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The control response in Pac-Man Museum seems slow

Harlock

Member
Played a little of Pac-Man Museum on Xbox and was having a hard time with Pac-Man. The control seems to have just enough delay to make direction changes very frustating.

Tested the same Pac-Man on Retroarch for Xbox and yeah, the control response was way faster. Too bad, because I love those collections with graphical interface, like the Xbox Game Room.
 
Input lag issues are generally a big concern for me regarding modern emulation compilations.

Like, I get, you new emulator games have a hate-on for screen-tearing, but my ability to have twitch reactions in an arcade game is way more important to my retro experience than a "fix" that would hardly matter in a game like Pac-Man that never has flashing screens or weird scrolling to begin with which you guys implemented just because you want to pat your own backs for being so "technical" and "smart".
 

AJUMP23

Member
I played it and when I died because I could not make a turn, I was severely disappointed. Game isn't good.
 

Kuranghi

Member
Tangentially related: I booted up the Metal Slug Collection on my PS5 the other day to have a wee fanny about and it really is atrocious how bad that feels compared to it running on RetroArch on my PC, like even with non-adaptive v-sync lag its 10x better on my PC. Its to a point where you feel like you're on heavy painkillers or something. Its not just MS1 either, MS3 (which was the "new" engine) feels nearly as bad on the PS5, thats with the DualSense + PS5 reducing input lag by quite a bit as well, must've been absolute anus on PS4.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
You sure it’s not a wired vs wireless thing? I’ve noticed in la lot of instances where a wireless controller gives just enough lag to completely throw me off old games on emulators compared to using a wired controller.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
You sure it’s not a wired vs wireless thing? I’ve noticed in la lot of instances where a wireless controller gives just enough lag to completely throw me off old games on emulators compared to using a wired controller.
It's a Unity thing. This has happened in the past with other games they emulate through that engine.
 

nkarafo

Member
What's this, another case of an official emulation effort (of software that has been emulated since decades now on superior homebrew emulators) being so bad that's almost unplayable?

I'm shocked.

Just stick with MAME and/or RetroArch.
 

01011001

Banned
It's a Unity thing. This has happened in the past with other games they emulate through that engine.

the weird thing being that the latency for such collections and emulated releases varies pretty significantly depending on system tho and it's not always Unity either.
I don't know if the MegaMan X collection is running in a Unity Engine container, but that one has some wild results

(note! don't play on Switch with the Pro Controller set to USB connection! lol... HOW THE FUCK DID NINTENDO EVEN DO THAT?)

EACMaP3.png
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
the weird thing being that the latency varies pretty significantly depending on system tho.
I don't know if the MegaMan X collection is running in a Unity Engine container, but that one has some wild results

(note! don't play on Switch with the Pro Controller set to USB connection! lol... HOW THE FUCK DID NINTENDO EVEN DO THAT?)

EACMaP3.png
I remember this same thing happening last gen when they did Pac-Man and others.
 

Bridges

Member
I thought I was crazy before seeing this thread.

I definitely have lost a fair amount of lives for not taking turns that I swear I was making the inputs for.

Definitely hope it gets fixed. Not a bad collection but this is not the kinda issue a game like Pac-Man should be having.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Are there issues with the PS4/5 version? All I’m seeing is just the Xbox version.
 

Impotaku

Member
While there is a bit of delay in some of the games it's not stopped me i have easily adapted and nearly gotten all challenge items unlocked in every game just a handful left. Only played switch version so far.
 
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SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Seems okay on PC for me. I was putting up scores competitive with how I usually do.

It's a neat collection, there are some deep cuts in there.
 

01011001

Banned
What does this mean?

if you connect the Switch Pro Controller using a USB cable, and set the system option for Controller connection to USB (meaning the controller will communicate wired not over bluetooth)
the Switch has more input lag than if you use the controller wirelessly...

how the fuck Nintendo managed to do that is beyond me. but basically, as soon as you have a controller that uses a USB cable or a USB dongle to communicate with the Switch you will have a massive amount of additional input lag (~13ms of additional lag. that is almost the amount of display latency a modern TV has, so you basically double your screen latency)

PR1QLez.png
 
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There's definitely some serious control delay, but honestly I think that's just how the game is, because they're all like that. However, the platformer game isn't like that.

