Getting into Shmups for real - how to?

[siemien]

I have a question that involves my friend. I showed him shmups today, allowed to play on his own with arcade stick and he likes it. Problem is that he doesn't have money right now to build an arcade stick, so is it possible to play on gamepad and still have fun and learn all of these amazing games? I mean playing on digital D-pad not analog stick

[qmish]

Arcade stick > keyboard > gamepad

[Kollision]

I played on a gamepad all my life and strongly prefer them over an arcade stick.

I say try everything, use what you're comfortable with and be forever happy.

[qmish]

So your thumbs work better? Cause i'm "other fingers" guy

[siemien]

Why keyboard?

[Shepardus]

Any input device will work, and it's largely up to personal preference which one you should choose. There are very accomplished players using arcade sticks, keyboards, and gamepads.

[qmish]

Why keyboard?

If you're like me and your fingers work better using index, middle and unnamed fingers "hammering" keys. It's also closer to "arcade input" in button placement/how you press them unlike gamepad where you use your thumb and hand is placed differently (unless you put gamepad on knees and try to use it as keyboard/arcade buttons). Stick itself vs. 4 keys vs. d-pad is another talk itself though.

p.s. that being said, it should be good enough kb so you don't have additional lag of key being unpressed

[Giest118]

You should get an arcade stick or else elitists will call you a fraudulent douche face clown ass fuck.

Use a game pad or whatever else you like if you don't care.

[waiwainl]

Still prefer the arcade stick the most - even the cheap ones are good to start.

[siemien]

You should get an arcade stick or else elitists will call you a fraudulent douche face clown ass fuck.

Use a game pad or whatever else you like if you don't care.

I have an arcade stick, but this discussion is about my friend who just gets into shmups and doesn't have cash for AS at this point of life.

[Bananamatic]

keyboard

good pads are hard to get
and for god's sake dont use the analog stick

[Squire Grooktook]

A ps3 or ps4 controller isn't hard to get. Both are solid. I personally use a SNES pad a ton though.

[Shepardus]

Tell your friend that you don't need any special equipment to "get into shmups" - what you do need to do is play the games.

[Hagane]

You don't get as much benefit from using a stick with STGs as you do in fighting games. A decent keyboard works perfectly fine. I hate Sony/Xbox pads but many people do well on them too.

[HydrogLox]

Any input device will work, and it's largely up to personal preference which one you should choose.

For example from What controller do you use for playing STEAM shmups?

I'm thinking about to get that HORI Fighting Commander 4 controller. Btw, what's the best Hori Arcade Stick for PC?

No experience with the stick but I just want to say that the FC4 is brilliant, best d-pad since the Saturn. Its so good I don't even desire an arcade stick.

On the PS3 (for Under Defeat New Order and Ketsui) the "Hori Fighting Commander 3 Pro" has been my go-to controller despite the fact that I own

• Hori Xbox 360 Real Arcade Pro. EX (with Seimitsu buttons) that I can use on an Xbox 360 for those games
• Mayflash PS2 PS3 PC USB Universal Arcade Fighting Stick (with Seimitsu stick and buttons)
• Hori Fighting Stick Mini 3

I could never be bothered to spend enough time with any type of arcade stick - so beware of the "the grass is always greener on the other side" with input controllers - use something that is workable/affordable for you. For the longest time I've used a wired Microsoft Xbox 360 X854237-001 USB controller with Steam games - now joined by a Hori Fighting Commander 4.

If a keyboard works, great - I've always wondered whether a USB numeric keypad could be used to save a laptop or otherwise expensive-to-replace keyboard from an early demise - but I've always been useless with PC games and directional keys (or equivalent).

[trap15]

Tell your friend that you don't need any special equipment to "get into shmups" - what you do need to do is play the games.

Fucking this.

[Strikers1945guy]

keyboard

good pads are hard to get
and for god's sake dont use the analog stick

Gus did and look at him

[ratikal]

Just use whatever. You can eventually be proficient at all 3 control methods.

