Did you use a joystick to play Keen?

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Hisymak
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Did you use a joystick to play Keen?

Post by Hisymak »

Not very long after we got a PC with Keen, my dad bought me a joystick (the one which could be connected via the "game port" on a sound card). He told me it was supposed to control games and told me to try it out. So I tried it (with Keen and other games I had), but, it was actually harder (and annoying) to control games with a joystick than with a keyboard. I was just used to and pretty skilled to play games with a keyboard, so I felt the joystick would not help me or make it any better.
The thing is I can press buttons on keyboard (I mean arrows) pretty instantly so I was very fast with keyboard, but with the joystick I needed to physically pull the stick to the side I needed to walk to and that was laborious and slow. My dad also tried to explain me that the joystick was more suitable for car-driving and flying games than platformers (I had Stunts, Lotus 3, Tyrian IIRC), but even in those cases I preferred keyboard.
So short time after my dad bought the joystick, it just ended up put in a wardrobe and I never effectively utilized it. During the years, I tried to take it out off the wardrobe and use it again, but it always lasted for short time. So keyboard wins for me and to be honest, I also always preferred it over console controllers (PlayStation one etc.).
So what's your experience with joystick?
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Post by keenmaster486 »

I had pretty much the same thing; although in recent years I've gotten much better at using an analog stick. Specifically, the Gravis Analog Pro which has its own idiosyncrasies. I used to be far better at the keyboard but now the joystick is pretty much on par. It certainly helps that the Analog Pro has four buttons and can be configured as a Gravis Gamepad so you don't have to use two-button firing.
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Post by KeenRush »

We had one too (can't remember what model) but for the same reasons I didn't use it either: I was much better with the keyboard, joystick didn't feel natural. Might be interesting to try again as I haven't tried one in more than 20 years...
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Post by ScarletFlame »

The joystick that my dad bought actually came with the first keen game, so that's kinda how I know about keen to begin with. However I had never played keen with a joystick.
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Post by Roobar »

Keen with keyboard! Hands down! It's the best peripheral for Keen LOL!
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Post by Calvero »

Same here.

I had a copy of Keen 3 and it didn't work, because it was looking for a joystick. I didn't have a joystick, but I got one for my birthday. Then I found out my computer didn't have a joystick port, so I bought an ISA expansion card with two game ports. Now Keen 3 did work, but I could control Keen much better with a keyboard.

I only used the joystick in Slordax, because the joystick had an autofire mode.
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Post by keenmaster486 »

ScarletFlame wrote:The joystick that my dad bought actually came with the first keen game, so that's kinda how I know about keen to begin with.
Exact same here. In fact, even though my dad threw away that joystick years ago ( >: ), I still have the original Keen 4 disk that came with it.
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Post by Keening_Product »

I have only ever found a joystick useful with one game: Oolite (an Elite clone).

I can't imagine how horrible trying to pogo jump using a joystick would be.
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Post by lemm »

Yes, when I was little I tried playing it with the Gravis two-button joystick.

Image


^ this one


It's way easier to play using the keyboard, however.
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Post by keenmaster486 »

I have that same joystick except it's the four-button version.

Pogoing with it actually isn't that hard. What's hard is precision shooting.
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Post by Commander Spleen »

I've learned to use a gamepad for DOS games fairly well, especially having played a lot of them on the OpenPandora and Raspberry Pi, and with a Gravis gamepad on classic hardware.

Joystick control is better for games like Tyrian. Especially chunky sci-fi designs--I have a couple with superfluous flip-up missile trigger buttons and such. Never found the joystick particularly useful for platformers.

C64 or arcade joysticks with microswitch buttons suit me better for that purpose as they're a lot closer to keyboard precision. But the only PC compatible joysticks I've used are the analogue style that make it hard to perform quick directional changes without lurching the entire stick or using ultra precise minimal movements.
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Post by Levellass »

People still use joysticks?
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Post by Keening_Product »

Levellass wrote:People still use joysticks?
What are you; some kind of killjoy?
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Post by nanomekia »

Keening_Product wrote:
Levellass wrote:People still use joysticks?
What are you; some kind of killjoy?
Killjoystick.
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Post by Levellass »

I've never known anyone to use one.Their advertisement even in games themselves confuses me.
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