Salvage on 31/3/2010 at 21:31

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I originally had a Gravis controller - it probably still works but I don't have a game port on any recent system.

Then I went through a few Logitech controllers but they always had the analog stick problem.

Currently I use the XBox 360 controller which hasn't given me any issues aside from early driver functionality(couldn't set deadzone) but xbcd fixed that.

I use it for third person non-shooters(Psychonauts and similar games), racing games, any game played through an emulator, and the rare flight game.

Gryzemuis on 1/4/2010 at 01:20

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It is only a minor detail. But think about it. When you push a mousebutton, you move your finger(s). And that will have a small impact on your whole hand. And thus your mouse. I agree, it is minimal, but it does exist.
I remember that in Unreal Tournament, one of the best players, a German kid called Gitzzz, used the control or alt key on his keyboard for fire. Just because of this reason.

My aim in shooters is so bad (compared to the good kids), that it doesn't really matter for me. But I like to think this is a small compensation for being forced to use my left hand to aim.

Trackball and joystick does make "circle strafing" a lot easier. That is something that is easily noticeable when you start using the setup. With a trackball, you never ever have to pick up your mouse to reposition it. It was a small advantage I had in WoW Arenas. I just kept circle strafing opponents, and I bet they had problems keeping their mice on the desk while trying to face me. :)

Volitions Advocate on 1/4/2010 at 05:56

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I've been planning on making my own device of sorts.

With all the crazy things you can do with MaxMSP I was planning on building some sort of interface that was totally different just to see what I could come up with.

I plan on building an (http://www.arduino.cc/) arduino board and screwing around with as many different sensors I can get my hands on... theres a good list at (www.sensorwiki.org) The Sensor Wiki.

I was thinking of something crazy like a bit array of those infra red sensors. 2 arrays with 3 dimensions of control just by waving your hand in the air above them. (and we're not talking like the natal or wiimote here).

I wanted to come up with some sort of control scheme that would work good for 3D perspective games.. Descent would be my test bed seeing as how its still probably the one game with the most freedom of motion.

You can do anything with MaxMSP. on the flipside I've seen a lot of guys using joysticks to control music through it.

piln on 5/4/2010 at 02:15

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Joystick & trackball... wasn't that the setup they used for Outtrigger in the arcades?


@NamelessPlayer:
Have you tried the TrackIR's mouse emulation with games that don't have native support, anything first person like Thief, Oblivion, etc? Just wondering how well it works. I was thinking of buying one a while back and used to post on their forums a bit, but was very disappointed with their unwillingness to break out of the sim niche.

I have one of those Steel Battalion kits boxed away... never occurred to me that it could be used on PC, shame about the limited drivers though.

I'd love to try one of these ((http://home.novint.com/) Novint Falcon) (particularly with the Penumbra games) but like the TrackIR, it's expensive and software support is limited.

Back to gamepads - yet another vote for the 360 pad. The d-pad's not great, but in other respects it's probably the best I've used, and I've used dozens of different pads over the years (whatever happened to Gravis, they used to make great PC pads?) As mentioned, you can use XBCD drivers instead of Microsoft's if you want more programmability - and can't you just swap the drivers back and forth in a few seconds? (I use XBCD to put the X-Y axis onto the right stick, and use it for sword-swinging in Die By The Sword - gaming heaven! :D/ "Have at you!")

A lot of PC first-person games support analogue joystick for movement (Thief 1 & 2 do, they just need an .ini file tweak somewhere). This would be better than mapping WASD to the left stick, but if joystick isn't supported then use something like Xpadder to map "bands" - so for example, a gentle push forward is mapped as CTRL+W for creep forward, a mid push is W (walk forward) and a full push of the stick is SHIFT+W (run forward). The last PC FPS-like game I can remember playing on a programmed gamepad was Arx Fatalis. As the OP says, that was keys mapped to the left stick and mouse mapped to the right stick. It worked really well, better than I expected it to. Depends on the game really. Expect some fiddling about until you figure out a profile you like. You could play Thief 1/2 on a gamepad using native joystick support for movement, and mapping the mouse to the right stick. I've never tried it, but my gut feeling is that it will work well because analogue movement in T1&2 is brilliant - kicks the keyboard's arse.

This is what I use ((http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/cyborgcommand.htm) Saitek Cyborg Command Unit) along with a mouse for first-person games that support analogue movement. It's basically a programmable keyboard, which due to layout is much better than a regular keyboard for most gaming, and it has a little analogue stick which is awesome for movement in Thief 1/2, Splinter Cell, etc. It's tiny and takes some getting used to, but well worth the practice - and eliminates the need for at least one run/walk/creep modifier key (two in Thief). It doesn't work so well in Thief 3, it feels like shunting a sack of spuds around, which surprised me because I found Xbox Thief 3 handled fairly well on the standard gamepad (better than keys & mouse on the PC version, imo). So for PC Thief 3 I would definitely recommend trying a 360 pad or something like it.

I actually prefer this ((http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=164714) Belkin Nostromo N52 Speedpad) in most respects, the build quality, layout & ergonomics are much better than the Saitek, and the scroll wheel is very useful in a lot of games, but it lacks an analogue stick - in some games, analogue movement makes such a difference to the experience that the Saitek wins. For the few games that don't support analogue movement, I'd go back to the Nostromo. Logitech have made this similar device ((http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/5123&cl=us,en) Logitech G13), but to me it looks lazily designed - that's just an indistinct mess of keys, not a layout you could confidently identify by feel, and the angle of the analogue stick looks uncomfortable. And, typical of Logitech, it's too expensive to take a chance on.

I'd steer clear of Logitech gamepads. I've had a few whose analogue sticks have started to drift and/or twitch after time, and I've read it's a common problem with no solution.

Enough Logitech bashing... I always use their non-gaming mice as the quality seems to be really good, they're comfortable (for right-handers) and they are festooned with buttons (why put less buttons on their gaming mice? I've never understood why they do that). I've been using an MX1000 for years, which has 10 buttons + scroll wheel, but have just grabbed myself an MX Revolution off Ebay today which has something like 9 buttons + 2 scroll wheels. The MX1100 looks like a good choice too. I hate the way Logitech deliberately cripple their software for different mice - they say you have to buy a mouse from their gaming range if you want all the programmability functions, even though it's the same driver & utility for all - the options are all there whatever mouse you have, they're just hidden for some, which is extremely cynical imo. Luckily there's the excellent (http://uberoptions.net/) UberOptions, which unhides all of these functions for every Logitech mouse, so you can program literally every button (including mouse wheel directions and even your left & right buttons, if you really want to) regardless of what model mouse you have. I haven't seen any of the dedicated gaming mice (Razer, etc) beat the functionality of a Logitech non-gaming mouse tweaked with UberOptions (obviously there may be issues for left-handers, or super-serious competitive gamers who don't use wireless mice). With this for my right hand and the Saitek thingy for my left, I've got more than enough buttons at my fingertips for most games.

Jason Moyer on 7/4/2010 at 02:02

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Current setup:

Logitech Classic Keyboard 200
Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000
Microsoft Xbox 360 Wired Controller
Logitech G25

Used and Liked:

Microsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick
Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Racing Wheel
USB Gravis Gamepad Pro

Used and Can't Recommend:

Logitech Mice (I've tried every Logi mouse imaginable, and I keep going back to cheap MS optical mice - the only exception is an old thumb-button mouse made in the late 90's whose name escapes me, and I haven't been able to find one since 2000-2001-ish)
Logitech Rumblepad
Logitech Dual Action Gamepad (these last two for technical reasons - if/when they work they're fantastic)