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Cheap, Rugged, Multiplayer Gamepads for Linux

Posted by michael on from the thumb-callus dept.

IceAgeComing writes "Anyone interested in exploring multiplayer games under Linux should know: you can now pick up a four-way gamepad hub, with four gamepads, for under $15. It is known as the Gravis Multiport, and now it is supported under Linux. The link describes patches for Linux 2.4, but the drivers are now included in Linux 2.6. This input system used to cost more than $100, but it has been abandoned by Gravis since Windows 98. Now it's possible to pick them up extra cheap. Four-player Gauntlet under XMAME, anyone?"

7 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. gaming on linux: by nil5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    with perhaps the exception of xmame, gaming on linux is almost as fun as,well, typing in an xterm while picking one's nose.

  2. Not quite. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, I find the d-pads on these things horrendous, especially after a month or so of use.

    Your better bet by far would be to get several Dual-Shocks (PS1 version would be fine) and some -$10 USB adapters from Radio Shack. I did, and it works great.

    1. Re:Not quite. by zumbojo · · Score: 5, Informative

      XBox controllers are much easier to connect to computer hardware; they are USB controllers in disguise (read: "with proprietary connectors"). My friend simply bought a USB cable for two dollars and wired it inline on one of his XBox controller cables. Now he can use that controller on his PC (he uses it often to play NES emulators at work) and if he so wishes, plug USB devices into his hacked XBox. When he wants to fire up Halo, all he does is reconnect the controller.

      Side note: The XBox proprietary connector is actually 5-pin (+, -, data, ground and "strobe") though with the fifth (strobe) wire disconnected the controller works just fine. Maybe it is for some as yet unreleased peripheral, but the controllers sure as hell don't use it.

  3. Here's a starter list. by Blaede · · Score: 5, Informative

    Tomb Raider series
    Thief
    Max Payne
    Prince of Persia
    007: Nightfire

    Keyboards are hell with these type of games.

  4. Re:Great! by __aatgod8309 · · Score: 5, Informative

    It sounds like it's aimed at retro-gamers. (I play SNES and Genesis games on my machine, and joypads are the only way to go)

  5. they can kiss my sorry butt. by mushroom+blue · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I swear by the EMS USB2 adapter. it allows you to use 2 Playstation Dual Shock pads per adapter. fully supported under linux, and recommended by the PyDance authors for those who crave Dance Mats. Works wonderfully in every emulator that supports the kernel joystick driver, and especially rules for XMame's fighting games The PS2 Dual Shock is the best controller ever made, other than the Japanese Saturn controller. Why use a crappy Gravis "good enough" pad if you already have the real thing?

  6. Re:Are you insane? by keroppi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Your arguments for the advantages of a game pad over a keyboard are completely unfounded.

    I'd have to utilise 3 fingers, a joypad only required my thumb.

    First of all, if you know what you're doing with a keyboard in any FPS, you would be using ASDF as your movement keys, or some kind of equivalent set of 4 in the same row.

    Using WASD may seem the most intuitive to most people used to the arrow pad, but moving your middle finger up and down to go forwards/backwards is incredibly inefficient. Using the arrow keys is just plain stupid, you can't press any other keys with the left hand while using the mouse since they're so far away.

    The other disadvantage of a gamepad over a mouse is the fact that you can't aim precisely. When you move a gamepad joystick, it only spins your view as fast as its maximum speed is set. The mouse however, just does a translation of your crosshair as far as you move your mouse. There is a reason why we use mice to navigate 2d computer interfaces instead of a joystick. Same for trackballs.

    Then there's the case of ease. With the keyboard I'd have to give quick looks to make sure I didn't hit the wrong key.

    Learn where the keys are on a keyboard, or at least change your keys for every new FPS you get to be virtually the same as all the others you've played. I've been mapping ASDF for movement and other keys nearby for everything else since Quake 1.

    With a gamepad, I never had to look at it, my eyes could remain on the screen 100%

    Just because you can't type doesn't mean that a gamepad is better.

    And in closing, Turok is just another FPS, with the exact same control as all the rest. You cannot aim, or move quickly but precisely with a gamepad -- nor can you press nearly as many buttons for complicated games. But there aren't complex and detailed games for the console, that's not their market.