Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Console

Anything that is gaming related that doesn't fit well anywhere else
User avatar
SuperDerpBro
128-bit
Posts: 503
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:03 pm
Location: Victoria B.C. Canada

Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Console

Post by SuperDerpBro »

Over the last couple years i have been buying PC versions more and more over console. I absolutely cannot stand using a keyboard and mouse. So most games having 360/Xbone/PS4 controller support has been my main reason for finally getting into PC gaming. I hate that PC is mostly digital but games are almost always way cheaper since i tend to use EVIL G2A a lot :/... Anyways, something i've noticed is that aiming... sucks. I can't tell if it's just something i'm over thinking/looking for or if it really is true. I feel like a lot of the time when playing a PC game with a 360 controller i will go to aim and overshoot badly. Then have to quickly correct myself in the opposite direction. Some games i might even have to correct once more back in the original direction. Here is a rather crude picture of what i mean.. lol

Image

I don't feel like this happens anywhere near as much in console games but i don't have many games for both PC and console to test. I just played the first two of the Tomb Raider reboot and i felt like it was happening WAY more than i remember when playing them on console years ago. Mass Effect Pandromeda is a good example. It was borderline unplayable for me with a 360 pad on PC (and for many other reasons) for the very small amount of time i tried. Couldn't hit anything. I did just buy a copy for PS4 of eBay for $5 so i guess i will find out.

I have tried things like Kontrol Freeks and it does help a bit.. but i never needed them on any console game..

Image

Thoughts?


/me goes to clean his controller.. lulz
Child owned from a INTERNET GAS filled home.
User avatar
GSZX1337
Next-Gen
Posts: 5805
Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:21 pm
Location: Madison, TN

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by GSZX1337 »

I have the same exact problem when aiming with a controller in console shooters. The few times I actually do this, I also move my character to assist in lining up with my target. Honestly, I don't understand why there are gamers that hate using a mouse to aim in shooters. Not to bash the genre I love, but shooters essentially involve move a cursor and clicking on things; the same thing you do in Windows (or Mac and Linux if you're of that persuasion). It just makes sense to use a mouse, a pointing device to point at and click your targets. At least it does to me.
casterofdreams wrote:On PC I want MOAR FPS!!!|
User avatar
SuperDerpBro
128-bit
Posts: 503
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:03 pm
Location: Victoria B.C. Canada

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by SuperDerpBro »

I just cannot get used to it. No mater how many times i try. I almost exclusively play 3rd person adventure, RPG and platform games tho. Hardly any FPS games. So that's my excuse! hehe
Child owned from a INTERNET GAS filled home.
User avatar
GSZX1337
Next-Gen
Posts: 5805
Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:21 pm
Location: Madison, TN

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by GSZX1337 »

I don't think a controller would be too bad for 3rd person adventure games. I was able to stand the control of Uncharted despite wishing I could use a mouse. Despite the fact that you haven't been able to test it, I think your hypothesis is correct. Most PC games eschew the auto-aiming that's standard on console games due to the former being made with mouse-control being the priority.
casterofdreams wrote:On PC I want MOAR FPS!!!|
User avatar
isiolia
Next-Gen
Posts: 5785
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 1:52 pm
Location: Virginia

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by isiolia »

Personally, I use both methods, usually shifting preference depending on the game - KB/mouse more for first person or RPGs with GCD, but controllers for third person action, that sort of thing. In my own experience, I haven't really run across problems with tracking speed.

That being said, a quick Google shows that plenty of people have, at least in some titles.

For Steam particularly, you have the potential for in-depth controller configuration via Big Picture mode. The upside to this is that you can use that to create a custom controller profile and tweak how it works to suit you. The potential (albeit rare, I think) problem can be if Steam uses it when it's not needed. If it does that and maps the left stick to mouse input (or whatever) it can end up being too sensitive. Might be something people ran into more when it was in beta though. (there's similar functionality in https://www.rewasd.com/ for general use). MS lets you do similar stuff with official software, but only for the Elite controller.

Some games literally seem to do that anyway, so adjusting mouse sensitivity may adjust aiming speed too. Or there may be ways to change it, whether built into the game or via config files or whatnot.

Could partly be the game, as I know Andromeda had a ton of complaints about the controller implementation on all platforms.


