Would switching to an arcade stick help?

[Deathgeese88]

I'm not super-hardcore about shmups, but, dang, do I enjoy some DoDonPachi. However, playing any game like that with a keyboard is just miserable, so I bought a PC gamepad to play it with and it's a MUCH better experience. However, I've noticed I still don't have a lot of control over my tiny little ship. I still have some of the same issues I had using a keyboard--I move TOO far instead of just a little bit and walk myself right into a bullet*. So, would switching to an arcade stick help at all? If so, any mid-range recommendations? A HRAP is out of the question as it wouldn't be a very good investment for me as bullet hell is not my main form of gaming. I greatly appreciate any and all feedback. =D


*It may be just the gamepad I bought and not necessarily a problem with gamepads in general.

[Damocles]

I would suggest trying out both a high quality pad and high quality stick. It's all about comfort and personal preference.

That being said, USB Saturn pads are cheap as dirt these days (Ebay) so I would suggest picking up one of those first. You won't find a better pad out there. Cheap sticks...not so much.

[Deathgeese88]

Thank. I'll have to look into that Saturn pad thing. I've got one of the best PC gamepads I could find, but that doesn't say much as there REALLY doesn't seem to be a market for them. Since gamepads aren't the primary PC controller of choice, there's little need to invest too much effort into making an excellent controller like with the PS3/360.

Either way, if my dad has a soldering iron I might just buy the Mayflash arcade stick and change out the joystick in it with a Seimitsu. I figure if I'm playind DoDonPachi the crappy buttons won't be a problem as most of the time I'll just be holding down one button. Surely it can't screw that up.

[iatneH]

Be aware that if you are not accustomed to playing with a stick, your playing ability will be absolutely awful during the first week or two (or more if you play infrequently) after you make the switch. I was put off by this the first time I tried, and I did not try making the switch again for another two years, but it was definitely worth it. Subjectively, pads and sticks feel equally comfortable to me now, but objectively, I get higher scores using a stick.

Keyboard...um... yeah. Anyway, as others have already mentioned, personal preference thing. Worth a shot but in the end you decide for yourself.

[Damocles]

The above is all true. The real fun begins (with sticks) when you try to decide what style you like. Sanwa? IL? Suzo?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

And not to mention Seimitsu and Happ Competition arcade parts if you find out that Japanese arcade sticks aren't your cup of tea.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[gray117]

Your skills will suck at first ... like really suck ... but you will love the feel of controlling and rolling through shmups I'm pretty sure you'll find that the stick is the most satisfying way to play these games; in time of course it will probably also bring better skills to the fore as well.

[Deathgeese88]

Ah. Thanks, guys. That's enough for me to decide on a stick. Any particular recommendations? I've done a TON of looking around and I don't think I'll be able to procure a quality piece of gear without spending around $100. I have no tools at my disposal, so that makes my plan of buying a cheap stick and modding it to awesomeness difficult. I considered getting the Street Fighter IV SE stick since it's incredibly easy to mod, but not only does it have issues working with a PC, the price after buying the parts for modding rivals that of a HRAP anyway

So, are there any PC-compatible sticks that are tool-less to mod that I've missed? Aw, heck. Recommend it even if it does require a bit of tools. I'm sure I know at least one person who has a soldering iron. =/

[man9child]

I have a 360 Street Fighter SE stick that I put Sanwa parts in and I can use it on the PC. You just have to download a driver for the 360 controller, your computer should find it from the net the first time you plug in. On older versions of Mame that didn't recognize it still, you can download this program called xpadder where you just simply map the directions/buttons on the stick to keys on the keyboard.

It might be easier to pick up a PS3 version, I don't know if it has similar problems, but with the 360 stick they're really not all that hard to work through. The $90 or so you can get a HRAP for now on amazon is a good deal.

[Deathgeese88]

Don't really know why I'm posting, but it feels on-topic.

I just won one of these off of eBay for $73. That's $10 more than what I was hoping to win it for, but I was losing patience and the auction ended while I was in class, so I set my maximum bid a few dollars higher than what I wanted and hoped that the others who wanted this couldn't outbid me fast enough at $1/bid. With a bit of patience, I'm sure some of you guys could get one of these for under $70.

[Shelcoof]

Don't really know why I'm posting, but it feels on-topic.

I just won one of these off of eBay for $73. That's $10 more than what I was hoping to win it for, but I was losing patience and the auction ended while I was in class, so I set my maximum bid a few dollars higher than what I wanted and hoped that the others who wanted this couldn't outbid me fast enough at $1/bid. With a bit of patience, I'm sure some of you guys could get one of these for under $70.

I won it for 55$ last week. Patience is good

[Deathgeese88]

Don't really know why I'm posting, but it feels on-topic.

I just won one of these off of eBay for $73. That's $10 more than what I was hoping to win it for, but I was losing patience and the auction ended while I was in class, so I set my maximum bid a few dollars higher than what I wanted and hoped that the others who wanted this couldn't outbid me fast enough at $1/bid. With a bit of patience, I'm sure some of you guys could get one of these for under $70.

I won it for 55$ last week. Patience is good

Ack! You bastard lol. =P I wanted to win that one but I totally forgot about the auction. Congratulation all the same though. You got a most excellent deal.

Patience FTW. =D

[Shelcoof]

Ack! You bastard lol. =P I wanted to win that one but I totally forgot about the auction. Congratulation all the same though. You got a most excellent deal.

Patience FTW. =D

My max bid at the time was 55$ and I was surprised I had won it for 54$. I noticed though that the seller had a number of them floating around ending 46-65$ average so I just took my time. I'm expecting the sticks in today hopefully or tomorrow.

I have to admit though, I did get a pretty good deal even though I didn't really need them. I just got a PS3 for Xmas and MW2 no fighters or Shmups yet for the system. Already have 3 other sticks to use for my other consoles... a bit of an over-kill.

Anywyas enjoy your sticks, I'll probably pick up the PSN version of Battle Fantasia even though I already own the 360 version. Hopefully there are people playing this on Playstation Network

Edit: btw when playing with stick, it feels as if your playing in the arcade. Sticks really help give you that authentic arcade feel. Especially with real quality arcade parts on MAME or any Arcade perfect port.