Posted October 31, 2014
I think someone mentioned this also in some X-Wing/Tie Fighter controller discussion (F4llout?):
I recall noticing earlier that when you check the analog calibration for a modern PC gamepad (e.g. Logitech F310, I presume it is the same also for e.g. XBox360 gamepad), you can't reach the diagonal extremes, as the movement area in the Control Panel calibration screen is square, while the actual movement area on modern analog gamepads is round. You reach the extremes only if you push the stick either directly up/down or to the sides, but not diagonally.
I also notice that with my old PC flightsticks the movement area is square, as well as with my older Directinput Logitech gamepad (as opposed to the newer F310 gamepad). If I recall right, e.g. the PS2 gamepads have round analog movement areas, just like modern PC gamepads.
Isn't this an issue for older PC games? E.g. if you use only the left analog thumbstick for both steering and gas in a racing game (just like you would use a classic joystick), you can't both turn and accelerate at full power at the same time, because you can't reach the diagonal maximum with the stick?
I presume you can work around this in racing games by setting steering and gas to separate controls in the gamepad (e.g. separately left and right analog sticks), but how about all the space combat and flight combat games? Is it so that with such older PC games, you should really use a classic joystick/gamepad instead, with a square area of movement?
I sometimes thought a modern gamepad with dual analog sticks would be perfect for playing e.g. Descent games, but now I am unsure... This also occurred to me as many seem to be thinking of using their modern gamepads with these recent X-Wing/Tie Fighter games, and I presume the same applies to other such games in GOG, like Freespace 1-2 and Wing Commander 1-5.
EDIT: Here, I even made a fancy picture to illustrate the potential problem (see the attached picture).
I recall noticing earlier that when you check the analog calibration for a modern PC gamepad (e.g. Logitech F310, I presume it is the same also for e.g. XBox360 gamepad), you can't reach the diagonal extremes, as the movement area in the Control Panel calibration screen is square, while the actual movement area on modern analog gamepads is round. You reach the extremes only if you push the stick either directly up/down or to the sides, but not diagonally.
I also notice that with my old PC flightsticks the movement area is square, as well as with my older Directinput Logitech gamepad (as opposed to the newer F310 gamepad). If I recall right, e.g. the PS2 gamepads have round analog movement areas, just like modern PC gamepads.
Isn't this an issue for older PC games? E.g. if you use only the left analog thumbstick for both steering and gas in a racing game (just like you would use a classic joystick), you can't both turn and accelerate at full power at the same time, because you can't reach the diagonal maximum with the stick?
I presume you can work around this in racing games by setting steering and gas to separate controls in the gamepad (e.g. separately left and right analog sticks), but how about all the space combat and flight combat games? Is it so that with such older PC games, you should really use a classic joystick/gamepad instead, with a square area of movement?
I sometimes thought a modern gamepad with dual analog sticks would be perfect for playing e.g. Descent games, but now I am unsure... This also occurred to me as many seem to be thinking of using their modern gamepads with these recent X-Wing/Tie Fighter games, and I presume the same applies to other such games in GOG, like Freespace 1-2 and Wing Commander 1-5.
EDIT: Here, I even made a fancy picture to illustrate the potential problem (see the attached picture).
Post edited October 31, 2014 by timppu
This question / problem has been solved by Qbix
