A question to pc gamers

[Warbie]

Yeah..if you want the feeling that you're controlling a tank with those controls i suppose.

Having played fps since the original Wolfenstein and been in clans at a decent level for years, I know full well the benefits of a m&k. I also appreciate the benefits of using a pad. A mouse isn't more accurate, it's simply quicker. Great for some games, not so for others. Golden Eye - which is still one of the best fps i've played - would have been rubbish with a m&k.

I'm not trying to knock either method, but anyone who doubts how good a pad can be simply isn't good with one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1I4_PlnZh0&feature=related (try and ignore the annoying commentator )

 

[Gerard]

Having played fps since the original Wolfenstein and been in clans at a decent level for years, I know full well the benefits of a m&k. I also appreciate the benefits of using a pad. A mouse isn't more accurate, it's simply quicker. Great for some games, not so for others. Golden Eye - which is still one of the best fps i've played - would have been rubbish with a m&k.

I'm not trying to knock either method, but anyone who doubts how good a pad can be simply isn't good with one:

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=J1I4_PlnZh0&feature=related (try and ignore the annoying commentator )

Goldeneye would have translated well to a keyboard and mouse, its more the other way that some games don't translate well to a joypad. Also what benefits do joypads have over keyboard and mouse in an fps? I can't think of a single redeeming feature that a pad would have over an fps with keyboard and mouse controls.

 

[Nanoman]

Vibration is a pretty major benefit tbh.

 

[Gerard]

Vibration is a pretty major benefit tbh.

Thats not a benefit thats simply an effect built into the controller. Theres force feedback mice that can do the same thing.

Im talking in terms of gameplay what advantadges in an fps can a joypad have over a keyboard and mouse? As far as i can see ther isn't any, mouse is faster to aim than a thumbstick, Keyboard has a larger range of buttons in easy reach of your left hand.

 

[Streeteh]

Thats not a benefit thats simply an effect built into the controller. Theres force feedback mice that can do the same thing.

Im talking in terms of gameplay what advantadges in an fps can a joypad have over a keyboard and mouse? As far as i can see ther isn't any, mouse is faster to aim than a thumbstick, Keyboard has a larger range of buttons in easy reach of your left hand.

Nobody has claimed that the pad is better than a mouse and keyboard, we're just trying to refute your claim that there's 'no point' in playing shooters with a pad. It's got its disadvantages with turning speed but other than that it's about the same, you can be just as accurate with a pad and i very much doubt you'll ever find a shooter that needs more than the 10 buttons available on a pad. The video above proves it's possible to be very good at a shooter with a pad so it's more than usable.

 

[Gerard]

Nobody has claimed that the pad is better than a mouse and keyboard, we're just trying to refute your claim that there's 'no point' in playing shooters with a pad.

I didnt make the claim that theres no point in playing them with a pad, i stated that given the choice a keyboard and mouse is the option i prefer. When i said it was pointless i was talking about having the option on a pc game for using a joypad instead of a mouse and keyboard, id imagine thats something that very few people take advantage of, especially in a pc online fps.

 

[orderoftheflame]

Yea only if you suck! So many people just try it for an instant, give up and then slate it, the two are completely different you need to get use to it and not all console FPS games are the same either which it seems you are making out.

This.

Its different and pointless considering the much more accurate alternative.

I don't always feel like sitting at a desk to play games. Sometimes I'd rather sit round a big TV with mates and run around with controllers.

Provided it's an even playing field who gives a rats which is more accurate?

 

[Streeteh]

I don't always feel like sitting at a desk to play games. Sometimes I'd rather sit round a big TV with mates and run around with controllers.

Provided it's an even playing field who gives a rats which is more accurate?

Pretty good summation of my opinion. As long as the playing field is level and the game is fun, who cares?

 

[Gerard]

Provided it's an even playing field who gives a rats which is more accurate?

The people that prefer the more accurate controls?

 

[Kodiak]

PC owners dont like console ports because they are normally bad. And games that are multiplatform are just as bad IMHO.
Anyone remember Deus Ex 2 : IW ?
That was destroyed all because it had to be 'altered' to suit a console audience.
Every icon, piece of text and graphic had to be enlarged to suit consoles. The gfx had to be slimmed down to fit on the consoles puny memory.

And as for the joypad vs mouse argument?

I ask you this. Why do nearly all console FPS's have autoaim turned on?

 

[i-bert]

And as for the joypad vs mouse argument?

I ask you this. Why do nearly all console FPS's have autoaim turned on?

For noob m&k users.

 

[Kodiak]

For noob m&k users.

or perhaps console gamers

 

[Nanoman]

For noob m&k users.

lol

 

[Gerard]

or perhaps console gamers

Indeed, ive actually read that in some games its impossible to turn off autoaim, supposodly even with the option off it will to some extent still assist.

