Aiming with an analog controller...what's the trick?

[Felon]

I just got an Xbox 360, and there's a big learning curve. My last console was the original Playstation--the one that everyone lambasted because you had to stand it on its side to get it to read the CD properly. Now, laying a console down flat is considered passé.

Going from digital controls to analog is a big shift. I've played demos for F.E.A.R, Crackdown, G.R.A.W, Condemned, Dead Rising, and some others, and I've noticed that those four colorful buttons that used to be the heart of the action now have been demoted to a support role. Apparently, now it's mainly about the two analog thumbsticks and the right trigger button.

Another thing I noticed is that the strafe buttons are gone. Now, you strafe with normal left/right movement, and can only turn by using the right thumbstick to position the camera.

Aiming is the real pain in the neck. There isn't a lot of fine control, so while I'm getting shot by AI bad guys with pinpoint precision, my crosshairs are lurching and jerking around trying to draw a bead.

I've come to realize that part of the problem is that I've been just sitting my thumb on the rim of the thumbstick to steer it, trying to "flick" the stick where I want it go. I have to learn to actually seat my thumb over the depression. But even then, I don't think I'm managing anything close to fine control.

I have to wonder how much of it is me and how much of it is the controller. Am I like a five-year-old struggling to write the oversized pencil? Do they make better controllers than the one that comes with the Xbox?

 

[trancejeremy]

Well, the sticks are analog, not digital. So you can make finer movements with them, rather than just moving them all the way to the side. They just take some getting used to, but yeah, they suck for FPSes compared to a mouse and keyboard.

The 360 pad is actually one of the better controllers. (The d-pad on it could use some work, but most of those have sucked for a while). Although there have been rumors about MS making a new pad with finer analog sticks for FPSes

 

[Felon]

Well, the sticks are analog, not digital. So you can make finer movements with them, rather than just moving them all the way to the side. They just take some getting used to, but yeah, they suck for FPSes compared to a mouse and keyboard.

Hmm. And Xbox is primarily a FPS console at the moment.

Well, at least it ain't all me.

 

[Asmor]

Three words... Practice makes perfect. That's really all there is to it.

For what it's worth, this pretty much exactly simulates the default keyboard and mouse setup of every FPS game since... uhh... Possibly quake. The last ones I can remember where turning was the default left/right action as opposed to strafing were based on the doom engine. I mean, there are of course games that could use this arrangement and don't, but I've yet to find one whose developers shouldn't be punched in the gut for not at least making it an option. Only example of that which springs to mind immediately is Gun Valkyrie, but I know there's more.

Think of the left stick as your keyboard and the right stick as your mouse.

 

[jonathan swift]

I can't play computer FPSes to save my life, can't aim with a mouse at all. But I rock at Halo. And I also sucked at the old n64 shooters. So may be I'm an anomally, but the dual joystick aiming is the only thing that works for me.

 

[Thanee]

...this pretty much exactly simulates the default keyboard and mouse setup of every FPS game since... uhh... Possibly quake.

Quake? That's at least the 3rd generation of FPS.

Bye
Thanee

 

[-SIN-]

My heart truely does bleed for you. You got suckerd into buying a 360...tut-tut-tut...

From microsoft the least you should have expected is a console that can actually handle a keyboard and mouse - they have officially stated that the K&M combo is very, very likely not to happen, which is a shame, with the exception of Final Fantasy something-or-another...

What REALLY should have set off your alarm bells is the fact that Microsofts miracle box can't even support MICROSOFT internet explorer, which is quite worrying. My PDS supports IE. My ancient 486 supports IE. How powerful is the 360 again?... Worst still, they're not sure if they can even fix it!

It'd be like BP or Shell going into car manufacturing - only to findout their cars don't work with their own fuel...

 

[trancejeremy]

Hmm. And Xbox is primarily a FPS console at the moment.

Well, at least it ain't all me.

Still, bear in mind that the game companies actually take this into account when making the games. Aiming generally is more generous than in PC FPSes. Once you practice, enough, you should find it playable. Although if you are a big PC FPS fan, it's always going to feel somewhat clumsy

 

[Felon]

For what it's worth, this pretty much exactly simulates the default keyboard and mouse setup of every FPS game since... uhh... Possibly quake. The last ones I can remember where turning was the default left/right action as opposed to strafing were based on the doom engine.

Right, but again my last FPS was on the Playstation, and not with an analog controller either. They used the left and right buttons over the triggers for strafing.

I really need a game that has some kind of training level, that's forgiving of sloppyness. Anyone know of one?

 

[takyris]

The main thing to do is buy games with decent interfaces. Something like "Lost Planet", which has many awesome ideas, is too big a pain to actually be worth playing because the interface is so clunky. Other games have decent controls but horrific camera positioning (or map layout) that makes it a pain to see where you're going.

It doesn't bother me on all games, since I'd gotten used to "WASD to walk, Mouse to Look", and "left-stick to walk, right-stick to look" doesn't feel like that big a change to me. Mileage will vary, though.

I'm still on daily playthroughs for MASS EFFECT, and I can really tell the difference when a control-scheme update comes through. Either I readjust for a few minutes and then realize how newly intuitive and awesome it feels relative to the way it felt before, or I start filing bugs about how hard it is to track flying monsters or peek out around cover or, well, anything.