Do you invert your X or Y axis?

Chrozi

New member
Apr 8, 2010
71
0
0
For reference;

Y axis is up and down, X axis is left and right. Invert means you press the stick in the opposite direction you want to look in. so up is down, down is up.

I ALWAYS invert my Y on FPS's and flight controls. I can't play for anything if its the other way around. For 3rd person action games, sometimes I prefer to play with both X and Y inverted. I did this for Ninja Gaiden on OG Xbox. Having done camera work on a tripod it makes sense to me to have everything inverted. I can get used to having the X normal or inverted, but swapping between the two on the fly is difficult.

The only time I like full normal control is moving a cursor on a rail shooter like RayStom,Panzer Dragoon. or REZ. I know that makes about zero sense, but seems to be the way my brain likes to work.

Curious to see how the rest of you config your looking.
 

Fappy

\[T]/
Jan 4, 2010
12,010
0
41
Country
United States
I have been inverting my Y-axis ever since first playing Morrowind for the original Xbox. My friend and I didn't know there was an option to switch the axis (it was default on inverted), so we just got used to it and now we always use it, lol.
 

Tallim

New member
Mar 16, 2010
2,054
0
0
Always invert Y. In fact before probably the PS2 era I never knew anyone who didn't play with Y inverted :/ I find it strange and alien and simply can't fathom the reason that that would be referred to as "normal"
 

Angelowl

New member
Feb 8, 2013
256
0
0
One a console I always invert the Y axis, to my friends great frustration. The reason is fairly simple, my first real experience in first person game was Perfect Dark that had it inverted as standard. Makes perfect sense to me when using a controller, on the computer on other hand... Not so much.
 

GiantRaven

New member
Dec 5, 2010
2,423
0
0
I raise my eyebrows to anyone who doesn't invert their Y axis. I think it might be an age thing. PS2-era and older games seemed to have it enabled by default whilst the past generation seems to have switched in favour of having it be off by default.

I find it really strange, considering the method of input.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
Legacy
Oct 29, 2010
18,157
2
3
Country
UK
I used to have it inverted cos that was the default on the first fps game I was playing and continue to do so for future fps games like Timesplitter and Halo. However a long absent of not playing that gerne had resorted me to having it not inverted when I got back into playing fps game Borderlands 2 (it feel werid having it inverted now and I can't be bother to learn it again).
 

MysticSlayer

New member
Apr 14, 2013
2,405
0
0
Depends on the camera view and platform.

For first person games or third-person games that are effectively first person because of the position of the camera, I will always invert the y-axis on consoles, but I never do it on PC.

For third person games that have a freer camera, I always invert the y-axis on both platforms. I can't remember how I treat the x-axis, but I do believe it is inverted as well.

Part of me does wonder how not inverting the y-axis ever caught on. It was the default setting on practically every game I played from the 90s, and I know it continued even into the Gamecube/PS2 era. If memory serves correctly, it was also very natural to pick up, and even when I spent many years away from console games, it was still my natural response coming back to them. Maybe I'm just odd like that, though.
 

Magix

New member
Oct 19, 2013
85
0
0
As a person who has literally never been near a console or a controller, seeing the invert Y axis in PC games always confused me. I see no reason you should do that.

But when thinking about it, it does make sense that you might want that option for controllers, and that option is just left there for the PC ports =P
That being said, having one axis inverted and the other one still regular seems horribly confusing to me. Other than "it's the standard"/"I'm used to it", can anyone actually explain as to why it's better?
 

votemarvel

Elite Member
Legacy
Nov 29, 2009
1,353
3
43
Country
England
GiantRaven said:
I raise my eyebrows to anyone who doesn't invert their Y axis. I think it might be an age thing. PS2-era and older games seemed to have it enabled by default whilst the past generation seems to have switched in favour of having it be off by default.

I find it really strange, considering the method of input.
I'm 38 this year and I only invert the Y axis for flight games (I also do it for the Batarangs in the Batman Arkham games, I like how they have the option separate to the main controls.)

For other games I like to move up when I press up, so I leave the option as it is.
 

GiantRaven

New member
Dec 5, 2010
2,423
0
0
votemarvel said:
I'm 38 this year and I only invert the Y axis for flight games (I also do it for the Batarangs in the Batman Arkham games, I like how they have the option separate to the main controls.)

For other games I like to move up when I press up, so I leave the option as it is.
Can you know of any reasons why you only do that for flight games? The similarity of a controller joystick to an actual joystick or flight stick is the main reason I find not inverting the Y axis incredibly strange.

Magix said:
As a person who has literally never been near a console or a controller, seeing the invert Y axis in PC games always confused me. I see no reason you should do that.

