Another FFVII problem, but it doesn't stop there.

[AstralRomance51]

Before I begin, I just want to say that this site has helped me figure out a lot of stuff with my emulators, and I greatly appreciate it. I never actually had to post a forum, because I could always find the answer somewhere else here. Unfortunately, for this problem, I cannot. So, without further ado...

I am using PSXFin 1.13 and there are a couple of games that I'm trying to play that load fine, but I cannot actually interact with the game. We'll use FFVII as an example. I load the game, it starts running, but no buttons do anything. I can't even get to the "New Game/Continue" screen. It just cycles through like I'm not pressing anything. I've configured my controller and my keyboard to try and play, but nothing works. Another game it's been doing this with is Castlevania - Symphony of the Night. Just about every other game plays fine though.

So yeah, any help I could get with this would be spectacular, 'cause I'd really like to play these games again, since I've still got the discs, but no system to play them on.

[Shendo]

Maybe something to do with the controller type as both games don't support analog movement.
What controller type have you set in the controller config?

[patrickp]

Yes, this is a problem we get posted all the time, and it's simply because people assume that their Dualshock controller settings will work with all games: most early Playstation games, and some later ones, don't support analog controllers (or rumble), as Shendo says. If you're playing a game that doesn't support an analog controller (I'm not sure about Castlevania - Symphony of the Night, but Final Fantasy VII certainly doesn't) you need to set your controller Type to SCPH-1010: Normal pad rather than SCPH-1200: Dualshock.

[jonc2006]

and if you prefer to use the analog sticks for movement, what i usually do with games that do not have any analog support is map the d-pad to the analog sticks to simulate analog movement.

[patrickp]

Well, to be picky, it doesn't actually "simulate analog movement," jonc, but I know what you mean - it can be a lot more convenient to use the stick for directional control rather than the directional pad. But the annoying thing is that when you do this, the directional controls stay mapped the same way for the Dualshock setting, too.

I think my solution's best of all - my Logitech RumblePad 2 has a Mode button that allows me to switch functions between the directional pad and the first analog stick. I don't have to map any controls differently so, when I go back to analog control, there's no re-mapping to be done. I think some versions of the Logitech Dual Action pad also have a mode button, too, and I'm sure some other controllers must have an equivalent.

I have to admit, though, that this is one of the situations where ePSXe does better than pSX (only in Windows, not Linux...): you can toggle between analog and digital control just by pressing the F5 key, while in pSX you have to go into configuration and set the pad Type as Normal or Dualshock. However, you can use Ultima's Frontend to set it on a per game basis, so except for the rare occasions where you need to change Type ingame, it's not a problem.

[jonc2006]

i should have worded that differently i suppose, what i ment was that if its the feel of using the analog sticks for movement that is what you are after, then mapping the dpad buttons to the analog sticks can sort of mimic it the feeling of the movement.

its not perfect since you can only move in the 4 main directions (up, left, down, right) and i dont think its possible to do the diagonal movements such as the down-left or up-left, etc. that are sometimes needed for combos in fighting games and stuff of the sort but its good enough to get the job done most of the time. and your method does work pretty nicely as well, i was just pointing out the method i usually go with.

[AstralRomance51]

Ya see, this is why I love this place so much. PatrickP, you're solution worked perfectly. Thank you to everyone that offered suggestions.

Now, time to play some FFVII