[d0s]

Honestly I probably do just as well with a good pad as with a stick (never was into keyboards), but the feel of a good stick just makes things more fun to me. YMMV if you never spent much time in arcades though, a lot of it may be nostalgia or something. I just put a LS-56 in my PC/360 stick (originally came with LS-32) and I swear I'm playing more/longer just because it feels so nice.

Really though just use whatever is the most fun for you and don't let elitism or what others are doing sway you if you're not personally comfortable with it.

[Squire Grooktook]

Yeah I feel the same way about pads. When I play in arcades, it just feels off compared to pad based movement. It's a case of growing up with them I suppose.

[Bananamatic]

keyboard

good pads are hard to get
and for god's sake dont use the analog stick

Gus did and look at him

gus used the 360 dpad and i still think he'd do better on a different controller

[Stevens]

I played on a gamepad all my life and strongly prefer them over an arcade stick.

Solidarity baby!

Love sticks for fighters, hate them for shooters.

[Mendeli]

since you have ps2, you should consider pretty much anything on this list: http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sony/ps2 ... ps-library

If I had to choose one, I would go for double shienryu if you can find it. (If your system can only play pal titles then you should look for Steel Dragon EX)

[siemien]

Hello. I was wondering about buying an LCD display with pivot rotation. I should get 4:3 or 16:9? What size is good? Is 19 inch enough or 22 inch?:)

[ProjectAKo]

sonic wings 2 WR with keyboard fam

[CloudyMusic]

Hello. I was wondering about buying an LCD display with pivot rotation. I should get 4:3 or 16:9?

Can you even get LCDs in 4:3 anymore?

Lag (and rotation, if you don't feel like using a VESA mount) should probably be the thing that you look for most. Size is totally up to you. There's a actually pretty wide selection of low-latency monitors out there these days since manufacturers have started to cater specifically to competitive gamers. Just check reviews and you should be fine.

[Xyga]

Can you even get LCDs in 4:3 anymore?

Yes, from NEC and Eizo for instance. Professional grade, not proven to be the most gaming-friendly, and insanely expensive (~$800)

[Obiwanshinobi]

Since my left hand's thumb has been extraordinarily fatigued these days, I'm not much good using d-pad currently (still handy enogh with analogue stick, but digital 8-way controls mapped onto one are not very enjoyable). So I've returned to (mechanical) keyboard as a controller for 2D games... and it turns out I must re-learn pretty much everything about playing them. Like, develop muscular memory anew (even though I'd never ceased playing first person shooters and the likes with a keyboard).

When all is said and done - you must feel comfortable as you play if you wanna improve. I know some enjoy even those 8-way games played with analogue stick (say, GameCube shmups using stock controller), so, different strokes for different folks.

[siemien]

And what lag - ms is enough? 5? 2?

http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-p190s/pd

I can buy this LCD display, 19" 4:3 with pivot/tilt and with a year warranty for around 50 bucks (in my country - Poland). But the reaction time is 5ms. My current display without tilt 16:9 21,5" is Acer G225HQ and also 5 ms. In my opinion I play shmups without any noticable lag

[CloudyMusic]

I'm not exactly an expert on this, but the "response time" figure you'll see on spec sheets isn't the same as what people refer to as "input lag" or "display lag." Rather than try to explain it (and probably get some details wrong), I'll link you to this article that talks about it.

Usually the best way to find a good monitor is to come at it from the other direction: find specific monitors that are known to be good for gaming (the above-mentioned site also has a database, or you can ask for recommendations) and choose one that matches your needs and budget. It'll probably be pretty hard to find out what the lag is like on one specific model unless somebody has done actual measurements on it before, and the odds of that are pretty low, especially for business-class monitors.

That said, for the price you're talking about, maybe some people would be willing to just give that monitor a try and hope for the best