Mirror's edge, looks promising. - by Fragony
Yakoob on 21/12/2008 at 23:29
Quote Posted by dethtoll
What?
He means analogue move forward/back/left/right which an analogue stick provides but keyboard does not.
Though, TBH, through the years of playing FPSes, lack of analogue movement has never bothered me. Let the thousands of CS/TF/Quake/UT uber-skilled players attest to that as well. Especially with a crouch/walk button readily available.
Pin-point accurate and insanely fast mouse movement, on the other hand, is infinitely superior to a pad.
gunsmoke on 22/12/2008 at 03:08
Aja. I am a huge fan of console controllers. I love analogue movement. This game is played so blindingly fast, that you won't use it. This is Quake fast.
EvaUnit02 on 22/12/2008 at 05:00
Yeah, you're definitely going to need a walk or sneak modifier key in a game where you're running all of the time. :rolleyes:
Splinter Cell 1-4 for PC offers four different movement speeds that are controlled with the mouse wheel. I find this setup far more accurate than an analogue stick, I don't have to ever worry about accidently nudging the stick too far and alerting guards, etc.
Koki on 22/12/2008 at 07:21
The only plus side of analog is the precise left/right movement, not forward/backward. But we have mouse for that.
Aja on 22/12/2008 at 09:20
You aren't running all the time. How about playing the game before criticizing it? Modifiers are obviously not more accurate, if you can handle a joystick with any competency. Less intuitive, too.
EvaUnit02 on 22/12/2008 at 10:18
Quote Posted by Aja
You aren't running all the time. How about playing the game before criticizing it? Modifiers are obviously not more accurate, if you can handle a joystick with any competency. Less intuitive, too.
Who was criticising
the game? Learn how to read. Obviously the "running all the time" thing was an exaggeration. I've played the Mirror's Edge 360 demo through many times. There's was only one circumstance where analogue movement would be useful, maintaining balance on beams -but even that would be perfectly fine with digital controls. The PC versions of the Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raiders, PoP: The Two Thrones and Assassin's Creed control beautifully with mouse and keyboard.
In the context of a real-time action shooter, analogue movement is rarely necessary. In action shooters with shoehorned or optional stealth gameplay, modifiers are fine. A pure stealth game? Depends on how well they've optimised the controls. The switchable movement speeds (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) via the mouse wheel in the PC versions of Splinter Cell work great.
Steering vehicles though? Absolutely, analogue can shine here. I much prefer playing driving games with a gamepad, than with a keyboard. But that has more to do with the analogue
buttons and triggers for controlling acceleration and braking, than steering with analogue thumbsticks.
Thirith on 22/12/2008 at 10:46
I've wondered sometimes what an analogue-stick (movement) and mouse (looking/aiming) combo would be like in a first-person game, whether it's a shooter, a sneaker or anything else. There are definitely things you can do with an analogue 4-directional input device that you can't do with WASD, although I'm not sure there'd be enough of a gameplay benefit.
Aja on 22/12/2008 at 18:12
I sometimes play Thief with that setup -- a controller in my left hand and a mouse in my right, with the number pad handy in case I need extra buttons. Apart from the eventual fatigue of having to support the pad with one hand, it works wonderfully, especially in a game like Thief where movement speed is crucial.
Honestly, though, in Mirror's Edge the analogue movement works best because it makes you feel more in control of your character, which is the whole point. So maybe I was premature in claiming it provides a huge gameplay benefit, but since aesthetics and immersion are such a central part of the game, being able to intuitively control movement speed contributes to the player's connection with the character.
One of my favourite parts of this game is in the aquaducts -- as soon as you enter you're kind of stunned by their size and beauty and it feels great to just slowly step forward and look around, like you might do if you were actually there..
catbarf on 24/12/2008 at 19:43
That was just stupid. Runner vision is used as an artistic expression? Bullshit. It's a game. It's not an especially artsy game, it's a gameplay concept with a dystopian setting and a few gimmicks thrown in. The article is fellating EA to an extreme.
