NES emulator beginners question

[beesly]

Is it possible to have two players playing a game simultaneously on the same pc (i.e. head to head in a sporting game)? Not talking about "netplay" where you would play someone remote on a different machine, talking like using the PC like a true old school NES system. I have two Retrozone NES controller and would think I can plug each into there own USB port and this would do the trick. It does not. I am using VirtuaNES. It appears both controllers are properly calibrated, but as it is now only one USB port allows a game controller to work.

Sorry dumb question, I am really a novice with little gaming experience. Any ideas/suggestions as dumbed down as possible would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[BIrvine]

I don't use VirtuaNES, nor do I have game controllers right now; but you should be able to both - goto Options --> Controllers from the file menu. You'll need to select buttons seperately for Controller 1, then Controller 2, from the two seperate tabs within the control setup.

[beesly]

Thanks for quick response... as it stands, I don't think it is a problem with the controllers as I both controllers work when I try them independently in one of the USB ports. So I think it is matter of not being able to use both USB ports at once. I gather it is not possible to play a 2 player head to head game on an NES emulator. Not sure where I need to plug my controllers in...

[toasterhed]

Thanks for quick response... as it stands, I don't think it is a problem with the controllers as I both controllers work when I try them independently in one of the USB ports. So I think it is matter of not being able to use both USB ports at once. I gather it is not possible to play a 2 player head to head game on an NES emulator. Not sure where I need to plug my controllers in...

Firstly, it is very possible to play a 2 player game. I have played plenty of 2 player games on FCEU. (I use the keyboard and usually let someone else use my controller because I only have one) VirtuaNES does support 2 players so I don't think it's the emu.

Honestly, I am not sure if this is your problem but I hope it helps. I don't use VirtuaNES but I do know a little bit about USB ports being a pain. Again, I hope this helps and sorry if it does not.

Are you using a USB port which you had assigned to a different device? I have noticed occasionally if you plug something into a USB port that is assigned for something else, it will not work properly.

Also if you do use it for another device consider clicking on the taskbar to "Safely remove hardware" and remove any hardware that was on it in that way first. Then plug in the controller after your sure the other device isn't using that port.

If you have 2 free USB ports which you haven't assigned a device to, try using those first. I have 6 USB ports and I have occasionally plugged my USB keyboard/mouse into the wrong USB port, sometimes that has caused an issue. I haven't a clue as to why because with other devices it doesn't seem to matter. (But then again I use Windows and heavens forbid it to work correctly... like ever)

If you don't have an extra 2 free, which kind of sounds what it is (since they will work when you have them plugged in one at a time) I am sure there is a way to reassign the USB ports if you need to, but I am at a loss for now as to how to do that. My brain is drawing blanks today. Shouldn't be too hard though. There are some folks around here much more familiar with hardware than I though. Google will probably give you what you need at any rate. So search there first.

I hope that is somewhat helpful. If all else fails you could try a different emulator? I don't know if there is a possibility for compatibility issues with the emulator and controllers themselves? (I don't know why there would be but you never know) In any case I know that I use my keyboard and usually let a second player use my controller. (On NES games not so bad, not so much for N64 or 3D but NES should be easy to play on the keyboard)

Alternatively, you can try to recalibrate the controller, just in case some of the buttons aren't in the right order or working correctly, but it sounds like you have already done that. Good luck. = )

[BIrvine]

Yep, its definitely possible to play directly w/ two controllers. I have done it with FCEU and Nestopia. Plug both controllers into seperate USB connections before any setup with the emulator. Then goto the controller options select the input options for controller one, using your first controller; then select the tab for controller two and push the buttons on the other controller.

if the second controller acts like its the first one, then you're setting it up wrong, if it does nothing you may need to enable support for more than one controller in the emu (sometimes the default is one input device only)

try another emulator possibly too.

[beesly]

Many thanks to you both.

I ended up switching emulators to FCE ULtra. This seems to be a cure as I am know able to play 2 player games head to head with separate controllers a la Super Mario Bros and also 2 player games head to head simultaneously with separate controllers a la Tecmo Super Bowl.

Good bye VirtuaNES which is unfortunate because I did like that its Full Screen mode produced a much fuller display than what I get with FECUX. But heck while I am at it, any suggestions for displaying a nice full screen display in FCEUX? (i.e. as little black screen on sides and top and bottom while not distorting?) And to further cure my ignorance, anyone here ever move the display onto a TV. How would I do that? Quick glance shows no S-video jack on my Dell PC, but one on my TV. Any easy suggestions?

Again thanks for your responses!