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I haven't used a controller in 30 years.

GruntyGrunty Member EpicPosts: 8,657
edited January 2017 in General Gaming
I'm going cross eyed here.  It feels like I'm trying to drive a car with reversed controls while writing mirror text with my left hand.  With all these console ports to PC I figured I better learn though.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone.  It's not.  The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone."  Robin Williams

Comments

  • somersaultsamsomersaultsam Member UncommonPosts: 230
    erm ok, well dome 
  • GruugGruug Member RarePosts: 1,794
    I am 61 years old. Have used controllers off and on since the early Atari days. I still use an Xbox controller from time to time. However, I have never LIKED using a controller like the Xbox controller. I only do so when forced into it and have no choice. Even then, if I know I am not given the option to use something OTHER then a controller in many games, I just pass up that game. 

    Let's party like it is 1863!

  • jusomdudejusomdude Member RarePosts: 2,706
    Controllers are great. The best. Trust me, I know a lot about controllers. Seriously though I prefer controllers 100 times over mouse and keyboard unless I have to type something or play a fps. Stick to mouse and keyboard if you want. Mouse and keyboard controls are always gonna be available for pc games, even though they are very awkward for action type games.
  • AeliousAelious Member RarePosts: 3,521

    I have a Logitech Wingman that I've had for years that feels so good in my hand when playing on PC. I may break it back out for the WoW addons and action camera features.

  • somersaultsamsomersaultsam Member UncommonPosts: 230
    I am 903, and when I play a game I get this new-fangled electrickary and just poke it in my daughter's face. I have won so many fighting games you would not believe it, they all just roll about on the floor 

  • SovrathSovrath Member LegendaryPosts: 32,936
    Aori said:
    Grunty said:
    I'm going cross eyed here.  It feels like I'm trying to drive a car with reversed controls while writing mirror text with my left hand.  With all these console ports to PC I figured I better learn though.
    So.. you've likely never used a controller before? That is impressive.
    Remember, 30 years ago game controllers were very different.

    I can't stand the modern controller but only because I can't get the hang of it.
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  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    edited January 2017
    I use a controller for most games, though more out of necessity than choice.  I use a keyboard and mouse enough at work that using them heavily at home for gaming would be a repetitive strain injury waiting to happen.

    The Xbox controller is an unusable monstrosity, but that doesn't mean that all controllers are.  Some are subjectively similar to an SNES controller if you ignore the thumbsticks--which I mostly do, as analog movement is horrible ergonomics.  (And yes, that applies to mouse, too.)

    PC gaming with a controller is pretty hit and miss.  Click to move or having to point at things to aim is pretty much a non-starter unless the game is very slow-paced.  Needing to turn and strafe at the same time is also very awkward.  Games that expect you to move the camera and move your character independently and at the same time are also trouble.

    A lot of games have official controller support, but it pretty much never works right out of the box, so I've given up on relying on it and rarely even check if the controller support works anymore.  Rather, you need a program to map gamepad buttons to keyboard keys--and sometimes also mouse movement.

    Having highly configurable control schemes is hugely important, as you'll likely need to set things up in a way that the developers didn't anticipate, and games vary wildly here.  Some like FFXIV clearly wanted to let players play however they want.  Others like TERA have official controller support but don't seem to realize that anyone might want to actually use a controller.  To make Neverwinter playable, I actually had to map controller buttons to console commands--but that was an option in the game, so it worked, though it was never entirely comfortable.
  • GruntyGrunty Member EpicPosts: 8,657
    edited January 2017
    Aori said:
    Grunty said:
    I'm going cross eyed here.  It feels like I'm trying to drive a car with reversed controls while writing mirror text with my left hand.  With all these console ports to PC I figured I better learn though.
    So.. you've likely never used a controller before? That is impressive.
    Haven't used one since the NES.  I didn't care for the games, including Zelda, the controller, or the pricing controls Nintendo enforced.  

    The start of this was several months ago when I couldn't figure out how to move much less hit or not get hit in Dark Souls.  With this thing currently?  Not a chance.

    I just picked a game at random and that was Fallout 3.  DC Universe Online is made for the controller so I'll give that a try too.

    Before I decide to chuck it out the front door I'll stick with it for a few more days and let my body/mind get used to the idea.  
    Post edited by Grunty on
    "I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone.  It's not.  The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone."  Robin Williams
  • JudgeUKJudgeUK Member RarePosts: 1,700
    Controllers are for Super Mario and the like, or reduced class ability games paraded as 'new genre action mmo's' and other marketing garbage.

    You can have successful ports of full ability mmo's to consoles - FFXIV does it ok. But generally the accommodation of controllers in mmo's has led to a reduction in class abilities, replaced by jumping and hopping round like some steroid imbued kangaroo. But it's the new 'action mmo' so it must be alright.

    A knock on effect of these lazy developer games has also been the reduction in classes , with the everyone pew pewing while madly hopping around.

