A Viable 10-key Stepmania Setup

Arch0wl · 12-17-2014, 07:10 AM

About a year ago someone suggested I buy the Logitech K120. Admittedly, I'm borderline ADHD, so I am occasionally forgetful of things like what I order or why. When I got it in the mail I used it like a regular USB keyboard and completely blanked on why I bought it. I just assumed it was because it was a good keyboard and in my mind, that was the reason and I never thought about it since.

About an hour ago I remembered the real reason why I bought the keyboard. This is incredible:

USB keyboards have limitations of about six presses at once. This is inadvertently why 6-key is popular on Stepmania, while 8-key (despite the game's capability for it) is not.

To press 10 at once on one keyboard, you'd need to have a PS/2 connection and a mechanical keyboard. These are extremely expensive; worse, laptops do not generally support PS/2 keyboards. But since desktops are so uncommon now, you need a workaround.

This method allows you to dodge the USB limitation by using two USB keyboards, with a hypothetical max input of 12 at once.

10-key is the logical extent of how far this game can go, which is why it's been so appealing to me. Someone who is as good as you can get at 10-key has effectively maximized how good human fingers can get period. The idea is appealing on that basis alone.

When I get some free time, I'm going to see if it's possible to mod SM SSC into 10k and make some files.

12-17-2014, 07:10 AM	#1
Arch0wl Banned Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: fb.com/a.macdonald.iv Age: 35 Posts: 6,344	A Viable 10-key Stepmania Setup About a year ago someone suggested I buy the Logitech K120. Admittedly, I'm borderline ADHD, so I am occasionally forgetful of things like what I order or why. When I got it in the mail I used it like a regular USB keyboard and completely blanked on why I bought it. I just assumed it was because it was a good keyboard and in my mind, that was the reason and I never thought about it since. About an hour ago I remembered the real reason why I bought the keyboard. This is incredible: USB keyboards have limitations of about six presses at once. This is inadvertently why 6-key is popular on Stepmania, while 8-key (despite the game's capability for it) is not. To press 10 at once on one keyboard, you'd need to have a PS/2 connection and a mechanical keyboard. These are extremely expensive; worse, laptops do not generally support PS/2 keyboards. But since desktops are so uncommon now, you need a workaround. This method allows you to dodge the USB limitation by using two USB keyboards, with a hypothetical max input of 12 at once. 10-key is the logical extent of how far this game can go, which is why it's been so appealing to me. Someone who is as good as you can get at 10-key has effectively maximized how good human fingers can get period. The idea is appealing on that basis alone. When I get some free time, I'm going to see if it's possible to mod SM SSC into 10k and make some files.

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