What Makes PC Controls so Great?

[Not G. Ivingname]

For FPS's, PC's are easier to use for moving and shooting, since trying to move and shoot with the dual anologe is really hard. The wiimote and the upcoming PS3 wiimote Move solve this issue with the ability to point at the screen while moving with an anologe stick, of course this is balanced by the wii lack of FPS's, and the Move having one swing a light bulb around.

The other major advantage is the ability to have more complex movement, troop key binds, and easier individual troop controls for RTS's.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

As a mainly console gamer, the mouse is far better than the analog stick. Quicker, more accurate control.

That, but also with movement too. On a keyboard/mouse you can turn around a lot quicker than on analog sticks. Plus way more controls. You have the number pad for weapons instead of having to open some type of menu and cycle through them if you are caring more than two.

Anyone who wants to argue the easy/accuracy of a mouse vs an analog stick, look at how many console shooters have some type of auto aim, aim assist, or enlarged hit boxes and look at how many PC shooters do...

Then again, at the same time, racing, fighting, and sports games just seem wrong with a keyboard.

 

[Dommyboy]

Precession or speed for certain types of games. What's with all these generalising threads? Of course the mouse and keyboard isn't great for everything. This is more of a rehash then a discussion.

 

[DTWolfwood]

One button does one thing. rather than one button doing multiple things <.<

 

[Lamppenkeyboard]

The aiming feels more comfortable and you can customize the keyboard.

 

[Tzekelkan]

That is hard to understand because it is mostly rubbish. Some people might be better at using some controls than others but our bodies and minds are mostly similar enough that some controls are just better suited for certain tasks. Nobody thinks that a valve is better than a handle for opening doors because it is all down to personal preference and some people just like valves a lot more.

If the inventor of the door/handle combination had instead invented the door/valve combination, and it had caught on, you'd be saying the exact opposite today.

I'm not saying I'd put valves on everything, since I do agree that some controls are better than others for certain tasks. I wouldn't play a shooter with a steering wheel, but controllers versus keyboard/mouse? Come on, they're very similar. Tell me why PC shooter players aren't all just retardedly stumbling about in their games like so many crazy hobbos if human brains are unsuited for keyboard mouse?

Its hard to understand, because its plain wrong, if it was only a matter of preference, why do competitive gamers almost exclusively use only one controller-setup? Becuase they are to stupid to understand thats it's only preference? Or could it be that that controller-method is actually better?

You mean to tell me that competitive Counter-Strike players whip out their xbox controllers when it's time to go to a tournament? Are you not allowed into a professional Team Fortress 2 competition if you don't own at least three controllers?

Who're these "competitive gamers" that "almost exclusively" use controllers? Are you referring to console competitive gamers? Are they using controllers? What a shocker!

 

[Bat Vader]

People who advocate the superiority of PC controls learned them better than console controls. It's a matter of what you know best.

Yeah, sure thats the reason, i guess thats why they had to heavily nerf key/mouse in shadowrun, and add auto-aim for joypads.

I just cannot see how poeple can belive this, all top level players in fps and rts on PC uses keyboard and mouse, do you really belive this is just preference or experience? That there was not a single one of this people who had used joypads for gaming quite a lot before?

Yes, it most likely is preference. Many of them pry liked using controllers before but now like using a mouse and keyboard. I can play with either a controller or a mouse and keyboard control-scheme.

Some people like controllers, some people like mouse and keyboards, and some people like both.

 

[Marowit]

The mouse, and the keyboard.

Seriously though, I just feel more control of my character with PC controls.

 

[AlphaOmega]

Depends on the game.

 

[Deofuta]

Meh, I find both to be equally suited for their tasks. I do prefer a controller for my FPS's, and I use a gamepad for CSS and TF2. I always try to turn off auto aim on my games, as it tends to over-compensate and makes me miss more often than not.

EDIT: Also, custom sensitivity is a must for me, if I cant determine the speed of the target-er than its not going to work for me.

 

[ugle43]

Its hard to understand, because its plain wrong, if it was only a matter of preference, why do competitive gamers almost exclusively use only one controller-setup? Becuase they are to stupid to understand thats it's only preference? Or could it be that that controller-method is actually better?

You mean to tell me that competitive Counter-Strike players whip out their xbox controllers when it's time to go to a tournament? Are you not allowed into a professional Team Fortress 2 competition if you don't own at least three controllers?

Who're these "competitive gamers" that "almost exclusively" use controllers? Are you referring to console competitive gamers? Are they using controllers? What a shocker!

I said "one controller-setup", not "joypad". Of course CS-players don't use joypads, becuase it is objectivly worse than key/mouse for CS. THey all use the same controller-setup, that setup in CS's case being key/mouse, in RTS that setup will also be key/mouse, in streetfighter it will be a joystick, not some moron with a steering wheel. Its NOT a matter of preference, one controller-setup is better than the other (which one depending on game-type).

