In Defense Of Consoles & Gamepads

[Netrigan]

I'm a fairly recent PC-to-console convert. Love the PC gaming of my past, but as the Console Age was dawning, they had a serious problem. That problem was Feature Creep. Simple FPS games were starting to ship with leaflets illustrating the control scheme for the game. To show you how far they had come from the Doom days, take a look at Far Cry's default controls.

Movement:
Forward-W
Left-A
Down-S
Right-D
Jump-Space
Crouch-Ctrl
Prone-V
Walk-Z
Sprint-Shift
Lean-LeftQ
Lean-RightE

Multiplayer:
Chat-Y
Team-V
Scoreboard-Tab

Game:
Use-F
Hold Breath-Enter
Flashlight-Num /
Binoculars-B
CryVision-T
Screenshot-F12
Switch View-F

Combat:
Fire-Mouse 1
Reload-R
Toggle Fire-X
Next Weapon-Page Down
Prev. Weapon-Page Up
Drop Weapon-J
Cycle Grenades-H
Throw Grenades-G
Zoom-Mouse 2
Zoom In-Mouse Wheel Up
Zoom Out-Mouse Wheel Down
Weapon 1-1
Weapon 2-2
Weapon 3-3
Weapon 4-4

Now, some of these things are just options for people who like to play games a certain ways. Weapon selection is done via number keys, mouse wheel, or weapon cycle keys... so it's not quite as bad as it looks; but it was getting frakkin' bad.

Not only do I have a run key, I have a walk key. Why?

Crouch and Lie Prone are two separate keys.

There's a friggin' hold breath key. Seriously, you can hold your breath.

Keep in mind, this isn't some FPS/RPG hybrid that utilizes a whole bunch of elements not typically found in shooters, these are the sort of options that were creeping into all standard issue games. Switch view (F) allowed you to switch between first and third person view, which you did a lot in vehicle mode because of camera issues. You got a key for Reload and for Use. Each inventory item has its own use key. There's a key to toggle grenade types and a key to toggle between semi and full automatic.

And there's a lot of PC gamers who look upon this list and go "that's what I want from a game", but I got tired of spending 10 minutes trying to figure out how to adapt this list of features to my standard FPS key mapping. This is why when I heard Microsoft was entering the game with the Xbox, I thought "good", because someone need to come along and simplify this mess.

It's a simple shooter with a simplified stealth mechanic... there's no reason it should be this complicated.

 

[Continuity]

nonsense, its not feature creep but simply feature rich.

Not only do I have a run key, I have a walk key. Why?

Because depending on whether you have auto run on or not you will need to either press a key to run or walk.

Crouch and Lie Prone are two separate keys.

They are two separate actions, its much quicker to press one key to perform the desired action (crouch or prone) rather than press a single key more than once to cycle though.

There's a friggin' hold breath key. Seriously, you can hold your breath.

This is just extra realism, holding your breath for a shot is vital for sniping IRL so why not incorporate this in a game?

Not to mention of course that you can happily play the game (and I expect many do) without using any of these extended controls... but having them there for the people who do want them doesn't hurt does it?

You say its complicated, I say its detailed.

 

[MrShowerHead]

You think that's bad?

Spoiler: ArmA II Controls

Move Mouse Left/Right - Turn Left/Right
Move Mouse Up/Down - Look Up/Down
Left Mouse Button - Fire
Right Mouse Button (Hold) - Zoom/Hold Breath/Lock Target
Right Mouse Button - Iron Sight (Optics)/ Normal View Toggle
Middle Mouse Button - Perform Default Action / Show Action Menu
Mouse Wheel Up/Down - Select Previous/Next Action
W - Forward
2xW - Sprint (until you release W)
A - Strafe Left
D - Strafe Right
S - Back
Left Shift - Temporary Switch Walk / Run
2xLeft Shift - Toggle Walk / Run
Z - Prone
X - Crouch
C - Stand
R - Reload Weapon
F - Change Weapon/Weapon Mode
Q - Lean Left (2xQ Lock Lean Left)
E - Lean Left (2xE Lock Lean Right)
Left Alt - Free Look Switch (2xLeft ALT Toggle Free Look)
Caps Lock - Voice Over Net
Tab - Next Target
Space Bar (Hold) - Quick Command
2xSpace Bar - Toggle Commanding Mode
G - Gear Screen
B - Binoculars (If Available)
K - Compass
+ (Numpad) - Zoom In
- (Numberpad) - Zoom Out
Enter (Numberpad) - Toggle 1st/3rd Person View
Fkeys - Select Subordindate Unit
Numbers - Select Radio Command

Took a long time to learn those

 

[spartan231490]

one of the litanny of reasons i am, always have been, and always will be, a console gamer.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Eh. I know it's bad, but you get used to it after a while.

