Analog keyboard--Need for Speed High Stakes

So the greatest game of all time after Doom is Need for Speed High Stakes. But playing on the keyboard is a bit tricky, because you are either turning the wheel as hard as you can or not turning it at all. Is there such thing as an analog keyboard? That would be super sick. I really don't care for game controllers, unless someone wants to buy me a state of the art wheel, pedal and shifter setup.

Nope. Even the "pressure sensitive" keyboards of some expensive electronic pianos like Yamaha Clavinovas are not truly analog, but rather have 2-3 discrete steps of pressure to simulate Forte, Moderato and Piano intensity levels.

Such a keyboard would be pointless...at most you can find some oddball models with a built-in trackball or slider that map into a mouse device, but no such thing as "analog keys". Believe it or not, keyboard manufacturers have enough trouble producing an accurate "pressed" or "not pressed" reading from normal keys during normal use. A pressure-sensitive keyboard would be a nightmare, and not all that accurate either. Usually "pressure" is simulated by press duration, rather than intensity.

I find that in driving games, tapping the turning key works.

As for the "turning as hard as you can/not turning at all" dichotomy, that is only true with VERY broken controls that turn too fast and/or lack automated wheel recovery. Or with sucking at playing, as I learned the hard way long ago (got better since).

I don't know how such a device would work from a programming stand-point. Either it would be impossible or a complete nightmare. No API I've ever seen has "analog buttons", as they aren't found outside of arcades. Even the steering wheel controllers for computer/consoles are probably analog sticks internally.

Not even arcades have analog buttons. Some of the most finely programmed ones had "pressure sensitive" buttons which were simply timing sensitive (you can verify this with any well-coded arcade game like e.g. New Zealand Story, Liquid Kids, and even Super Mario Land, where you can control your jump height to almost split precision using a single button). Longer press = higher jump, stronger attacks, etc.

Steering wheels are nothing more than analog joystiks, indeed.

Maes said:

Nope. Even the "pressure sensitive" keyboards of some expensive electronic pianos like Yamaha Clavinovas are not truly analog, but rather have 2-3 discrete steps of pressure to simulate Forte, Moderato and Piano intensity levels.

Not entirely true... although it's not helpful to OP, MIDI keyboards sometimes have "aftertouch". After you hit the key and hold it, you can press it down harder or softer to send modulation signals. Not all keyboards support this, but some cheap MIDI controllers do. Today they aren't true analog, and usually have about 128 different discrete levels, but I believe the Prophet V may have had actual analog aftertouch.

What's more is that MIDI velocity is also defined to be 128 discrete levels, not 2-3. If the more expensive electric pianos have fewer levels than the synth sitting to my left, I'll laugh.

Or it could be that you and I are thinking about two entirely different things ^_^

Clavinovas are known for a metallic lever system in which the end weight, known as the hammer, is consistently monitored for movement. the speed of the lever being pushed up and striking a pressure sensor determines the velocity and (in newer models) hammer bounce.

Probably I'm just talking with data (and about Clavinovas) of 10 years ago, when even moderately complex electronics and mechanisms like this were considered luxury. It could very well be that modern Clavinovas are way more complex than pre-2000 models, and that even $50 toy synths have fully pressure-sensitive keys.

Still, a computer keyboard doesn't have the moving range of a piano keyboard: the buttons snap into two positions with most mechanisms and just don't travel enough or with enough continuous fine control to be worth actually using as pressure sensitive input.

I doubt using one with Need for Speed would be better than a proper controller though...

@chopkinsca: yeah, I do. I am pretty good at nfs:hs, but there are certain maneuvers that are really tricky, like making the curves at the beginning of the tracks Atlantica and Aquatica straight--and other maneuvers in order to maintain top speed.


speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedd!!!