Quoting myself;
Yesterday was my first online sessions since weeks. According to my own adviceOriginally Posted by ProblemSolver
I did something new. I did something I wanted do try out for quite some time
now, i.e. using the dpad! Weeks ago I used the dpad for about a few days to
see whether I could beat my stick-records. Not a chance. Not even remotely.
Back then I somehow recognized that one can perform BRs faster and that the
craft can be kept more stable while performing a BR. Anyways, I never really
forced myself to use the dpad until yesterday. I thought; c'mon, lets use the
dpad online and start all over again. I started playing from about 5am (GMT+1)
to 3pm (!) and lost almost all races for about 6h. xD I even got some PMs
from some guys asking me why I didn't hit most of the item pads anymore :rofl:
I also have to say that I've changed my DS3 button assignment as well. About
7h later things got started somehow. I really noticed how good the BRs work
when being performed unter pressure. I was like; shiiit. For example, the
possible BR on the Amphesium Reverse after the first turn down the straight was
most often a pain with the stick. About 8h later I could perform this BR with
about 90% success rate while keeping the craft stable (straight). Likewise
with the BR before the mag strip. And from this point on I started to win
races. I got somehow attached to the dpad. After about 9h of play time
(straight!) some very good players joint the server (like fgdk, themother****er
xD, ...). I was even able to beat them in some weapons off races using the dpad.
(Weapons off? Yes, my hands started to hurt like crazy, I couldn't fire or
absorb any weapons any longer xD; yeah, this was the reason I switched to
weapons off, if anyone was just wondering). However, I reached a limit. Some of
you may know the pain you receive once you're releasing the controller after a
tough race while having played already for too long, right? xD So I stopped
playing after about 10 hours. You have to remember, I haven't played for weeks!
:rofl: Anyways, I wanted to know whether it's worth to use the dpad or not.
Here are some things I've noticed while using the dpad in competitive racing
(compared to the the stick);
- performing BRs is a huge advantage
- stable / smooth trajectory while performing a BR
- overall less steering => higher average speed
- better cornering on tight turns
- pitching can be performed more accurately due to the
decoupling of the dpad's axis- steering inputs can be performed much quicker, physically
Despite I can be quite fast with the stick, I now think that I can go even
faster with the dpad, in general. The biggest drawback of the stick, for me,
is the BR thing. BRs work like a charm with the dpad.
That the dpad works quite well is also a result of the fixed (low) velocity
when compared to ZONE. However, the 'digital' behavior of the dpad becomes a
disadvantage on very high speeds, since one cannot steer and control the craft
fast enough with a (mostly) digital input device. But this isn't to say that
you may not be able to run 160 zones on Syncopia using the dpad. It's just very
unlikely. Mathematically, controlling a craft in a digital fashion would yield
the optimal solution to an associated so-called control problem. This is against
common beliefs and was found out by 'mathematics' back in the 1920 -- at the
time where some mathematicians started to build functions space and relations
to relate those spaces against each other to gain solutions to very difficult
problems. Just in case you are interested; the mathematical topic that covers
these kind of things is called functional analysis -- a wonderful branch of
mathematics.
Back on topic. Did you know that the US Space Shuttle is entirely controlled
in a digital on/off fashion in space? That is to say; the valves are either
open at full thrust or closed. Or have you ever been wondering about why a
rabbit runs away in a zick-zack fashion while being hunted? It all comes down
to optimal control. But we humans are simply not fast enough to perform such
things, such that we can control it while performing it -- the action. Btw;
just in case you wanna escape the police, do it in a zick-zack fashion! Yeah
that's the best why to get away from someone who is right after you. Just ask
the rabbit! Funny as it is, this techniques was already used in World War II.
The superiority oft the German submarine, their maneuvering skills, are in part
due to these insights. Most of the mathematical basis for functional analysis
was founded in Europe, esp. in Germany where David Hilbert formulated the
theory of the very important Hilbert spaces. Here is a quote from Wikipedia;
"... David Hilbert (January 23, 1862 – February 14, 1943) was a German
mathematician, recognized as one of the most influential and universal
mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He discovered and
developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including
invariant theory and the axiomatization of geometry. He also formulated the
theory of Hilbert spaces,[1] one of the foundations of functional analysis. ..."
I wanna add that there were so many other great mathematicians (I can name
most of them) from France, England, Poland, Russia, and Hungary -- just to
name those few countries who played a big role in the foundation of functional
analysis and still do!
Back to earth....
Am I going to play with the dpad from now on? Yes! I think I need to play for
about one or two months at a 'daily' basis to max out the dpad. But
unfortunately this is not going to happen since I haven't that much time to
play the game for the next few months. But I hope someone may find this
information here quite interesting and may as such get something out of it.
For the time being I'm going to play just once in a while to chill to some
fine music in ZONE mode.
Edit: Do not misunderstand the phrase; "The superiority of the German
submarine, ...". It should be read as a pure technical thing.
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