What bugs me is that I prefer a non-standard layout (primarily due to being left-handed), and thus find myself having to rebind the keys in most games even to the point of the standard WASD movement controls.

A side problem is that PC keyboards generally suck with multiple button presses.

Press more than 2-3 keys, or certain combinations, and they won't register properly.

Contrast this to a game controller, where you can happily press every single button at once without the controller dropping any of them (although of course, this is something of a physical challenge).

This might seem a trivial point, but it can get very annoying when it comes to moving and jumping at the same time.

It also goes a long way to explaining why on a console you might find something like this:
"Press A+X+L and forwards"

Which on a PC will typically have a dedicated button instead.

That's not just because the PC has more buttons available, but also because it sucks at registering combos.

 

[Continuity]

Amen.

Now watch how elitist fanboys will descend upon you like fanboys and tear you to shreds. Unless these are decent and civilized folks.

I'm most certainly not a "fanboy", I didn't even like Farcry 2, but I do object to dumbing down to cater to the lowest common denominator. Sure there should be simple games with simple controls for people who are more comfortable with simplicity but there should also be technically rich games for the rest of us.
Just as in addition to there being low Flesch-Kincaid level tabloid newspapers there should also be higher reading level serious papers. If you have a 7th grade reading level don't pick up the Guardian and tell me it should be dumbed down so that you can understand the articles.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

To show you how far they had come from the Doom days, take a look at Far Cry's default controls.

It's a simple shooter with a simplified stealth mechanic... there's no reason it should be this complicated.

Oh really? I see an error in your thinking.

Doom's keys
Movement:
Forward-W
Left-A
Down-S
Right-D
Jump-Space
Crouch-C
Sprint-Shift

Fire-LMB/Ctrl

Weapon 1-1
Weapon 2-2
Weapon 3-3
Weapon 4-4
Weapon 5-5
Weapon 6-6
Weapon 7-7
Weapon 8-8
Weapon 9-9

Switch weapons [ ]
(AFAICR...been a long time)

Console ~
Menu Select - Enter
Back - Escape

Now, if you're adding new features all the time, like 3D...doesn't it make sense to have those bound to certain keys? I can pick up 99% of games and know they'll use perhaps 2 or 3 key sets.

Anything I don't know: Escape - Options - Controls - Escape - Escape - Grenade.

Now if you're talking about fixed keys, fixed screensize, or other such de-features, then we've got something to go on.

 

[FalloutJack]

You know what I find funny? Console gamers like myself find it irritating about keyboard controls and, equally, PC gamers usually can't stand a game controller.

 

[tzimize]

I'm a fairly recent PC-to-console convert. Love the PC gaming of my past, but as the Console Age was dawning, they had a serious problem. That problem was Feature Creep. Simple FPS games were starting to ship with leaflets illustrating the control scheme for the game. To show you how far they had come from the Doom days, take a look at Far Cry's default controls.

Movement:
Forward-W
Left-A
Down-S
Right-D
Jump-Space
Crouch-Ctrl
Prone-V
Walk-Z
Sprint-Shift
Lean-LeftQ
Lean-RightE

Multiplayer:
Chat-Y
Team-V
Scoreboard-Tab

Game:
Use-F
Hold Breath-Enter
Flashlight-Num /
Binoculars-B
CryVision-T
Screenshot-F12
Switch View-F

Combat:
Fire-Mouse 1
Reload-R
Toggle Fire-X
Next Weapon-Page Down
Prev. Weapon-Page Up
Drop Weapon-J
Cycle Grenades-H
Throw Grenades-G
Zoom-Mouse 2
Zoom In-Mouse Wheel Up
Zoom Out-Mouse Wheel Down
Weapon 1-1
Weapon 2-2
Weapon 3-3
Weapon 4-4

Now, some of these things are just options for people who like to play games a certain ways. Weapon selection is done via number keys, mouse wheel, or weapon cycle keys... so it's not quite as bad as it looks; but it was getting frakkin' bad.