But when thinking about it, it does make sense that you might want that option for controllers, and that option is just left there for the PC ports =P
That being said, having one axis inverted and the other one still regular seems horribly confusing to me. Other than "it's the standard"/"I'm used to it", can anyone actually explain as to why it's better?
For me it works as if a controllers stick is the top of a person's head. You push it forward, they look down. You pull back, they look up. Granted that doesn't work at all for looking left/right, so it's pretty inconsistent in a way.

It's not really 'better' one way or another, as neither adds any form of performance gain. It's just how any given person perceives the movement of the stick. I find the differing perspectives very interesting.
 

Legion

Were it so easy
Oct 2, 2008
7,190
0
0
When I first started playing FPS games on consoles (TimeSplitters and Halo: Combat Evolved) I used inverted and for a while did it for most games, but I eventually "taught" myself to get used to not needing to.

Nowadays inverted feels quite strange, seeing as it has been over a decade since I used it properly.
 

FrozenLaughs

New member
Sep 9, 2013
321
0
0
For FPS I prefer a controller setup that allows all my aiming on left stick. I set it so that my stick is standard, up looks up, right looks right (spin/turn). However I do invert my flight controls, so up dives and down climbs.

Leads to confusion when my wife takes over for me on Battlefield.
 

C F

New member
Jan 10, 2012
772
0
0
I'm genuinely surprised at all the inverted Y-axis answers, considering absolutely everyone on Xbox LIVE I talk to plays using the default Y-axis.

The first game involving direct first/third person control I remember playing was Star Wars: Rogue Squadron on the PC using a flight joystick. Ever since then, that's how I directed the camera pitch.
 

Saltyk

Sane among the insane.
Sep 12, 2010
16,755
0
0
Absolutely never. Actually one thing that bugged me in Shadow Fall was the free falling moment as they suddenly inverted the Y axis. So pushing up sent me down and pressing down sent me up. And that was very awkward and confusing as there was no other moment in the game that did this. This is very difficult as you have to avoid obstacles or you will die and have to start all over. I know Angry Joe had a video showing this scene.

I actually ended up inverting the Y axis just so I could get through that section and then switching it back. Such a pain in the ass.
 

Vigormortis

New member
Nov 21, 2007
4,531
0
0
With a controller? Yes. I always invert the Y axis. And, if a third person style game, I may even invert the X axis. (so to rotate the view to the right by rotating the camera to the left, I'd press my stick to the right.)

With a mouse? Never have, doubt I ever will.

With a track-ball? Very dependent on a number of factors. Sometimes I reverse either or both, other times I reverse neither.

Trackpads are just like a mouse to me, so I never reverse them.
 

votemarvel

Elite Member
Legacy
Nov 29, 2009
1,353
3
43
Country
England
GiantRaven said:
votemarvel said:
I'm 38 this year and I only invert the Y axis for flight games (I also do it for the Batarangs in the Batman Arkham games, I like how they have the option separate to the main controls.)

For other games I like to move up when I press up, so I leave the option as it is.
Can you know of any reasons why you only do that for flight games? The similarity of a controller joystick to an actual joystick or flight stick is the main reason I find not inverting the Y axis incredibly strange.
I only do it for flight games, or batarangs :), because that is closer to how a flight stick operates. Push forward to point the nose down.

But when controlling a character on screen it just makes more sense for up/forward on the screen to be the same as up on the controller. Pushing down and seeing the character move upward is very odd to me.

I really can't do flight without inverted Y but can't play other games if it is on.
 

XMark

New member
Jan 25, 2010
1,408
0
0
I'm a reformed former Y-inverter. The inverted Y axis totally made sense to me for the longest time, but I was always annoyed when I'd play a game at a friend's place and I'd always have to switch it to inverted when it was my turn. So I tried going non-inverted for a week and it ended up feeling natural surprisingly quickly.
 

MrPhyntch

New member
Nov 4, 2009
156
0
0
I do it really convoluted and contrived, but <a href=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DamnYouMuscleMemory>my muscle memory won't let me do otherwise.

Y Axis:
Right thumbstick/pad:
Flight game: Yes
FPS: No
Third person: Depends on which of the above I've been playing recently

Left thumbstick (see: Metroid Prime, N64 South Park game): Always invert Y, Never X

I used to invert X for camera controls in third person games, seeing as that used to be industry standard. But industry standard has since changed thanks to FPS, and likewise my muscle memory demands that I follow, so left looks left and right looks right.
 

Cerebrawl

New member
Feb 19, 2014
459
0
0
Back in Amiga days I played flight games(scratch that, one game: Elite 2: Frontier) with inverted Y axis, and maybe a few brief flings with flight games after that. But since I've played FPS games with non-inverted axis for so long, I can't do the inverted axis thing anymore with mouse input, it just feels wrong. I'd definitely go inverted with joystick/joypad for flight games though.