Why wont DUKE NUKEM 3D control decently??

[Circusfreak]

i recently downloaded duke nukem 3d for Dosbox and i was stunned by how uttley crap the controls were. i really didnt expect that. take a look at this:
moving the mouse left - makes you look left
moving the mouse right - makes you look right
moving the mouse up - makes you WALK FORWARD
moving the mouse back - makes you WALK BACKWARDS

theres no WASD control, instead you have
up arrow - walk forward (again)
down arrow - walk backwards (again)
left arrow - TURN left (aka look left(AGAIN!))
right arrow - TURN right (aka look right(AGAIN!))

seriously, wasnt the point of DN3D to let you strafe and look up and down like todays shooters? is there something wierd with my download?

hey guess what are the buttons for strafing.
its i shit you not: "," and "." ...seriously

i did go into the SETUP file and changed to WASD etc but i still cant make the mouse behave. please help me, i really wanna play this game.

 

[Lordmarkus]

How about you twiddle around with the options. I play with WASD and mouse aim and the game flows perfectly. I didn't find any difficult with changing the keys but for mouse aim I had to change it and restart the game. Then it just worked.

 

[oplinger]

Welcome to old school. That's how the mouse worked back then.

 

[Iron Mal]

Well, I'm used to using arrow keys to play PC FPS's so I don't see what the big deal is.

Normally games like that have an option somewhere to modify the controls to your liking? (I know DOOM did, and that's older than Duke 3D).

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

That sounds like the right controls for the era. I've never played Duke Nukem 3d, but that was the way Doom, Dark Forces, Wolfenstein 3d and, if I remember correctly, Rise of the Triad controlled. It's why circle strafing was considered an advanced technique at the time, instead of a basic side effect of the controls. I remember it being especially annoying for Dark Forces, because in addition to those standard controls, Look up was the pg up button, and look down was the pg dn button -- or was it the other way around? It's been a while. If it really bugs you, I'm pretty sure there is a Source port for Duke3d out there somewhere, those things usually include proper mouselook and otherwise modernized controls.

 

[Circusfreak]

ok so i made the mouse aiming work by using the digital movement thing but it still uses the analog controls at the same time (ie everytime i aim up or down i move back and forth, cant disable the analog movement

 

[oplinger]

ok so i made the mouse aiming work by using the digital movement thing but it still uses the analog controls at the same time (ie everytime i aim up or down i move back and forth, cant disable the analog movement

change the controls to be like WASD, make fire space, open E, turn with left and right arrows, and cycle inventory with up and down. >> and then just piece together the rest of it.

It makes it generally tolerable.

 

[Quickening666]

Yes those are the correct controls and there's nothing wrong with them because no-one at that time really used the mouse at all. These games employed an autoaim of sorts so that as long as you were facing an opponent you would hit him if you fired even if he was really above or below where the shot would hit. To strafe in those games and FPS like Wolf 3D, Rise of the Triad etc you held down the alt key which turn the left and right arrows into strafe instead of turn.

However the build engine games (Duke Nukem 3D, Blood and Shadow Warrior) did allow the modern method of mouse control. In setup there will be listed a button for "Mouselook" which you will have to press in the game itself (or there may even be a checkbox somewhere in setup depending on the version you're playing). This will prevent the mouse from moving you back and forth and instead allow you to look around.

Your best bet is to download EDuke which is Duke Nukem 3Ds equivalent of zDoom. That will sort all your problems out and let you run in Windows as well as giving you a host of nice tweaks.

 

[Baby Tea]

ok so i made the mouse aiming work by using the digital movement thing but it still uses the analog controls at the same time (ie everytime i aim up or down i move back and forth, cant disable the analog movement

You're playing it wrong.
It's not made like Quake 2 or Half-Life.
Heck, even Quake 1 could be played without a mouse.

The game auto aims your shots up and down, even if you're looking straight ahead.
Just run around and enjoy it.

 

[Ser Olmy]

Wow. Nobody knows how to edit a .cfg with notepad? And I really like quickening666's reply "no-one at that time really used the mouse at all". And the mice were all made from wood too right? Sigh.
Back-up duke3d.cfg
pay attention to the wording for the controls. you'll notice some of them are just "". guess you could say those are empty.
'empty' the analog mouse controls and type in the correct wording for turn left and right and aim up and down in the digital.
make your left and right arrow strafe left and right
still doesn't work great so crank up the sensitivity
Still doesn't work so hot but there is maybe an issue with polling in dos-box with mouse?
acts like it moves ok but small movements don't come out so good
don't know cuz i'm dum in that area
WE USED A MOUSE BACK THEN!!! ARRRGH!!!
no i'm not telling you EXACTLY how to do it because you need to experiment and learn.
good luck