From Pad to Stick

Current Fighting Games Fighting Game Discussion
#1

Basically I’m in the stick learning process , just wanted some hints and suggestions. Furthermore, when did most SRKers learn stick and how long did it take for you to get itdown and then how much longer to become better on stick then pad. Lastly, your reasons for switching.

So far I’m still sucky at stick and executing on it, and the reason I switch was because I hated plugging in my PS2 pad and having to switch to option and change the buttons especially on 3S when loser just passes the stick. Also, the better on pad I got the less respect I got…

#2

The best suggestion I can give is to relax when learning stick and work you’re way up. You are not gonna be as fast to react when you first start on stick, just accept that and work at it.

As for me, I’ve been a pad player for all my life until this year, and now playing pad (had to at a friends house) feels oddly… wrong. Seriously, I actually disliked stick for most of my life and thought it was overrated.

Also, it took me a bit over a month (like 6 weeks) to get about the same level of play on stick as I had on pad, and about 3-4 weeks after that to drop my bad pad habits and get better on stick.

Also, what stick are you planning to get?

#3

Yeah, I’m also starting the transition from pad to stick after years of the pad. It’s not going too well. I’m mainly playing Garou, and I can’t do Jae’s BnB combo.

#4

Andrew, you need to learn the piano-key method, and understand how Negative Edge behaves. I’m sure someone else can better explain both better than I can.

When you do, you will execute tons better.

In addition, what I used to do was practice DP’ing continuously and non-stop from the very left of the fighting screen until I touched the other side on the right. Call it a kata, if you will. Hadokens are the same way, although I would try to execute them as fast as the previous one would hit the dummy. This was back in the day, but much of it still applies.

BTW, I grew up in the arcades; I started with SF2:WW. :wink:

It’s really muscle-memory for me…I’m sure you’ll eventually get to being comfortable using stick, given some time.

#5

Jump in a tourney too- like me though me and everyone knows I don’t play stick force yourself to play with one in a tourney so you can make yourself confortable with it to a small degree.

Now give or take yes I’m at least 10-20 times better on a pad than a stick,

That couldnt be more evident in the difference between how I played at PZ in XI vs. anyone and then when we were at home playing the game- but I am gonna keep working to try and bridge the gap.

Like in a 3s tourney I really had to go back to basics, I can’t play Yun on a stick, I can barely play Ken or Chun,just barely… but it forces you to find other ways to win when you can’t do shit and that’s okay because give or take even for a stick user most of the times the sticks are not gonna be picture perfect all the time.

So it takes time, and I’m gonna keep on working at it…

#6

I would recommend playing those one two games that really got you serious about switching to stick and then just go into practice mode and practice combos that you considered to be easy/basic for yourself on pad. Practice the same moves/combos over and over until you have it down, then keep building up the consistancy everyday you can. Sometimes, even those basic combos will seem really hard, harder than one feels they should be, thus try even breaking those down into smaller parts, working on those, then adding them together.

Lastly, essential stick motions to try incorporating when making the switch are buffering and smooth rolling motions. Don’t try to force it like DietSoap said, but relax (although you may feel just a bit tense anyways). And definitely don’t forget to try your moves/combos that you have worked on in real play, as it can be completely different and really** shows yourself which areas you are making progress in and which you are not…I cannot stress this last part enough.

I have played on pad for seventeen years (since childhood) before I decided I was serious enough to make the switch. It can be tough, but there are plenty of people who are or have been in the same boat as you on SRK, so just keep up the work and it will pay off :tup:

#7

you knew you were going to an arcade, so you should’ve practiced non-stop on stick until then…maybe the results could’ve been slightly different. it’s all about practice…you don’t practice, you aren’t up to your potential.

#8

Okay, well, it definitely takes a while to get used to being on a stick. First thing, are you talking about a japanese stick (little ball on top) or an american stick (looks like a bat)? If you’re talking about a japanese stick, how I’d hold it is, index, middle and thumb fingers on the ball, and on the other hand, 3 fingers on the punch buttons, thumb on LK.

Just practice doing the hadoken and shoryuken motion a lot, and you’ll get it down. I don’t remember how long it took me to get used to a stick, but I’ll say this: Not a long time. I’d say it was like 2-4 weeks to be able to do stuff that I could already do on a pad, and then from there on I got better. It helps to already have the motions down on the pad. Whatever you do, don’t give up, and practice a lot. Also, one thing that helped me out was watching Thongboy’s tutorial:

[media=youtube]e8zGCrif0wI[/media]

It has this nice little model of an arcade stick doing the motions, it really helped me out when I couldn’t do super motions on my stick.

#9

Looking at this stick

http://www.lik-sang.com/image.php?category=317&products_id=7761&img=x360-doa4-joystick&show=2

I wonder what’s preferred, as far as button design goes. The ones with a deeper center (than the edges), I imagine can be more accurate to work with. I can see my sweaty fingers easily slip around on these buttons on this DOA4 stick.

http://www.lik-sang.com/image.php?category=22&products_id=5079&img=hori-real-arcade-pro&show=1

This actually looks pretty nice.

