Poll: Do you invert the Y-Axis?

[Belaam]

There's a PS+ game this month (Ether One), that I will not be playing for the sole reason that I cannot invert the Y-axis, and struggle to break more than two decades of inverted Y axis gaming isn't happening.

While the idea that a game in 2015 doesn't have that option is one issue, I am more curious about how rare I am in my automatic Y-axis inversion of all first person games.

I'm also curious is this is a factor based on how early games were set up; I started gaming with an Atari 2600 and a Commodore 64.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I guess I will have to delete that game. I invert Y in both 1st-person and 3rd-person games. Whatever the first 3D game I played with a camera, the default must have been where up is down and down is up as I don't choose to invert Y because of some reason other than that's how I always played. I have a feeling that most early 3D games probably PS1 and into PS2 were defaulted to where Y is inverted.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I don't invert, but a friend swears by it. First thing he does in any game.

 

[Doom972]

Only in flight/space sims, and that's only if I have a joystick available.
I started gaming with a 486 and an NES.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Usually it's already inverted, but yeah, that's the first thing I change if I have to. It'd be enough to not play on if that feature was omitted on a main cam/view, but you can just about cope if it's a rarely used alt-view cam/mode.

I started with Atari joysticks in the mid '80's, and played a load of flight sims up to the mid '90's, so perhaps that might've conditioned me into it. Never actually thought about that, actually.

 

[MysticSlayer]

If I'm playing with a controller, I invert the Y axis in first-person games and both axes in third-person games. If I'm playing with a keyboard and mouse, though, I never invert the Y axis. I can't remember if I invert the X-axis for some third-person games, though. It's been a while since a played a non-shooter third-person game on PC.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

I invert the Y axis, it seems I'm always the odd man out when switching in and out with friends. Just feels much more natural to me, to pull the stick down to lift the head up, and vice versa.

So yeah, first person that is a deal-breaker for me. Third person I can sometimes get the hang of not inverted

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I usually go with whatever the game has by default, I don't remember the last time I bothered to muck around with the controls.

 

[Major_Tom]

Always with the controller, never with the mouse.

 

[Flammablezeus]

Yeah, it always feels more natural to pull back to look up and to push forwards to look down. Only with analogue sticks though. Using a mouse I leave it non-inverted.

 

[Zetatrain]

If I'm using a mouse then I never invert.

If i'm using a controller then it depends on the whether it is first or third person. First person is inverted and third person is non-inverted. If the game uses both then it depends on which view is used more. For example, Metal Gear Solid will be non-inverted (even in first person mode) and Deus Ex: Human Revolution will be inverted. Flying games are always inverted regardless of view.

 

[Alcom1]

Probably. I've certainly had to reverse the Y-axis, but I don't know which direction is inverted.

 

[List]

Maybe I'm a bit weird but I have very specific things I invert the x/y on. Firstly I dont invert in any pc game i've played. Then on console/hand-held I only invert both X and Y of the third person camera, I don't do it if its in first person view.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Whenever I push forward on the right stick, the camera pans up.
Same thing whenever I move my mouse forwards.
So... I don't think I invert the Y-axis, but some games do things differently so who knows.

 

[lunavixen]

It depends on the orientation of it in the first place, sometimes it already starts inverted and you have to invert the inversion to make it right. (Wow that sounds weird, it makes sense in my head, I swear) I prefer pushing the stick/mouse forward to mean up, it gets too confusing when you swap from game to game otherwise.

 

[FPLOON]

If I press up, the camera goes up...
If I press down, the camera goes down...

I cannot seem to do it the other way where down goes up and vise verse... even if it involves piloting a space plane/ship...

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Got my current habit from older gaming days I'd say. Played FPS's like Doom and Duke Nukem with keyboard, without mouse looking. Then played flight sims like Descent, Wing Commander, X-Wing, and with a joystick or keyboard it was always default inverted which made sense. I was probably too young and impatient to screw around with settings at that time anyways.

Then Quake 2 came along and I discovered that using a mouse was a much more efficient and precise way of looking around, so I used that on default as well, which was not inverted. And it's been that way ever since.

Default for FPS
Inverted for flying/space/underwater stuff

P.S: This reminds me of the first time I saw a guy playing Quake 1....with a JOYSTICK. Still can't remember how the hell that worked, only that he was pretty much a god at it, somehow.

 

[ctSasquatch]

Option 2: Only in flight sims.
If I were piloting, I'd push the stick away to dive, and I'd pull it toward me to climb. Y-Inverted replicates this for flight sims.

If I were holding a gun or a camera and wanted to "shoot" something that was at a higher elevation than myself, I'd push the barrel/lens up rather than pull the stock/viewfinder down, so non-inverted seems more intuitive to me.

I get why some people invert that, since it's like the stick is attached to the back of your head: pull down to look up. But that logic requires you to invert X-axis too, since pushing the back of your head to the right makes your eyes move left. It just seems more natural in non-flight situations to move the stick in the same direction you want to aim: up for up, right for right.

 

[Vigormortis]

For any game requiring perspective (camera) control, I:

* Always invert the Y-axis on controllers, thumb sticks, trackpads, flight sticks, and trackballs.

* Never invert the Y-axis on a mouse.

When it comes to a thumbstick, etc, it just feels more natural to tilt it back to look up and vice versa. I tilt my head back when I look up, why shouldn't I do the same with a thumbstick?

Though, I can't think of any instance where I invert the X-axis. Even in third-person games.

, so non-inverted seems more intuitive to me.

I get why some people invert that, since it's like the stick is attached to the back of your head: pull down to look up. But that logic requires you to invert X-axis too, since pushing the back of your head to the right makes your eyes move left.

Not really.

Inverting the Y-axis and not inverting the X-axis is more inline with how the head moves. When you look to the sides, you move your head to either side. So if you want to look left, you move your head to the left. Conversely, If you look up or down, you tilt your head back or forward, respectively.

The 'logic' of inverted Y-axis controls isn't that the stick is 'attacked to the back of the head'. It's more like the stick is a literal analog of the head. You push it in the same direction you would move your head to alter your view.