How do you letting a keyboard accept more button presses simultaneously?

[Whitecrab]

Hey, I just got a new computer, and one thing I've noticed is it has more trouble accepting multiple key inputs from the keyboard.

What I mean is, I have a bunch of dos games, etc. etc., where you use the keyboard much like a video game controller. This means sometimes you have to have sit several buttons at once. I.E. hold down charge, hit jump, hold right, and hold up to grab the ladder. My new computer (which is better, newer, & faster, so that's not the issue) is having more trouble accepting several buttons being pressed at once. It tends to ignore a few buttons, and sometimes beeps at me as well. This is still just playing single player - if I were to have several people use the keyboard as a control...

I know from experience that sometimes changing the keys can help: certain keys just don't seem to press well together (i.e. on my old comp I changed up/down/left/right arrows to I, K, J, and L and that helped. Isn't cutting it on the new comp though). But I'm asking if there is any other way to help a keyboard accept input from several buttons at once?

Also, does this ability depend on the keyboard, or is it some hardware or software related to the computer itself?

Appreciate any help.

P.S. Yeah, I know using a gamepad/joystick could help, but they're not as flexible (due to # of buttons) or accurate as a keyboard, so no need to bring that up.

 

[Evil_Trunks]

This doesn't sound like a very nice computer if it is having troubles excepting multiple keyboard commands.

 

[Megasaxon]

well, two things:

it's most proabably the dos games, some old dos games, are just like that, it's a dos limitation, deal with it.


or, it may be your keyboard, depending on it's age, if your keyboard, is old, get a new usb one. or stop playing dos games, one of the two

 

[Whitecrab]

It's not a DOS limitation: I tried getting an emulator designed to work in windows with a game I got and I still had the problem.

Also, it's not an old key board. It's a brand new soft touch keyboard that came straight off the assembly line w/ the new comp. And it's a fairly new model because it has the fancy start menu buttons.

An example, if people aren't understanding the problem
I'll use emulating Megaman X as an example, because just about everyone here would know what that's about. Like, I can set up the keys and stuff, and they'll all work, and I can say hold fire to charge, and it'll work.

However, if I would not be able to hold onto charge while doing a dash-jump to the right (holding charge & right, and tapping dash and jump).

Anyway, I'm mostly worried about fighting games, Megaman X games, etc. etc. Especially if I want 2 or 3 people on the keyboard at once.

 

[Firefly]

it´s really simple
every keyboard has this limits
a keyboard isn´t designed the accept more than i think 6 or 7 key at the same time (the ps2-port has only 8 or 9 pins)
and a certain field of keys(for exemple: a,s,d,y,x,c) is using only one connection that allows only 2 or 3 keys being pressed at the same time

to understand it, you have to know the difference between parallel and serial transmition

 

[Whitecrab]

Interesting. Anyone have any idea where I might find out about the fields?

But, using the same program, same action, same buttons, the action could be done on my old comp but not on the new one.