My advice is to hit your turns on the d-pad prior to the turn, and hold it. You basically wont ever miss turns then.

FYI, the game is great. Has 10 versions of Pacman I've never even heard of. Some of them are awesome. Even has the battle Pacman that's been a big 4 player hit at the local video game bar for a while now. It doesn't have Ms. Pacman due to rights issues, but FYI I just got that on Playstation for $2 like 2 days ago on sale.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
My advice is to hit your turns on the d-pad prior to the turn, and hold it. You basically wont ever miss turns then.
This is just how Pac-Man works, tbh. That's how I've always played. Lag is more something I would feel when turning around. Or, like, hitting jump in Pac Mania.
 
Pac-Man is about the only thing in my life I've ever been any good at and I was having a rough time last night playing it in Museum. I didn't want to jump straight to "Lag!" but it appears perhaps this one time it was the game and not my own incompetence.

Knowing this, this might actually be the best day in my life.
 

Nvzman

Member
if you connect the Switch Pro Controller using a USB cable, and set the system option for Controller connection to USB (meaning the controller will communicate wired not over bluetooth)
the Switch has more input lag than if you use the controller wirelessly...

how the fuck Nintendo managed to do that is beyond me. but basically, as soon as you have a controller that uses a USB cable or a USB dongle to communicate with the Switch you will have a massive amount of additional input lag (~13ms of additional lag. that is almost the amount of display latency a modern TV has, so you basically double your screen latency)

PR1QLez.png
Iirc the insane wired Switch controller lag is because of how the Switch is designed. The wireless method directly communicates the controller to the Switch, whereas the wired USB into the dock is technically communicating to the dock which then gets transferred to the Switch. It's a hardware flaw, theres no way for Nintendo to fix it with a patch.
 

01011001

Banned
Iirc the insane wired Switch controller lag is because of how the Switch is designed. The wireless method directly communicates the controller to the Switch, whereas the wired USB into the dock is technically communicating to the dock which then gets transferred to the Switch. It's a hardware flaw, theres no way for Nintendo to fix it with a patch.

that doesn't explain why the JoyCons when connected to the Switch have higher lag than playing with a wireless Pro Controller in tabletop mode lol
the Switch is weird... it seems directly connected controllers simply have higher latency, not only the Pro Controller on USB but also joy cons directly connected on the rails
 
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Nvzman

Member
that doesn't explain why the JoyCons when connected to the Switch have higher lag than playing with a wireless Pro Controller in tabletop mode lol
the Switch is weird... it seems directly connected controllers simply have higher latency, not only the Pro Controller on USB but also joy cons directly connected on the rails
The JoyCons likely just have a weaker signal in them due to hardware differences.

Also I don't think you understand my post, when you play with pro controller via USB it is not directly connected, its effectively tunneling the signal through the dock into the switch, which is what causes the crazy high input lag.

With wireless:
Pro Controller --> Switch

Wired into dock:
Pro Controller --> Dock --> Switch.
 

01011001

Banned
The JoyCons likely just have a weaker signal in them due to hardware differences.

Also I don't think you understand my post, when you play with pro controller via USB it is not directly connected, its effectively tunneling the signal through the dock into the switch, which is what causes the crazy high input lag.

With wireless:
Pro Controller --> Switch

Wired into dock:
Pro Controller --> Dock --> Switch.

Joy Cons when slotted into to a Switch have a direct hardware connection to the switch, they don't communicate wirelessly, and a Joycon directly connected to a Switch has higher latency than a Pro Controller connected wirelessly...
makes no sense, there's something more to this than the dock
 
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nush

Gold Member
What's this, another case of an official emulation effort (of software that has been emulated since decades now on superior homebrew emulators) being so bad that's almost unplayable?

I'm shocked.

Just stick with MAME and/or RetroArch.

The kids contracted to make this stuff don't know what it's supposed to feel like. Same thing with shitty CRT filters, they never saw an RGB CRT monitor back in the day.
 
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