Keyboard, Controller, or Arcade Stick?

[Zetzumarshen]

On my earlier days I used d-pad, then it was broken, forcing me to learn using keyboard. Since then, I am using a plain desktop keyboard. In process, I have changed keyboard 3 times, from overusing the arrow buttons

Spoiler:

and some rage bashing

.

Now, I'm planning to import some joystick spare parts and build my own custom stick, it's cheaper that way apparently. But maybe not very soon, I'm still in love with keyboards,and learning using different input method takes time.

[Tengukami]

Been using a keyboard, but this thread has me curious about controllers. Wonder what would be best for a predominantly PC gamer to use? I haven't played a console game since Sonic Spinball.

[Nobu]

I think they are using the USB ones.
Edit:  Wait, are they all USB?

Yep! I don't even think you need special drivers for them. You might if it's a 360 non-controller peripheral like a stick though.


I use d-pad for Touhou, I found it much easier to move and maneuver at an angle with a dpad than a keyboard. And joystick was fun, but a bit too weird when having to make quick responses back and forth in succession.

[Paul Debrion]

I've pretty much stuck with the keyboard so far. I haven't tried it with a controller yet.

I've always been terrible with arcade sticks regardless of the type of game.

[Blaman]

I've tried with a controller and sucked. Worse than with a keyboard. So I stick to my good ol' keyboard, though I've never tried an arcade stick.

[Sen]

I've only played a keyboard, but that's fine with me. I'm kind of curious about using a controller, though. Would using a PS3 controller work if I just plugged the USB cable into my computer? :V

[orinrin]

PS3 controllers require some sort of driver for a computer to recognize them.  Damn Sony.

[Esoterica]

Tried a controller today.  I haven't played Touhou in forever, but it worked much better than I expected.

[An Odd Sea Slug]

I'm dying to grab a pad or stick for shmups. Actually, for games in general, FPSes aside. I blame it on growing up with consoles; keyboards have always felt unwieldy and fat for me, made me more conscious of my fingers, leaving me nerve racked when faced with a particularly deadly barrage.

In other words, I'm too damn clumsy on keyboards, to the point of finger slipping.

Letty: *thumbs up*

[FinnKaenbyou]

Usually swear to a PS2 pad, but I've misplaced my controller. >_>

Tried playing with my Hori EX2 and failed miserably. It refuses to accept input unless I'm pulling the stick the whole way along, and this is with j2k because it doesn't accept the stick otherwise. T_T

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

I'm pretty good on a decent keyboard, When i first played with a good one in university I completed two touhou games in a row (not 1cc though, just with all continues... i sucked that bad) And was pretty impressed. my laptops keyboard isnt good enough though.

Tend to use my laptops keyboard until I rage from it ignoring a keypress and killing me, then I plug in my god aweful analogue controller. Its to sensetive sideways and the deadzone in the middle is too big.

It does have a D-pad, but touhou ignores it when you try and use this. Any ideas how I can set up the D-pad or (or hat as it seems to be called in the controller config?) to act in place of the controller axis? If I cant do this, I'll end up buying a keyboard or a gamepad instead. not being able to play touhou properly really annoys me.

[Scarlet Moon]

When I started playing touhou, I used the keyboard.  The best I ever did was beat IN.  I use PS2 controllers now.  It made me play the touhou games more aggressively.

[Orreries]

Keyboard! I don't even want to think about how much pain my fingertips would be in playing Touhou with a controller. Especially since I'm one of those people who just wraps bandaids around my thumbs and keeps going. #u////u#

And for me, a stick just seems odd/unnecessary in a 2D game. Maybe it's from religiously playing Rogue Squadron with one, but they seem more suited for moving around in a 3d environment.


But hmm... the post above tempts me to experiment with a controller. I don't see it lessening the difficulty, more like taking a new approach to controls. And I'm sure it would allow for far more fluid movement than the arrow keys.

[Kinzo the Astro Curious]

I dont think It does lol, its too easy to accidently go sideways or have trouble with the god damn dead zone 

Arrg want to use that controllers D pad if it'd just bloomin accept control from it.

[Sabino]

In the past I bought a Logitech controller... but those things get at your nerves!
I don't have a XBox controller so maybe I should try that out in the future.
For now I'm using the keyboard.
...Or maybe I should buy those arcade pads? ... Although they cost a fortune.

[DracoOmega]

I always play with a controller (PS1 one, via an adapter). I played with a keyboard on my first day, until it actually occurred to me to use a controller. In fact, that almost felt like the 'right' way to do it. It felt quite a bit more comfortable. (Although, admittedly, sometimes my hangs can get sore from gripping it waaaay too tightly during particularly tense bits) I'm so used to playing with a controller now, though, that I think it would throw my game off considerably to use the keyboard. Although I have grown to wonder if the keyboard would be easier to be precise with some bits requiring extremely fine and small movements.

