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Post by scotthuggins on Apr 1, 2015 16:20:44 GMT -5
I tried looking everywhere for a good description of the difference from analog vs. digital. Can someone please explain the difference? Vectrex, by default, is digital, right?
If so, then when I see that some are programming utilizing analog sticks for their games, I just....don't get it.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm not getting it somehow.
Thanks!
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Post by VectorX on Apr 1, 2015 16:35:54 GMT -5
I'd say this might help, but maybe you already looked here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_stickAnd no, Vectrex has analog controls, hence why a digitally-converted controller won't work on game two on Star Hawk and Hyperchase. |
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Post by mikiex on Apr 1, 2015 16:50:22 GMT -5
Well I think most games use the joystick as if it was digital controls, but some don't...
As VectorX says, some commercial and homebrew games only work analog.
The difference, say you make pong, with digital you will have a fixed speed you can move your bat.
You could implement acceleration code depending on how long you press a direction, but you will have a max speed you can move probably.
Where as analog you could move your bat from one side of the screen to the other as fast as you can move the joystick all the way in one direction.
So it depends a lot on the type of game you are making, it certainly adds another dimension to the system. Analog controls sort of went out of fashion in the late 80s (apart from flight simulators and driving games)
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Post by 50tbrd on Apr 1, 2015 18:59:20 GMT -5
Better to have the ability to use analog and not need it than not be able to use it at all. There are some games that it is much better to use the analog controls but its not always needed.
I think pretty much every modern console has the capabilities but doesn't necessarily implement it.
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Post by christophertumber on Apr 1, 2015 21:21:32 GMT -5
Digital = up, down, left, right (and positions in between).
Analog = up/down right/left and how far/hard they're pushed.
Hardware is actually analog. There's a BIOS routine that will convert to digital. Or routine to determine analog with different degress of precision.
Analog allows you to include speed type control. Or to map actual physical position of stick to screen.
Digital is an absolute direction. Used in most old-school games.
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Post by Mayhem on Apr 2, 2015 5:31:46 GMT -5
Out of interest, does the BIOS routine have a threshold on digital conversion, in the sense that it doesn't count a digital movement on the analogue stick until you have moved it a certain distance away from zero? And if so, how far is that distance?
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Post by binarystar on Apr 2, 2015 6:48:27 GMT -5
No. There is an accuracy setting but you set your own dead-zone in your code. As time goes on, peoples sticks are drifting further from center so I use a fairly wide dead-zone.
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Post by gliptitude on Apr 3, 2015 15:11:22 GMT -5
"Analog" on vectrex controllers refers to the joystick. An analog switch is position sensitive and the voltage varies according to how far you move the switch. The standard Vectrex controller has analog components for the stick.
"Digital" switches are always either OFF or ON. So in a digital joystick in a video game there are no varying degrees of up or down or left or right.
The Vectrex analog stick is functionally a digital stick in most games. This is determined by the game program. The decision to go analog or not is a design decision.
The usefulness of analog directional controls in Vectrex games is somewhat obscure.
I think a person would consider making a new Vectrex game with analog directional controls mostly in order to demonstrate the capability. It's not something you see very often.
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Post by mikiex on Apr 5, 2015 17:18:51 GMT -5
I think a person would consider making a new Vectrex game with analog directional controls mostly in order to demonstrate the capability. It's not something you see very often. I'd disagree you'd only use it to demo that it can do it, some games suit analog controls such as pong or driving games - this is why analog made a comeback with the psx and is still on all new console controllers. I think we will see more games in the future using it. |
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Post by gliptitude on Apr 5, 2015 18:05:09 GMT -5
I think a person would consider making a new Vectrex game with analog directional controls mostly in order to demonstrate the capability. It's not something you see very often. I'd disagree you'd only use it to demo that it can do it, some games suit analog controls such as pong or driving games - this is why analog made a comeback with the psx and is still on all new console controllers. I think we will see more games in the future using it. Yeh I think it's debatable and mostly I was just trying to give OP the most concise answer. I didn't exactly mean "demo" in the common sense, but rather that a contemporary programmer would accept it as a neat challenge, and something the Vectrex was designed to do but was never much used. That's my impression of Star Sling and Spike's Circus. I imagine that the ideas for those games originated with a specific desire to implement the analog joystick. They are both pretty unusual games. .. Analog paddle controllers are another story for sure. But since they are not native to the Vectrex, it seems like a different conversation to me. |
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Post by 50tbrd on Apr 5, 2015 19:33:51 GMT -5
If the Vectrex had been around for longer and been more popular, we might have seen a paddle controller available for the Vectrex. They had plans for a keyboard, and its conceivable that in addition to the Imager and Light Pen that more simple peripherals would have been available.
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Post by christophertumber on Apr 6, 2015 11:37:34 GMT -5
I think a person would consider making a new Vectrex game with analog directional controls mostly in order to demonstrate the capability. It's not something you see very often. Check my last post in this thread if you missed it: vectorgaming.proboards.com/thread/1201/panic-attack-wip |
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Post by garryg on Apr 6, 2015 12:11:41 GMT -5
Analog controlled in good for moving pointers, or cursors on screen as it's more intuitive than moving a pointer with digital controls.
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Post by gliptitude on Apr 7, 2015 14:25:58 GMT -5
Ok. It looks like I will have to download and flash in order to get the content in that post. I look forward to doing that next time I get my real computer online. It sounds like a pretty interesting control scheme. |
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Post by christophertumber on Apr 7, 2015 15:59:04 GMT -5
It turned out better than I expected - Was really done as a proof of concept on impulse based on the other thread. Took quite a bit of fiddling (probably needs a calibration routine) but def a keeper.
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