Odd N64 controls issue

Ranma

Using a Pi3, and have got both Retropie 4.2 and 4.2.3 on two separate cards. Same issue on both.

Mostly, controls are fine. However, I would really appreciate it if someone could just try out both Yoshi's Story and Wave Race, because for some strange reason there are oddities.

On Yoshi's Story, I cannot ground pound. Pushing down on the stick works to make him duck, but ground pound he will not. On Wave Race, you cannot perform stunts when running off ramps. Try as I might with these issues, nothing works. At first I thought it was my poor abilities, but switching to Retroarch on Android with the same controllers reveals no problems. I also thought it may be the controllers, but I have tried 3 different PS3 style wired pads. I otherwise do not experience lag or anything like that. I've also tried other plug ins but no difference.

Any ideas? If someone could just try their versions for me and see if they have the same issues I would be most grateful. Thanks.

Ranma

Bumped as I'm still experiencing this. Could anyone else please just give Yoshi's Story a try and attempt a ground butt stomp. This is not working for me. Neither are stunts in Wave Race. Thanks.

TMNTturtlguy

@ranma what emulator are you using? Have you set up you "C" buttons correctly? I don't have either game, but do have other N64 games and if you are using meupen64plus there is a file you need to mannually edit to set your buttons properly.

simonster

I can confirm this issue also occurs when using the Xbox360 wired controller on my installation. I play Waverace64 on Mupen64plus but cannot do any tricks as the alternate from one direction to another on the stick doesn't seem to react properly in the game. If I press the analog stick hard left and then hard right in mid air I should barrel roll, but it just acts like I've pressed right independently, equally up/down should do a flip, but this doesn't happen it just tilts the player.

Ranma

@TMNTturtlguy - It's Mupen64Plus but it doesn't matter which plugin I use, the controller still behaves the same way. It's not the buttons, it's the analogue stick. Yoshi ground pounds on a push down when in the air. The odd thing is that if you're on the ground and push down, he will duck. Try and do it when he's in the air, forget it! Similar with Wave Race. Sure you can steer left and right, but trying to do stunts - won't work. :-/ This doesn't occur on my Android console with Retroarch installed.

@simonster - Thanks for replying. Have you found any fix for this as of yet?

TMNTturtlguy

@ranma just an FYI but muepen64plus is not a retroarch emulator so you can't fairly compare the two. What emulator are you using on your android device?

Ranma

It's Retroarch with mupen64plus_libretro, I swear! I sometimes use the ParaLLEL plugin too. Or is it the other way round... Anyway, it's definitely Mupen! On the Pi I don't tend to use the libretro version, so it's the GlideN64 plugin for the most part. But even if I switch it out for say, GLES2Rice the result is the same.

TMNTturtlguy

@ranma ok, I understand that, but on retropie meupen64plus is not retroarch unless you use lr-muepen64plus.....and I still don't think that is exactly the same emulator as muepen64plus-libretro on your android device. I am guessing if you are using the same rom, it is just something in the emulator version for the pi.

Ranma

Yeah there's definitely something wrong with the controls on N64 on Retropie. It's one of those things I think that unless people say there's an issue it won't get noticed. Hopefully someone out there on the dev team has tried it and can see the problem.

Quackwalks

Pi3
4.2.12 updated from 4.2
using official PS3 Controller
bluetooth keyboard dongle plugged in
Mupen64plus-auto emulator
Mupen64plus config - https://pastebin.com/HiGbDMgr
retroarch config - https://pastebin.com/RwfJ5nRD

I'm having the same problem in Yoshi's Story. Can't ground pound using the left thumbstick but the input seems to work while ducking, although the threshold feels off to me.

Ranma

Sorry for late reply, didn't see anyone had responded.

Did you manage to uncover a fix for this? How do you mean the threshold feels off?

Quackwalks

@ranma I'm just a typical user so I wouldn't know where to start fixing this. The threshold I referred to was the joystick threshold. For me it seems the left side is very sensitive and overall it feels difficult to control. I also can't perform any tricks in Wave Race, which requires specific joystick movements like left right, up down, etc. What's bugging me most is that my save state proves the ground pound in Yoshi's Story once worked. In the first level there're two obstacles requiring a ground pound to progress. Apparently, I was able to save after getting past the first, but now can't ground pound past the second and stuck between the two. I wish I knew how to help but I'm not adept enough to fiddle around config files.

Quackwalks

My FC30 8bitdo controller came in the mail today and the problem persists in both Wave Race and Yoshi's Story.

Ranma

Thanks for replying. Don't worry, I am well aware I am just another clueless user too!

Well it's clear it's a software issue then. Maybe we should log an issue on Github? I don't have an account as I've always thought it was more a developers area there. My worry is that while I realise the Pi 3 isn't the most powerful tool on the planet, N64 did perform better on it back around the 4.0.2 releases and seems to have developed little faults like this since. Possibly because of the loss of the main programmer I suppose but it's a shame.

Quackwalks

I've remade my image from scratch, updated everything and didn't copy over any old config files, and the problem persists. If there's any info that I've failed to include already, please let me know. Wave race without the tricks is just so disheartening.

Ranma

Bumping as I'd really like to get a solution for this. I know N64 isn't the best on Pi but I am largely happy with what i do get from it. However this controls problem is a relatively new thing and does affect gameplay. I've updated to the very latest version and the problem persists.

If anyone has a suggestion to fix it or get this problem noticed I would be most grateful. Thanks so much for Retropie - don't want to come across as a misery. It would be great to see this issue fixed though. :)

Quackwalks

@ranma the recent update to retropie seems to fix the problem. I just updated all packages from the setup script and can now ground pound in Yoshi's story and do tricks in wave race! Hooray!

Ranma

That is fantastic news! Thanks for letting me know. I'm gonna spend the evening updating and then have a play. :)