Do Serious Smashers Mod Controllers?

[STiCKYBULL3TZ]

I was practicing Melee last night and I thought to myself.... "Some of the techniques MIGHT be easier if the buttons were in a different position or if I could just use one button to wavedash"

So I gotta ask: Do people who go to tournaments regularly mod their controllers in any way to make their play easier or more comfortable? Mechnical mods? Different button mappings?

 

[JKJ]

No. Serious controller mods are banned. The only controller alteration that is allowed (as of now) is the removal of trigger springs. This is because the same method can be achieved by holding in the trigger while plugging in the controller. This makes it slightly easier to powershield.

 

[STiCKYBULL3TZ]

Ahh I gotcha. Just something I was wondering. Thanks for the reply.

 

[EPsilon933]

I removed my rumble motor to make my controller lighter. The weight feels more balanced and lighter. I never have to go through the small hassle of disabling rumble

I swapped out both stick caps for Wii classic controller stick caps. The grips on the surfaces are better. My thumb slides off the standard gamecube sticks too easily. The only drawback is that the stick lengths are longer which makes it take longer to go from 1 direction to another

 

[hectohertz]

no turbos, no macros, no wire mods

 

[-ShadowPhoenix-]

I never have to go through the small hassle of disabling rumble

...But rumble on is clearly the superior way to play this game

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

No. Serious controller mods are banned. The only controller alteration that is allowed (as of now) is the removal of trigger springs. This is because the same method can be achieved by holding in the trigger while plugging in the controller. This makes it slightly easier to powershield.

Not necessarily. Mods such as different sticks, carving out the octagon analog to your desired shape, and rumble pack mods are allowed. The best way to describe the legality of controller modding in smash is that you are not allowed to mod the actual functionality of the controller, such as remapping buttons, creating new buttons, or adjusting stick sensitivity.

So basically, mods that are for comfortability are A ok, for all of you wondering.. Most top level players tend to stick with the basic controller layout since they've mastered it over many years of smash and do not want to change their ways for understandable reasons (comfortability)

 

[Massive]

Honestly, I think it's time to revisit the whole "no macro controller" idea.

The ban makes sense for games like street fighter or marvel, where victory can sometimes hinge on not dropping a combo, but the way smash (especially melee) is played, automated, multi-part inputs won't really give you any huge advantage over anyone else, since they will still need to be used strategically.

The only techniques I could see this giving an explicit advantage for are shield dropping, full-length wavedashes, and SDI (probably really for surviving fox's uair). Lowering the difficulty ceiling on these things wouldn't really break the game in any real way, as these techniques are merely hard to do reliably. If anything it will elevate the meta to new heights owing to better accessibility on the more difficult chunks of tech skill.

 

[EPsilon933]

Are macros even possible on a GC controller? Can people make them on controllers? Like, make a functional GC controller that also has macros. I'm wondering if we're creating solutions to problems that don't exist (yet)

 

[Massive]

Are macros even possible on a GC controller? Can people make them on controllers? Like, make a functional GC controller that also has macros. I'm wondering if we're creating solutions to problems that don't exist (yet)

Absolutely, macros and input mods are pretty easy to make to a GCN controller.

Mods like a short hop button or reassigning inputs are trivially easy to do from a technical standpoint. Macros themselves are only marginally more complicated with some very basic knowledge of arduino or other micro controller programming.

Macro controllers were around for many systems at the time the GameCube was released (although I am unaware of any made for the GameCube), so the tech isn't mythical our anything, it's probably just a grandfathered-in idea from our community's genesis in other fighting games.

 

[Amiibo Doctor]

Although it would appear that right now there isn't much you can do in the way of modding controllers, some smashers have modded the springs. I'm surprised that more of them haven't done that.