So ... when will the Microsoft Motocross Madness PATCH be released?

It sound like you're holding your joystick upside down. :) Seriously, I have a Gravis 4 button pad, and have no problems (I'm running under Win95).

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> Motocross Madness will not function with any controller on my > computer. The game runs fine (P200 w/3dfx) but the control is all > The game correctly detected this, and I've also tried manually > selecting it in the controller options screen. Naturally the > controller works fine in the Win95 calibration screen (and all other > software). There are a couple severe problems: > 1) No "dead zone" - when the joystick is centered, the bike's wheel > flails wildly back and forth. The bike cannot be driven straight. > 2) Joystick controls are REVERSED. I can sort of steer, but left and > right are switched. The leaning control is also switched - moving the > joystick forward makes the driver lean back, and vice-versa. Needless > to say this makes it impossible to drive.

Various other joystick problems snipped...

Motocross Madness will not function with any controller on my computer. The game runs fine (P200 w/3dfx) but the control is all The game correctly detected this, and I've also tried manually selecting it in the controller options screen. Naturally the controller works fine in the Win95 calibration screen (and all other software). There are a couple severe problems: 1) No "dead zone" - when the joystick is centered, the bike's wheel flails wildly back and forth. The bike cannot be driven straight. 2) Joystick controls are REVERSED. I can sort of steer, but left and right are switched. The leaning control is also switched - moving the joystick forward makes the driver lean back, and vice-versa. Needless to say this makes it impossible to drive. I've also tried my Gravis Gampad Pro (selected as a 4-button gamepad in the game), with similarly poor results. Like the Sidewinder, the control directions are reversed. And in this mode I can't steer left at all. When the dpad is centered the bike steers right. When I push right the wheel is centered. When I push left it steers right. I've never seen such a screwed up controler interface. What the heck's going on with this thing? Again, both controllers work 100% fine in calibration (i.e., no jitters) and other Win95 games. Oh yeah, I also tried moving the controller Sensitivity slider around, but it had no effect whatsoever. And I looked in the readme (and MS knowledge base) but there's nothing there. Any ideas anyone? Thank god Microsoft has a 30 day money back guarentee. Looks like I might need it. Joe

>It sound like you're holding your joystick upside down. :) >Seriously, I have a Gravis 4 button pad, and have no problems (I'm running >under Win95). Well, I did presume not everyone was having this problem, or there'd be kicking and screaming all over usenet. But I have no idea why he game won't work for me, since my controllers work perfectly in dozens of other Win95 games. Joe

Could it be that you have your Sidewinder programmed to work differently than the defaults? You can also customize the controls in MM. Maybe you could get things to work that way? Good Luck. You're really missing out on a gem. Chris

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>Motocross Madness will not function with any controller on my >computer. The game runs fine (P200 w/3dfx) but the control is all >The game correctly detected this, and I've also tried manually >selecting it in the controller options screen. Naturally the >controller works fine in the Win95 calibration screen (and all other >software). There are a couple severe problems: >1) No "dead zone" - when the joystick is centered, the bike's wheel >flails wildly back and forth. The bike cannot be driven straight. >2) Joystick controls are REVERSED. I can sort of steer, but left and >right are switched. The leaning control is also switched - moving the >joystick forward makes the driver lean back, and vice-versa. Needless >to say this makes it impossible to drive. >I've also tried my Gravis Gampad Pro (selected as a 4-button gamepad >in the game), with similarly poor results. Like the Sidewinder, the >control directions are reversed. And in this mode I can't steer left >at all. When the dpad is centered the bike steers right. When I push >right the wheel is centered. When I push left it steers right. >I've never seen such a screwed up controler interface. What the heck's >going on with this thing? Again, both controllers work 100% fine in >calibration (i.e., no jitters) and other Win95 games. Oh yeah, I also >tried moving the controller Sensitivity slider around, but it had no >effect whatsoever. And I looked in the readme (and MS knowledge base) >but there's nothing there. Any ideas anyone? >Thank god Microsoft has a 30 day money back guarentee. Looks like I >might need it. >Joe

>Motocross Madness will not function with any controller on my >computer. The game runs fine (P200 w/3dfx) but the control is all >The game correctly detected this, and I've also tried manually i had the same trouble until i upgraded to DirectX6. instant fix.

