Need advice about Gamecube-on-PC related stuff (controllers mostly)

skykiii

skykiii

kiwifarms.net
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Jun 17, 2018
So recently, a friend of mine has said he wants to play Phantasy Star Online, the original. I happen to be kind of a fan of that game (I own it for both Gamecube and Dreamcast) so I wanted to set up emulation.

Mainly what I want to know is:

Does anyone here have experience with using Gamecube controllers on PC? (I don't care if its an original GC controller or one of those clones, I basically just want to know what Kiwis would recommend and what you've had good experiences with).

Also I've read Dolphin can do online play. Is it hard to set up?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Not exactly what you want, but I can help.

PSO. There's a PC version called Phantasy Star Blue Burst. It went end of life long ago, but a fan community runs community servers. I've not played for a few years, but it worked great if you want the ep1 and ep2 experience, with more XP to reduce the grind. The main problem is that there's no FMVs, just stills. I recommend this if you want to play PSO on PC with friends.

As for controllers. I don't have any PC GameCube ones, but I have a N64 controller called Tribute 64 and it works great despite one glaring issue for the games I want to play with it (holding cup and cright changes the driver mode, which makes it annoying to use for non-goldeneye FPS games). The real problem with third party controllers is getting them in stock. Basically, search for YouTube reviews of ones you find, and they'll go into autistic detail.

However, using a Xbone controller is fine. It has issues for some games due to not having the exact face layout, but for most games (PSO included) it should be fine. Especially since it's more similar to the DC layout than the GC was.

If you want to use vintage hardware, the first place I'd check is the smash community, because they still insist on OG GC controllers over all others.
 
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You can get a GameCube-USB adaptor either from Nintendo or a third party clone (though I'd personally recommend using a third party one with a pc switch). And I've tried dolphin's netplay before and it's abysmal so I'd recommend using something like Parsec
 
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Third party adapters are your best bet. Those USB GameCube controllers you can get on Amazon are absolute dogshit that will snap in half if you look at them funny, whereas those adapters let you use your actual controllers which are infinitely better.
 
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The Mayflash GCN adapter tends to work better with a PC setup than the official Nintendo Wii U GCN adapter. Not sure if it's still being made or if there's other clones out there, but those two generally have the most support in emulators.
If you don't have a GCN controller, you're probably better off using whatever your favorite controller is than going out of your way to get one. Meleefags made the market on decent GCN controllers a pain in the ass.
I've never had any problems using Dolphin's netplay, IIRC you just port forward and connect via IP, but your frame lag/desync risk is going to vary depending on how close you are to your friend you're connecting with. There's been some netplay optimized Dolphin builds just for Melee/PM, but I don't know if those netplay tweaks ever made it into mainline Dolphin or if you can use those builds for other games.
 
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The HORI controllers are nice and come with extra buttons but they don't have the pressure triggers or rumble.
 
The official GameCube USB adapter that was released with Smash 4 for the Wii U is supported by Dolphin natively with no configuration needed; I believe that the exact same adapter was also re-released for use with the Switch. However, there were some unofficial drivers released for said adapter way back in 2014 that causes it to be recognized by your PC as a standard controller (and recognized as such by Dolphin). Not sure if there's anything newer or if these old drivers have any problems on modern systems, but that would probably be one of your best bets if you want to play the previously mentioned Blue Burst with a controller that you're used to. The problem is that said adapter is harder to find and is inevitably being sold at scalper prices. Back in 2014, the official GCN adapter was the most accurate, but the Mayflashes may have caught up since then. For what it's worth, I have a Mayflash N64 USB adapter, and it works great, so go with Mayflash if you're in doubt.

And as others have said, avoid the cheap USB controllers online, and the unbranded USB GameCube adapters as well.
 
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Lammy said:
If you don't have a GCN controller, you're probably better off using whatever your favorite controller is than going out of your way to get one. Meleefags made the market on decent GCN controllers a pain in the ass.
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Seconded on this. If you weren't lucky enough to get in on the limited run Nintendo did for the last couple Smash games, you'll have a hard time finding a new one at a reasonable price.

