz Brawlstick for the 360 for $6. It works decently, but the LB pushbutton has been spotty on registering. I'm not sure if it is wiring or the pushbutton itself, and I'm wondering if I should replace the buttons myself.
 
I really like the feel of the ball top, but I also like the larger stick that a bat top makes.

are there any advantages or disadvantages with ball and bat tops?
 
Shantih3x said:
I'm not sure if it is wiring or the pushbutton itself, and I'm wondering if I should replace the buttons myself.
It's not a difficult task at all if you're not afraid of using a soldering iron. I'd say go for it - start by just re-soldering the connections for the dodgy button and see if that fixes it, and if not just swap it out.
 
Shantih3x said:
Well, I got stupidly lucky on Saturday. A game shop at one of the local malls was liquidating because their lease expired, and I found a MadCatz Brawlstick for the 360 for $6. It works decently, but the LB pushbutton has been spotty on registering. I'm not sure if it is wiring or the pushbutton itself, and I'm wondering if I should replace the buttons myself.

Brawlstick buttons are crap and in the best case they'll wear out in a couple of months. But it's almost certainly the buttons, not the wiring. You can check by opening it up and swapping the buttons around. It takes no soldering or even effort, just unscrewing plastic nuts and swapping quick disconnects.

In general I'd say to buy a set of 8 Sanwa buttons and swap them out, no soldering necessary. It takes no effort or pre-knowledge. I assume the stick will wear out eventually as well, but I don't know first hand.
 
Didn't know that the brawlstick used quick disconnects. That makes life even easier.
 
Does anyone remember the Skullheart ball top for fight sticks that was posted on the internet some time ago?
Also where would one be able to get it without having to defeating a SkullGirl IRL?
 
Hello, I've been thinking of building a hitbox for myself with no prior experience of anything similar but I have some questions. I found this https://www.focusattack.com/ps3-pc-zero-delay-usb-encoder-pcb-american-style-controls/ and I would like to ask if this will work with Skullgirls for PS4. After reading the soldering for beginners that Vadsamoht linked I've been thinking that I might manage some simple soldering, I have a friend that won't mind giving me his Hori fightstick mini PS3 so maybe I should instead mod that to a hitbox instead? How hard would that be do you think?

Since this wont be a replacement for my keyboard but I want something that works with PS4 I'm not really ready to spend a fortune on this. Which option do you think I should go with? Build one from scratch if the PCB I linked works with Skullgirls, or mod a Hori mini PS3 if it's not too hard?

(Feels bad man, I deleted my post seeing that there was a Skullmod forum thinking that I should post there instead. Just to find out that they were talking about game modding and not hardware modding...)
 
Waifu Collector said:
Since this wont be a replacement for my keyboard but I want something that works with PS4 I'm not really ready to spend a fortune on this. Which option do you think I should go with? Build one from scratch if the PCB I linked works with Skullgirls, or mod a Hori mini PS3 if it's not too hard?
I'd suggest rebuilding the whole thing from scratch if you can, but keep in mind that that means you'll have to build another box to hold it all, so you'd need some basic woodworking or plastic-working equipment.

Also, plan out your button layout as carefully as you can, because comfortable button positioning is something you will want. I made several prototypes out of cardboard boxes and then played SFIV with them for a few hours before tweaking the design.
 
Actually, I apologize for raising this thread once more from the crypt, but, I actually want to start playing SG on steam, but my keyboard game is well... Not easily my best. I use a mac, but from what I garner, using an Xbox 360 Controller is near impossible (And albeit a bit more confusing for me to follow when someone tried once helping me installing a certain driver for it.) and that said, I'd love to know if there was a good game pad for the mac?

I'm hoping to save up some cash on the side to get a Ps4 for the physical release of SG, but for now I don't want to get rusty on the game while also playing SG mobile.

Any ideas?
 
Personally, I've played with an xbox360 controller for a while and yes it is suboptimal but definitively usable.

