mouse hatred, click click, how do you PCers do it?!?

[spaceboy]

I happen to be using a mouse intensive application this week and my finger hurts!  I've had enough!!!  How do you guys click for hours straight when shooting enemies?  Okay I get it's more fun, but seriously.

lol I don't want a console vs PC war, just saying..I want away from this MOUSE!!!!!  :D

[Binnatics]

 ^+-+

I feel like that when I'm using a controller. I hate these things. How can you aim with one of these sticks, with your thump, and meanwhile press buttons (X, O, Triagle and square)??? I've tried and stopped trying. For me, the mouse is just fine ;) I don't even notice I'm using it. I just aim, shoot, BAM!!! ^-^

[spaceboy]

I suppose it's what you're used to, for me the controller is natural, aiming is just fine.  I tried some TF2 (on very low res) on my PC this summer and while aiming was smooth with the mouse, I couldn't get into the running and strafing with WASD.  It felt so clunky!  I'll take the "worse" aiming with sticks along with better navigation on the controller over better aiming and "worse" navi with the keyboard.

Now, I already know most games support X360 controller on PC so my argument is moot I suppose  :-\\

[spaceboy]

..actually no, my argument is console vs PC, rather controller vs mouse.  so yeah if I was going to play PC I'd need a controller to hookup.   Thou shalt not Click thy enemies!!! :-D

[Binnatics]

I'm not in the mood for a discussion like this atm Space, because right now I just want to

KILL ME PC!!!!!!!!

[smg id=3739 width=300 align=center]



If you wonder why just check this topic. :'(

[spaceboy]

I did scan through that mate, and I feel bad about that experience.  I've read a bit online about the PC version getting the short end of the stick.  And this is id!! or is it ID, or iD?  And do you read it as "eye-dee" or id as in did?

Anyways, that stinks about that and the game does look pretty cool 

sorry but this topic was mostly just for fun since I've been clicking so much and not one merc or mutant has been felled by my efforts.

[PZ]

... I couldn't get into the running and strafing with WASD.  It felt so clunky! 

When I first started playing on the PC I felt the same way, but after a few months of moving with those keys, it begins to feel natural in a way, but it took a long... long... time for me.  However, I still prefer the smooth analog movement of the console controller over the digital all-or-none movement behavior on the PC.  On the other hand, I much prefer the aiming using the mouse over the console.

I guess you summed it up rather well spaceboy - each person will find their own favorite method.  :-X

Sorry to hear about all your computer problems, Binn - I know how bad it can get.  On an aside, why did you opt for Vista over W7?  Microsoft fixed lots of problems inherent with Vista in their release of W7.  I have to say that I much prefer using my W7 machine over my Vista PC even though the Vista machine is faster.

[Binnatics]

I still regret that desicion PZ, for Vista I mean. I had a beta version of Vista, and it ran fine. I had to replace with a real version, and thought I could best buy a Vista version so I could stick with all my installed software. First of all, I had to re-install the entire system anyway, and second of all, later I realized bit by bit that I had chosen a losing system.
I wish I had gone for the best back then. Now Í'll just wait for windows 8 to come, and then I'll buy thatone. I just hope that I can get along with this machine for now, a few more years.

@ Spaceboy: Sorry mate to go nuts on a fun-supposed-to-be-topic. I could see the thrill of it, I was just too freekin raged about Rage I guess :-D

[mmosu]

For me, it has more to do with what I've used the longest.  An Nintendo controller with a D-pad and A & B buttons found it's way into my grubby little mits when I was 6 years old and I've never looked back.  Years later, Nintendo again rocked the world by introducing the first analog stick on the N64 controller and showed us console gamers what navigating a 3D environment is supposed to be like.  I wasn't long until Sony upped the ante with two analog sticks on the first dualshock controller, and that's pretty much been the standard for me ever since - I wouldn't want it any other way.

[mandru]

Mouse VS Controller?  Yeah, it's what you've become familiar with.

I remember a painful condition called controller thumb from both the Atati and the first Nintendo controls.

