Good GamePad for racing games? AND whats your controller setup?

I am planing on switching from my trusty old keyboard to analogue gamebad this weekend but I have no idea which one to get?! I need something relatively cheap but that will last (with rumble effects or what you call em)

Thanks!

PS.

I cant get a wheel as I play my games on a laptop and travel a lot so I cant really lug the steering wheel with me all the time :-/


EDIT:

I got myself a Playstation gamepad converter so i can use it on pc now, w00t!

I have another question though, what controller setup do you use? Ie, do you use the two analogue joysticks on your gamepads or you use one joystick for steering and buttons for throttle? Please post you setups, as I am trying to find the best method, although at the moment steering with the little joystick and accel/brake with buttons seems the best setup for me





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2006 03:28PM by gin.

I use a Logitech rumblepad...cost me £25 i think? Has FF, and good ergonomics

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Please click my sig!

when I cba to set up my wheel (well i don't even have it with me right now) I use my ps2 pad and a converter. cheap, and bloody good

You need to ask Stu (Cynic) what pad he uses. What ever it is, it must be bloody good :P

self modified Xbox controller is great choise

Kimi, so, Massa Fernando Sebastian is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?

I use the same setup as Six Degrees - works well enough for me.

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I use a standard Xbox controller with a USB adaptor. It's great!

It has two analogue sticks and also analogue triggers on each shoulder.

It does have rumble effects, but i've never got them to work properly with GPL. They seem fine with newer games though.

Prior to this I had an old Logitech Wingman gamepad which was even better, but they don't make them any more (It had an analogue slide on the right shoulder which was great as a throttle.) This ended up going haywire several months back and it turns out from a bit of web research that it was a common problem.

Logitech Cordless Rumblepad II

ah thank 2 you all! Allso, what is an average speed difference between gamepad driving and wheel? say..everything is constatnt, same level skill person, game ect...





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2006 02:11AM by gin.

I use the 360 controller these days.

gin Wrote:
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> ah thank 2 you all! Allso, what is an average
> speed difference between gamepad driving and
> wheel? say..everything is constatnt, same level
> skill person, game ect...

I would say that depends on the person to be honest. Stu is very quick in GPL with a pad, but he says the last time he tried a wheel he was really slow. I know many people think once he gets used to a wheel he'll be a lot lot faster, but it's up to him.

Generally though, in games like GPL where using aids makes you slower before you even take into account the controller, I would say a good second, possibly more in a 90 second average lap you'll loose with a pad.

I used a sidewinder joystick (nothing like force-feedback or anything, just a bog-standard one) for about 5 months in GPL, before getting my wheel.

I went negative with the joystick, to around -25 as I remember, but the 1st day I got my wheel, I was matching my PBs. I'd never had a wheel up until that point, and hadn't even driven a car in real life I don't think, a tractor being the closest thing to it

I'm currently on -60ish, and if I'd still been using the joystick, I doubt I'd have cracked -35.

To put that into some form of perspective for those not knowing GPLRank, there's 11 tracks in a GPLRank, all them defaults that come with the game, and your GPLRank is calculated by adding all your fastest times in any car together, then subtracting it from the total of the demo laps which come with the game. You've 'gone negative' if your total time is less than the benchmark demo times. In my case I'm 60 seconds faster than these benchmarks, or 30 seconds faster than if I was using my joystick.

Remember gamepads generally have less movement to play with than joysticks too, so are usually a lot more sensetive. Fine for Toca Race Driver and other arcade games, but totally impracticle for simulations, unless your name is Stuart Knibbs.

I use the 360 controller these days.

How the hell do you do that? I thought you have to buy the 360 Controller for Windows to do that


PSN/Xbox 360 ID - Ianwoollam

As its USB, it'll only be drivers that stop it from working, so I would assume, if you use, lets say, different drivers it works

Well the Wireless ones don't work with the Plug and Charge thingy (no driver) and Mark has the same Wireless Controllers as me unless hes bought a wired one!


PSN/Xbox 360 ID - Ianwoollam

I've got 1 wired controller and 1 wireless controller!

lol @ gav.

I've got 1 wired controller so I could use it for pc too, Microsoft provide drivers for it, it's a great pad although I would think the best one for driving would be the original huge xbox one as that had the biggest range on the triggers, the 360 triggers are the only negative of the pad imo which is otherwise almost perfect.

....





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2006 03:28PM by gin.

bump!

i need an answer please!