New Player - Fight Stick Question for a Fat Guy

[ChrisPharmD]

I'm new to fighting games.

About a year ago, I tried a fight stick. I can't remember what it was exactly. I know it was a Soul Calibur VI themed stick for PS3/PS4/PC, but I can't remember anything else.

My setup is a simple gaming desk, gaming chair, and a 27" monitor. Now, I'm fat. I'm 5'10" 280 lbs. The fight stick was stable on my lap, but I found it difficult to use the joystick. Placing it on my desk was not an option because it sat too high relative to me and the screen. I would have had to find a dedicated table for the stick.

What gets complicated is that I could not tell if my problem was my complete lack of skill or if the stick being in my lap was causing the problem. Manipulating the stick was difficult, and the inputs came out as unpredictable, unstable, and almost twitchy. I felt like I had no control.

So, instead of trying to figure out the problem, I just gave up and gave the stick away.

This time, I want to figure out the problem. I started playing Tekken 7 on an Xbox One Elite controller, and that was alright for a controller, but after some consideration, I bought a HORI Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai.

As expected, the same problem is happening. It sits on my lab steadily, but I feel like I have no control over the joystick.

Does anybody have any input on this? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Shizuma]

I think your main issue comes from the fact that you're not used to the stick. If it's not moving while you're playing then everything should be fine.
Transit from gamepad to arcade stick takes time, and I think that it has nothing to do with your morphology, you just need more practice. Also you should not that there are many players that are not able to make the transition and feel better with a gamepad.
The HRAP4 Kai was a pretty nice choice.

[Anubis]

^ Agreed.

If the stick feels steady in your lap as you say, and you can reach the stick without a problem, I think your issues are a matter of muscle memory and not body shape/weight.

I haven't played that stick but guess that the lever has a square gate rather than circular or octagonal. (If circular, you don't feel the lever latch into any notches when you make circular motions; if octagonal, it latches into every cardinal and diagonal direction; if square, it latches into the diagonals only.) My tip is to take advantage of all the help you get from those corners and really jam the stick in there when you want a specific input.
This will help you discover organically which fingers to use for which diagonal and how (and this will be unique to you), and the ways in which you may need to alter your idea of some inputs to get them consistently (for example, a quarter circle forward motion is more of a stair motion on a stick with a square gate, so down > horizontally into the corner > up vertically into the cardinal direction).

[poop]

Using a stick in your lap is a whole nother ballgame than a stick attached to a 200+ pounds standing box.
This is why I have never bought a fightstick, its way too floaty in my lap and it moves when I do stuff. That's no bueno mane.

[Yosogoto]

Originally posted by poop:

Using a stick in your lap is a whole nother ballgame than a stick attached to a 200+ pounds standing box.
This is why I have never bought a fightstick, its way too floaty in my lap and it moves when I do stuff. That's no bueno mane.

Sounds like either you need to get off the juice or you need to buy better quality sticks

The only sticks I have ever had move in my lap were the small flimsy ones like the Qanba Drone that weigh almost nothing and don't have anti slip material on the bottom

My first stick was an Eightarc Obsidian, weighed about 10 pounds, felt bottom, never moved. Now I use a Razer Panthera as my main stick, its maybe slightly heavier with a non-slip rubber bottom, it'll take my pants with it if it slides off my lap somehow

[poop]

Originally posted by Oxygen Thief:

Originally posted by poop:

Using a stick in your lap is a whole nother ballgame than a stick attached to a 200+ pounds standing box.
This is why I have never bought a fightstick, its way too floaty in my lap and it moves when I do stuff. That's no bueno mane.

Sounds like either you need to get off the juice or you need to buy better quality sticks

The only sticks I have ever had move in my lap were the small flimsy ones like the Qanba Drone that weigh almost nothing and don't have anti slip material on the bottom

My first stick was an Eightarc Obsidian, weighed about 10 pounds, felt bottom, never moved. Now I use a Razer Panthera as my main stick, its maybe slightly heavier with a non-slip rubber bottom, it'll take my pants with it if it slides off my lap somehow

I just can't get behind $100+ for a box board buttons and stick...and the cheaper ones are the light ones that move around. And even if it doesn't slide it still bounces in my lap.

If I get a stick I will have to build a podium for it.

Anyways back on topic: This ain't about being fat. I am skinny AF and have the same issues. These things are originally designed to be mounted and used in a standing position.

[Shizuma]

Actually every japanese arcade cabinet (e.g. Astro City) are designed to play sitted, not standing. That doesn't change the fact however that it's not designed to be played on knees.
Got a Qanba Q4Raf, it's heavy enough and doesn't move when I'm playing.