Now there's some nights as I'm trying to go to sleep after a long day of determined clicking on the computer my right forearm gets a deep rolling ache that I can't exactly pinpoint as if I have a compartment fracture but then bright and early the next morning the first thing I do when I wake up and walk out into the living room to grab my pants is tap the spacebar to get my PC warming up while I get dressed so I can jump right back on it.

We gamers are going to suffer for our art whether it's PC or Console.   8)

[PZ]

...We gamers are going to suffer...

That about sums it up nicely  :-()

[fragger]

Now there's some nights as I'm trying to go to sleep after a long day of determined clicking on the computer my right forearm gets a deep rolling ache that I can't exactly pinpoint as if I have a compartment fracture...

Be careful of that mate, it's the beginnings of Repetitive Strain Injury. Been there, done that... Believe me, RSI is everything it's cracked up to be, and it can sneak up on you. I still remember having to endure several weeks of physio, laying for hours with a heat-pack under my arm, trying to get comfortable whilst feeling as though my whole right arm had turned into one giant toothache, and all because I didn't give my arm any breaks while playing Deus Ex for about 14 straight hours :-[ Never again...

Take a break every hour and either rest your arm or do something to exercise it in ways other than that of pushing a mouse around. And be careful of your posture - your mouse arm should be supported by the desktop or chair arm, keep your back straight and don't slouch, have the monitor slightly below eye-level so that you're not craning your neck. Geez, I sound like your nanny... Sorry, but trust me, you really don't want RSI, and what you describe is exactly what I was feeling just before it really hit me.

[JRD]

Just let me add my two cents worth of experience. I play games since Atari and been through many different types of controllers. Since I'm a shooter fan, mouse aiming is definitely the best solution ever made to score nice headshots.

I'm such a PCer that I can play any kind of game using keyboard+mouse. Driving and flying included. I bought a dual analog controller, PlayStation style, a couple months ago and been giving Wings of Prey and Burnout Paradise several sessions using the controller just because I read so many good things about steering and flying with analogic sticks and how hard it is (or should be) steering and flying with keyboard+mouse.

Truth is I really can drive using WASD + space bar for breaks + LShift for boost... I tryed GTA with the controller but never really liked it (it's a driving/flying/TPS game so it's pretty much a hybrid) so I master the art of driving in GTA using just a keyboard  ;D

I barely take the controller out of the case lately because it'll take a lot of getting used to it so I just stick with good'ole WASD.  ::)

As for the RSI... I do take care of my arms by having the right kind of posture (good chair) and exercising my arms regularly so I don't have any aches so far. fragger has a good point there: pain is a way your body have of telling you to stop so listen to it, mate!  ;)

[Fiach]

I'm not in the mood for a discussion like this atm Space, because right now I just want to

KILL ME PC!!!!!!!!

[smg id=3739 width=300 align=center]



If you wonder why just check this topic. :'(

Quote of the week for me!  ^+-+

[deadman1]

What mouse are you using Spaceboy? And how to you grip it? It´s very important that the mouse you use fits your hand, if it´s too small that will cause you to grip it in a way that will cuse a lot of strain on the tendands (spelling!!) in your hand and wrist. I personally use a Qpad 5K which fits my barndoor sized hand like a glove, and like fragger said the ergonomics of your computerdesk are very important.

[fragger]

...which fits my barndoor sized hand like a glove...

^+-+ :-X My Dad could relate - we always reckoned he could wave a windsock off its pole :-()

I've never owned a console of any sort and thus have never used a controller. I used to go the WASD method back in the olden days of Doom and Quake, etc. but then discovered how much more intuitive a mouse felt for aiming/shooting in a FPS game. This is a typical setup for me (FC2):

Mouse:
Left mouse button: Move forward
Right mouse button: Fire
Middle mouse button: Ironsights
(all with Mouse look, natch)

Keyboard:
Up arrow: Jump
L/R arrow: Strafe
Down arrow: Move backwards
Space bar: Use/interact
R Ctrl: Crouch
Keypad 0: Reload

I know a lot of people who use a mouse for FPS gaming tend to use LMB for fire and RMB for forward, whereas I'm the other way around. What can I say - I'm in Australia. Everything here is the other way around :-()

[JRD]

That's a very unique set imo... LMB move forward and down arrow move backwards  ????

