Review: Using a SNES Pad w/ an USB Adapter on Digital Paint: Paintball 2.0

[MissingNo.]

I know I shouldn't make a review here, but this is a special review for Digital Paint: Paintball 2.0 ONLY, while using my SNES Pad and USB Adapter, so I had to post it here.  I'm not sure if this should go into the Other Stuff forum, but oh well.

Also, I didn't have any other forum this would fit in, but oh well.

And I made a review to support his company.  This is the best product I have ever bought online so far.

Review Index:

•Introduction
- Official Features List
•Packaging and Contents
- Package Contents
•USB Adapter Design
•Setting Up & Using
•Performance
•Conclusion
- Pros' & Cons'



INTRODUCTION



Most people love a joystick/gamepad, but when it comes to PCs, it just won't do.  But some people still love old-school-fashioned joysticks/gamepads, because they add better handling and more understandable bindings than a keyboard would, as you probably wouldn't play holding a connected keyboard and having buttons scattered everywhere on the PC sometimes makes confusion.

Copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamepad

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System controller had a more rounded dog-bone like design and added two more face buttons, "X" and "Y", arranging the four in a diamond formation. Another addition was the "L" and "R" shoulder buttons, which have been imitated by most controllers since.

There is a slight variation in the Japanese and European version of the controller, where the A, B, Y and X buttons are all convex-curved and each one has a distinct color (A was red, B was yellow, X was blue, and Y was green). For the American SNES, the A and B buttons were colored purple, whereas the Y and X buttons were lavender and concave-curved.

This was where the generation of some of the best console joysticks/gamepads began.  It is certainly a trip down memory lane for me, but younger people probably wouldn't even know what a SNES is.  Needless to say, I found my old SNES in my closet.  I immediately thought, "PC games using an SNES Pad would rock!"  I searched the internet, and found this little site: http://www.raphnet-tech.com/

They hold many adapters, sensors, cables, kits, and components, but this was one of the best sites I have ever seen for old-school to new-school gaming.  Now, there are two (2) ways to obtain one of these SNES Pad USB Adapter.

One.
Make one.  This may seem hard to do but once you know what you're doing, it gets a little easier.  It may not come out as expected, but its worth the labor to manually create one of these yourself.  You can buy a kit on the site to make one, too.

Two.
Buy it.  On this site, this USB Adapter looked very trustworthy, and is based off a kit you can use to manually build it.  It's worth the wait for this higher-quality adapter, although it costs a little more.  Since the business is in Canada, it may take 4-10 business days to get to USA.


   OFFICIAL FEATURES LIST Copied from http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/snes_to_usb_cable/index.php?category=


Product Description:
Playing SNES games with an emulator is great, but nothing is better than playing with the original gamepads or mouse. This cable makes it possible to use a real snes controller or mouse on a computer using the USB bus.

Drivers?
No special driver required. Works out of the box with Win9x, Win2K, WinXP, MacOS X, Linux or any other operating system supporting USB and HID joysticks.

Do it yourself?
Those adapters are built using the NES/SNES controller to USB circuit. This may interest be of interest to those who enjoy using a soldering iron.

Note: Adapter color and length may vary.



PACKAGING & CONTENTS



When I bought it, it took 4 business days to get to my apartment, very fast for being in Canada.  It was air mailed and came in a nice, bubble mail package (bubbles on inside of package) with no illustrations, just addresses.



   PACKAGE CONTENTS

   1x SNES Pad USB Adapter
   1x Order Receipt


The adapter was tied together with a string wire.  Seemed convenient at the time to easily untie.

USB ADAPTER DESIGN

It was pretty lenghty for an USB adapter, especially when the SNES Pad would be plugged in, so it would be perfect if you had a coffee table in front of you with your PC on it.  You might need an extension cord if your computer for the adapter if it's plugged into something thats pretty far away, like say an HD TV.

It had a highly noticeable and yet annoying thing wrapped in silicone in the middle.  Maybe a converter for power?  I don't want to cut it open, so it will remain a secret.  (Read Below To Find Out!)