#10

Well I have been playing on a stick on Fridays for a little bit of time Thai thats how I know I can’t play Yun!!! I gotta stick to bnb style Chun and bnb style Ken…

I knew that well in advance!!

And so it was narrowed down to basics Ken or basics Chun…

And I flipped between them both.

But I ain’t giving up!!! :tup:

#11

Cool, cool, good info for switching. Good to see I’m not the only one starting from pad to stick. I’m currently using a octagon lolly pop stick, with an American lay out for the Japaneses buttons. Most people I talked to said they were lucky if they could get an Octagon and he put on in there by default so I stuck with it. Did you guys learn American first or Jap style??

Real quick questions, do some of you think that movement is faster on pad then on stick, b/c a lot of top Tekken players play on pad, plus a few people I knew said it was easier to hit confirm on pad.

#12

It depends on what you are trying to do Andrew…talking to someone close cough I wonder who??? there are certain things you can do on a pad that is very difficult on a stick…hmmm I wonder what that could be Andrew (Keep your mouth shut!!! :lol:)

And likewise for a stick there are certain motions like 360 and 720 that are easier to do and shortcuts for doing motions.

#13

Not getting respect for playing on pad? The people you play with are retarded.

It doesn’t matter much on what device you use to play the games you play, if you can play to the ability that you desire on them. Honestly, the times where playing on stick matters is if things are much easier to do on them rather than pads. This is usually the case with games like MvC2, which require quick execution and a flexible button layout which simply is undeliverable on a DC pad, for most people. And also, knowing how to play on sticks are important if your competition/tourney scene has arcade play as the standard (though this is starting to die).

This is the reason why I probably will never bother to learn how to play Guilty Gear on a stick. The competitive scene is virtually all consoled-based since the arcade scene for the game here in North America is pretty much non-existant, and I have no problems with playing the game on the pad.

#14

I run into two problems playing on pad:

#1- Old schoolers to a large majority hate the new school. Point blank and simple.

#2- For tournies like Houston Regionals that are All Arcade and the newly named Shodown Championships for Texas Showdown 7 is for what we see gonna be All arcade, meaning for that opportunity to play KOFXI or play Issei or Hitler or Alex E or Alex Valle on console in 3s I won’t get because its an all arcade.

Sure everyone wants to be at their best when they are at a tourney right??

I think the solution should be how they make their cabs…make it like the Tekken 5 machines…where you can plug in your own controller…CASE SOLVED!!!

Everyone is happy!!!

:lovin:

#15

I went from Pad to stick, to stick to pad. Now I just bought a MAS stick and waiting on it, so hopefully it will be a good ride to using stick again.

When I go to the arcade, it’s a lot harder for me to do infinites or anything because i’m not used to stick yet, but hopefully getting this stick will change that.

#16

Yes this is good to know I aint the only “Pad Warrior” up in here…probably the most imfamous one though…:confused:

:rofl:

The sticks that I’m at least liking and knowing I can work with are Sanwas.

#17

I’ve been off pad for 2 years. Practice is key and something I don’t do often and don’t like to do either. Thats why my execution sucks. It takes time to go from pad to stick. Do what KINGDOM siad. But I would never go back to pad. Never.

#18

I learned on a pad for a long time. I chose to move on to a stick so I could play at arcades, and it has in turn made my execution a lot better.

As for advice, I can give none other than practice and go with what’s comfortable/works best.

#19

When i played on pad i found it difficult sometimes to do quarter circe x2 moves…on stick i can do it…and the raging storm with geese from cvs2 on pad…forget it i could barely do it…on stick its easier…stick is better once you get the hang of it…only thing i like about the pad is that when im playing at home i sometimes lay down with the pad and play fighters…now i gotta sit up with the stick :frowning:

#20

Like many people in this thread have stated, it is all about personal preference. My brother plays way better on a pad than he does on a stick. I play better on a stick than I do a pad. There are several reasons for this:

  1. I grew up in the Arcade area, when WW was the king of the arcade.

  2. My brother grew up in the PSX era, when a good stick was hard to come by in the two bit town I lived in.

Like I had stated in the Daigo SF Pro thread, it comes down to how you are comfortable playing. If you have invested a conciderable amount of time in learning the stick and are still having difficulty, it might be time to either leave the stick behind… or fully embrace the stick and leave your pad behind completely (forcing you to learn the stick through trail and error without having the crutch near by).

Many people will see the stick as the only pure way of playing a fighting game. In today’s day and age, with the rise of consoles, that simply is not the case anymore. Unless you were playing in specific tournaments that require a stick, or use actual arcade cabinates, then I would not worry about your input meathod too much. Play with what is comfortable.