Not only do I have a run key, I have a walk key. Why?

Crouch and Lie Prone are two separate keys.

There's a friggin' hold breath key. Seriously, you can hold your breath.

Keep in mind, this isn't some FPS/RPG hybrid that utilizes a whole bunch of elements not typically found in shooters, these are the sort of options that were creeping into all standard issue games. Switch view (F) allowed you to switch between first and third person view, which you did a lot in vehicle mode because of camera issues. You got a key for Reload and for Use. Each inventory item has its own use key. There's a key to toggle grenade types and a key to toggle between semi and full automatic.

And there's a lot of PC gamers who look upon this list and go "that's what I want from a game", but I got tired of spending 10 minutes trying to figure out how to adapt this list of features to my standard FPS key mapping. This is why when I heard Microsoft was entering the game with the Xbox, I thought "good", because someone need to come along and simplify this mess.

It's a simple shooter with a simplified stealth mechanic... there's no reason it should be this complicated.

Yes there is a reason! Choice! I'm pretty sure its possible to play through Far Cry (not counting the dummy-course) without proning, and holding your breath, and maybe even crouching. But they exist so that we can CHOOSE to do so if we want. If you get tired of memorizing controls, thats fine. Play a different game, or play it the way YOU want. But thats no reason to cut the features entirely so no one else can enjoy them.

 

[Netrigan]

Amen.

Now watch how elitist fanboys will descend upon you like fanboys and tear you to shreds. Unless these are decent and civilized folks.

I'm most certainly not a "fanboy", I didn't even like Farcry 2, but I do object to dumbing down to cater to the lowest common denominator. Sure there should be simple games with simple controls for people who are more comfortable with simplicity but there should also be technically rich games for the rest of us.
Just as in addition to there being low Flesch-Kincaid level tabloid newspapers there should also be higher reading level serious papers. If you have a 7th grade reading level don't pick up the Guardian and tell me it should be dumbed down so that you can understand the articles.

The thing that drove me nuts was devs weren't thinking of how to streamline these actions. If they wanted to do something new, they just added a key.

When SiN came out, it combined the Reload and Use key, making it essentially an Action key... but most games kept them separate. I will give Doom 3 a ton of shit, but they figured out a way to not have a use key and have interactive computers. When you walked up to a computer, you lowered your gun and pressing fire used the computer. The animation was quick enough that it wasn't a problem if you accidentally ran into one... by the time you turned to face your attacker, you had your gun back.

But being able to map out controls to a full keyboard led to a lot of really sloppy thinking. I've said it many times, but the weapon/plasmid selection wheels in Bioshock are amazing. Saints Row 2 uses it for weapon selection (without a pause screen) and it's incredibly easy to switch weapons on the fly. I find it much easier to use than the old numeric system. A limitation made for stronger design. A dev should always be on the lookout to figure out how to simplify something without sacrificing functionality... and PC devs were, more often than not, crap at that. Just because you can map every single key on the keyboard doesn't mean you should.

Console aiming is still shit though

 

[oplinger]

....Wait hang on, that's complicated? That looked pretty simple to me.

On the other hand compared to a console, yes it will look like more functions, all the movement keys are combined into a joystick. Lean is generally removed for consoles.

Some consoles games also have complicated controls but to get rid of the long lists, because it cant be long due to a set amount of buttons, they have context sensitivity. R1 can be sprint, but in a scope, it can be used to hold your breath. So rather than 1 menu for all the commands layed out on a board, you get 3 menus based on what you're doing. or more.

Also you have about 18 keys you can reach with minimal effort on a keyboard, which is about the same as an entire controller.

Really as far as that goes >.> it's not that different in terms of complication. Its just a different way of doing the same thing. And with practice you can be good with either. :x hell I'm good with both, and sometimes i'll even play the more complicated games with a contoller out of boredom. (I use a PS3 controller as a gamepad, so it's nothing weird.)