>Could it be that you have your Sidewinder programmed to work differently >than the defaults? No, I have unloaded the Profiler app that customizes the joystick. I have also downloaded the latest version (3.0) of the Sidewinder drivers and software, but that doesn't work either. No, that doesn't work either. In fact it's very difficult to even try to assign controls - if I push on the x axis it will "guess" the Y axis, that sort of thing. It's as is it's trying to read a badly nucalibrated joystick. Maybe so, but it sure has crappy device input code. Are they not even using DirectInput? My device (Sidewinder precision Pro) is not even a calibratable device, it delivers perfect input to Win95 at all times, in all applications but this one. I can't imagine what on earth they've done to***it up so badly - I couldn't write a joystick application that worked this badly if I tried. They annoying thing is I'm going on vacation in two days, so unless the problem is resolved by tomorrow I'm going to have to return the game to Microsoft for a refund (i.e., otherwise I might miss out on their 30 day window to return software). I'll try calling tech support today, and will report back here if they are able to help. Joe

I use both the Precision Pro and Force Feedback Pro with no problems what so ever. P233MMX, Voodoo2, Monster Sound M80. What version of the Sidwinder software are you using? I'm using 2.0.

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>Could it be that you have your Sidewinder programmed to work differently >than the defaults? >You can also customize the controls in MM. Maybe you could get things to >work that way? >Good Luck. You're really missing out on a gem. >Chris >>Motocross Madness will not function with any controller on my >>computer. The game runs fine (P200 w/3dfx) but the control is all >>The game correctly detected this, and I've also tried manually >>selecting it in the controller options screen. Naturally the >>controller works fine in the Win95 calibration screen (and all other >>software). There are a couple severe problems: >>1) No "dead zone" - when the joystick is centered, the bike's wheel >>flails wildly back and forth. The bike cannot be driven straight. >>2) Joystick controls are REVERSED. I can sort of steer, but left and >>right are switched. The leaning control is also switched - moving the >>joystick forward makes the driver lean back, and vice-versa. Needless >>to say this makes it impossible to drive. >>I've also tried my Gravis Gampad Pro (selected as a 4-button gamepad >>in the game), with similarly poor results. Like the Sidewinder, the >>control directions are reversed. And in this mode I can't steer left >>at all. When the dpad is centered the bike steers right. When I push >>right the wheel is centered. When I push left it steers right. >>I've never seen such a screwed up controler interface. What the heck's >>going on with this thing? Again, both controllers work 100% fine in >>calibration (i.e., no jitters) and other Win95 games. Oh yeah, I also >>tried moving the controller Sensitivity slider around, but it had no >>effect whatsoever. And I looked in the readme (and MS knowledge base) >>but there's nothing there. Any ideas anyone? >>Thank god Microsoft has a 30 day money back guarentee. Looks like I >>might need it. >>Joe

>i had the same trouble until i upgraded to DirectX6. instant fix. Ouch, that's rather terrifying. I suppose I'll have to risk it. Pretty wierd, though, that the game would require DX6 but not install it. Joe

Joe, My recommendation is completely non-technical. How about trying a fresh installation. This works (for some strange reason) with games more often than people would expect. Just a suggestion which you might want to consider after your current options are exhausted. Dave DmndDave

Thanks, I have tried that a couple times (both before and after installing the latest Sidewinder drivers). I'm downloading DirectX 6.0 as I type, on the advice of MS support. Maybe that will work. I'm starting to dread the Motocross race startup screen though - everytime it comes up I'm becoming conditioned to expect failure once the race is loaded. I'll let you know if DX 6 works. Joe

>I use both the Precision Pro and Force Feedback Pro with no problems what so >ever. P233MMX, Voodoo2, Monster Sound M80. What version of the Sidwinder >software are you using? I'm using 2.0. I had 2.0, and have since upgraded to 3.02. That didn't help. What version of DirectX do you have? I'm downloading DX 6 as I type. Joe

I'm using Win98 and the DirectX drivers that came with it because the dircect input drivers are the same in 6.0 as in 5.0. I think if i'm wrong i'm sure someone here will correct me on the Direct Input driver. >>I use both the Precision Pro and Force Feedback Pro with no problems what so

