jamesworkshop said:
Ironic Pirate said:
Elementlmage said:
Ironic Pirate said:
But in fast paced games, console gamers would have a mobility advantage, as WASD isn't all that great for movement...
time...
Remeber some pc gamers have been playing fps with a mouse and keyboard for 17 years straight
I have
I know, the only people I had ever seen were my friends, and I thought they were good.
So I'm sorry if I offended you.
Woah i'm not offended the Controller vs mouse and keyboard is irrelevant anyway since as a PC gamer I can pick whatever I want in any game I want, rather than the consoles controller only gameplay bar one exception (Unreal tournament 3)
It's a level of experince the mouse and keyboard has been the staple of PC fps since Quake (1996) but the dual analogue stick has only really been the staple of Console FPS since Halo (2001)
I find dual sticks quite awkward the sticky magnet feel of autoaim is annoying along with the acceleration, since the radius of movement is small thus requiring the game to make turns gradually become faster the longer you hold the stick in one direction rather than the mouse where if I need to move fast I simply move the mouse faster since it doesn't have an edge to restrict it.
The right stick is also a problem as it is impossible to use the XYBA face buttons at the same time and while the shoulder buttons do help you still have the problem of that your little finger and ring ringer are never in a place to press a button their only job is to help you not drop the controller, ultimatly the FPS design wastes fingers and wastes buttons
On PC my hands are always useful my mouse has enough buttons for every finger and fullfills the role of the right thumb stick but since the arm controls the movement not the thumb I can both aim and turn and still press the buttons rather than having to switch between R.stick and XYBA.
Mouse 5 button with scroll wheel
Thumb-Side Button:
Depending on the game it's useful for secondary melee attacks like knifes or rifle butts, the most common as it is not the most comfortable button is for non spamming tasks like reloading.
Index finger-Left Click:
Simple primary weapon fire/melee attack
Middle finger-Scroll Wheel:
Great for switching between weapons or controlling weapon scopes, especially good on weapons with variable zoom ranges or just plain scope on scope off depending on what the game uses also of lesser use it can be clicked like a button but rarely do i find a use for it, it does however make a good radial menu button in Crysis
Ring finger-Right Click:
Great for secondary fire or when not available makes a great Jump button since many FPS rely on fast jumping skills which is I find extremly comfortable to click repetedly and handy as most FPS movement/camera (linked due to FPS viewpoint) is controlled by the mouse.
Little finger-side button
Like the thumb the little finger is not a great clicking finger and thus takes on the same utility type actions rather than rapid actions so I like it for throwing grenades again depends on the game
Keyboard is the tricky one as buttons far outnumber the fingers unlike the mouse where fingers naturally rest over the buttons, ability and easy of use is linked heavily with experience
WASD is the common movement keys but at most only two will ever be pressed at any one time since you can't move in three directions at once.
In finger terms the ring finger can easily cover both Q/A while the middle takes W/S and index covers both E/D.
Most standard competive arcade style FPS do not have much of a use for Q/E but can be handy in single players games for picking up items or opening doors.
The thumb is really only suitably placed for the space bar often unused (most ingame actions are covered by this point) while the little finger swiches to either shift or ctrl, these tend to cover less rapid actions like a running or crouching button that are either held or toggled not needing to be rapidly pressed.
The 3 main fingers take up most of the work and generally worry only about movement so the left hand isn't as complicated as it sounds, quite a lot of the time the only key being pressed is W with A/D if strafing is needed.
Sometimes skill gets brought up but I believe that the heavy limitations of the controller make Console gamers more skilled FPS players since no matter what you are always fighting the controller for control, rarely are you ever given the option of deciding what button perform what action, even with a sensitvity slider you can only ever turn as fast as the acceleration curve.
PC makes controlling an FPS a breeze often leading to a much faster twitch style of aiming and even the characters move noticably faster to the point where dodging bullets actually works and doing rocket jumps and other tricks become integral skills when fighting or racing for weapons and other pickups.
The ultimate expression of FPS is "Boom Headshot" but the reality is clicking on your enemies head isn't anymore challenging than clicking on a desktop icon or any other part of their charater model even a missed headshot if aimed low can still hit them, it's this that leads to the trickshot style PC shooters have gained where multipul mid-air headshots are common and fights often happen 360 degrees as flanked or behind attacks are easily met.
Skill is probably a bad word as you still have to beat the other players but PC FPS control is soo damm easy that you cannot be anything other than lighning quick at all times and have little excuse not to be when the controls are far more fliud than say Halo where if they appear from behind you are finished provided they can hit people that can't even see them.
