Atari VCS Joystick- how is it in Windows?

[Gamemoose]

Not sure if this is the right forum to ask about just the VCS stick on a regular PC, but here it goes:

 

I watched The Immortal One’s (John Hancock) recent video on the VCS. It looked like he got great results with the stick playing games like “Tempest” and such. How does the stick fare on a PC with Windows? Does it work well (stick and the paddle control) in Stella?

 

Thanks!

[Gamemoose]

Well, I got a classic controller to answer my own question. It installs real easy in Windows both wired and wireless. The stick is set as a “hat” like a regular D-pad.

 

I tried out the latest version of Stella along with a few favorites games: Cosmic Ark, Solaris and Warlords. Initially the stick wouldn’t work as it kept wanted to go left when you moved the stick right. I cleared the P0 directions and mapped them to the stick, which fixed that problem. As it didn’t seem like the stick was analog, I set the deadzone to the lowest setting.

 

I fired up Cosmic Ark first. The stick felt loose as there’s no resistance like the plastic of an original stick. The game was playable but it felt a little sloppy to me. Solaris fared better but again the feel of movement being without resistance kinda threw me off.

 

The final game, Warlords, started out very promising. The rotary control I knew would take a bit of getting used to as the feel is very different for me. Then when turning the stick, my shield suddenly materialized at the top corner of my castle. That threw me off. 
 

I did try the stick with a totally different game. I tried it on Tree House: Avocado Mayhem by Fued. Unfortunately it looks to be coded for an Xbox thumb stick and not the hat. Oh well.
 

To me, the stick is a good idea but doesn’t do it for me regarding the classics. Maybe I expect too much? I dunno. There may be ways to tweak things but I don’t have the time or gumption currently to find that solution.

[mckafka99]

     What type of controller mode are you using the VCS joystick in Windows? I have it as a Bluetooth Gamepad (even though I have it plugged in via USB) and I’ve found it works really well in the latest version of Stella and (with some config adjustments) works great for Bally Astrocade emulation in Retroarch/Mame. The only thing a bit weird about how the joystick appears in Windows in this mode is that the built in paddle presents as a ‘Dial’ that ‘wraps around’. 

[Gamemoose]

I tried both classic and “xbox” mode. My computer saw it as a “classic controller” so that’s what I rolled with. Even then I didn’t like what I perceived as “loose” movement.