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>>ever. P233MMX, Voodoo2, Monster Sound M80. What version of the Sidwinder >>software are you using? I'm using 2.0. >I had 2.0, and have since upgraded to 3.02. That didn't help. What >version of DirectX do you have? I'm downloading DX 6 as I type. >Joe

DirectX6 may well be the key. If it is, it really should of been included with the CD. Dave DmndDave

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>I'm downloading DirectX 6.0 as I type, on the advice of MS support. >Maybe that will work. >I'm starting to dread the Motocross race startup screen though - >everytime it comes up I'm becoming conditioned to expect failure once >the race is loaded. I'll let you know if DX 6 works. >Joe

No, I've just installed DX6 (and re-installed the game) but no luck. It's really quite bizarre, I've never seen anything like it. It's highly annoying, as the Motocross game loks pretty interesting. I also just re-tried a couple other games (NFS 3 demo and Quake 2) to verify that the joystick is indeed working perfectly. Joe

>I'm using Win98 and the DirectX drivers that came with it because the >dircect input drivers are the same in 6.0 as in 5.0. I think if i'm wrong >i'm sure someone here will correct me on the Direct Input driver. Well anyway I've tried DX 6.0 now and no luck, the darn think just won't work. :-( Joe

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>>I'm using Win98 and the DirectX drivers that came with it because the >>dircect input drivers are the same in 6.0 as in 5.0. I think if i'm wrong >>i'm sure someone here will correct me on the Direct Input driver. >Well anyway I've tried DX 6.0 now and no luck, the darn think just >won't work. :-( >Joe

Joe, i don't know if you follow the microsoft mshardware newsgroup, but there has been some discussion of a few problems. It seems some have been related to people using a creative gameport driver instead of the MS standard one, and this has been causing problems with Digital sticks. I am not sure if this case applies to you or not, but i suggest you take a look there for some further help. Z.

Hey Joe... Got a potential cure for you...I used to have a problem with my Sidewinder pad/Joystick in some games but not others, which caused no end of frustration...turned out that the problem lay in my crappy old ESS 1868 soundcard - but was fixed by going to: control panel>multimedia>advanced>audio devices>settings...and selecting 'single mode DMA'. Everything worked nicely after that...hope it will for you too. By the way...I found the above info in one of the 'Readme' files that came with the sidewinder software. If it doesn't work.. maybe your solution will be there :) Sieg >>My recommendation is completely non-technical. How about trying a fresh >>installation. This works (for some strange reason) with games more often >>than people would expect. Just a suggestion which you might want to consider

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>>after your current options are exhausted. >Thanks, I have tried that a couple times (both before and after >installing the latest Sidewinder drivers). >I'm downloading DirectX 6.0 as I type, on the advice of MS support. >Maybe that will work. >I'm starting to dread the Motocross race startup screen though - >everytime it comes up I'm becoming conditioned to expect failure once >the race is loaded. I'll let you know if DX 6 works. >Joe

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>Hey Joe... >Got a potential cure for you...I used to have a problem with my Sidewinder >pad/Joystick in some games but not others, which caused no end of >frustration...turned out that the problem lay in my crappy old ESS 1868 >soundcard - but was fixed by going to: control >panel>multimedia>advanced>audio devices>settings...and selecting 'single >mode DMA'. Everything worked nicely after that...hope it will for you too. >By the way...I found the above info in one of the 'Readme' files that came >with the sidewinder software. If it doesn't work.. maybe your solution will >be there :)

Thanks for the idea, but the multimedia driver for my SoundBlaster16 sound card doesn't have the 'single mode DMA' option. Joe

I have the EXACT same problem. I wanted to buy this when I saw it at CompUSA, but thought I'd dl the demo first - and the controls are all ***ed up. I'm using a CH Flightstick Pro, calibrated, works fine with every other game on earth, blah, blah, blah. Also PII - 333, 192 mb ram, LX board, SB 64, 12 mb V2. I was hoping the actual game was fixed - guess I'll be passing on this one. Too bad, it's a blast with the keyboard, but this is too clumsy for the racing part. - Argus