Afterwards, I've moved to hori mini stick (about 40$). The quality of my game didn't increase at all but i liked the vintage vibe of playing with a stick (I used to play sf2 at the arcades in the 90s). In the end I moved to the hori rap4 (about 100$).

In summary, in my experience the controller won't be a limit for you for quite a long time. Anyway if you are kind of interested in a fightstick go ahead and catch a hori rap4 or equivalent, you won't be disappointed.



Inviato dal mio ASUS_Z00AD utilizzando Tapatalk
 
His issue is using a controller on OSX, which I also know nothing about.

The physical release was only available in November, unless there are extraneous circumstances I'm unaware of.

I like keyboard, but if it has ghosting issues or you have fat fingers then I guess it won't work. Mechanical keyboards never have ghosting.
 
Hi, I'm on OSX.
Pretty sure an xbox 360 controller works fine without having to install any drivers or programs?
 
Fumako said:
Hi, I'm on OSX.
Pretty sure an xbox 360 controller works fine without having to install any drivers or programs?
Ciao! I tried using my old xbox 360 controller on my OSX, but, unfortunately, nothing really works? (Like, the game doesn't pick it up at all! I just... slapped on the usb wire / charger and connected it to my mac, but, nothing. Of course, that said, it's likely the case because the usb wire is the charger?)

Once I plugged in my controller and tried booting it up, the controller doesn't recognize the mac, and no matter what I tried, nothing worked as of yet, just a blinking green light on the controller. Oh, and in response to the other kind reply I got, my fingers aren't as... "mobile" as I'd like them to be! They're huge for a keyboard. So, that's why I'm sort of just outright confused, normally I thought the 360 controller needed no special programs, but most of my friends have modded controllers in my university so, I just thought it was common place to have some driver or program, considering mine hasn't responded to anything I've tried.

Frankly, I'm almost at a lost in the idea of it, I would like to buy a fight stick, but, I'm more used to a gamepad controller, and for now, I'm practically stuck on keyboard trying to do a basic combo without flubbing up some way some how.
 
ok, so, my experience is with ps3 controllers but it might be relevant.
Same thing happens with my ps3 controller, here's my fix:
Try to connect it via bluetooth.

If it doesn't work, I'll look up how to install drivers, which boils down to:
> Download driver
> Double click to install driver
 
Try opening Steam Big Picture mode and configuring the controller there, that usually gets SG to pick up on it. You can exit BPM afterwards, just use it to get to the controller setup menu.
 
missingno said:
Try opening Steam Big Picture mode and configuring the controller there, that usually gets SG to pick up on it. You can exit BPM afterwards, just use it to get to the controller setup menu.
Hm... I tried that just a while back, but nope, no response on that! Just the same blinking green controller once more. I did however see that they had a Ps controller setup and an Xbox, so, most likely my problem is the fact that I'll have to either get a wired controller, or, I'll need a bluetooth controller / Wireless adapter outfitted on my controller (All three, I apparently do not have unfortunately, as my controller is just a regular plain old wireless controller I just slapped on the usb charger to since it seemed logical. No bluetooth or wireless adapter built in.)

That aside, to @Fumako, thank you for that! I'm going to try and borrow a friend's Ps3 / 4 controller and test it out to see if I get any better luck on a working controller!

Truly, thank you guys for all the help you've been giving me, I mean it!
 
I want to mod my Hori RAP4 and/or build a hitbox. Are there any online stores that specialize in selling parts and can ship to Europe with reasonable fees? Amazon.it isn't helping me in finding an octagonal restrictor.

FYI the parts I'm interested in (apart from the restrictor) are silent buttons of varying sizes, adaptors for smaller buttons so that they can be put in cases with bigger holes (if these adaptors even exist) and one of those battops that I've seen on some custom sticks.

Also, is it possible to make the ball/battop not rotate on the stick part when being moved? Just curious.

EDIT: I found this arcadeshock site that says they deliver worldwide but I can't find info on their fees. Putting an item in the cart and checking out doesn't show me any shipping fee even after setting the location to Italy.
 