I will say however many times the customization for PC controls is lacking...and sloppy. But more than not it's not too difficult to get used to.

 

[TheBaron87]

Console aiming is still shit though

And the truth dost purge thee of thy sins. Go forth, and be merry with thy platform of choice, so long as thou stayeth true to thy mouse, and have no aiming methods before it.

Just keep in mind, this was an xbox exclusive.

And this is what PC controls looked like in 1995, 10 years before Far Cry.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Any game in which the objective is 'gun goes bang, man falls down' (that is, every FPS ever) does not need to be anywhere near that complicated. All it needs is seven buttons: move forwards/backwards/left/right, reload, jump and change weapons, along with a mouse for looking around and firing.

That's pretty much why I'll go for the console version on the rare occasion that I want to play a shooter. Can't be bothered with all that keyboard mapping madness.

[small]Before anyone cries 'consoletard': I just bought the PC version of Fallout: New Vegas, which has a perfectly reasonable control system. Even if, for some stupid reason, they've switched some of the key mappings since Fallout 3.[/small]

 

[ayanematrix]

Honestly, for more complicated messes, I usually think of games like Champions Online. I mean, hell, the devs used nearly every single key is used for some sort of function all the way to the number pad; then, trying to use a supported controller just adds to the confusion as it "tries" to map all of those keys to a given button and adds several modifier buttons to get to the ones that don't fit conventionally! WTH is up with that?!

So, it just goes to show you that it's not that console gaming can be any better than PC base gaming, it takes someone who knows what they're doing to make controls work well for either audience. Otherwise, it'll be a confusing mess either way.

 

[Netrigan]

Yes there is a reason! Choice! I'm pretty sure its possible to play through Far Cry (not counting the dummy-course) without proning, and holding your breath, and maybe even crouching. But they exist so that we can CHOOSE to do so if we want. If you get tired of memorizing controls, thats fine. Play a different game, or play it the way YOU want. But thats no reason to cut the features entirely so no one else can enjoy them.

I dont think you understood his point at all. The point is that is a console can do something with 10 buttons why does it require 20 on a computer but doesnt actually do anything more. The added buttons do nothing but complicate the game and make it harder for new people to get into them.

Pretty much. I feel for the RPG crowd, because they have had their games simplified for a controller not well suited for the type of game they enjoyed.

FPS games have had a much more successful port. Even if you think Halo sucks, take a hard look at what they did. With the exception of reducing the number of weapon to 4 (something the complicated Far Cry did without anyone making a big deal about it), they replicated all the controls of similar games... and added a grenade button and a melee button. They actually added depth to gameplay. That's great design.

And amidst a lot of samey shooters riding trends that were old before the Xbox was new, I think the Console Age has been responsible for some really good shooters... even if they have this bad habit of using recharging health

 

[MikailCaboose]

Walk can also come into play if you want to be able to fire accurately while still having some movement, such as in Battlefield Vietnam.

 

[TheBaron87]

Yes there is a reason! Choice! I'm pretty sure its possible to play through Far Cry (not counting the dummy-course) without proning, and holding your breath, and maybe even crouching. But they exist so that we can CHOOSE to do so if we want. If you get tired of memorizing controls, thats fine. Play a different game, or play it the way YOU want. But thats no reason to cut the features entirely so no one else can enjoy them.

I dont think you understood his point at all. The point is that is a console can do something with 10 buttons why does it require 20 on a computer but doesnt actually do anything more. The added buttons do nothing but complicate the game and make it harder for new people to get into them.

Pretty much. I feel for the RPG crowd, because they have had their games simplified for a controller not well suited for the type of game they enjoyed.

FPS games have had a much more successful port. Even if you think Halo sucks, take a hard look at what they did. With the exception of reducing the number of weapon to 4 (something the complicated Far Cry did without anyone making a big deal about it), they replicated all the controls of similar games... and added a grenade button and a melee button. They actually added depth to gameplay. That's great design.

And amidst a lot of samey shooters riding trends that were old before the Xbox was new, I think the Console Age has been responsible for some really good shooters... even if they have this bad habit of using recharging health

And yet for all the good they did, they are responsible for why so many shooters either lack mouse support on PC or don't get PC versions at all.