[CZI]

HORI Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai should be fine and it has good reputations.
If you want to change, you can change lever to Sanwa lever.

It takes time to get used to use lever. But if you are not used to lever, I'd suggest to use HitBox. You can buy or convert from lever. Learning curve is faster and more rewarding later with faster and more precise control.

I made (converted) 2 HitBox for my kids for fighting game. (SoulCalibur 6 and Pokken). They got learned much quicker than lever. So I think it apply many people for recommendable HitBox than lever.

For the speed of board is still small difference as just a couple millisecond.

It's better to set Vsync=OFF and use high frequency monitor for earning faster response. From other post, it could earn about 40ms.

On top of lap is also fine. Many pro player use the position instead on the desk.

Personally I don't like gaming chair for fight stick. I prefer just sit on cheap pipe chair (no wheel). So it makes stable to fix body for me. Better to take a break once a 30min though.

Off topic from fight stick, I'd suggest you to work on your health a bit.

I'd suggest Nintendo Switch, Ring Fit Adventure, and Fitness Boxing (1. Not 2 as much laggier).
With 20min play a day I lost 20lb(about 10kg) in 6 months. Not only me, many people get similar result. So I think it is also recommendable.

Being healthy would be important to enjoy more future games.

[CZI]

Originally posted by Shizuma:

Actually every japanese arcade cabinet (e.g. Astro City) are designed to play sitted, not standing. That doesn't change the fact however that it's not designed to be played on knees.
Got a Qanba Q4Raf, it's heavy enough and doesn't move when I'm playing.

Yeah, Japanese traditional gaming chair is like this one.
https://www.tops-game.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=5740

I use modified MayFlash F300. It's considerably light weight.

To make stable the box on my lap, I pull up short pants to upper thigh (not pants down) and put to box on bare legs. Then box does not slip at all on my lap. I cannot show at public, but it works well for me.

[poop]

Standing position is wrong.
Elevated position is what I mean...we often pulled chairs up to standing arcades too. Usually a barstool.

[Catratio]

I have the RAP 4 Kai as well and also play it on my lap. I bought it when Tekken 7 came out specifically to play with this game because I thought playing it on a controller was too imprecise. There is a long adjustment period, and it was easier to hit the diagonals in this game and a much better option overall, but I still found it not 100% reliable, and double taps in a direction were finicky, like in side-stepping/walking. You might want to just try it on a keyboard just to see if you like that better. Hitting the S+D keys for down-forward is a lot faster and certain than trying to hit the bottom right gate on a stick but slightly missing it and getting down instead. You'd overcome that issue with a lot of practice and time, but keyboard has been the best option I've found, especially considering for movement in this game - a button press is faster than moving the stick back and forth. I still like and use my stick, but for non-3D fighting games, and for older arcade games in general it's really good for too.

[ChrisPharmD]

Thank you all for your helpful answers. It's my work week (7-on, 7-off, overnights). So, I haven't had time to sit down to respond to each person. But I gave each person an award to show my gratitude. I wish I could give more points, but I'm running kinda low.

I do like the arcade stick I bought, but admittedly, I was a little surprised by the square gate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the ideal stick had 8 sides (octogon) but people often accept a hexagon shape. When it hit me that my stick had a dimond shape (well square), I was like wtf?

Maybe I'll do some more research on fight sticks. I just saw that there were 13,000 reviews on Amazon for this stick and it was mostly positive. I didn't do much more than that. RIP. But it's still really nice!

Thank you all again for all your advice. I did expect the stick to naturally feel comfortable since I spent my childhood in arcades, and I never remember feeling like controlling the joysticks were hard. I played a lot of MvCII (casually) and never remember needing a transition period (edit: but MvCII wasn't in a 3D plane though... maybe the 3D plane of Tekken is making the transition much harder than if I were trying to transition to a 2D game? I dunno!)

Thanks again!!

[Shizuma]

Every arcade sticks I know are mounted with a square gate. Good thing is that gates are not expensive at all and you can replace it for an octogonal gate. All you need is a screwdriver, this is pretty simple.
When you'll get used a bit to it and if you do have some extra bucks to spend, consider replacing the lever and buttons with sanwa parts. Also consider Hitbox or Mixbox modding like CZI mentionned. I personnally never tried it myself but I know its pretty popular and efficient.

Originally posted by CZI:

Yeah, Japanese traditional gaming chair is like this one.
https://www.tops-game.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=5740

Thanks! Yes that's exactly the chairs I was thinking about.

