Armored Core & Dual Analog Controls

[Chris]

I always wondered if one of the Playstation 1 Armored Core games supported Sony's Analog Joystick (SCPH-1110):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5d/SonyFlightStick.jpg/180px-SonyFlightStick.jpg

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Analog_Joystick) and a few other sources say "yes", but I doubt it.
Has anyone tested it?

[RJ]

If you play a PS1 AC title (Ihave Project Phantasma) on a fatty PS2 & you use a certain Hip Gear controller, the stick(s) will work! Actually the right stick's directions function as the shapoe buttons (down=X, up=triangle, etc.)

Works this way for all older PS games that only use the d-pad. I have several PS games I only play on my PS2.

[Chris]

Thx, do you mean this one (http://www.amazon.com/Hip-Gear-LM575-Wireless-Controller/dp/B0001IR9K0)?
That's interesting. After some search, it seems that the Mad Catz Dual Force Controller does the same (has the function to map digital pad and 4 face buttons to both analog sticks).

That could be a nice solution indeed, although I'd still prefer the big Sony Analog Stick and the question remains if that one's compatible.
But I really do get the feeling that it isn't.. cause Armored Core controls have always been "digital" and there's no analog stick logo (SCPH-1110) on the back of my US copy of Armored Core 1. Don't know about the japanese version or the two PS1 sequels..

[PapaStu]

Officially the games DO NOT SUPPORT analog. In fact it wasn't till we got into the later PS2 AC titles that full analog came about. I don't know why it took them so long, but thats how they did it.

[Kid Ice]

It would be very hard to play with that controller because you use the shoulder buttons alot, and IIRC you can't re-map the controls.

[roushimsx]

I actually didn't much care for the dual analog control setup in the newer Armored Core games. :( Perhaps I spent too much time playing with the ol' digital setup.

[norkusa]

I always wondered this myself. I'll try it out tonight and see if it works. Just because they aren't officially supported doesn't mean it won't work though. Treasures Of The Deep works very well with the sticks and so does Assault in Namco Museum vol. 4, and they don't have any mention of analog or SCPH-1110 support on the cases.

IIRC, twin sticks actually have the shoulder buttons on the joysticks somewhere, (as well as on the face of the control panel) so they shouldn't be too difficult to use with AC if it is compatible.

[Chris]

Officially the games DO NOT SUPPORT analog.

So it's just a common misconsumption, cause there are a couple of sites that claim compatibility?
I guess we'll see when norkusa tries it out.

@norkusa:
Thx! Would really be ace, if you could shed some light on it.


In fact it wasn't till we got into the later PS2 AC titles that full analog came about. I don't know why it took them so long, but thats how they did it.
Yeah, but I've heard that they don't use the analog sticks to their fullest either? I mean they use both sticks, but the controls are still just "digital" (on/off) inputs mapped to the sticks?

@roushimsx: Yeah, I guess it's hard to switch if you're familiar with the old scheme, but I just can't help myself either.. since Cybersled, Virtual On and Steel Battalion I think that dual stick controls are a perfect fit for such Mecha games.

[sisko]

Not quite Armored Core, but Mech Warrior 2 does support the sticks.

[norkusa]

Just tried the sticks with Armored Core and they worked great. Looks like the L & R sticks control the exact same movements, so you'd really just need to use one of them to play the game. Didn't try out Master Of Arena or Project Phantasma but I assume those would work too if the original AC did.

BTW, I've got an extra twin stick controller if anyone is interested. The thing is the R2 button on the left stick doesn't work (the R2 on the face works fine though). Could probably be fixed but I'd sell it cheap if anyone wanted it.

[Chris]

@sisko: That's good to hear, I always wanted to try Mechwarrior 2.. btw do you know how the Playstation version compares to the PC version?


Just tried the sticks with Armored Core and they worked great. Looks like the L & R sticks control the exact same movements, so you'd really just need to use one of them to play the game. Didn't try out Master Of Arena or Project Phantasma but I assume those would work too if the original AC did.


They control the same movements (I guess the digital pad)?
So I couldn't use both of them like the dual analog setup in Nexus (one stick for movement and one stick for looking around)?
That would kind of destroy my purpose of using them.

I also assume that they don't offer "true analog" capabilities, but just digital inputs mapped to the analog stick (although I wouldn't have a problem with that)?

Thx for checking it out!

[norkusa]

I also assume that they don't offer "true analog" capabilities, but just digital inputs mapped to the analog stick (although I wouldn't have a problem with that)?

Yeah, it just looks like the digital inputs mapped on both sticks. Left & Right looks around while Up & Down moves you backwards and forwards. Don't think there's any way to map the controls either. When I switched to the analog setting on the stick, it the sticks wouldn't work at all except for the buttons and hat switch.

Just tried Master of Arena and Project Phantasma too and it's the same story. Digital only.

[Chris]

I guess they didn't change this in the localisation process (I assume the japanese versions don't support the Joystick either), cause stripping this wouldn't make any sense would it?

So no Dual Stick support with the Sony Analog Joystick in Armored Core, thx again for clearing this up.. Wikipedia and the other sites just got it wrong.