3d controller

[tony71421]

Hi all,

I've recently picked up thunderhawk 2 firestorm and was looking forward to loading it up for a test drive only to find that the 3d controller I'm using won't work?

It works with other games just fine but when I put firestorm in it simply doesn't recognise any buttons at all!

I'm not trying to use the analogue stick and keep the switch set to d-pad as if I'm using a standard pad. Are some games simple not compatible with this pad as this is the first time I've come across this?

Cheers

Tony

[clockwise]

I do not own a 3D controller so I can say for sure, but they are not compatible with all games. I believe there is a switch somewhere under the controller where you can turn it on/off from analogue to 3D, which means that you can use it as an ordinarie controller. At least I think so, not sure though ^^!

[MIK]

EDIT: I've just tried the PAL version of Thunder Hawk 2 and yeah the 3D pad is dead using + mode even though it worked on the Dash to start the game. Some where it's wired to the steering wheel side of controllers any way so I guess if a game does not work that's the reason why.. Another factor might be that Thunder Hawk 2 is a sort of first gen release, came before Sega Rally & Virtua Fighter 2 so a very early title on Saturn.



The 3D controller was 1st released along side Nights into Dreams.

On the subject of the analog side your be surprised but the list of games that support this side of the pad are less than one might think in number such as,

Duke Nukem 3D
Quake
ManxTT
WipeOut2097
Daytona USA CCE
Sonic R
Fighter Megamix
Nights into Dreams
Christmas Nights
Saturn Bomberman
Sega Ages Vol.1
Sega Turing Cars
and obviously a handful more...

As for the Switch.
+ = D-pad mode, The pad will work like a normal control pad and should work with most games.
O = Analog Thumbstick mode, only supporting games will make use of it properly. Some old games may think it's a Steering Wheel such as Daytona USA 1995 but your find you can't setup the triggers or maybe other buttons so useless.

But yeah, any game released before Nights will not make use of the analog thumbstick properly and in that case the 3D pad can only be used as a normal Controller in + mode.

[antime]

When the 3D pad is put into digital mode, it only reports the controls that are found on the normal pad (no analog stick, no analog shoulder buttons), but at the protocol level it's still different from a joypad. Normally the Saturn's SMPC chip is used to read the controller, and it handles the differences automatically. It is also possible for programmers to bypass the SMPC and read controllers manually, but games aren't supposed to do this, and doing so would in fact make them fail certification. I guess that either this game slipped through the cracks or the rule was not in place yet.

[tony71421]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the response, I thought it was strange and looking around the Internet there was nothing about this anomaly. Guess I'll just have to have a standard pad on standby.

[slicer1000]

Both Thunderhawk 2 and Golden Axe the Duel don't like the 3D pad did you look at gamefaqs as this issue has been mentioned there a number of times. Golden Axe will crash to the bios if it's plugged in

[MIK]

Gamefaqs, gamefaqs... I would not of bothered and just said Golden Axe could be another, without beating around the bush.