Bully Scholarship Edition (After patch and gamepad tweak)
noman
PS2 version), it came out in a messed up state. It could crash on
machines with more than 2GB of RAM (or 64bit OS), that is if it could
actually finish loading the levels. Streaming level data could also
cause stutters even on heavy-duty systems and the game only supported
X360 (or similar) gamepads along with mouse/keyboard control.
I didn't buy it at the time.
A few days back, I found this game at local Target store for $5. Couple
of days earlier Take2 had realeased a patch that supposedly fixed
stability and performance issues. So I picked it up, and the game has
worked fine (stability wise) on my Vista x64 setup.
I tried mouse/keboard setup initially but this being a third person
game with an emphasis on run, jump and melee action, a daul-analog
controller seemed more suitable. Fortunately, I could use the Logitech
Profiler application to get around the idiotic control issue. If you
have an X360 or similar gamepad, it'll work fine but for all other
gamepads, as soon as the left stick is assigned for "Up/Forward"
action, the character goes into a permanent forward motion. The game
menus keep scrolling as well. It looks almost like a dead-zone issue
but it isn't. The game for some reason can't handle the left stick on
these non-X360 (or rather not X-Input aware) gamepads. The trick is to
use Profiler (for this Logitech dualaction controller) and make the
following change
1) Left stick as right stick
2) Right stick as mouse
After this I customized the movement controls (using left stick, which
the game sees as right stick) leaving camera perspective at the default
mouse settings (which I can use through right stick). Thanks to the
person at Gamespot forums where I got this tip.
Everything works fine now.
Now the actual game definitely has some potential. Though the graphics
are mediocre (washed out gamma settings, low resolution textures and
low polygon count), the characters and writing in the first hour and
the range of activities that I could tell from a GTA type stats screen
look promising. It's a three year old game that originally was written
for PS2 so I am willing to overlook the graphics. The animation and
artstyle will hopefully cover for technical shortcomings.
If you purchased the game when it first came out and gave up because of
technical reasons, then I recommend downloading the patch and giving it
a second look.
My 2�
--
Noman
Warewolf
Rockstar needs to *seriously* rethink their strategy if they want anymore
of my money and they can start by taking a long, hard look at their
(programming teams') past achievements and mistakes.
PS2 titles + crappy emulator + heavy-handed DRM != success
in this capitalistically broken global community.
Do your next 'virtual universe' right or GTFO.
'Cheat customer now, patch later' doesn't cut it anymore. ~~}:^(
Signed,
Warewolf
who is currently reading some 'ancient scrolls' he found in an 'old school'
cyg
"noman" <no_...@zzzyahoo.yycom> wrote in message
news:gtfrvh$2qe$1...@news.motzarella.org...
> The game for some reason can't handle the left stick on
> these non-X360 (or rather not X-Input aware) gamepads.
That is actually the design of XInput. It is not compatible with standard
(DInput) game controllers. A proper PC port should include both XInput and
DirectInput libraries (or a proprietary handler). It has something to do
with the assignment of trigger buttons, which in their "rest" state are
actually considered at a negative or positive value. (Pressing them halfway
is their zero state.) When you use a regular controller as an XInput device,
the main axes are treated as triggers instead of sticks, so when your sticks
are at rest, they are actually calibrated as being fully pressed in one
direction. As you describe, you must reconfigure your controller through the
custom software in order to fake the input signals to the XInput driver.
Alternatively, you can manually calibrate the sticks to match the behavior
of the triggers.
noman
>
> That is actually the design of XInput. It is not compatible with
> standard (DInput) game controllers. A proper PC port should include
> both XInput and DirectInput libraries (or a proprietary handler). It
> has something to do with the assignment of trigger buttons, which in
> their "rest" state are actually considered at a negative or positive
> value. (Pressing them halfway is their zero state.) When you use a
> regular controller as an XInput device, the main axes are treated as
> triggers instead of sticks, so when your sticks are at rest, they are
> actually calibrated as being fully pressed in one direction. As you
> describe, you must reconfigure your controller through the custom
> software in order to fake the input signals to the XInput driver.
> Alternatively, you can manually calibrate the sticks to match the
> behavior of the triggers.
It makes sense now. Thanks for the information.
--
Noman
