"You're going to give up the joystick?"
Gerald frowned slightly.
Such a decision seems a bit like overcorrection.
While joysticks have their flaws, they are also a crucial element in the feel of fighting games.
It's no exaggeration to say that in today's era of Street Fighter's popularity, the joystick has become an important symbol of arcades.
It has become part of arcade culture.
As one of the earliest advocates of the joystick + function key input mode, GAMENOVA has indirectly accumulated its own influence in this process.
But now Lin Lixin is actually going to abandon it and go back to the era of all buttons.
Isn't this a step backward in terms of technical skill?
"No, no, that's not true."
Lin Lixin didn't explain much, but went straight to the workbench, picked up a joystick control panel, and started soldering.
The joystick was removed and replaced with four large buttons the same size as those in arcade machines.
He then quickly sawed the corresponding holes in the wooden casing and secured them in place.
However, both Gerald and Vivian twitched when they saw Lin Lixin's new layout design.
The three arrow keys (left, bottom, and right) are arranged horizontally in a small curve, while the up key has been moved directly to the bottom right.
Gerald had seen this strange landscape layout before, but that was usually used on PCs.
Based on Gerald's own experience, the horizontal layout is far inferior to the cross-shaped layout.
In particular, intuitively, the cross shape perfectly matches human cognitive instincts.
This is also why he strongly advocated for adding a separate D-pad to the NovaPocket.
Thinking of this, Gerald's eyes suddenly lit up.
He hurriedly went to the equipment room and rummaged through it, finding a rather delicate one among a pile of keyboards of various models.
"Lin, look at this, it's an IBM ModeIM mechanical keyboard."
Gerald placed it on the table, gesturing for Lin Lixin to look over.
The ModeIM, a product that was not officially put into production until mid-1985, was, at least for that era, the best keyboard in the world.
But Gerald wasn't trying to show off its superior industrial design; he was simply pointing to the arrow keys next to the numeric keypad.
The layout of the arrow keys is based on the inverted T-shape of the DEC-LK201.
"I think this layout is also excellent for gaming. We can use our index and ring fingers to control left and right, and our middle finger to control up and down. I've tried it, and the feel is really great."
"ModeIM?"
Lin Lixin raised an eyebrow, looking at the keyboard whose layout was almost identical to that of later keyboards.
In particular, the standard layout of the directional keys is so important that it's fair to say that the consistent feel of controls in later video games, and even the WASD input method, are inseparable from this layout.
"This solution is indeed excellent, but it's not suitable for fighting games."
Lin Lixin placed both hands directly on the simple Hitbo keyboard he had just created, explaining, "The inverted T-shaped directional pad layout can't handle pressing the up and down buttons simultaneously like this."
He demonstrated that he could easily press the up key with his thumb whether he was using his left or right hand.
But his words did not dispel the doubts; instead, they made things even more abstract.
Pressing both up and down simultaneously? What's the point?
Lin Lixin chuckled and said, "This is Guile's signature weapon."
"Ha?"
"Simply put, it's a mechanism designed specifically for fighting game players, and even for charge-up characters; I call it the 'SOCD' technology."
He went to the whiteboard and wrote down a long string of words.
[Press the opposite buttons simultaneously]
"We only need to input a specific rule into the control chip to handle how to process simultaneous presses from opposite directions."
"For example, we can have both the top and bottom buttons be judged as returning to the center simultaneously, or simply have the button overwrite the top button, meaning whichever button is pressed later takes priority."
"Forget it, explaining more will only make it harder to understand. I'll just write SOCD before Sam gets back."
How could we not let Sam be the first to try something so fun?
When Sam pushed open the door carrying a jumble of documents, he was greeted by several people with an oddly enthusiastic welcome.
Especially Lin Lixin, who, carrying a keyboard that was clearly just rushed out, smiled broadly and put his arm around himself as he headed towards the television.
Go forward.
" Sam! Come on, let's have a Guile showdown!"
"Huh? Playing Street Fighter? I thought it was a new demo for the King of Fighters."
Sam and Lin Lixin are so close that you can tell what he's going to say just by looking at him.
Just by looking at his smiling face, Sam knew that this guy was up to no good again.
She's probably secretly practicing some underhanded tricks to bully him!
"Lin, if you think you can beat me by choosing Guile too, you're dreaming."
Now a regular at arcades, he's far from the naive newbie he once was.
Having sparred with the experts in the shop until now, I've mastered quite a bit of the techniques of combination and counter-competition.
If Lin Lixin still thinks he's just a newbie who only knows how to throw balls and Shoryuken, he's in for a tough time.
Shu Ting!
Almost the instant the match officially began, the two unleashed a Sonic Boom in perfect unison.
"Um?
Sam was slightly taken aback as he watched the two waves cancel each other out in the air.
No wonder he suddenly challenged him; it turns out he'd also joined the SHOOTING Cult.
"Okay, you fire a shot, I'll fire one too."
With a "no rush, let's play around" attitude, Sam decided to throw another Sonic Boom.
But just as he pulled back to gather his strength, Lin Lixin's movements were a full rotation faster, and the second Sonic Boom.
He played Guile his whole life, only to get beaten by Guile in the end.
How come my own projectile speed can't keep up with Lin Lixin's used to playing high-speed characters?
Sam had no choice but to hastily push the joystick forward to fire a shot, then quickly pull it back to recharge.
But in those few short breaths, Lin Lixin had already unleashed two Sonic Boom.
"Not a buddy? What's up?"
Sam had no choice but to rely on blocking to take down a few attacks, glancing sideways at Lin Lixin.
Only then did he notice the peculiarity of the device in his hand.
Lin Lixin did not use a joystick, but instead used a bunch of buttons to input directions instead of a joystick.
The most outrageous thing is that Lin Lixin didn't operate at the high speed that was expected at all.
He simply pressed one finger firmly against the back arrow key, then mechanically tapped the forward arrow key and the fist key repeatedly.
With each tap, Guile, controlled by him, could unleash a Sonic Boom.
There's absolutely no need to pull back and build up power like I do; the power buildup begins the instant you release it!
"F**k! I knew you were up to no good, you actually cheated against me!"
Now I understand.
Lin Lixin co-authored a cheat code that allowed him to unleash attacks with a single click.
Isn't this a paradise for charge-up characters?
"If you're so tough, don't play a charge-up character, let's PK the Fei Long."
"OK, fine."
Lin Lixin didn't care at all, and gently reached out and flipped a small switch on the upper left of the Hitbo.
The gear position was changed from L to N.
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