Is the input buffer not ridiculously long?

[symphony]

Say you are knocked on the ground then want to roll away because you see another attack coming, but you are still stunned and don't roll when you want to, but instead roll automatically a second later once you are up because of the buffer. It then messes up your timing and you end up rolling right into another attack.

I feel like the buffer is at least 1-2 seconds which is incredibly long. Should be no more than 1/3 second in my opinion. Anyone else have problems with this?

[TisEric]

Yep ...

[symphony]

It might actually just be a bug. I've noticed it doesn't happen all the time, but there are definitely times where I randomly swing my sword or start drinking my estus flask because I pressed x ages ago while I was locked in another animation.

[GrayHound]

I think so too. When my framerate dips, it seems like i pressed the button a minute ago.

[Skiptro]

it has been like this forever, don't button mash, if you are stunned on the ground you are invinsible anyway so no need to mash buttons. just be patient and time your inputs then the buffer won't be a problem.

[AlCampy]

@gungZA You're not invincible to a bunch of vertical attacks while on the ground.

[Torgo]

Originally posted by GungZA:

it has been like this forever, don't button mash, if you are stunned on the ground you are invinsible anyway so no need to mash buttons. just be patient and time your inputs then the buffer won't be a problem.

It definitely hasn't been like this forever. I've done some testing in Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Yes, the buffer exists, but it's very short, maybe 0.3 seconds. In Dark Souls 3 it's 3+ seconds.
Here's an example. Try drinking estus, and then pressing roll immediately after you start drinking. In DS3, you'll roll, even though you pushed the button 4 seconds ago. It's not like this in any other From Software game.
You say "don't button mash." Yes, I agree. But in many cases this ridiculous buffer will kill you through no fault of your own. Suppose you try to dodge an attack but you dodge a millisecond too late and you're hit, hard. You will fall to the ground, you'll see the stagger animation for 4 or 5 seconds, and then when you FINALLY rise to your feet your character will complete the roll that you attempted ages ago, right into another attack, when you'd prefer to be blocking or doing some other action. It's absurd and I hope it's a bug because it makes the controls feel really sloppy and floaty. Dark Souls games are about precision and timing. This buffer sometimes makes me feel like I've lost control over the character. DS3 has the fast pace of Bloodborne and that buffer window should have a similar setting to Bloodborne.

[Hunubul]

Originally posted by Torgo:

Originally posted by GungZA:

it has been like this forever, don't button mash, if you are stunned on the ground you are invinsible anyway so no need to mash buttons. just be patient and time your inputs then the buffer won't be a problem.

It definitely hasn't been like this forever. I've done some testing in Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Yes, the buffer exists, but it's very short, maybe 0.3 seconds. In Dark Souls 3 it's 3+ seconds.
Here's an example. Try drinking estus, and then pressing roll immediately after you start drinking. In DS3, you'll roll, even though you pushed the button 4 seconds ago. It's not like this in any other From Software game.
You say "don't button mash." Yes, I agree. But in many cases this ridiculous buffer will kill you through no fault of your own. Suppose you try to dodge an attack but you dodge a millisecond too late and you're hit, hard. You will fall to the ground, you'll see the stagger animation for 4 or 5 seconds, and then when you FINALLY rise to your feet your character will complete the roll that you attempted ages ago, right into another attack, when you'd prefer to be blocking or doing some other action. It's absurd and I hope it's a bug because it makes the controls feel really sloppy and floaty. Dark Souls games are about precision and timing. This buffer sometimes makes me feel like I've lost control over the character. DS3 has the fast pace of Bloodborne and that buffer window should have a similar setting to Bloodborne.

DS1 had some ridiculous buffers too. Stored roll killed so many people, and it feeled clunky becuase of the buffer acting completely random. DSfix may have fixed that tho.

[Cotcotbracker*]

I just tested it and it seems to be some conditional buffering or just input queueing.
The game keeps track of your next input when you launch an attack, for instance with the BKGA (which has very slow swings) if you input something while on the active frames of the attack (when you are in super armor), this input while be taken into account after the attack no matter what you do (except if you lack stamina). The same for the jump roll, the instant you get back to the ground if you input something, it will trigger after the roll. A BKGA attack and a roll are slow things in Dark Souls, that's why you think there's like 1 to 2secs buffer. If you play with a rapier, the attacks will be so fast you will barely feel your chained attacks are bufferized during the active frames (You still do by mashing R1).

So I don't think there's a fixed time buffer. More like: "while an action is active, your next input is kept, then triggered at the end of the action, so the longer the action takes, the longer your input will be in buffer".

It's very disturbing at first but you can turn it to your advantage.

Sorry for my bad English, it isn't my native language.