So i bought an Arcade Stick (RAP 4 Kai), but i have no idea how to use/configure it with RetroArch. I want to have the possibility to just switch between my main controller (Xbox 360, which works like a charm with the default settings) and my arcade stick for mostly SHUMPS/Arcade games in general. Where do i begin?
Plug it in, make sure it says āblah blah connected in port #1ā and itāll probably say that itās ānot configuredā, which just means we donāt have any autoconfig profile for it. Thatās not a problem, though, because youāre going to make one yourself (and hopefully submit it for inclusion 
)
With it connected in the port #1 location, use a keyboard to go to settings > input > port 1 binds, then go down to ābind default allā and then ābind allā and map your buttons. Remember that the retropad face buttons labeled ānintendo-styleā. Once thatās done, hit āsave autoconfigā and then ābind default allā again.
Now, close RetroArch completely and then reopen it and it should detect and autoconfigure your stick (if it doesnāt for some reason, just try doing the steps again). At this point, you should be all set. In FBNeoās quick menu > controls, thereās a device type you can change to (I forget the exact name, but itās something like) arcade stick āmodernā or āclassicā. If you mapped it according to your stickās official layout, youāll want to use the āmodernā one (thatās with Fierce and Roundhouseāin Street Fighter parlanceāon R1 and R2 instead of R1 and L1 for āclassicā).
Your autoconfig profile will still show the retropad labels in menus unless/until you add ābutton labelsā to the profile. You should be able to just steal them from any PS4/xbone (as the case may be) controllerās autoconfig profile.
Im absolutely lost. RetroArch keeps pooping up that message. Also i couldnāt find the options āport 1 binds bind default allā
Iām kinda slow today for sure, hehe. Also my Xbox 360 controller is still conected, do i need to unplug it?
Ah, right. Iāve seen that before. I forget how/if itās resolved, but I think if you go to settings > driver and change the joypad driver from xinput to either dinput or raw (fully close and then reopen RetroArch between each driver change; donāt choose ānullā), it should shut its yap.
Okey, i was able to setup my arcade stick, but now iām not quite happy with how some games in MAME feel. If thereās a way to configure the controller per core or per game?
Yes, you can move the coreās functions around on the controller/retropad in quick menu > controls, and you can save those remaps on a per-core or per-game basis from the same menu.
Im still kinda lost here, let me explain myself further:
I want to have a configuration thatās useful for most game (mostly fighting games on numerous systems, Neo Geo, MAME 2016, FBAlpha for CPS1 and CPS2, Dreamcast, and SHUMPS in general). I tested the configuration using this layout thatās apparently the most widely accepted for arcade games:
Y X R L B A R2 L2
But it didnāt quite work very well for Neo-Geo games and (specially), Marvel vs Capcom 2 on Dreamcast. I decided to map the buttons in-game, but it doesnāt let me use the buttons i want to call out an assist, which sucks. I decided to do it from RetroArch, but iām just stuck. I want to freely map the buttons for exactly what i want to do, and save the configuration specifically for Marvel vs Capcom 2
Itās something like this possible?
Yeah, itās possible. When you map your controller in settings > input, donāt try to do anything tricky. Just map the buttons as it asks for them.
Then, when you load a core, go to quick menu > controls and move the functions around however you want to put them on the buttons you desire. You can pop back into the game and test them as much as you like. Once theyāre where you want them, save a game-specific remap from that same menu.
Thatās the recommended mapping for 8 buttons arcade stick indeed, but there are 2 problems with your case :
- you use MAME, MAMEās default mappings arenāt made to be friendly, the MAME emulator expects you open the MAME OSD and remap everything the first time you launch a game, the only exception to that would be mame2003plus which had its mappings heavily customized. Another alternative is FBNeo which is designed to have friendly mappings by default (more details here)
- usage of arcade sticks on dreamcast is peculiar because the dreamcast arcade sticks had non-standard layout and iirc the console would detect it and do a custom mapping from this, i doubt that would translate very well to a modern 8 buttons arcade stick, some remapping canāt be avoided.
What options do i have at this point? iām still kinda confused
My previous post contains everything you need to know, the golden rule being that there is no way youāll have a plugānāplay experience with what you are trying to do.
- for mvsc2 on dreamcast, youāll have to apply what @hunterk said in
quick menu > controls - for mame games, either you keep using that mame2016 core and enter mame osd every time the default mapping is crap, or you switch to one of the cores that have better defaults
I donāt have a problem with mapping everything per-game really, since is a one-time stuff and in the case of Neo-Geo, most game works fine with just a few corrections within the quick menu -> controls option.
The problem i have with FBNeo is that all my games are meant to work with MAME 2016, they wonāt run on FBNeo.
Im a total n00b in terms of mapping really, the MAME OSD configuration you need to access can be saved? how do i access to it?
Through tab key from a keyboard, i donāt know if there is another method to access it, and yes it should be saved.
Okey, in the case of MVC2 i just came across another problem. So far iāve able to map the first 4 buttons following the official layout for the game:
LP HP A1
LK HK A2
But as soon as i go to the quick menu -> configure the buttons for A1 and A2 (R1 and R2 in the stick), everything goes wrong. Iām not sure if the stick is detecting both buttons as one or what but if i set the A1 to R1, R2 acts as the same
Okey yes, apparently RetroArch/Flycast or just the game itself considers R2 as the same button as R1, they act the same 
I was able to successfully map up to A1 (which is L in-game) by using the quick menu and setting Trigger L, but i canāt do it for A2 (thatās supposed to be R-Trigger in-game), the game just wonāt call the assist and just mimic R1 button instead
If you go to quick menu > controls > port 1 controls, at the top of the menu, you should see an option for ādevice typeā. If you set that to āarcade stickā, back out of that menu and then come right back (just to refresh it), it should give you the ability to map A, B, X, Y, L-trigger and R-trigger to any of the retropad buttons.
Does this treat you any differently?
It doesāt allow me to set the buttons at all with the āarcade stickā option within the quick menu. I cant use neither the keyboard or the arcade stick itself to map them
How are you trying to change them? are you pressing left/right to cycle through the functions?
Yes. Iām trying to use left and right on the keyboard to map the buttons, which doesnāt work
