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Karl is wrong in his claim that the stick appears to be an 8-way stick. Directionality is determined by a restrictor plate mounted on the underside of joystick

Karl is wrong in his claim that the stick appears to be an 8-way stick. Directionality is determined by a restrictor plate mounted on the underside of joystick assembly. Here's an example: https://www.ultimarc.com/arcade-controls/joystick-accessories/ultrastik-restrictor-plate-kit/ https://www.ultimarc.com/arcade-controls/joystick-accessorie... It's impossible to tell which plate is installed by looking at the top of the panel. Edit: He does get some things right. My point is that this is surprisingly technical. Even some of the best players in the world don't know how the game works.

psychphysic 4y ago
Either way it's modified. More to the point the footage is consistent with 8-way movement. Then there's a picture of the modified machine. And the appearance is consistent with an 8 way... It's getting pretty sweaty
- bhickey 4y ago
  > Either way it's modified. Yep. The oldest rules I've seen require that the machine have an original stick. > More to the point the footage is consistent with 8-way movement Which footage? An eight way stick let's you barrel steer while ladder climbing. I don't believe that this will be detectable from looking at footage alone. > And the appearance is consistent with an 8 way. This is impossible to tell from the photographs. The restrictor plate is mounted on the underside of the joystick assembly.
  - stavros 4y ago
    I haven't played the game in years (if ever?). What is barrel steering, and why can't you tell that something else is happening while the player is climbing a ladder from looking at footage?
    - have_faith 4y ago
      In the game, if a barrel is above you on a platform, and it approaches the top of a ladder, if you move towards the ladder you can force it to come down the ladder. The logic is partly what makes the game so hard and frustrating, as most people obviously aren’t aware of this.
      - stavros 4y ago
        Oh, huh, I had no idea. But isn't it obvious that the barrel is coming down the ladder? Or is it also slightly random?
        bhickey 4y ago
        Here's more than you ever wanted to know on the subject: http://donhodges.com/Controlling_the_barrels_in_Donkey_Kong.htm http://donhodges.com/Controlling_the_barrels_in_Donkey_Kong.... http://www.jeffsromhack.com/products/donkeykong_tech.htm http://www.jeffsromhack.com/products/donkeykong_tech.htm
        stavros 4y ago
        Thanks!
    - bhickey 4y ago
      Jumpman's facing influences barrel behavior. With a four way joystick you can't vary your facing while climbing a ladder unless you pause on the ladder. The ladder climbing sprite is facing agnostic. With a four way stick a player would need to lift off up (or down) to move the stick left and right. On an eight way you can keep climbing with deflecting left and right. Visually you won't be able to detect this. There is a random component to the barrel behavior. You could potentially detect steering by looking at jumpman's ladder entry direction and examine the behavior of each barrel during his climb. This would be an absolutely miserable task though. It might be easier to detect an eight way stick by finding buffered ladder climbing: does Jumpman begin ascending a ladder on the first frame in which he can climb and does he start moving left or right on the first frame after he dismounts?
      - stavros 4y ago
        That explains things, thank you.
asddubs 4y ago
so is an 8-way stick one that also has 4 tact switches, just arranged so that two can be pressed simultaneously?
- cwillu 4y ago
  According to another comment, in this case it's just a lack of a plate on the underside with a cross-shaped cutout that physically restricts the joystick to movement in the cardinal directions.
- DSMan195276 4y ago
  Yes, I have a controller with an arcade joystick, the 4-way setting just physically restricts the movement of the stick so that you can't be pressing more than one direction at a time. 8-way removes that restriction and allows two directions if you do a diagonal.

psychphysic 4y ago

Either way it's modified. More to the point the footage is consistent with 8-way movement. Then there's a picture of the modified machine. And the appearance is consistent with an 8 way... It's getting pretty sweaty

bhickey 4y ago
> Either way it's modified. Yep. The oldest rules I've seen require that the machine have an original stick. > More to the point the footage is consistent with 8-way movement Which footage? An eight way stick let's you barrel steer while ladder climbing. I don't believe that this will be detectable from looking at footage alone. > And the appearance is consistent with an 8 way. This is impossible to tell from the photographs. The restrictor plate is mounted on the underside of the joystick assembly.
- stavros 4y ago
  I haven't played the game in years (if ever?). What is barrel steering, and why can't you tell that something else is happening while the player is climbing a ladder from looking at footage?
  - have_faith 4y ago
    In the game, if a barrel is above you on a platform, and it approaches the top of a ladder, if you move towards the ladder you can force it to come down the ladder. The logic is partly what makes the game so hard and frustrating, as most people obviously aren’t aware of this.
    - stavros 4y ago
      Oh, huh, I had no idea. But isn't it obvious that the barrel is coming down the ladder? Or is it also slightly random?
      - bhickey 4y ago
        Here's more than you ever wanted to know on the subject: http://donhodges.com/Controlling_the_barrels_in_Donkey_Kong.htm http://donhodges.com/Controlling_the_barrels_in_Donkey_Kong.... http://www.jeffsromhack.com/products/donkeykong_tech.htm http://www.jeffsromhack.com/products/donkeykong_tech.htm
        stavros 4y ago
        Thanks!
  - bhickey 4y ago
    Jumpman's facing influences barrel behavior. With a four way joystick you can't vary your facing while climbing a ladder unless you pause on the ladder. The ladder climbing sprite is facing agnostic. With a four way stick a player would need to lift off up (or down) to move the stick left and right. On an eight way you can keep climbing with deflecting left and right. Visually you won't be able to detect this. There is a random component to the barrel behavior. You could potentially detect steering by looking at jumpman's ladder entry direction and examine the behavior of each barrel during his climb. This would be an absolutely miserable task though. It might be easier to detect an eight way stick by finding buffered ladder climbing: does Jumpman begin ascending a ladder on the first frame in which he can climb and does he start moving left or right on the first frame after he dismounts?
    - stavros 4y ago
      That explains things, thank you.

asddubs 4y ago

so is an 8-way stick one that also has 4 tact switches, just arranged so that two can be pressed simultaneously?

cwillu 4y ago
According to another comment, in this case it's just a lack of a plate on the underside with a cross-shaped cutout that physically restricts the joystick to movement in the cardinal directions.
DSMan195276 4y ago
Yes, I have a controller with an arcade joystick, the 4-way setting just physically restricts the movement of the stick so that you can't be pressing more than one direction at a time. 8-way removes that restriction and allows two directions if you do a diagonal.