Using the GG default control layout in the arcade/on a fightstick...

[werewolfgold]

I'm trying to get used to playing GG on a stick. The two fightsticks I have (PS3 SF4TE and PS4 GGXrd Sanwa) have an 8 main button layout. As everyone perhaps knows, the default arcade layout for GGXrd (as well as previous games) is:

 

 [ ]  Λ   R1  (L1)

 X   O   R2  (L2)

 

  K   S   HS  (Play) 

 P   R   D   (Rec)

 

Now, this is all well and good. But, my natural hand position basically falls (from thumb, fore, middle, ring, and little) on P, K, S, HS, and Play. But I'm finding it awkward to use the Dust button in combos without moving my hand and screwing up any other corresponding muscle memory. Trying to use my little finger to access Dust is kind of painful for my apparently hyoog American hands and using my ring finger to access it (without moving any of my other fingers) feels sluggish.

 

The easy way out for me would be to map Dust onto L1, but there are only 6 buttons on the actual arcade machines (no L1 or L2). I wanted to be able to transition back and forth seamlessly if I ever happen to randomly be at an arcade. There are a couple other button layouts to choose from, but I kind of figure that the default has been the default up until now for a reason and I'm already kind of used to it.

 

 

 

This is a long winded way of me asking how you handle your finger positioning using the default layout. I can probably figure something out or get used to something with practice, but I thought it couldn't hurt to get some data before I try. Are you "supposed" to be using you pinky for Dust?

 

(The other stick topics seemed more hardware based. Sorry if I'm being redundant.)

[Epic]

I'm not sure if you're supposed to, but it's very convenient as you have one finger for each button, so your hand doesn't need to move at all.

It was weird for me as well when I started, but I got used to it eventually.

[GSD-SPL]

I think most people including me just rest their 4 fingers on the main rainbow layout. No thumb. FWIW, I don't really press buttons smack dab in the middle. For Dust I just press the top edge of the button. Hope that helps.

 

Not having to use my thumbs is actually the main reason I use Arcade Sticks, aside from pads wearing out.

[Xtra_Zero]

I've got huge americahands and it wasn't an issue after a while.  Thumb on P, pinky on D.

[Omicron Austin]

I use my ring finger for both HS and D.  For most characters, D isn't really used in reactive situations; I know when I'm going to be pressing it ahead of time, so the few extra milliseconds it takes to reach my ring finger down there don't really impact anything.

That said, my first fighting game was Street Fighter, and being a 6 button fighter, I'm quite used to moving my fingers up and down a row regularly.

Using my pinky for anything on an arcade stick just sounds ridiculous and I don't know how anybody manages to do that.

[Dude Butts]

I use my ring finger for both HS and D.  

 

same.  sweep is the same as sweep in street fighter.

[Shadowfury333]

I found this awkward at first too, but I tried doing it with my hand balled up a bit more (if you play the piano, kinda like that), and I find it seemed to be a good way to keep my hand in a good position. However, I'm using a Qanba Q4, and those Sanwa buttons hardly need any force to press. My pinky tends to rest on the upper-right corner of the Dust button.

[LockedAndClush]

Generally the default scheme is good, because it follows the simple gatlings. This control scheme seems very natural to me, because it kinda goes along what MVC3 or BB do, only with an extra Dust button, which is no biggie - just move your finger from HS to D and you're set. I use the thumb for P, index for K, middle for S, ring for HS and due to having manual problems with ring finger and pinky, I always press D with both of them. Doesn't impede my performance in any way. I actually avoid having a finger rest on the Dust button, cause this creates risk of accidental Bursts, and that would be hella bad.

 

The only games I really use the pinky alone in are SNK titles, where I like to play with the good ol' one row ABCD setting. 

[Dosu]

I use default A(same as default in the arcades) and use 3 fingers on the top row, my ring finger presses H and D, my pointer uses P and K  and only time I use my pink is when I use insta kill mode.

[Grimsley-San]

I use type-B

 

P K S
HS  D

 

I'm more used to it because of BB and UNiEL

[werewolfgold]

Thanks for the input, y'all.