Best Gamepad for Virtual On?

Discuss the Virtual-On series.
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senappa
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Best Gamepad for Virtual On?

Post by senappa »

This is kind of a spinoff of my initial post where I've managed to jerryrig an XB360 twin sticks on the XBOne. With that experience under my belt, I figure I can use most USB-compatible controllers for VO play one the XBOne (as long as it has xinput/dinput support, either directly or through an controller emulation software).

Though I have a pair of Hori twin sticks, it's massive, and I might consider off-loading if I can manage to find a half-decent gamepad alternative for VO. Any opinions out there on this? And this is assuming using the gamepad for the twin-stick layout option -- the only way I know how to play VO.

Just my opinion of what I've tried so far:
- XB360 / XBOne pads - Though I prefer the asymetical analog stick layout for general gaming, I find this layout awkward for VO twin stick controls - so it's a pass for me.
- PS3 pads - The symmetrical analog stick layout is better the MS-fair for VO, but I find the sticks placed a a bit too close together for twin-stick emulation. Okay in a pinch, but less than ideal for me.
- PS4 pads - The extra size/width compared to the PS3 pad makes it feels slightly better to me than PS3 pads, but there's got to be something better.

I'm really looking at the Wii U Pro controller, as that layout seems to most closely represent the best twin-stick emulation. I've never used or held one - wondering if anyone had any opinions on possibly using these as twin stick alternatives?

Or is there any other pad not mentioned above -- that's relatively easy to find these days -- that would be suitable for twin stick emulation that you've come across? Let me know - thanks!
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Porcupine
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Re: Best Gamepad for Virtual On?

Post by Porcupine »

Very few people or no one that I know of plays that way for an extended period of time, but I agree with your assessment of those basic controllers. I think playing that way is difficult because you may have to use your index finger to hit both the turbo and trigger buttons, or use your middle finger too. It's a weaker hand grip if you play that way.
senappa
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Re: Best Gamepad for Virtual On?

Post by senappa »

Yeah, using the index/middle fingers to use the turbo/weapon inputs respectively is something that I'm ready to accept in a gamepad setup - from my experience, while I found this isn't as natural as thumb turbo/index finger weapons layout, it's seemed serviceable once I'd get used to the layout. I suppose one can look at specialty controllers with paddles/back facing buttons, but if I'm going to go the route of expensive and/or custom controllers... well, might as well just stick with the twin stick setup!

And after some amazon searching, another candidate that's made my list is the Ipega 9083 - and while this is really a mobile-device geared controller, the layout seems to suit the bill... and I can even artificially make it wider which might make it more suitable for VO twin-stick geared play...
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Porcupine
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Re: Best Gamepad for Virtual On?

Post by Porcupine »

Come to think of it some of the Virtual On games allow you to set L3/R3 to something (push the thumbstick in) you could perhaps use those for turbos too.
senappa
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Re: Best Gamepad for Virtual On?

Post by senappa »

Yeah, I recall trying the L3/R3 for turbos with one of the pads in back of my memory somewhere, but I found it somewhat unnatural as pushing the L3/R3 would tend to jostle the stick control enough to register inputs I didn't intend...

I've actually ordered both controllers off ebay (albeit a cheap knock-off version for wii u pro controller), so I'll see how they go in the near future...
senappa
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Re: Best Gamepad for Virtual On?

Post by senappa »

So I just thought I'd write this up for anyone that's interested in using a pad with the twin-stick layout -- I got hold of those two controllers mentioned above and...

1. the knock-off wii u pro controller
- the bluetooth range is extremely short for some reason (anything >2m or so, control gets wonky) - and I've tried this on more than one computer - so the controller seems to be the culprite. But once I'm within this range of the receiver, everything seems to work pretty well. The actual pad and the button layout is quite terrible for general gaming IMO, but the wider-symmetrical thumb sticks laid out at top works quite well as a twin-stick substitute, and fairly comfortable to hold.

2. Ipega 9083
- the bluetooth connection is fine on this, and it works, but it's no where near comfortable as the wii-u pro controller. I've tried it, but won't be my go-to.

Just my 2 cents...
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