 

[Warbie]

Also what benefits do joypads have over keyboard and mouse in an fps? I can't think of a single redeeming feature that a pad would have over an fps with keyboard and mouse controls.

Simply because I don't have to take careful aim with a mouse. Running around getting head shots - even at some speed - is pretty easy. Great for mp twitch shooters that are all about skill and reaction time, bad for anything of a slower pace or something that's attempting to recreate the feeling of slowly and carefully taking aim with a gun. I like that in Golden Eye you have to stop and that each shot is measured. The focus is more on the process of taking the shot, and each head shot is worth 10 of those I get in CS or CoD in terms of satisfaction.

Analogue movement, when implemented right, is clearly better than a keyboard when it comes to immersion. Again, I wouldn't pick it for anything twitchy and online, but for anything that involves sneaking around it's in a different league. Ironically, due to many fps appearing on consoles and the pc we're now getting console fps that are dumbed down with digital movement to cater for the pc version!

Trigger buttons and rumble. I just like the feeling of squeezing a trigger, feeling the pad shake, and watching/hearing my gun tearing things up. I work in IT and spend all day clicking on things on screen and at times that's what pc fps feel like to me - pointing a cursor at things and holding down a mouse button untill they fall over.

Goldeneye would have translated well to a keyboard and mouse, its more the other way that some games don't translate well to a joypad.

I couldn't disagree more. The satisfaction of pulling off tricky head shots and juggling multiple enemies would have been completely taken away with mouse control. A game that took me years to properly master would have been brushed aside in a week. I don't think a mouse is better, but it's certainly easier - they'd have to have increased the speed 2 fold, or done that bloody awful mechanic where you aim and then have to wait for your crosshair to grow smaller before being accurate, to compensate.

 

[Gerard]

Simply because I don't have to take careful aim with a mouse. Running around getting head shots - even at some speed - is pretty easy. Great for mp twitch shooters that are all about skill and reaction time, bad for anything of a slower pace or something that's attempting to recreate the feeling of slowly and carefully taking aim with a gun. I like that in Golden Eye you have to stop and that each shot is measured. The focus is more on the process of taking the shot, and each head shot is worth 10 of those I get in CS or CoD in terms of satisfaction.

Analogue movement, when implemented right, is clearly better than a keyboard when it comes to immersion. Again, I wouldn't pick it for anything twitchy and online, but for anything that involves sneaking around it's in a different league. Ironically, due to many fps appearing on consoles and the pc we're now getting console fps that are dumbed down with digital movement to cater for the pc version!

Trigger buttons and rumble. I just like the feeling of squeezing a trigger, feeling the pad shake, and watching/hearing my gun tearing things up. I work in IT and spend all day clicking on things on screen and at times that's what pc fps feel like to me - pointing a cursor at things and holding down a mouse button untill they fall over.



I couldn't disagree more. The satisfaction of pulling off tricky head shots and juggling multiple enemies would have been completely taken away with mouse control. A game that took me years to properly master would have been brushed aside in a week. I don't think a mouse is better, but it's certainly easier - they'd have to have increased the speed 2 fold, or done that bloody awful mechanic where you aim and then have to wait for your crosshair to grow smaller before being accurate, to compensate.

All of that is personal preference though, the fact that you consider a mouse "easier" is pretty much saying that its a better more accurate control.

 

[RDM]

The people that prefer the more accurate controls?

More accurate targeting but unfortunately you have to have digital movement instead.

 

[Gerard]

More accurate targeting but unfortunately you have to have digital movement instead.

And most games have a walk function, only thing they dont have is that gimmick where movement = amount of push on the thumbstick. Which is probably something that barely anyone uses anyway and will only be brought up as a counterpoint in this thread like its used constantly by everyone.

 

[i-bert]

All of that is personal preference though, the fact that you consider a mouse "easier" is pretty much saying that its a better more accurate control.

Please stop using the word "better". Thats not what we are arguing here. More accurate yes, but thats all.

Its the same with cars. Many people prefer to use a standard manual box, and not the flappy paddles.

 

[Warbie]

the fact that you consider a mouse "easier" is pretty much saying that its a better more accurate control.

Not at all. Someone could invent a mind reading peripheral that allows you to pull off head shots with thought alone. It'd be a crap load easier than using a mouse, but not better. And again, it's not more accurate. You can be pixel accurate with a pad - the difference is it's easier to be accurate quicker with a mouse. This is why I prefer a mouse for games that benefit from being able to aim quickly easily, but not for everything else.

And most games have a walk function, only thing they dont have is that gimmick where movement = amount of push on the thumbstick.

Hardly a gimmick and clearly better than holding/toggling a button to walk. You just have to play Mario 64 with a keyboard to see how much can be lost from a game when analogue is replaced by digital.