Due to my contoller not working at one point, I decided to rip it open.  It was really hard to get off with scissors.  Underneath is a 1/10 inch motherboard with two noticable chips.  Wires are on each end, and are soldered on, then covered in glue.
(It wasn't this that messed it up, it was the SNES Pad!  I switched it out and it worked fine again

When I plugged the SNES Pad into it, it fit snuggly, maybe a little push is required.



SETTING UP AND USING



When I plugged it into the USB, my PC automatically recognized it and began installing it.  I then started up DP:P2.

I had to Enable Joystick, then loaded DopJump.  Only the Directional Pad was working, it was obvious I had to make some binds.  It worked as:

Up = Forward
Down = Backward
Left = Turn Left
Right = Turn Right.

I noticed turning speeds was highly faster than using a keyboard button to turn, I immediately didn't like it, knew that had to be changed, too.

I binded as follows (I cannot say whats AUX# and whats PAD#, as it may be different for certain controllers, sorry):

A = Turn Left
Y = Turn Right
X = Look Up
Y = Look Down
L = Fire
R = Jump
Select = Prime/Throw Grenade
Start = Crouch

So the left side is for attacking while the right side is for aiming, turning, and moving in place.  Now for the Directional Pad.  As there is no way to bind these buttons, I have to resort to Advanced Joystick:

Y-Axis = Forward
X-Axis = Sidestep

Now, the X-Axis is reversed for strafing, so left goes right and right goes left, but I wouldn't know how to unreverse it.



PERFORMANCE



I started off in the Arctic^Jump server.  Jumping was incredibly hard, besides easier jumps, as they were easier to make using the SNES Pad rather than my keyboard.  As soon as I pressed R to jump, it took about 3/8 of a second to produce the jump.  I had forgotten this: Triggers and softer buttons on controllers have slower reaction times.  If I had binded the jump command to A, it would have taken less time to produce the jump.  But I'm better off using the R button to jump, it's easier.

Then I moved onto the 3 InChEs Of SuPeRmAn server.  It was harder to play at first but I binded keys to what I knew best, so I picked it up quickly.  I made 17 kills in 20 minutes, not that bad.  Died about 25 times, though.  Its hard to produce strafe jumping on the SNES Pad.



CONCLUSION



I prefer to use this controller if there isn't that many people in the server, lets say 5-7, but at 10 it starts to get out of hand, as I preferred to use the keyboard.

Basically, try not to use the SNES Pad and USB Adapter unless you know what you're doing.


   PROS' & CONS'


   PROS

+ Nice packaging and receive time
+ Japanese version of the SNES Pad has color distinctive buttons, easier to you use if you find yourself frequently looking at your controller to figure out what to press
+ American version of the SNES Pad has convex-curved X and Y buttons, making it easier to press if you have somewhat small hands
+ Supports homemade SNES Pads
+ Easy to hold the controller if you have relatively small hands
+ Good to use if you're somewhat next to your PC/Computer
+ Easy to use if you have it binded to what you like
+ Almost no hard pushing is required to insert the SNES Pad into the USB Adapter

   CONS

- Japanese version of SNES Pad does not have convex-curved X and Y buttons
- American version of SNES Pad does not have four (4) color distinctive buttons, just two
- Harder to use if you have larger hands
- Not so easy to use in tournaments or versus 10+ players
- Bindings are somewhat limited
- Using this if your PC/Computer is connected to something farther away may need a USB extension cord
- Slower reaction times for triggers and softer buttons

If you want me to revise, fix links, respell words, etc. post it in this topic.  Thanks in advance!

I give this a 8.7/10

~[BnC]Mitchell

[mewa]

nice post.

when i first started to play this game it was all because of my infatuation with goldeneye, same basic setup as we would use for our multiplayer tourneys (one hit kills, pistols/lower autos, fast gameplay - no ctf or jump obv.) i spent the first month or two looking for a good way to rip my n64 controller apart and usb it. from what i remember the electrical was straightforward, but no one had written a good driver. i eventually gave up and made my own setup out of a cramped numpad/mouse combo (my left thumb has a new shape now from using the enter key to jump and kp_delete to drop weapons). long story short, youre inspiring me to go questing again for my n64 setup.

throughout reading your post, i kept asking "why snes controller?". it doesnt seem to have nearly enough buttons, and lacks the joystick included in all console controllers after that, which for fps games is critical. is snes just where your nostalgia lies, and looking to bring that back? i loved snes and wouldnt imagine playing mariokart on anything but the snes controller, but it just seems goofy for a 3d shooter.