    Just an awful dilution of what mmo's should be.
  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 8,177
    edited January 2017
    I don't mind the keys on the controllers it is joystick thing that you use to move your character that I can never get to go right and smoothly. I prefer WASD and mouse movement. I even get all the expensive gadgets to convert games on my PS3  to mouse and keyboard. I notice though they never quite move as smoothly as a game that has the mouse and keyboard option or a port but sometimes even the port is awful too in terms of movement fluidity. That is what I hate about the controller I can never get my character to move fluidly. It is not the controller's fault it is mine.

  • bartoni33bartoni33 Member RarePosts: 2,044
    kitarad said:
    I don't mind the keys on the controllers it is joystick thing that you use to move your character that I can never get to go right and smoothly. I prefer WASD and mouse movement. I even get all the expensive gadgets to convert games on my PS3  to mouse and keyboard. I notice though they never quite move as smoothly as a game that has the mouse and keyboard option or a port but sometimes even the port is awful too in terms of movement fluidity. That is what I hate about the controller I can never get my character to move fluidly. It is not the controller's fault it is mine.
    I bought a Keymander when I bought my PS4 because I wanted to play Destiny. As @kitarad said it's not a 1/1 reproduction of controller movement but with a lot of tweaking it can get pretty close.

    As far as using one on PC I only do that with racing games and a few ported games like Dark Souls and Stick of Truth.
     

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  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    JudgeUK said:
    Controllers are for Super Mario and the like, or reduced class ability games paraded as 'new genre action mmo's' and other marketing garbage.

    You can have successful ports of full ability mmo's to consoles - FFXIV does it ok. But generally the accommodation of controllers in mmo's has led to a reduction in class abilities, replaced by jumping and hopping round like some steroid imbued kangaroo. But it's the new 'action mmo' so it must be alright.

    A knock on effect of these lazy developer games has also been the reduction in classes , with the everyone pew pewing while madly hopping around.

    Just an awful dilution of what mmo's should be.
    Not necessarily.  Tree of Savior is very controller-friendly and has 60 classes.  You cite FFXIV, which is also reasonably controller-friendly and has a ton of class skills.  Not coincidentally, both of those games feature highly configurable control schemes.
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    kitarad said:
    I don't mind the keys on the controllers it is joystick thing that you use to move your character that I can never get to go right and smoothly. I prefer WASD and mouse movement. I even get all the expensive gadgets to convert games on my PS3  to mouse and keyboard. I notice though they never quite move as smoothly as a game that has the mouse and keyboard option or a port but sometimes even the port is awful too in terms of movement fluidity. That is what I hate about the controller I can never get my character to move fluidly. It is not the controller's fault it is mine.
    So get a controller with a D-pad and map its directions to WASD.  I do that in a lot of games.  Thumbsticks are mostly for when I absolutely have to move a mouse pointer.
  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 8,177
    Can you use the D-pad like a keyboard or do you have to hold it in the hand like a controller and not flat on the table. Don't understand how that works if the D-pad works with the thumb then it is as bad as the thumb pads that act like joysticks. I hate those they as horrible as the other one. I want to place three fingers on wasd can I do that with the D-pad ?

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    kitarad said:
    Can you use the D-pad like a keyboard or do you have to hold it in the hand like a controller and not flat on the table. Don't understand how that works if the D-pad works with the thumb then it is as bad as the thumb pads that act like joysticks. I hate those they as horrible as the other one. I want to place three fingers on wasd can I do that with the D-pad ?
    You hold it in your hand like a controller.  It's basically what the controllers for the NES, SNES, and Genesis had for movement.

    It's really just a question of what you disilke about thumbsticks.  My complaints are analog movement making it impossible to walk in a straight line, a thumb slipping off of the thumbstick entirely, and the really horrible ergonomics of thumbsticks.  A D-pad completely solves all of those.  If you don't like a thumb being responsible for movement in all directions, or you need to turn and strafe at the same time, a D-pad won't help you.
  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 8,177
    edited January 2017
    My problem is the thumb I have not enough control on my thumb no matter how much I use the controller I always never walk  or run smoothly, that is why I dislike the thumb controls. I have better control with WASD and QE for strafing or using the mouse to turn.

  • SirAgravaineSirAgravaine Member RarePosts: 520
    jusomdude said:
    Controllers are great. The best. Trust me, I know a lot about controllers. Seriously though I prefer controllers 100 times over mouse and keyboard unless I have to type something or play a fps. Stick to mouse and keyboard if you want. Mouse and keyboard controls are always gonna be available for pc games, even though they are very awkward for action type games.
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  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    This thread reminds me of a local junk food junkie sportscaster who is said to once have gone a year without using a knife, fork or spoon :)
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • GruntyGrunty Member EpicPosts: 8,657
    Iselin said:
    This thread reminds me of a local junk food junkie sportscaster who is said to once have gone a year without using a knife, fork or spoon :)
    More like without using a spork.
    "I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone.  It's not.  The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone."  Robin Williams
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    edited January 2017
    Grunty said:
    Iselin said:
    This thread reminds me of a local junk food junkie sportscaster who is said to once have gone a year without using a knife, fork or spoon :)
    More like without using a spork.
    Hey! That's the name of one of my characters in ESO, Silver Spork :)

    PS. I avoid controllers like the plague too. But then I do use a gaming mouse with a gazillion buttons.
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

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