Might also be other factors to it, since if I recall you make a point to play at low framerate, and choppiness doesn't help aiming.
User avatar
GSZX1337
Next-Gen
Posts: 5805
Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:21 pm
Location: Madison, TN

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by GSZX1337 »

isiolia wrote:Might also be other factors to it, since if I recall you make a point to play at low framerate, and choppiness doesn't help aiming.

Wait, what? Why would anyone do that?
casterofdreams wrote:On PC I want MOAR FPS!!!|
User avatar
SuperDerpBro
128-bit
Posts: 503
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:03 pm
Location: Victoria B.C. Canada

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by SuperDerpBro »

Hahahahahaha.. I cap most PC games to 30. or use Nvidia's adaptive half refresh vsync (Same thing). I cant stand 60FPS either! (for most games)

Image

Did i mention that i like Jar Jar Binks too?












Kidding about Jar Jar












Edit: OR AM I?
Child owned from a INTERNET GAS filled home.
User avatar
GSZX1337
Next-Gen
Posts: 5805
Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:21 pm
Location: Madison, TN

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by GSZX1337 »

Wow, you are definitely in a minority, my friend. I can't stand anything less than 60FPS (though a drop to about 50/55 is tolerable). Not so much because of the motion, but because of how the control feels. I've had Doom 2016 drop to 45 FPS during gameplay, and I had immediately paused and adjusted the settings because it made the game feel awkward for me. This might be bad of me to suggest, but I think you should develop Stockholm Syndrome for mouse aiming and 60FPS. :lol:
casterofdreams wrote:On PC I want MOAR FPS!!!|
User avatar
SuperDerpBro
128-bit
Posts: 503
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:03 pm
Location: Victoria B.C. Canada

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by SuperDerpBro »

Hehe

I have and do play a couple games at 60. The first Tomb Raider reboot feels awkward to me at 30 for example. So i always play it at 60. And obviously games like Rayman Legends need 60FPS. IF i played FPS games with a mouse competitively i would probably try harder to get used to it.. but i don't. I do (rarely) try out the campaigns of some FPS games and lock those. 60+ just looks awful to me. Kinda like watching a movie at higher than 24FPS does. I did some tests with the Witchter 3 one day. And im toats cool down to about 22. But prefer 30. Heck i didnt buy the remasters of the Uncharted game because there is no option for 30FPS like in The Last of Us remaster :'(
Child owned from a INTERNET GAS filled home.
Tanooki
Next-Gen
Posts: 6947
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 5:06 pm

Re: Aiming in PC games with full controller support vs Conso

Post by Tanooki »

Well I can't speak for anyone else, but what you're saying I think is a personal perception problem and blaming it on the PC. As others have said, similar issues for them happen and it's not just tied to the PC versions of these games. They in the end are all made the same and the MS stuff (PC or console) basically are just side by side conversions/ports anyway.

The problem is you're not used, won't get used, or can't get used to it and no system specific help will solve it. I've used the 360 controller since it loathesomely is chosen for PC due to MS influence on the market and I used the Sony controllers on consoles. I find it a damned nightmare to try and aim a pair of twin sticks with any speed, efficiency, and definitely not accuracy on a controller in almost any FPS game but with a mouse and keyboard I can keep up quite well with AI or people when I try. With 3rd person, it's a little mix but mostly the opposite since they're not so hyper fast paced I can handle the move the stick while run aspect and those games tend to spare a button for lock on to nearest target anyway which deals with the aiming problem. FPS games have auto-lock or aim assist usually, but something they suck or are absent.

I've switched to just using the Switch for home gaming on a TV when I care to dock it, and I retired the drm locked/consoled console world of Sony to the blu-ray/netflix heap as my laptop can keep up with whatever the market currently still spits out at full frame as it should. Due to this I've in the last few years felt the change from controller to mouse+key or the 360 pad in some cases and I don't feel a difference in response on the games I went from controller to controller. But those I had been having problems with on some lousy dual sticks weren't an issue anymore really going with the mouse.

I will make one exception. I find playing Doom 2016 easier on a controller than the mouse. Then again the game was designed with the console in mind first and it was put to the PC as well, so maybe there's a reasoning in the design there perhaps?
Post Reply