Last edited:
Has anybody figured out how to map motions or sequential button presses to buttons on Steam's Controller Config? It seems viable, what with the "multi-button binding" and "cycle binding" options, but my Google-fu fails me.

This could also have interesting ramifications for general online play, as it means any Steam game could have a "shoryuken button."

I've found this article, detailing pressing buttons at the same time among remaps. Here's what I've tried so far, but it hasn't worked.

upload_2017-12-29_23-36-16.png

It seems possible, so I'll tackle it some more later. Thanks!
 
So, I got it to work with Fight of Gods. "Add Activator" + "Delayed Start" = input chains. Set the controller button to press the keyboard keys in order, and it'll run the sequence.

So, for a heavy Hadoken:

upload_2017-12-31_3-31-21.png

upload_2017-12-31_3-31-52.png

upload_2017-12-31_3-32-13.png

This seems remarkably open ended. I'm just beginning to discover the potential of these options- it looks like, for instance, you could set an RPG to go auto-pilot. Or farm a "free to play" grind. I want to see if I can get Zangief's super move and Sakura's EX-tatsu -> volleyball punch combo to work at the press of a button in SF4. And, since you can use Steam to run non-Steam games and apply controller configurations to them, this means Steam can macro any game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vadsamoht
Does anyone here prefer using a 360 or Xbone controller for PC? As an owner of both systems (with Skullgirls installed on both too lol) I’m wondering which of my already owned controllers feels better to use.
 
You’ll play better with the controller you feels best with, not with a controller that everyone else says is the best. Don’t forget, you can be a contender with any controller, even and old PS1 controller.
 
Playing with an Xbox controller on PC for the time being, but I’m hoping to upgrade to an arcade stick. I’m a little broke at the moment and would much prefer not to drop $500 on a decent stick. I’m used to fighting games but I’ve always stuck to that of MK and Injustice, which play much better with D-pad inputs, but this game feels like it would play much better on a stick. Is using a D-pad for this sort of shindig hindering, or does it not even matter?

EDIT: I know this ultimately factors down to personal preference, but I want to get an idea of what works best for other people so I could excitement a little
 
Last edited:
I love using the Nacon pro controller 2 in GGXrd. Even better than with a keyboard.
 
Shun said:
Playing with an Xbox controller on PC for the time being, but I’m hoping to upgrade to an arcade stick. I’m a little broke at the moment and would much prefer not to drop $500 on a decent stick. I’m used to fighting games but I’ve always stuck to that of MK and Injustice, which play much better with D-pad inputs, but this game feels like it would play much better on a stick. Is using a D-pad for this sort of shindig hindering, or does it not even matter?

EDIT: I know this ultimately factors down to personal preference, but I want to get an idea of what works best for other people so I could excitement a little

If you're playing on PC, my suggestion is always to start out by finding a second-hand stick on ebay or somewhere and using that - people are often forced to upgrade sticks because of a new console and so the used ones online are often in perfect working order. It'd be way cheaper, and gives you a way of finding out if you like using a stick and what you'd want out of a stick without having to invest so heavily into it. At worst, you can always just sell it on again for a similar price.
 
also, you can get a good stick for a much more affordable price than 400 bucks.

Qanba makes great sticks that are in the 100=300 price range.
like I've heard the Qanba Obsidian is a good stick
http://a.co/6Bg4T7G
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vadsamoht
I can also vouch for the Hori RAP sticks. though, I prefer sanwa buttons, the hayabusa buttons aren't bad.
 
Dunno how active this thread is anymore but I've had my experience with fighting games on Steam ruined by the new update. Checking my input in Skullgirls training and the game won't read my UpBack or Downforward unless I mash the corner, so I can't reliably input those for movement/specials/supers. Checked my devices input tester and it had no problems, so I can't tell if the problem's somehow on Steam's end or my controller. I play on a Hori RAP4 and have had no problems with it until now. I tested inputs on Skullgirls, Them's Fightin' Herds, and GGXACPR and the problem was the same across all three.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back