 

[imaloony]

Mainly it's for shooters. Aiming with a mouse is a thousand times easier than using a control stick, and many more of your looking and aiming stuff simply has more accuracy than on a controller. I personally play on consoles, but I've played shooters on the PC and it's definitely a lot easier to aim.

 

[ugle43]

People who advocate the superiority of PC controls learned them better than console controls. It's a matter of what you know best.

Yeah, sure thats the reason, i guess thats why they had to heavily nerf key/mouse in shadowrun, and add auto-aim for joypads.

I just cannot see how poeple can belive this, all top level players in fps and rts on PC uses keyboard and mouse, do you really belive this is just preference or experience? That there was not a single one of this people who had used joypads for gaming quite a lot before?

Yes, it most likely is preference. Many of them pry liked using controllers before but now like using a mouse and keyboard. I can play with either a controller or a mouse and keyboard control-scheme.

Some people like controllers, some people like mouse and keyboards, and some people like both.

Then why are the top-level competitive gamers in RTS all people who prefer mouse/keyboard? Isn't that a pretty incredible coincidence if both are equally suited? Try to ask a top level stracraft-player if he thinks its a matter of preference.

 

[Evil the White]

The mouse is a lot more accurate than the thumbsticks. Also,consoles tendto use large amounts of auto-aim, although some are less descrete about it (the tutorial in MF1).

 

[Tzekelkan]

Yeah, sure thats the reason, i guess thats why they had to heavily nerf key/mouse in shadowrun, and add auto-aim for joypads.

I just cannot see how poeple can belive this, all top level players in fps and rts on PC uses keyboard and mouse, do you really belive this is just preference or experience? That there was not a single one of this people who had used joypads for gaming quite a lot before?

Wait, what? I can't understand what you're saying. In your earlier posts you sounded like you supported console controllers being superior, now it looks like you're advocating keyboard/mouse. What?

Anyway, you don't see competitive console players using keyboard/mouse or competitive PC players using console controllers because they'd each want a level playing field with each other, so this exact kind of discussion wouldn't occur. "Haha, we won!" "Yeah, but that's because you used keyboard and we used joypad! Waaah, complain." "Pejorative affirmation about diminutive masculinity".

On an Xbox, you mostly use the Microsoft controller or its clones, on the Playstation you use Sony's or its clones, on the PC you use a keyboard and mouse. That's how people are used to playing games, so that transfers over to the competitive scene.

And, since each of our gaming platforms of choice is a matter of preference only (you don't choose Xbox over PC because it's "better", but because you like the games and the controls), the control setup of each one of us is a matter of preference as well.

 

[spinFX]

Anyone who says they can aim better with a controller than a mouse is delusional. Without auto aim FPSes on a console would be disastrous.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

That is hard to understand because it is mostly rubbish. Some people might be better at using some controls than others but our bodies and minds are mostly similar enough that some controls are just better suited for certain tasks. Nobody thinks that a valve is better than a handle for opening doors because it is all down to personal preference and some people just like valves a lot more.

If the inventor of the door/handle combination had instead invented the door/valve combination, and it had caught on, you'd be saying the exact opposite today.

No I wouldn't. You talk like design and engineering is all just the same and nothing really matters. Like whether we prefer decorative triangle designs on jars instead of squares. Some things are just better like 1.9 is a better answer to 1 + 1 than 1.6.

I'm not saying I'd put valves on everything, since I do agree that some controls are better than others for certain tasks. I wouldn't play a shooter with a steering wheel, but controllers versus keyboard/mouse? Come on, they're very similar. Tell me why PC shooter players aren't all just retardedly stumbling about in their games like so many crazy hobbos if human brains are unsuited for keyboard mouse?

Neither controllers or mouse/kb are good enough to allow realistic movements in games. Make no mistake, players in all games are stumbling around like clumsy superhuman robots. The differences come down how the different controls give the robots different levels of superhuman powers and different types of clumsiness.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

at the end of the day is a matter of preference. Personally I love Mouse and Keyboard, but in certain genres, I prefer a controller (Figthing, Racing)

 

[Jandau]

However, many games that don't involve constant aiming are better suited to the controller. From fighting games, to driving games to action adventure games.

Not entirely true, because I got used to the controls of SFIV and Prototype on the PC and found them to be better than the Xbox controls. I do agree on driving games though.

I was speaking on general principle. Games like Assassin's Creed or Prince of Persia are better played with a controller. Also, I honestly couldn't play SF4 on the keyboard.

It is possible to make a roughly equal control scheme for such games on the PC (in terms of quality) and if one plays that version first one might get used to it (Prototype had a very good PC control scheme), but I still stand by my original statement