twisty on 8/7/2013 at 09:07
So what's Dark Souls like to play with a keyboard and mouse? The steam page has the following note: "Microsoft Xbox 360® Controller for Windows® (or equivalent) is strongly recommended."
I don't have a controller and don't feel like getting one just for this game.
DDL on 8/7/2013 at 09:45
I'd also be interested in the answer to that: I bought DS, based almost entirely on the combination of gushing praise, simmering hatred and anguish from these very forums, but haven't found time to play it yet. I'm a fairly diehard "KB/Mouse for all the things" person and don't own a gamepad, but if it's gonna be the difference between screaming and breaking everything, and screaming and breaking everything multiple times, then it might be a worthwhile investment.
june gloom on 8/7/2013 at 10:02
At this point you're just shooting yourself in the foot without a gamepad. Get yourself a Logitech F310 or F710 (or an F510 if you can find one on eBay -- it's wired like the F310 and has force feedback like the F710 but apparently is no longer being made) and be done with it. I made the plunge years ago when I had trouble playing emulated SNES games (namely, Megaman X) on a keyboard like I used to. And believe you me, playing Dark Souls with keyboard and mouse? That's not shooting yourself in the foot. That's shooting yourself in the balls, punching yourself in the face, then piledriving a lit firecracker while listening to Basshunter.
june gloom on 8/7/2013 at 10:07
Sulphur: Someone's planning to play DS with KB/M?
Sulphur: Set him on fire and roll him off a cliff
Sulphur: He'd thank you for that
faetal on 8/7/2013 at 10:13
DDL, I was also a "KB & mouse or GTFO" person since I started PC gaming, but Dark Souls changed my mind in a BIG way. There are fixes for the strange backwards mouse acceleration (small movements translate to large ones and vice-versa), but I think the gamepad can't be beat.
[EDIT] I bought a Razer ONZA tournament edition, which is an excellent XBOX 360 controller clone, except with much better D-pad and 2 programmable buttons.
Renzatic on 8/7/2013 at 10:25
Twisty, here's what you need to do right now.
First, save this picture to your desktop, and stare at it for 5 minutes.
Inline Image:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3018396/capra_demon.pngGot it? Good. Now, take your head and slam it against your desk over and over again while screaming "GODDAMNIT GODDAMNIT GODDAMNIT GODDAMIT HHURUURURURURURUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH" then punch yourself in the face two or three times.
Basically, get it out of your system now, because you'll be doing that quite a bit while playing DS with a kb/m. While I'm sure there are some people out there who have managed to successfully do it, they're all probably masochists and/or hate themselves, and try to find ways to dole out self administered punishment every chance they get.
You can try it. I'd argue that DS is definitely worth the attempt if you absolutely refuse to get a gamepad. But it's not optimal. Nowhere near.
faetal on 8/7/2013 at 10:39
The good thing is though, that once you've beaten him/it, you can go back to him in NG+ or with a different character and wipe the floor with him/it. I went back through game with a sorcerer and beat him/it first time and then spent the next 3 hours helping other people as a white phantom, because fuck that guy/thing.
Renzatic on 8/7/2013 at 11:07
That's exactly what I did. The first time through the game, it took me 15 tries before I finally killed that SOB.
Fifteen. Freaking. Tries.
It drove me to levels of rage I didn't even think I was capable of. When I did kill him two days later, I did this freaky half crazed dance while laughing manically and flipping off my monitor. Yeah, I know. It's just a game. I shouldn't get so worked up over it. But after all that time, all those tries, I had somehow managed to get it in my head that I actually hated the bastard, and took his death by my hands as a personal, well earned victory.
It's kind of a scary thing to think about. It felt like I tapped some primal level of bloodlust buried deep within my psyche.
Then Ornstein and Smough kicked my ass all but hard, and I dropped the game for a month or two out of frustration. When I picked it up again, I killed him without breaking a sweat. In fact, I went from the Bell Gargoyles, to him, all the way to Vagina Dentata Dragon all in a single run. Never dying once.
That's when I realized that Dark Souls is a game you really have to learn to play. It doesn't make any concessions for you whatsoever, so you have to adapt to it.
faetal on 8/7/2013 at 11:10
Yeah, steep learning curve, but once you see through the mechanism of learning it's like that bit in the Matrix where Ted starts seeing LCD symbols everywhere.
And I'm also firmly in the gamer camp which raises a middle finger at the monitor during times of triumph against the odds.
Zerker on 8/7/2013 at 11:25
I'll elaborate a bit on the gamepad recommends, having an F310, F710 and 360 pad. The F310 and 710 are excellent for platforms, especially modern games that only support xinput. The dpad is comfortable and accurate, but the analog sticks are convex, and the triggers are a bit stiff.
Also, do not get the F710 if you have noticeable wireless interference on the 2.4 GHz band. I'm a bit of an extreme case with about 20 access points in range, but I noticed enough dropped button presses to make the F310 worthwhile.
However, I can't stress enough how much more comfortable the 360 pad is for 3D games. I'd recommend checking some of the computer stores around you for the best price on either a wired controller or the "wireless controller for Windows". Unlike the F710, the 360 pad has been rock solid even with all the interference.
