Playing fighters with a joystick

[Smooth Groove]

So who here plays fighters with a joystick?  Give me some tips on how to use a stick properly. 

I played VF5, SC4,TK5, SF3 all weekend with my Hori HRAP 2 SA.  The experience was incredible.  Other than not having to pump in quarters, it really felt like I was in the arcade.

I did a lot of moves on the 3d fighting games that I had problems pulling off before with a pad.
 

The 2d games have been giving me problems though.  I pull off fireballs and dragon punches far less consistently than with a pad.

I wonder if it's because the HRAP's joystick is ball shaped rather than bat shaped like the sticks in most US arcades.

What is the proper way to hold the ball?  It feels so small, compared to a traditional bat stick. 

[cool breeze]

The way I hold it is having the ball between my thumb and index and almost pinching the stick in a way.

Personally, I only prefer the stick with 3D fighters.  I am way better at 2D fighters with my Saturn controller.

[Smooth Groove]

Does Sega still make Saturn controllers for other systems?  I knew they had some for the PC.  They were really hard to find though. 

[Himu]

saturn controllers are out of production.

I use dpad for fighters.

[Rman]

saturn controllers are out of production.

I use dpad for fighters.

Not the USB ones you find can brand new on Ebay.  They are compatible with PC, Mac, and PS3.

[Smooth Groove]

Sony dpads are decent but it's almost impossible to play well with a 360 dpad.  

Unfortunately, the HRAP 2 SA works with all my systems except for the 360.  Guess I'll have to pick up the premium Madcatz SF4 360 stick or the Hori HRAP for the 360.  

They'll probably be really hard to find or marked up heavily since all the hardcore fighting fans with a 360 would want a decent stick.  

saturn controllers are out of production.

I use dpad for fighters.

Not the USB ones you find can brand new on Ebay.  They are compatible with PC, Mac, and PS3.

Have you tried one?  I'd like to get one in case I ever play emulated games on the PC.  Both the 360 and PS2 pads work on the PC but they're kinda crap for old school games. 

[Bebpo]

I use arcade sticks for games with tap moves:  F,F; B,F; DB,F; B,B
I use pads for games with circular moves:  QCF, HCB, F,D,DF

I know most fighters these days have both.  But they usually lean more in one direction than the other.

I also don't buy multi-plat fighters on X360 because then I'm forced to use a stick no matter what.  Which is fine for tap games like DoA, but SF and stuff is >_<

[cool breeze]

Playing fighters with a Sony D-Pad kills my thumb.  I think the best choices for PS3/360 would be those SF4 controllers coming out.

And I haven't tried it yet, but apparently I can use my saturn pad on my PS3 since I run it through a USB adapter.

[Bebpo]

Playing fighters with a Sony D-Pad kills my thumb.  I think the best choices for PS3/360 would be those SF4 controllers coming out.

And I haven't tried it yet, but apparently I can use my saturn pad on my PS3 since I run it through a USB adapter.

I've never had a problem with Sony d-pads for SF movements, but I guess it's up to the person.  I have the Ascii pads but I'm usually too lazy to hook them up so I just use DS2 or DS3 for PS2/PS3 fighters since they work fine for me.  Never had a problem with SNES or Saturn pads either.  Only d-pads I had issues with for SF movements were DC, GC, and Xbox/X360.

[Rman]

Sony dpads are decent but it's almost impossible to play well with a 360 dpad.  

Unfortunately, the HRAP 2 SA works with all my systems except for the 360.  Guess I'll have to pick up the premium Madcatz SF4 360 stick or the Hori HRAP for the 360.  

They'll probably be really hard to find or marked up heavily since all the hardcore fighting fans with a 360 would want a decent stick.  

saturn controllers are out of production.

I use dpad for fighters.

Not the USB ones you find can brand new on Ebay.  They are compatible with PC, Mac, and PS3.

Have you tried one?  I'd like to get one in case I ever play emulated games on the PC.  Both the 360 and PS2 pads work on the PC but they're kinda crap for old school games. 

No.  I haven't.  I'll pick some up this holiday season.  I don't see any reason why they should not work on emulators, though.  Where did you pick up your current stick.

Lyte, you're a big a fighter fan.  What is your preference sticks or pads?

[Smooth Groove]

There are some decent deals for the Saturn pads going on at Ebay.  Guess I'll pick up 2 for SF2HD since it wouldn't be fair to have only 1 person with a pad.

My friends are all terrible with sticks but the majority of them know how to use pads.   If there were just 1 pad, whoever is using it would probably win in SF2 90% of the time.  

I use arcade sticks for games with tap moves:  F,F; B,F; DB,F; B,B
I use pads for games with circular moves:  QCF, HCB, F,D,DF

Why is that?  Is it not possible to get to the same level in SF2 like games with a stick?

[Bebpo]

There are some decent deals for the Saturn pads going on at Ebay.  Guess I'll pick up 2 for SF2HD since it wouldn't be fair to have only 1 person with a pad.

