Would it be possible? I’m wanting to use a keyboard for console fighters as I play much better on keyboard than stick or pad. I don’t mean the one where buttons are soldered where a joystick would be, I mean like an actual keyboard that plugs into a console, has asdzxc mapped to the gamepad buttons, arrowkeys to directions, f for 3xp, v for 3xk, 5 for sel, 1 for start, rest of the keys do nothing type of thing.
Would it be as simple as soldering a wire from a pcb to the keyboard’s pcb?
You can either use an XFPS 4.0 for your Xbox 360 or a XFPS 4.0 Force for a PS3. They use USB mice and keyboards but with the included software, you can map any button to the keyboard. You can buy them at Total Console or Play-Asia. Just be sure you are paying a pretty penny for these devices but you can also use them to play your favorite FPS games too.
I am still confused by this thread.
Wouldn’t sticking to a keyboard simply be doing yourself a disservice? Especially once you move onto other fighters with more extreme execution (SNK pretzel motions, double HCs, etc.)
WTF?
And to the OP---- playing fighters entirely on keyboard?! I’d be embarrassed if someone whipped my ass when playing on a damn keyboard lol.
You’d be very surprised what people can do with a keyboard, especially with charge characters. Think how easy it is for a keyboard player to charge then hit forward and punch for example. He’d just hold back then while holding back press the forward key and the punch key at the same time. So its as easy as hitting two buttons, versus holding a pad or stick in one direction then moving it forward and hitting a button at the right time.
A sonic boom using a keyboard is far far easier to do then a QCF fireball on a stick/pad when you think about it.
Of course qcf moves on a kb is a different story lol.
Note, I’m not a keyboard player but as I’ve the PC version of SF4 I’ve had a look at what a KB is like to use. As I’ve encountered many keyboard players during my time playing 3s on 2df and SF4 on pc, and they almost always have near perfect execution.
But indeed they do limit themselves to playing particular characters in particular fighting games.
Not really. Hold down, push right, release down. Most stuff is actually really easy on a keyboard. You just have to get used to it.
keyboard warriors.
laugh.
Haha, that deserved a quote.
I don’t find this hilarious at all.
I am used to playing with a keyboard as well and some motions can be even a wee bit easier than on a stick (Shoryukens for example are so easy it’s not even funny).
And if people think they want it that way, then they have to learn with the advantages (easy SRKs and charges) and disadvantages (360 motions wha?!)
Abusing shortcut inputs, are you? They certainly are ridiculously easy to do on a keyboard. But piano-ing those 360/720 motions are sure to give you carpal tunnel.
Just the thought of trying to play a more complicated fighter (i.e. Guilty Gear) on a keyboard makes my brain hurt. I guess SF4’s shortcuts would actually make a keyboard viable though… lol.
I never even used shortcut inputs in any way.
I wouldn’t even know, how to set them up.
Pressing forward, down, down-forward + punch on a keyboard is just super easy, no shortcuts required in any way. Try it yourself.
Well, it could also be that I played any Street Fighter game and King of Fighters '94 - 2003 way too often on zSNES and Win Kawaks.
Not having a pc gamepad or arcade stick was definitely a hard time.
I used to be a keyboard player before switching to stick and there is a big misconception that it is very difficult. It’s true, 360 and 720 motions are basically impossible, but I never played gief so I didn’t have to worry about it. But playing as Ken, anti-air ultras on reaction were much easier than stick. Inputting the motions are much faster and precise.
The shortcut input for DP is only used in SF4 and it is :df::d::df: or :r::df::r:. You can’t enable/disable this input leniency in SF4, but they’re there if you want to abuse them.
Keyboards are a lot better to use than pads/analog sticks and certainly rival the precision of a joystick for basic quarter circle and charge motions, but when it comes to the buttons it’s more difficult to double-tap, plink, and piano/slide your inputs on the keys of most keyboards.
I’m just plain better with keyboard than stick. I can do the 360 motions more precisely on a KB (using right down left up).
Thanks for the info about XFPS. It’s so pricey though and gotta use a laptop. Anyway to wire an actual keyboard? NOT like the one @gameweasel but rather an actual keyboard
What about a custom stick with this layout, normal stick plus 24mm “Arrow Keys” duplicating the stick inputs
With a few more buttons at the left it could even appeal to FPS players
A majority of keyboard PCBs have weird soldering points, in order to minimize costs they have 10-12 points and the PCB determines what button was pressed based on which two points are connected (that is why you cannot press multiple keys on some keyboards, as those keys share these points and then confuse the PCB).
However, if you have a keyboard where the keys have microswitches instead of membrane switches (you’ll know if your keyboard sounds like [media=youtube]vQI4Jtc0vak[/media]), then it would be possible to abandon the keyboard PCB altogether and just wire up those microswitches to a Cthulhu/Madcatz PCB.
Though, if you’re using microswitch keyboard keys, you might as well just use arcade buttons instead (saves you the trouble of destroying a perfectly good microswitch keyboard) and arrange them in a keyboard layout, as everyone else is suggesting.
I have played on all three devices and at the end realised that keyboard is the best.
Gamepad is out of the competition. You use just two thumbs (which are always slower than other fingers), maybe two more for shortcuts. D-pad is just bad.
So, we have just keyboard and stick left. So,
You have three fingers on the movement keys. You can do everything. QCF, HCF, HCB>F, 2xQCF inputs are very easy to do. Especially DP motion. About moving… You can do dashes and change directions much faster… IAD is much easier too.
About 360/720 motions, it’s about equal. Maybe it’s a little easier on stick. I have never dropped it on keyboard.
Tiger kneeing too…
Tested on SFIV, Guilty Gear, BlazBlue… GG and BB are very fast games and they are significantly easier to play on keyboard. About SFIV, I would say it’s equal, since SF is slower game.
Do a quick 1632143 (knot motion) on arrow keys. Blazblue [CS] uses that
Inputs using a stick are far more fluid than arrow keys (or WASD / ESDF / etc.) on any keyboard.