If you're really set on using a proper GC controller then, depending on where you live, Japanese Amazon can be a good place to find used pads on the cheap ($30-$35 American) -- just make sure you're getting the genuine product and not some third party shitheap that'll fall apart in your hands. Being secondhand controllers for a 25-year-old console, they might need some TLC, but you can quite easily repair the most common issues by yourself with a bit of patience.

Merton J. Dingle said:
However, there were some unofficial drivers released for said adapter way back in 2014 that causes it to be recognized by your PC as a standard controller (and recognized as such by Dolphin). Not sure if there's anything newer or if these old drivers have any problems on modern systems, but that would probably be one of your best bets if you want to play the previously mentioned Blue Burst with a controller that you're used to.
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I presume this is the one you're talking about. It's decent -- and still works fine on Win11 -- but to my knowledge was replaced a couple years back by Delfinovin, which has lower latency and an improved user interface (including the ability to remap buttons).
 
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Thanks guys.

FWIW both me and my friend have actual Gamecubes and actual Cube controllers. So I was thinking either an adapter, or if one of those USB/bluetooth clone controllers would work just fine. Basically with Gamecube games it feels wrong to play them with something that's not a GC controller (something similar happens with the Nintendo 64).

EDIT:

Judge Dredd said:
PSO. There's a PC version called Phantasy Star Blue Burst. It went end of life long ago, but a fan community runs community servers. I've not played for a few years, but it worked great if you want the ep1 and ep2 experience, with more XP to reduce the grind. The main problem is that there's no FMVs, just stills. I recommend this if you want to play PSO on PC with friends.
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So....

Demystify something for me, please:

I've heard that PSO on PC includes "Episode 4" (I know Episode 3 is that weird card themed Gamecube game). But... I never understood what these "episodes" actually were. Cuz PSO is still the game about you exploring the mysterious planet and finding its dark secrets, right?
 
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If money isn't a problem, you may try the RetroFigher's BladeGC or BattlerGC, or NYXI's Warrior.
bladegc-front-black-700x700-1.webp


Retrofighter's bladeGC
battlergc-front-black-700x700-2.webp

Retrofighter's BattlerGC

nyxi-warrior-purple-bluetooth-controller.webp

Nyxi's Warrior

All three these controllers are compatible with PC because of the drivers, they're also compatible with the Gamecube due to the dongle they come bundled with.
With GC you're more in luck than with PS3/Ps2, getting the pressure sensitive buttons to be recognized on Linux is a pain.
 
I use a PS4 controller with dolphin and it works great, much easier then getting the adaptors and using a gamecube controller. Xbox and other controllers will work just fine with Dolphin. Otherwise your only option is those gamecube usb adapters that Smash Bros Melee players use to play online.
 
Judge Dredd said:
PSO. There's a PC version called Phantasy Star Blue Burst. It went end of life long ago, but a fan community runs community servers. I've not played for a few years, but it worked great if you want the ep1 and ep2 experience, with more XP to reduce the grind. The main problem is that there's no FMVs, just stills. I recommend this if you want to play PSO on PC with friends.
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I'm looking into this too, actually. Especially as I'm curious what "Episode IV" is in terms of story/quest content. One reddit post said its basically nothing but a lot of others act like its really worthwhile.

Also got to wondering about the other Online-era Phantasy Star games. Apparently, Phantasy Star Universe is still alive too. Do you have any thoughts on the other Phantasy Star games (like PS Zero, PS Portable, or the aformentioned Universe)?