My friends are all terrible with sticks but the majority of them know how to use pads.   If there were just 1 pad, whoever is using it would probably win in SF2 90% of the time.  

I use arcade sticks for games with tap moves:  F,F; B,F; DB,F; B,B
I use pads for games with circular moves:  QCF, HCB, F,D,DF

Why is that?  Is it not possible to get to the same level in SF2 like games with a stick?

Nah, it just feels awkward to me.  Like you said, doing rolling movements doesn't feel quite as accurate.  With a pad you KNOW you are stopping a F when you roll from D->F, with a stick you might be stopping at slightly into UF.  For tapping it's the opposite.  With a pad it's hard to know when you are hitting DF exactly for moves like DF,DF+P; but with a stick it feels easier to be certain you are hitting DF.

Most people who use sticks just use them for everything, so I'm just weird like that.

[Smooth Groove]

Sony dpads are decent but it's almost impossible to play well with a 360 dpad.  

Unfortunately, the HRAP 2 SA works with all my systems except for the 360.  Guess I'll have to pick up the premium Madcatz SF4 360 stick or the Hori HRAP for the 360.  

They'll probably be really hard to find or marked up heavily since all the hardcore fighting fans with a 360 would want a decent stick.  

saturn controllers are out of production.

I use dpad for fighters.

Not the USB ones you find can brand new on Ebay.  They are compatible with PC, Mac, and PS3.

Have you tried one?  I'd like to get one in case I ever play emulated games on the PC.  Both the 360 and PS2 pads work on the PC but they're kinda crap for old school games. 

No.  I haven't.  I'll pick some up this holiday season.  I don't see any reason why they should not work on emulators, though.  Where did you pick up your current stick.

Lyte, you're a big a fighter fan.  What is your preference sticks or pads?

I got my Hrap 2 SA on Ebay.  It's like the original HRAP2 except the buttons are Sanwa instead of generic HORI buttons.  You could really tell the higher quality in the Sanwa buttons.  

Did you know that apparently some of those Saturn pads on Ebay are just bootlegs?  That sucks.

http://www.vgevo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141830

[Smooth Groove]

Nah, it just feels awkward to me.  Like you said, doing rolling movements doesn't feel quite as accurate.  With a pad you KNOW you are stopping a F when you roll from D->F, with a stick you might be stopping at slightly into UF.  For tapping it's the opposite.  With a pad it's hard to know when you are hitting DF exactly for moves like DF,DF+P; but with a stick it feels easier to be certain you are hitting DF.

Most people who use sticks just use them for everything, so I'm just weird like that.

Have you tried playing with an octagonal gate for the joystick?  The HRAPs and most sticks come with square gates by default.  Some people claim that changing the square gate to an octagonal makes circular movements much easier. 

[Himu]

wait, you can get that saturn pad for a decent price? I've been wanting that saturn usb pad for the longest.

[cool breeze]

Playing fighters with a Sony D-Pad kills my thumb.  I think the best choices for PS3/360 would be those SF4 controllers coming out.

And I haven't tried it yet, but apparently I can use my saturn pad on my PS3 since I run it through a USB adapter.

I've never had a problem with Sony d-pads for SF movements, but I guess it's up to the person.  I have the Ascii pads but I'm usually too lazy to hook them up so I just use DS2 or DS3 for PS2/PS3 fighters since they work fine for me.  Never had a problem with SNES or Saturn pads either.  Only d-pads I had issues with for SF movements were DC, GC, and Xbox/X360.

For me it's a bit weird.  It isn't so much the shape, but how stiff the D-pad is.  I can play SFA3 on my PSP (2000) just fine because I can easily roll the d-pad.  I think it's because it's not analog.

[Smooth Groove]

Btw, has anyone tried a Virtua Stick High Grade? 

Everyone that has one claims that it's the best retail stick ever. 

I wonder how my HRAP compares to it since they both use all Sanwa parts. 

[cool breeze]

I have the Virtua Stick High Grade and use it for my PS3 and PC.  I really like it, but I don't have any experience playing with the Hori sticks this gen (except for the fighting stick 3 which I tried once, but that is the cheap one).  Apparently people had trouble playing Tekken with it or something, but I don't play Tekken, so I dunno.  Soul Calibur 4 and VF5 were perfect.

[Smooth Groove]

I have the Virtua Stick High Grade and use it for my PS3 and PC.  I really like it, but I don't have any experience playing with the Hori sticks this gen (except for the fighting stick 3 which I tried once, but that is the cheap one).  Apparently people had trouble playing Tekken with it or something, but I don't play Tekken, so I dunno.  Soul Calibur 4 and VF5 were perfect.

Ever tried the VSHG with 2d fighters?

[cool breeze]

Not on my PS3, but I played some mame games and SF3TS on my PC.  It worked fine.