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> Motocross Madness will not function with any controller on my > computer. The game runs fine (P200 w/3dfx) but the control is all > The game correctly detected this, and I've also tried manually > selecting it in the controller options screen. Naturally the > controller works fine in the Win95 calibration screen (and all other > software). There are a couple severe problems: > 1) No "dead zone" - when the joystick is centered, the bike's wheel > flails wildly back and forth. The bike cannot be driven straight. > 2) Joystick controls are REVERSED. I can sort of steer, but left and > right are switched. The leaning control is also switched - moving the > joystick forward makes the driver lean back, and vice-versa. Needless > to say this makes it impossible to drive. > I've also tried my Gravis Gampad Pro (selected as a 4-button gamepad > in the game), with similarly poor results. Like the Sidewinder, the > control directions are reversed. And in this mode I can't steer left > at all. When the dpad is centered the bike steers right. When I push > right the wheel is centered. When I push left it steers right. > I've never seen such a screwed up controler interface. What the heck's > going on with this thing? Again, both controllers work 100% fine in > calibration (i.e., no jitters) and other Win95 games. Oh yeah, I also > tried moving the controller Sensitivity slider around, but it had no > effect whatsoever. And I looked in the readme (and MS knowledge base) > but there's nothing there. Any ideas anyone? > Thank god Microsoft has a 30 day money back guarentee. Looks like I > might need it. > Joe

>>i had the same trouble until i upgraded to DirectX6. instant fix. >Ouch, that's rather terrifying. I suppose I'll have to risk it. Pretty >wierd, though, that the game would require DX6 but not install it. >Joe MM doesnt require direct x 6. That is a very strange prob you have there Joe. I using Direct x 5.2 and the game controls fine with my Gravis game pad pro...and with the CH flight stick pro. I have it plugged into my SB16 PNP {older version....SB2980}. It seems that everyone has covered all the bases on what it could be. The only thing else i can think of {this is out there!} is maybe a incompatibility with your processor vs this game. Is it Intel,Cyrix or AMD ? I doubt that this is the prob but geez...this prob has me stumped as well. Lee ****Remove"NOSPAM" from the email address**** \\/// ( o o ) -----OOOo---(_)---oOOO---------------

Have you tried calling tech support on this. I know it's a pain and you will probably be on hold but if they can fix your problem then you would really like this game.

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>>>i had the same trouble until i upgraded to DirectX6. instant fix. >>Ouch, that's rather terrifying. I suppose I'll have to risk it. Pretty >>wierd, though, that the game would require DX6 but not install it. >>Joe > MM doesnt require direct x 6. That is a very strange prob you have >there Joe. I using Direct x 5.2 and the game controls fine with my >Gravis game pad pro...and with the CH flight stick pro. I have it >plugged into my SB16 PNP {older version....SB2980}. It seems that >everyone has covered all the bases on what it could be. The only thing >else i can think of {this is out there!} is maybe a incompatibility >with your processor vs this game. Is it Intel,Cyrix or AMD ? > I doubt that this is the prob but geez...this prob has me stumped as >well. > Lee >****Remove"NOSPAM" from the email address**** > \\/// > ( o o ) > -----OOOo---(_)---oOOO---------------

>Motocross Madness will not function with any controller on my >computer. An update on this situation: With the aid of an MS support rep I was able to force the Direct 6 setup program to re-install certain files, and the game is now working fine. Joe

: >Motocross Madness will not function with any controller on my : >computer. : An update on this situation: With the aid of an MS support rep I was : able to force the Direct 6 setup program to re-install certain files, : and the game is now working fine. : Joe So how'd you do it? Paul

>So how'd you do it? Renamed the MSJSTICK.DRV, DDRAW.DLL, and DSOUND.DLL files (in \WINDOWS\SYSTEM), then re-installed DirectX 6. Then I went into the System control panel, selected the properties for my game card controller, selected "Change Driver", reselected the same driver (i.e., Creative Gameport Driver). This recreated the MSJSTICK.DRV file. Also, I deleted the extra copy of MSJSTICK.DRV that was in my \WINDOWS directory. I hope this is helpful to some other people experiencing this problem. Joe