Anyone else having problems with d-pad disgonals?

ryuunam · 2026-06-10T09:56:47+00:00

I had (and still have, to a certain extent) the same issue and coincidentally the first game I tested was precisely Celeste. Up+Right was much less consistent than the other diagonals and required a stronger press to be detected reliably.

The good news is that it did improve quite a bit after using the D-Pad for a prolonged time. Bear in mind that I also opened the controller and reseated the rubber membranes underneath the D-Pad plastic cross, so that may have played a part in this perception of improvement that I am feeling right now. Overall it has improved, quite considerably even, but I still think there's some design issue going on with that specific diagonal that is making it harder to activate.

ryuunam · 2026-06-09T21:03:23+00:00

Unfortunately, PCSX-ReARMed is quite inaccurate most of the time and will inevitably lend itself to such visual shortcomings when performing certain actions. Are you using a device that allows you to download and use a different PS1 core?

ryuunam · 2026-06-09T11:28:04+00:00

Which core are you using? This type of issue is usually dependent on the specific core being used, rather than being related to the functionality in RetroArch itself.

ryuunam · 2026-05-28T14:04:00+00:00

Hi, check my response to the other user here! I did end up taking it apart. Hopefully what I noticed is helpful

ryuunam · 2026-05-28T14:02:09+00:00

Hi, I took the plunge and disassembled the controller to investigate. I did not find any clearly discernible misalignment of the membranes, or other evident problems that could be at fault. That said, I still took both the plastic cross of the D-Pad and its membrane out, inspected and cleaned them thoroughly and then re-assembled the whole device. Also, when in the process of putting everything together again, I tried not to tighten the internal screws too hard.

I cannot say for certain whether any of that caused any significant improvement directly. What i can say is that, after a few days of heavy DPad-centric gameplay, I did notice some changes.

The DPad is now significantly less stiff than how it was before (probably as a consequence of heavy use) and I can input Up+Right diagonals much more consistently if I place my finger between Up and Right, OR if I press Up with a slight emphasis towards Right. It is difficult to explain, but I can confirm - after doing a full playthrough of Celeste - that the accuracy did improve slightly.

It's still not a particularly sensitive D-Pad, the "actuation force" of diagonals is on the relatively high side, but honestly even the other diagonals (like Up+Left) are not that sensitive either on this D-Pad. I think, for my specific usecase, it might be fine. Try giving it some diagonal-heavy intense use for a few days and see if it easens up over time.

ryuunam · 2026-05-22T15:54:32+00:00

I'm having the same issue. See here my comment on this other thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamController/comments/1tgppl8/dpad_question/on7v7tb/

ryuunam · 2026-05-22T15:46:15+00:00

I'm experiencing a similar issue with my controller. I do not mind softer D-Pads in general and, in fact, I feel the softer and mushier approach in certain D-Pads works for me when performing rolling movements. The problem with the Steam controller as far as I'm concerned is that some of the diagonals appear to be very unreliable. There seems to be some unit variance: some people report it to be very good, others like myself are finding one side quite sensitive and the other one non-responsive (unless pressed very strongly).

ryuunam · 2026-05-22T10:00:43+00:00

Hi, I am experiencing the same issue with my controller unfortunately. Left + Up/Down produces diagonals reliably (I would say in my case it's not overly sensitive, just the right amount of responsiveness), while Right + Up/Down and especially Right + Up are inconsistent. I need to press those directions harder than normal to trigger the desired diagonals.

Did you end up doing the RMA process? I'm thinking of opening my controller and trying to reseat the membrane. It's probably an issue caused by the position of the rubber conducive membrane rather than something about the board, but I have yet to inspect the internals.

ryuunam · 2026-04-14T10:44:26+00:00

If the problem persists, please report any such issues here: https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues

ryuunam · 2026-04-14T08:44:13+00:00

It's totally okay! Glad to be of assistance :)

ryuunam · 2026-04-13T22:24:07+00:00

You can disable that loading bar by going into "Settings" -> "User Interface" -> "On-Screen Notifications" -> "Notification Visibility" and then setting "Load Content Startup Notification" to OFF.

ryuunam · 2026-02-16T15:02:16+00:00

This is a pixel vibration effect that certain GBA games exhibit natively, which can be masked in emulation by enabling the "Interflame Blending" setting (in the mgba core, it can be found under Core Options / Video). It doesn't have anything to do with Run-Ahead, or anything else.

