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Smash Ultimate offline input lag analysis

smart patrol

smart patrol

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,701
Did a search but didn't find anything on this.

Since Smash released, there's been a lot of people experiencing input lag issues offline. Some speculated certain controllers had worse lag than other controllers, and other people speculated that it was mainly TV-based. Turns out that SSBU has the worst input lag built in out of any Smash game. Here's an analysis video:



Summary:

Average response time in Ultimate:
Pro controller: 105ms
Joycon: 103ms
Gamecube controller (dock USB ports): 100ms
Gamecube controller (powered USB hub): 98ms

Average response time in all Smash games using best control method:
64: 58ms
Melee: 58ms
Brawl: 84ms
Wii U: 77ms
3DS: 61ms
Ultimate: 98ms

In conclusion, the input lag that many are experiencing has more to do with Ultimate seemingly having more lag built in rather than controller choice.

Edit: Here's a different analysis regarding Pro vs Gamecube controller that may prove the above info to be inaccurate. Pro and Gamecube controllers seem to register on the same frame 83% of the time.

 
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Deleted member 2620

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
4,491
I guess 6 frames isn't super out of the ordinary for a modern fighting game, but I could see that being notable when moving from Melee on a CRT.
 

Ashhong

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,572
Joycons feel fine but pro controller feels bad to me. Sometimes it just lags out completely it presses the wrong button
 
woolyninja

woolyninja

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,028
The Switch has input lag, always has, always will. Compare any game on the Switch to the same game on another console. The Switch is always a little off.
 

Deleted member 2620

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,491
Had to find this from an older thread, 6 frames is a little higher than I thought compared to PS4 fighting games as they stand right now:

1*b-DB-gMslrKmFqakfpsyUQ.png
 
impact

impact

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,380
Tampa
woolyninja said:
The Switch has input lag, always has, always will. Compare any game on the Switch to the same game on another console. The Switch is always a little off.
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Aren't those cases more due to framerate being lower than other versions? Doom at 20-30fps is going to be laggier than consoles (60fps) and PC (144fps+)

I have Stardew Valley on Steam and Switch and they seem identical, but idk.
 
RedSwirl

RedSwirl

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,048
Hmm... and I thought it was just the USB GameCube adapter I was using (it's a third party one).
 
Unicorn

Unicorn

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 29, 2017
9,512
Didn't watch the video, but how do I used a powered USB hub to use my GC controller? Thought hardwired to dock was the most direct input. ...
 
Cordy

Cordy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,303
Speaking of the controllers, how does this game feel using the Joycons with the Joycon holder that came with the system? Is that fine?
 
Musubi

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
23,611
I'm guessing this will be enough to really split the competitive fanbase.
 
FSLink

FSLink

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,261
Sounds like some of you are having interference issues or something. 6f is on the higher side but I've had no issues doing everything I intend to do, recovering, etc.

Unicorn said:
Didn't watch the video, but how do I used a powered USB hub to use my GC controller? Thought hardwired to dock was the most direct input. ...
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Don't bother. 2ms difference between a powered USB hub and direct isn't really worth it. Cool that they annotated it but it won't make an immediate difference to you
 
Viale

Viale

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,614
Hmm, It must be somewhat bad because I feeling like I actually notice it, and I almost never notice these things. Especially when using the right stick on my pro, it feels like the input either doesnt register sometimes or theres a notable lag. Really strange.
 
JakeNoseIt

JakeNoseIt

Catch My Drift
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
4,534
Hmm, I'm normally really sensitive to stuff like this and I haven't noticed it at all yet. Gonna look for it next time I play and see if I can feel it.
 
sleepnaught

sleepnaught

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
4,538
I actually notice a fair amount of input lag just on the Switch home screen with my pro controller. Luckily, I don't notice it in game. If this were something like CSGO, it would make it unplayable for me.
 
udivision

udivision

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,030
I've noticed pro controller inputs being buffered more or something... if that's related.
 
Aaronmac

Aaronmac

Member
Nov 12, 2017
554
I definitely noticed this. Feels terrible compared to dolphin running Melee (and even Brawl) on the same exact display. Still somewhat acceptable for playing single player and with buddies, but I don't see myself going to any tournaments until it gets fixed.
 
no1

no1

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
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Apr 27, 2018
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So wait this is the same lag as RDR2?
 
blamite

blamite

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,551
Definitely noticed this immediately. It was super obvious in the Wii U version as well, even when playing on the gamepad (although i think the 3DS version may not have had any) which made that game really hard for me to play. I've been kinda able to get used to it this time but it still doesn't feel great.
 
FSLink

FSLink

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,261
Aaronmac said:
I definitely noticed this. Feels terrible compared to dolphin running Melee (and even Brawl) on the same exact display. Still somewhat acceptable for playing single player and with buddies, but I don't see myself going to any tournaments until it gets fixed.
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Most games nowadays won't ever be Melee's input latency lol. It's high here, don't get me wrong but that's an unrealistic expectation.
 
Lump

Lump

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,938
I was wondering if it was my tv not being on the right mode or something, it seemed a little rough. I imagine it's super rough for folks with >40-50ms response time connections.
 
Raw64life

Raw64life

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,983
Between Friday and Saturday I played 10+ hours, including a couple hours of matches with friends locally. Played a few matches online today and yea, not in any hurry to go back to that.
 
Gospel

Gospel

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
436
So I'm not crazy. This and the short hop changes really threw me off my toes a little.
 
ZeroDotFlow

ZeroDotFlow

Member
Oct 27, 2017
928
I noticed it immediately when I started playing. The overall responsiveness of the game feels incredibly sluggish, and it's made especially worse because Smash is more in line with Marvel in terms of speed.

Games like SFV it's a bit easier to ignore or adjust to the high input lag because the pacing of the game isn't nearly as fast as some of the anime fighters or marvel-likes out there. It's pretty damn bad.
 
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