Setting Up a Joystick

[Solinari®]

I was wondering if some could help to set up a Joystick for Project 64. I know basically how to set it up manually, but i am unsure what buttons i should use.

The Joystick i have is a Trust QZ501 Predator, i know it's nothing facny, just a cheapo, but it is good for Battlefield 2. I am sure it would work well for games like Star Fox or Mario Kart, but as i said, i am having difficultly setting the Joystick up correctly.

So what i was hoping for is a Controller Profile for a Joystick, if they exist at all, i don't know. I'm sure you can tell i am new to this, so i don't know if such things exist for download. If there are Joystick Profiles, i would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.

If no one knows about any Joystick Profiles, then i was hoping someone could help me set up a Joystick for the games i mentioned before like Star Fox.

Thanks.

Peace

 

[Agozer]

It would be nice if you can show a picture of the button layout of your controller. As a general rule, set up your buttons in pattern similar to that of the original N64, if possible.

If you don't know what the N64 controller button layout looks like, do a simple Google Image search.

 

[Tre]

And if your controller is in the PS/x style, I'd recommend mapping your Z-Trigger and R-buttons to the shoulder-buttons on your controller. Since a few of the most popular games used the "Z" button as a pseudo-"L-button" for things ranging from Strife to Shields.

 

[Solinari®]

Thanks for the replies.


It isn't a control pad i have, it's a joystick that obviously bares zero resemblance to the N64 controller.

I am able to set up the controls, but i thought there may be pre made profiles out there that are made for specific games and game controllers like joysticks etc.

 

[Tre]

To the best of my knowledge, there are no pre-made profiles for PJ64... mostly because each controller out there would require a completely unique profile, and that would have to be done for each input plugin that works on each emulator. Which isn't "worth it" to go to all that trouble. A little trial-and-error will allow you to find the best configuration for your joystick. Though if you had a picture of it, we could suggest something.

 

[Solinari®]

Here is a picture of it, and i added the button numbers as well.

 

[Agozer]

Oh wow, an actual joystick. If you ask me, it's not really suited for anything other than slight simulator and mech games, but that's just me.

Anyway, disregard the above and here are my suggestions:

Analog stick: Quite obvious, don't you think?
C-buttons: The POV stick
Button 6: Either Start or Z
Button 5: Either Start or Z
Button 1: A
Button 4: B
Button 2: L
Button 3: R

You have no use for the N64 digital pad, and if you need it for some games, you can always switch it in place of the analog stick. Of course, feel free to disagree with me.

 

[Tre]

My suggested button configuration is drastically different from Agozer, and likely is the one you ~won't~ end up wanting to use... but eh, this is just MY variant, based on games like Zelda (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask) that are heavily dependant on having the C-Buttons used, and the Z-Trigger being slightly less important (as a toggle-able lock-on)... and still needing some serious A/B button use. I would have suggested button "1" (the trigger) for an "attack" button on all games, but in some instances it's more useful to have the easiest button to hold be used for "defense" (like a shield in Zelda). Again, this is all subjective to the games you are playing, and all I play are the Zelda titles anymore.

::Tre's crazy layout suggestion::

Button 1 (Trigger): R Button
Button 2: B Button
Button 3: Z-Trigger (depends on the game)
Button 4: A Button
Button 5: L Button (depends on the game)
Button 6: Start
8-Direction POV: Map the "C-Buttons" to your POV as C-Up (up) C-Left (left) C-Down (down) and C-Right (right)

I assume "Z-axis" is supposed to be the actual "directional control" and as such should be your Analog stick (up/left/down/right). You can always swap this for a "digital pad" on select games that need it... but 90% of the N64 games I've seen don't require the digipad for anything.

Hope this isn't a completely useless configuration for you.

 

[Toasty]

Actually, Tre, you're suggestion is probably about what I'd use. I might swap the Z and R buttons though - especially on an FPS. Z just has to be a trigger.

 

[Tre]

I fully agree with you there, in FPS games like 007, you need to have the Z-Trigger set to the easily hit Button 1. But for the majority of games, this is perfect.

 

[Solinari®]

Thanks again for the replies.

I'll try those config's out and see how they go. It might be better to go with the keyboard in the end, but i'll give it a shot and see how it fells.

I haven't played N64 games for ages, and i want to use something other than the keyboard.

 

[Toasty]

Just about anything is better than a keyboard. I had to use a similar joystick before I got a more versatile one and it actually works pretty well once you get it configured in a way that makes sense to you.

 

[squeakypants]

Many times different games will have different setups. You don't need to have one universal script. Just save the ones you use and switch em as you please.