Is autofire for wussies?

[leech]

I didn't see a poll about this, but it's always something I thought. Kind of like games that let you just hold the button down and you just move around to kill things.

 

Sure it helps us old people with arthritis, but the games are meant to be played smashing button(s)!

[spacecadet]

Depends on the game IMO. If a game relies on your thumb muscles physically tiring out to beat you, I feel like that's not a very good game. Or put another way, if a game requires you to be firing constantly to achieve the game's objectives, then I feel like it *should* have autofire and should use other elements to make the game fun.

 

I can't think of any examples offhand from the 2600, but a bit later, you see a lot of arcade and console rail shooters, vertical and horizontal scrolling shooters that had autofire and many of them were fun as hell. They were more about the strategy of prioritizing where you were firing and moving around while avoiding enemy fire. And without autofire, they'd have been ludicrously difficult, almost physically impossible.

[tdp]

Old joysticks just can't take the pounding any more.

[godslabrat]

IMO, it's a strategy, neither bad nor good, just how you play.

 

If you hold the button down and get a constant stream of fire, you're always attacking, but your aim for each shot is imprecise.

 

If you fire each round with a push, your timing is spot-on, but you run the risk of missing due to fatigue.

 

Where it gets sketchy is when a game doesn't offer auto-fire, but you add it yourself with a turbo controller.

[leech]

IMO, it's a strategy, neither bad nor good, just how you play.

 

If you hold the button down and get a constant stream of fire, you're always attacking, but your aim for each shot is imprecise.

 

If you fire each round with a push, your timing is spot-on, but you run the risk of missing due to fatigue.

 

Where it gets sketchy is when a game doesn't offer auto-fire, but you add it yourself with a turbo controller.

Agreed. There's also the case where a constant fire gets you killed because it's hard to see the shots that are heading toward you. Granted some games are made easier by letting you shoot the enemy shots.

[SS]

Old joysticks just can't take the pounding any more.

My old thumbs can't take the pounding either.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

IMO its solely up to the game designer to implement good and easy to use controls. So if a game relies on tiring your thumb, then this is bad game design. If the game mechanics e.g. require permanent shooting, then this should have been implemented right into the game code.

 

Adding auto fire via joystick or emulator to a badly designed game might cure one problem, but usually bad game designs result into multiple additional problems which cannot be cured.

 

And for all other games, adding autofire is IMO cheating. Its against the intentions of the author's game design and often just an easy way to evade playing the game as it is designed.

[Opry99er]

Megamania is a great example on the 2600.

 

It will fire repeatedly, but you can't really aim well with this method. You have to stop the auto shooting on certain stages because the enemy movement is sporadic. Other stages it pays to hold the button early on because you can clear a ton of baddies before they get spaced out, forcing you to get more strategic with it.

[fiddlepaddle]

This situation perfectly exemplifies the old adage, "When you cheat, you're only cheating yourself."

 

I take it to heart: if it's more fun with auto-fire, I do it that way; if not, then I don't.

 

Perhaps of equal import, auto-fire cuts wear and tear on controller buttons, and any technique that reduces cramps or other physical damage to my body is a winner.

[Flojomojo]

Autofire in Empire Strikes Back is the best.

 

I voted "yes"

 

But I like it anyway.

[leech]

This situation perfectly exemplifies the old adage, "When you cheat, you're only cheating yourself."

 

I take it to heart: if it's more fun with auto-fire, I do it that way; if not, then I don't.

 

Perhaps of equal import, auto-fire cuts wear and tear on controller buttons, and any technique that reduces cramps or other physical damage to my body is a winner.

That works, unless you join one of the high score contests here. I'm not sure if one of t heir rules is no auto-fire or not though. And yeah, I'm definitely talking about after market joysticks that have a switch vs games that let you fire by holding down the button.

[Keatah]

Continuous higher-frequency auto-fire can and does cause repetitive motion injury. A game like Tempest is a perfect example.

 

Autofire is a tool in the gamer's arsenal. And I will use it to avoid further injury.

[Opry99er]

If the game was built with auto fire, then go for it. If you're using a turbo-pad or something of the like to get an advantage, then you're playing a different game. That's not necessarily a bad thing, depending on your playing purposes. If I were going for a high score in a shooter, I would consider using artificial auto-fire "out-of-bounds."

[Video]

I'd say not if it's built into the game.

 

On 2600 it's not like it matters to much, due to system limitations, even with an autofire controller, autofire isn't really possible for the most part.

[+Stephen Moss]

I would not say autofire is necessarily for wusses as the question asks becasue as some have stated fatgue and aging digits can reduce ones play and enjoyment of the game.

 

The other thing is how you define auto fire, some games are programmed to read the controller at regualr intervals detecting a down button press. As a consequence you can play by either mashing the fire button or by simply holding the button in to achieve the maximum possible rate of fire. So does simply holding the button down constitute using autofire, and perhaps more importatnly cheating?

In this case I say no because the game was designed that way, thereby allowing you to play it that way.

 

However, a game like Raiden on the Jaguar which was written to detect an edge change requiring a push to fire, release and push again to fire was written/designed (albeit possibly unintentionally) so that button mashing is required and maxium rate of fire cannot be achieved sumply by holding the fire button down. In this instance using a auto fire system built into the controller that outputs a square way to try and achive a maximum fire rate not possible by hand does constitue using auto fire and cheating because that is not how the game was mean to be played even if it is the only way to playthe higher level.

Cheating by using auto fire system is fine for personal use if it increase your enjoyment of the game as you are only cheating/deluding yourself in regard to your score, the problem comes where a score achieved by its use (without declaring it) is used to claim bragging rights in regard to a high score as it may be possible to achieve 2 million points using auto fire but not without, so you cannot really claim to have scored 2 million points as you were not playing the game in the way it was intended to be and it was the auto fire not you that really achieved the score.

[tdp]

Someone needs to make a shoot em up called RSI.

[Flojomojo]

Someone needs to make a shoot em up called RSI.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/

[+Karl G]

There may be some that use hardware autofire controllers for accessibility reasons as well.

[Video]

I remember some games where holding the button have autofire, but you could fire faster hammering the button.

[BassGuitari]

"Is Autofire For Wussies?"

 

No, but Genesis controllers are.

[VectorGamer]

BRB smashing the fire button in Sinistar for the 2600 and 5200

[leech]

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/

I think he meant one that would be released before the Tacobox.

 

Would be nice if RSI could finish it!

[leech]

"Is Autofire For Wussies?"

 

No, but Genesis controllers are.

Ha, I should wire up an arcade style stick for use for various platforms. Yar's revenge with an arcade stylr controller would rock. Or I guess I could find one of the Genesis arcade sticks.

[+Cafeman]

We always needed more autofire.

 

[Flojomojo]

We always needed more autofire.

 

That thing makes me throw up in my mouth a little ?

I'm somewhat surprised the brain trust at AtariBox hasn't brought back that aesthetic for fun and profit.