[ChrisPharmD]

Originally posted by Shizuma:

Every arcade sticks I know are mounted with a square gate. Good thing is that gates are not expensive at all and you can replace it for an octogonal gate. All you need is a screwdriver, this is pretty simple.
When you'll get used a bit to it and if you do have some extra bucks to spend, consider replacing the lever and buttons with sanwa parts. Also consider Hitbox or Mixbox modding like CZI mentionned. I personnally never tried it myself but I know its pretty popular and efficient.

Yeah, I'll wait until I get some time in before I start replacing parts. If square gates are typical, then I'll just stick to that.

Oh riiiight, I forgot to mention the buttons. I really don't like the way they feel. They definitely don't remind me of arcade cabinet buttons. Not sure what it is exactly, but there's just something I don't like about them.

If I had to buy this stick again, I'm not sure I'd put $150 on it. I think I would have been more patient and done more research. But at the end of the day, worst case scenario is that I can modify it or use it as an extra. But for now, I think it's fine.

[Shizuma]

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Originally posted by Shizuma:

Every arcade sticks I know are mounted with a square gate. Good thing is that gates are not expensive at all and you can replace it for an octogonal gate. All you need is a screwdriver, this is pretty simple.
When you'll get used a bit to it and if you do have some extra bucks to spend, consider replacing the lever and buttons with sanwa parts. Also consider Hitbox or Mixbox modding like CZI mentionned. I personnally never tried it myself but I know its pretty popular and efficient.

Yeah, I'll wait until I get some time in before I start replacing parts. If square gates are typical, then I'll just stick to that.

Oh riiiight, I forgot to mention the buttons. I really don't like the way they feel. They definitely don't remind me of arcade cabinet buttons. Not sure what it is exactly, but there's just something I don't like about them.

If I had to buy this stick again, I'm not sure I'd put $150 on it. I think I would have been more patient and done more research. But at the end of the day, worst case scenario is that I can modify it or use it as an extra. But for now, I think it's fine.

Buttons and lever are Hayabusa parts, not traditionnal Sanwa parts that you can actually find on japanase arcade cabinets. I had the same arcade stick, I didn't like the feeling of buttons and lever at all, even tho their quality is good so I replaced everything day one. Fortunately I have many arcade sticks parts at home, got about 15 different arcade sticks (PS2/PS3/PS4/NeoGeo/Dreamcast/Xbox360/etc).

If you want to change lever you'll need a Sanwa Joystick JLF-TP-8YT, you can order it with the octogonal plate instead of square one at the same time, and for buttons you'll need Sanwa OBSF-30 x6 (or 8 if you want to replace them all). If you want to replace start button the reference is Sanwa OBSF-24. 30 and 24 numbers being the diameter in mm. I can't really tell you where to shop these but others may help, got an arcade part shops nearby my house which is very convenient.

Modding this stick is extremely easy, as they is nothing to solder, everything is just clipped.
Here's a quick tutorial of someone modding levers, buttons and also adding a custom art/plexi mod so you can figure out how easy it is.
https://youtu.be/Las0_Au_KdM

[ChrisPharmD]

Originally posted by Shizuma:

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Yeah, I'll wait until I get some time in before I start replacing parts. If square gates are typical, then I'll just stick to that.

Oh riiiight, I forgot to mention the buttons. I really don't like the way they feel. They definitely don't remind me of arcade cabinet buttons. Not sure what it is exactly, but there's just something I don't like about them.

If I had to buy this stick again, I'm not sure I'd put $150 on it. I think I would have been more patient and done more research. But at the end of the day, worst case scenario is that I can modify it or use it as an extra. But for now, I think it's fine.

Buttons and lever are Hayabusa parts, not traditionnal Sanwa parts that you can actually find on japanase arcade cabinets. I had the same arcade stick, I didn't like the feeling of buttons and lever at all, even tho their quality is good so I replaced everything day one. Fortunately I have many arcade sticks parts at home, got about 15 different arcade sticks (PS2/PS3/PS4/NeoGeo/Dreamcast/Xbox360/etc).

If you want to change lever you'll need a Sanwa Joystick JLF-TP-8YT, you can order it with the octogonal plate instead of square one at the same time, and for buttons you'll need Sanwa OBSF-30 x6 (or 8 if you want to replace them all). If you want to replace start button the reference is Sanwa OBSF-24. 30 and 24 numbers being the diameter in mm. I can't really tell you where to shop these but others may help, got an arcade part shops nearby my house which is very convenient.

Modding this stick is extremely easy, as they is nothing to solder, everything is just clipped.

So, what is your opinion of this if I were to purchase it to replace the parts?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01FJFXFHK/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A7Y75ROU9VMVI&psc=1