[MissingNo.]

The N64 controller would be perfect for this game, because of all the buttons it has.  I'm looking for one of those, too.

I can use the SNES Pad perfectly, but one thing I hate about it is the Directional Pad.  I have to use Advanced Joystick so I can strafe, but when I press left my player starfes right, and when I press right my player strafes left.  Any idea how to fix this?  I think an alias for binds might work, but it automatically detects the Directional Pad as a joystick and therefore I cannot bind.

Have you ever played DOOM on the SNES?  It's pretty much the same idea for buttons.  Except that Start on the SNES Pad isn't used in Digital Paint Paintball 2 to pause the game, which is great because you can then bind an extra button.

[mewa]

doom would work better because it has no strafing and very simple controls.

as far as strafing, it sounds like you have "look strafe" right now. if you turn that off and bind the strafes to L & R it should work well. this would be like what mariokart had for a setup.

[MissingNo.]

Hmm...
.....
..............

I don't have look strafe on, but I'll consider moving strafing to L & R and turning to the Directional Pad.  But turning on the Directional Pad is so fast, how do I make it slower?  It seems like I cannot "tilt" because its a button and therefore has no "sensetivity."

A shall be for firing your gun and Y for Jumping.  I will test it in a second.

...
.....
..............

Works nicely.  Besides turning, as it is still too fast.

Instead, I binded L to Strafe and R to Jump.  Y is to Shoot while B is to Throw/Prime Grenade.  X is to Look Up while A is to Look Down.  Select resets the looking while Start is to Crouch.  I find all these very usefull.

Mewa, how's finding a N64 Controller that'll work on your computer coming?  They have an adapter for USB at Raphnet technologies (site is on first post).  They have one for N64 & GCN and another for N64, GCN, and something else.

[mewa]

tilt?

i looked on that site you bought yours. its a good site with pretty extensive links about the development. my n64's packed away somewhere and last i remember the controllers all have messed up joysticks. its pretty far down on my list, but sometime ill by a new controller and the usb adapter.
until then, the numpad is what ive come to know and it works well.

[MissingNo.]

Mmm... I'm getting used to the control scheme, I like it just for DM and CTF, not Jump.

[nook]

looks like 2 much work jsut to play

[MissingNo.]

looks like 2 much work jsut to play

What do you mean?  Setting up or using?

[nook]

Setting it up

[MissingNo.]

Nah, not that hard.  Just come up with a few binds, consider following mine:
DO NOT HAVE ADVANCED JOYSTICK TURNED ON
L = Strafe
R = Jump
Start = Crouch
X = Look Up
A = Look Down
Select = Reset Camera (or something like that)
Y = Shoot
B = Prime/Throw Grenade

And when you first plug it in Windows Vista (maybe some other OSs will work, too) will automatically detect and install it as a "Game Controller", so then it can be used in many more ways.

[nook]

It Worked its not that bad

[mewa]

if you want more insight into the controls, look at your config.cfg (or whichever name your *.cfg is under) and look through to the controls. pretty simple to figure out what they name your buttons and what controls are available to be bound.

[MissingNo.]

Bump.  I might order a GameCube USB Adapter, I'm not sure (just used my money on an EZ-Flash 3-in-1).  So another review might come.  Stay tuned...

@nook: Try using using the SNES Pad in combination with your keyboard, left hand on SNES Pad, right hand on mouse and it's buttons.  Its great for if more players show up in the server.

@mewa: I'm looking at that right now.

[MissingNo.]

Update:  What is inside the silicone middle?  I'll tell you.  Just read the first post.  Not right now though.  OK now  Had to edit it.  It's under USB ADAPTER DESIGN.