A friend of mine seems to think that the game isn't even meant to be played without a controller, and that it would be too difficult/awkward. (Thus he hasn't really played them much, because he doesn't HAVE a controller that will work with his PC.) It seems a majority of people do play that way, though.

I'm curious if there's anyone with a fair bit of experience playing with both keyboard and controller?

[Orreries]

Keyboard + Extremely fine movements don't go together. At least, my laptop's keyboard has pretty jumpy sensitivity. But then, I don't have an example to state that controllers are either better or worse in that respect.

Yeah, I'll probably end up giving controllers a try now X'D  Spending quite a bit of money lately e.e;

[Chainsaw Guitar]

...Or maybe I should buy those arcade pads? ... Although they cost a fortune.

Man, I'm a poor-fag and I have two of them. :V
(But to be fair, one of them was a gift.)

[Nyyl]

Keyboard + Extremely fine movements don't go together.

I use a keyboard and I don't seem to have a problem with it, but maybe I just think that because I haven't tried a controller :V
Now I'm curious. I should borrow a 360 controller from a friend and see how I do.

[P♂ zeal]

I use a controller, and I have since I started.
I play occasionally with a keyboard, but it feels weird and I usually switch back to controller halfway through

I dont think It does lol, its too easy to accidently go sideways or have trouble with the god damn dead zone 

Arrg want to use that controllers D pad if it'd just bloomin accept control from it.

try downloading something like joy2key and setting the D-pad to the direction keys.

[Whinette]

I'm using a pad (2 pad in fact, the 360 usb, but the d-pad sux and the stick is not adapted for quick move, and the madcatz street fighter pad, with a real d-pad).
It takes some time to feel it (the diagonals move are hard because the d-pad is much larger), but it's pretty good.

The problem of the 360 pcb based pad are that touhou only recognize the stick, and not the d-pad. You must install a remapper (like x-padder, but it's a shareware now I don't know if you can still find its older freeware version) and map keyboard on the pad, and voila, it works fine.

For the ps3 pads, you must install drivers. Problem is if you're using seven 64b (and maybe Vista 64b, C/D needed), you can't install an unsigned driver. There are workaround, but it's dirty and not timeproof: Microsoft often patch the workaround.

Didn't tested an arcade stick but I think I will in the feature (maybe I'll buy/make one when SSF4 is here).

Oh, first post btw, hey. o/

[Zakenna]

I use an Arcade stick...am I the only one that does this? Can't play Shmups or fighters on anything else now(and all the Windows TH games fall into those two categories)

anyway


One on the left is my Shmup stick(Converted from a Madcatz SFIV TE Fightstick) with Full Seimitsu parts .Middle one is my traveling fight stick has full Sanwa. (I made that one my self with some friends). The one on the right is my starter stick my friends and I made about two years ago that started this Arcade stick Fetish that I have. I also have another stick with an American SF layout and Happ parts(typical parts you'd find in an American Arcade Cab)

[Whinette]

I'd love to try Zakenna.

[Azure Lazuline]

I use a keyboard, but I usually strongly prefer a controller for every other game. I occasionally play Touhou with an SNES controller for the heck of it, though.

[Silentsword]

Except for PoFV/IMP/SWR/UNL, I am a diehard keyboarder.  A lot of this is practice - I've gotten to the point where I can easily do one or two pixel moves with Marisa focused on the keyboard. 

I can't use a keyboard with PoFV, though, because of a left-hand RSI that I aggravate if I do.  Similarly, I'm considering moving over to controller now that I'm starting to scorerun, because of an injury to my right hand (shattered both bones in my wrist during law school...not fun)

[Drak]

Tried with a X360 controller yesterday. I found the D-pad's sensitivity painfully high - the smallest move I could do with it was almost twice the lenght of a move I can do with keyboard. Going to try lowering the sensitivity and try playing again with it, since playing with a controller seemed quite enjoyable as well, minus this sensitivity problem I encountered, but which should be easily changed to lower and thereby a lot more playable.

[BM01]

Keyboard for me.
A controller is good too, but only with a good one, with a good D-pad like this (the xbox360 controller probably has the worst D-pad ever made :/).
I also have an arcade stick, altought it's really good for fighting game, I don't like it for shoot 'em up.

[Rheeve]

Keyboard at the moment for me.
Have gone from keyboard to PS1 pad to keyboard to PS1 pad and now back to Keyboard. Did some modding to my Keyboard tho, put some wire inside the arrow keys so that i only need to put minimal pressure on the keys for a keypress to register. makes wonders for fine movements.

[Ghaleon]

I'm thinking of getting a stick but I can't really afford one.

What exactly makes a cheap stick bad however? Do they break for no reason with time? Do they not respond sometimes? I just can't understand how a stick can be bad >=P.

[Chainsaw Guitar]

^ You answered your own question. A bad stick is fragile as fuck.