And yes, I have debated whether or not I should get into PSO2. I've heard the "New Genesis" version sucks but it apparently lets you just play PSO2 Classic anyway.
 
skykiii said:
I've heard that PSO on PC includes "Episode 4" (I know Episode 3 is that weird card themed Gamecube game). But... I never understood what these "episodes" actually were. Cuz PSO is still the game about you exploring the mysterious planet and finding its dark secrets, right?
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I don't know. I didn't get that far. We got to Ep1 chapter 2 and then my friends stopped playing. Since the FMVs were removed, I didn't see much point to playing alone for story reasons.

skykiii said:
Also got to wondering about the other Online-era Phantasy Star games. Apparently, Phantasy Star Universe is still alive too. Do you have any thoughts on the other Phantasy Star games (like PS Zero, PS Portable, or the aformentioned Universe)?
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Never played PSO2, despite really wanting to. I was there when the english patch arms race was a thing, but then when it got an official english release the hype was all but gone. Heard it was great back then though.

There was a PS2 game I got (I think it was Universe) and it was bad. Annoying fixed main character and a lot of walking. Never got to play online.

I played Nova on Vita. I liked it, but when it got to the base management stuff, I had give up due to language barrier. Played well from what I remember. Plot is like PSO. Your ship crashes on an alien world, only this time people are waking up from stasis automatically, and there's giant monster hunter scale monsters walking around you have to capture. Eventually you have to assign people that wake up to jobs like running shops.
 
The main reason to use an original GC controller over a generic one is the analog triggers, if the games you want to play require them you may want to get an adapter (Mayflash works flawlessly on Linux), otherwise I'd just rebind and not bother getting an original controller.
 
Judge Dredd said:
PSO. There's a PC version called Phantasy Star Blue Burst. It went end of life long ago, but a fan community runs community servers. I've not played for a few years, but it worked great if you want the ep1 and ep2 experience, with more XP to reduce the grind. The main problem is that there's no FMVs, just stills. I recommend this if you want to play PSO on PC with friends.
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So, Update....

As for the controller situation... it turns out my 8BitDo is just fine for PSO.

But as for games...

Okay, so some of my friends are fine with using PSOBB on Ephinea.

I have another set of friends tho who have hang-ups about video game piracy. I've tried all the usual arguments ("the game is discontinued" and even pointing out that Sega themselves used to make the BB program free to download) but they still feel iffy about "pirating."

Some have suggested we could all play PSO2, which weirdly runs fine on my potato of a rig... but here, I have an autistic hang up: I basically just don't like the idea of concurrently playing two games in the same series (I play PSO1 offline since I'm kinda interested in it). That just feels like a recipe for confusion and burnout.

What I AM willing to do, is play a game that plays similar to PSO (either of them but I think I prefer PSO1), but which isn't an actual Phantasy Star game. This way I don't risk burning myself out or running into muscle memory issues.

Problem is I can't think of many games like that. In fact the only other one I can think of is Diablo... one of my friends won't touch that though as it offends his religious sensibilities.

If you've got recommendations though, for games that play similar to PSO, throw them at me!
 
skykiii said:
I've heard that PSO on PC includes "Episode 4" (I know Episode 3 is that weird card themed Gamecube game). But... I never understood what these "episodes" actually were. Cuz PSO is still the game about you exploring the mysterious planet and finding its dark secrets, right?
Click to expand...
They are episodes to the story of PSO that few really cared about.

Episode 1 is about Dark Falz, who old school PS fans know as Dark Force, possessing Red Ring Rico. If I recall the idea is that this is the Dark Falz from Phantasy Star 3.

Episode 2 is about Olga Flow. Heathcliff Flowen, Rico's teacher, was infected by Falz' D-Cells and turned into a monster.

Episode 4 just kinda exists. It has a story but it's just kinda there, unlike the ridiculous stuff that's present in the first three episodes.

Episode 3 actually takes place AFTER Episode 4, just read this, I can't explain it since I never played it:


The story is present in Blue Burst, you just have to set a certain mode, I want to say at the counter, to activate all of the old story quests. The problem was that for a very long time a lot of this stuff wasn't fully translated, and I am not sure if it has been yet.

I played on old servers where I unreservedly used memory modifications to speed things up on my own, I could never have the patience to grind out PSO nowadays. If I had to play something like Destiny with new weapons seems more my speed but I may be insane.
 
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