Joypad player needs some advice

[obiiwan]

So, hi to everyone@Dream Cancel, I have my first question on the forum... As much as I would like to start playing this game with a fightstick, I just feel it's the best to stick with a joypad because I am a joypad player and 'till now, I played all my fighting games on a joypad, SF2 till today.

Because the Xbox 360 has a pretty bad controller, I bought the MadCatz/Capcom fightpad. I have to admit, in general-I really like that pad. The grip, the buttons, everything about it is great. D-pad, as much as I needed to get used to it, I really think it's good for executing moves. Tried playing a lot of other fighting games, and it's great. For fighting games, it's even better than Playstation controllers, and there's no need to compare it to the default 360 controller.

But, there's one huge problem that I have while playing KOF: hitting hops and hyperhops.
I'm not sure is it something that I can get to work efficiently with time (I practice hops/hyperhops every now and then in training sessions but I just don't seem to improve in that category), or is it something that will mark my playstyle and become a handicap on it's own that I would need to cope with?

Even though my MadCatz pad is in a pretty good condition, I sometimes think the hop issue may occur because I bought it second-hand, or is it maybe a flaw in design that really isn't that much exploited in games that don't have small jump/long jump mechanic, pretty much every other game except KOF). I have no idea what it really is, but hitting the diagonals for jumping feels weird, especially with an hyperhop input. Most of the times I get hyper jumps or regular jumps, sometimes I only jump straight, I really need to concentrate on hitting a hop/hyper hop towards the opponent while in trial mode, and while in actual matches, it's really a pain. I never had this issue in an fighting game, that a basic movement options troubles me that much that even if I position myself correctly (which seems to have a success rate generated randomly, most of the times).

I would love some advice in general, and some advice from other joypad players. Also, did anyone else had that specific issue and maybe thought that it's because of the controller?

[Frofighter]

So, hi to everyone@Dream Cancel, I have my first question on the forum... As much as I would like to start playing this game with a fightstick, I just feel it's the best to stick with a joypad because I am a joypad player and 'till now, I played all my fighting games on a joypad, SF2 till today.

Because the Xbox 360 has a pretty bad controller, I bought the MadCatz/Capcom fightpad. I have to admit, in general-I really like that pad. The grip, the buttons, everything about it is great. D-pad, as much as I needed to get used to it, I really think it's good for executing moves. Tried playing a lot of other fighting games, and it's great. For fighting games, it's even better than Playstation controllers, and there's no need to compare it to the default 360 controller.

But, there's one huge problem that I have while playing KOF: hitting hops and hyperhops.
I'm not sure is it something that I can get to work efficiently with time (I practice hops/hyperhops every now and then in training sessions but I just don't seem to improve in that category), or is it something that will mark my playstyle and become a handicap on it's own that I would need to cope with?

Even though my MadCatz pad is in a pretty good condition, I sometimes think the hop issue may occur because I bought it second-hand, or is it maybe a flaw in design that really isn't that much exploited in games that don't have small jump/long jump mechanic, pretty much every other game except KOF). I have no idea what it really is, but hitting the diagonals for jumping feels weird, especially with an hyperhop input. Most of the times I get hyper jumps or regular jumps, sometimes I only jump straight, I really need to concentrate on hitting a hop/hyper hop towards the opponent while in trial mode, and while in actual matches, it's really a pain. I never had this issue in an fighting game, that a basic movement options troubles me that much that even if I position myself correctly (which seems to have a success rate generated randomly, most of the times).

I would love some advice in general, and some advice from other joypad players. Also, did anyone else had that specific issue and maybe thought that it's because of the controller?

Get a feel for how long your thumb is hitting the up/forward or up/back on the pad, and as long as you're still getting normal and super jumps that means you're hitting it for too long. Make a mental note of that and keep shortening the time until you get it right. Alternatively, you can experiment with the "hit down after up" method, where you immediately hit down after your jump direction so that you take your thumb off the jump as quickly as possible. If you haven't played any game that required you to lightly tap a direction before I can see why this would trouble you. I am sure it's doable though because I am sure I have hyper-hopped on pads that were in worse shape than that Madcatz you're using.

As for straight vs. diagonal, keep your input display on so you can see when it happens and adjust your thumb position accordingly. I've been where I thought I was hitting the correct angle for something and it turned out I wasn't. I know what I said feels like common sense but that can go by the wayside when you're struggling. Good luck man.

[obiiwan]

Thanks for the reply. I'm a bit more used to hyper hops now. I was stuck with Iori's trial nr 9. That combo is so annoying, I've kept trying it for at least two hours during the previous weekend. I wasn't able to complete the trial, but I've noticed I'm much better with the hyper hops and applying pressure after that. It's weird, now I have hyperhops down (with the  ,  +slide back  input), but my regular hops are still pretty bad, can't do them every time I want. I hope I'll improve with those when I get the Steam Edition and some real vs human opponent matches and experience. That's probably gonna be next week