Keypad 0 reload  ???? ???? So you drop the mouse, even if for a split second, to reload? Or you keep the mouse close to keyboar and can hit 0 with your thumb, which is still unique to me.  :-X

I use the standard
- LMB-Fire
- RMB ironsights/scope
- WASD for movement
- Left shift sprint/boost
- Spacebar jump
- Either C or left ctrl to crouch
- Caps lock/TAB for map
- Q for Syrettes  ;D
- R reload
- E or F to use/interact
- G grenades

I use my five left fingers to quick access controls over the keyboard and mouse for aiming and shooting only. I learned to strafe like in consoles just by moving sideways while adjusting my aiming in a clockwise/counterclockwise pattern so I can pretty much go around an enemy in circles without loosing sight of him and having him in my crosshair all the time.  8)

[Art Blade]

We gamers are going to suffer for our art whether it's PC or Console.   8)

If you had used a capital A, I'd have considered it an honest prayer.


:-D

[spaceboy]

lol at the funny stuff!

@deadman - Not sure what mouse I use, it's just a standard one I got at w@&k. 

It usually doesn't bother me since if using Excel I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts etc, but this week needing to use the mouse a lot was annoying.  Very repetitive movements too.  So I can see tell that fragger has a good point there, be careful of that RSI.

Those unique keyboard setups look like another language to me.  It's funny too since really my return to gaming, since my early childhood, started with Duke 3D on the PC.  But as I recall no mouse was involved, just the keyboard.  Arrow keys to aim and strafe, AZ to move fwd and backward, space bar to fire, number keys to choose your weapon, ctrl.  Very fluid.  But then I got a PS1 and it was all over...:)

[Binnatics]

My favourite setup is the following:

LMB: fire
RMB: fine aim / iron sight
MMB: change weapon or zoom
WSAD: move/strafe
Left shift: sprint
Left ctrl: crouch
Space: jump
Q: handgrenade
E: interact
R: reload
F: alternate interact, in FC2 it's changing throwables
H: heal (FC2)
C: Change seat in AT (FC2)

Funny note: With driving games I can do everything with my left hand only ^-^
That started from the moment that GTA introduced (not sure if they introduced it, but for me it was new then) mouse looking while driving.
I really like it. And when a racing game skips that, I play the entire game with one hand ^-^
Only I don't feel comfortable when my right hand isn't holding some button or something, so I usually grap the corner of my keyboard, just to feel balanced :-D

@Fragger: interesting config on moving with the LMB. I was only wondering; don't you miss a button or two every now and then, using the arrowkeys? I like WASD because there are so many other buttons close. Btw: Which button you use for sprint?

[mandru]

 ^+-+ with Art

[fragger]

 ^+-+ :-X

@JRD and Binn, I find the Keypad 0 handy for reload as it's right next to the arrow keys, so I can hit it quickly with my left index finger. I can hit RCtrl for crouch with my little finger and RShift for sprint with my little or ring finger. These keys are all very close to one another on my keyboard and I've just gotten used to doing it that way.

I strafe quite a bit during fighting, mostly when I want to quickly duck behind cover without losing my facing, but also sometimes to make it harder for the bad guys to connect with me - shoot, dodge, shoot, dodge - which I find easy to do simultaneously by strafing with left hand on arrows and right hand on mouse.

Seems I'm a mouse maverick ???? Nobody else uses mouse for movement? Call me eccentric then :-()

Other controls I didn't mention:

H: Heal/Pop pill (standard)
RShift: Switch seats in vehicle (Sprint when outside of vehicle)
E: Exit from rear of vehicle/get off emplaced gun (standard)

[Art Blade]

"eccentric!"  :-()

[PZ]

I use a Logitech G9 gaming mouse, and have everything except the WASD keys mapped to the various buttons and wheels.  Make operating everything (except driving) as easy as pie.

[fragger]

"eccentric!"  :-()

Thank you :-()


PZ, I was thinking about getting one of those a while back but got sidetracked with one thing or another. I may look into it again :-X