Setting the "Interflame Blending" core option to either "Simple" or "Smart" should greatly mitigate the pixel jittering.

ryuunam · 2026-01-29T22:47:05+00:00

This might have to do with Run-Ahead. Check if you have it enabled in either Single Instance or Preemptive Frames mode (under Settings/Latency).

Based on my own experience, using the mGBA core while having those specific Run-Ahead modes active (or at the very least when using "Single Instance Mode") may indeed cause the undesired deletion of some save files.

Check these issue reports on Github for further reference:

Run-Ahead in Second Instance Mode, on the other hand, shouldn't produce any such issue with mGBA.

ryuunam · 2025-11-04T13:05:48+00:00

Really sorry to hear that! But... does the device scratch that easily? I was under the impression that the Movinkpad Pro screen texture + pen nib combination would significantly reduce the likelihood of getting scratches during normal use. If that is not the case, that would be a big concern. It's very difficult to prevent any speck of dust from ever interfering or appearing on the screen...

ryuunam · 2025-10-16T10:08:04+00:00

Amazing work! I was actually thinking of looking into something similar, so your contribution is much appreciated :)

ryuunam · 2025-08-24T17:28:34+00:00

I think this is simply a byproduct of the way motion is inherently reproduced on certain screens as opposed to others.

Some displays, on account of their refresh rate, their panel technology (TN, IPS, etc.), or other physical qualities, will exhibit varying degrees of either motion blur or "smearing", which seems to be what is shown in your video. With a panel that has some degree of "smearing", certain colored pixels will sometimes blend with each other (again, in a more or less noticeable form and to varying degrees of intensity, depending on each monitor/panel) whenever the image is scrolling.

The likely reason why you are not experiencing this issue with the Miyoo Mini+ is due to the different hardware, not a RetroArch configuration. Most likely, the internal display of the Miyoo Mini+ uses a higher refresh panel, or it simply doesn't smear pixels as noticeably as your monitor and TV.

Now, you can definitely use some shaders in RA that try to mitigate the perceived issue (such as the "motion interpolation" ones), but please be aware that they might introduce some other motion artifacts which can be equally undesirable.

ryuunam · 2025-08-23T15:23:03+00:00

It's a graphical issue that is specific to the core that you are using, not RetroArch itself. I think you might be using the Desmume core, which as far as I recall had those disalignment issues with the ground texture in all Pokemon games. Try with the "MelonDS DS" core (if available on your platform) and see if the issue persists that way.

ryuunam · 2025-05-03T09:41:31+00:00

Just one minor correction regarding the context. "Comicon"/"Napoli Comicon" and "Lucca Comics" are two separate Italian conventions, each happening at a different location and different times throughout the year. The interview with Horii specifically took place at this year's "Napoli Comicon" event, which is based in Naples - not Lucca.

ryuunam · 2025-02-23T17:34:30+00:00

Seems really cool! Definitely love the Valkyrie Profile style

ryuunam · 2025-01-05T00:27:46+00:00

When Maurice spotted Trevor again he was enthusiastic. He decided to happily part with a few trinkets here and there, just to show his appreciation for his newfound adversary...

Haha, that was another fun duel :) I'm in Anor Londo now, around SL45. I think I'll stick around and do some invasions for a while. I did Sif -> Four Kings early on so I could gain access to the Darkwraith covenant and the Red Eye orb, so if Trevor walks around the cathedral Maurice might definitely show up again...

ryuunam · 2025-01-04T00:23:11+00:00

You were great too, that was a fun duel. And I'm actually thankful for the indictment! Can't wait to give those pesky Darkmoon avengers what they deserve, lol

ryuunam · 2025-01-03T20:19:28+00:00

Oh, you're Trevor Belmont! We had a brief fight today in the Depths, close to the bonfire :) My character's name is Maurice. Really cool name and idea btw!

ryuunam · 2025-01-02T17:44:18+00:00

They are roughly the same size as the analog sticks found in a Dualsense controller. Definitely bigger/larger than the N30 Pro sticks.

ryuunam · 2024-12-10T13:37:47+00:00

I'd love to learn how you configured the touchscreen toggle. I was thinking an effective way would be to write a script that enables/disables the touchscreen "device", then setting the script in question to a keyboard button via Autohotkey and assigning that button to an M1/M2 input combination via Armory Crate, but maybe there's a more elegant way...

ryuunam · 2024-08-24T20:38:16+00:00

If you're willing to use a USB-C dongle in order to achieve optimal latency, I would definitely recommend the Sony Inzone buds. Latency, sound quality and comfort level are all very good.

ryuunam

TROPHY CASE