Battlefield 3 Controller Tips, Tricks, and Issues

[sygyzy]

I view the flexibility and customization of PC gaming as both a pro and con. I am having a hard time getting "dialed in" with BF3 and and hoping this thread can serve as both troubleshooting guide as well as a way to exchange ideas about optimal setups.

Mouse and Keyboard - For keyboard/mouse bindings, I am using the default but I find it pretty overwhelming. I have to admit that having everything within reach on a 360 gamepad is way easier than hunting for the T key to turn on a light. Anyway, the one thing I am experimenting with is binding some of my extra mouse keys. Right now I am using the scroll wheel button for melee (press down on the scroll wheel but be careful you don't spin it to switch weapons). I also have a side button for reload and another for grenade (which is hard for me to reach with my thumb).

Joystick - I dusted off a Microsoft Sidewinder 2 Feedback joystick to use with helicopters and jets. It's still really hard to use and confusing to configure. For example, I have buttons on the joystick labeled with numbers like 1, 2, 3, etc. But when I try to bind, say, button 3 to Countermeasures, BF3 says "ok so you want button 6 for countermeasures. Got it" It's weird that the physical label says one thing and the computer label says another. Also, BF3 considers all controllers plugged in as valid so if I use the Sidewinder to fly a jet then die, I pay the price when I respawn as a solider. The throttle control is linked to the zoom and fire controls for some reason. Throttle lever all the way forward fires the weapon. Lever back makes it zoom in.

Does anyone have any interesting keyboard/mouse bindings they'd like to share? How about advice on using a gamepad or joystick for flight control and how you've set it up.

Thanks.

 

[dfuze]

I like using my two thumb mouse buttons on my MX518 for crouch and prone.

 

[sygyzy]

That's a good idea. Do you find it difficult to hit the top thumb button, the one closest to the monitor, though?

 

[sandorski]

I don't have BF3, but WASD maybe a convenient location, spatially speaking, but it's rather vague for the Noob. You either have to just use it until it's natural or you change the Keys to a more unique location. Which is why I always use the Arrow keys for movement, then bind the keys around that area to various tasks, like this:

Up/Down: Forward/Back
Left/Right: Strafe Left/Right
CTRL: Jump
Shift: Crouch
Enter: Use
Insert: Reload
Delete: Drop Weapon or Prone

Then other keys in the Editing and Numpad sections are used for more unique to game commands.

You're right about the MouseWheel being an issue for Clicking. I wish Game Developers would quit Defaulting MMB with stuff, because Pointer Devices adopted a crappy compromise, not too big a deal, but still annoying as the Game gets designed(somewhat) around these decisions(aka-switching to Melee should be very quick and almost requiring no thought or caution).

 

[JTsyo]

You should blank out the joystick from everything you're not using it for. To do this you need to pick the binding and then hold down the Esc key. For my joystick too all the labels are screwed up. Some are called buttons, some trigger (not the actual trigger though) and some pad. Just as long as the binding hold I don't care what the game called it. Will be tough for anyone else trying to play on my machine to figure out though.

 

[sygyzy]

You should blank out the joystick from everything you're not using it for. To do this you need to pick the binding and then hold down the Esc key. For my joystick too all the labels are screwed up. Some are called buttons, some trigger (not the actual trigger though) and some pad. Just as long as the binding hold I don't care what the game called it. Will be tough for anyone else trying to play on my machine to figure out though.

Great idea except I WANT to use the joystick when I am flying. I might give up on it though because it's very difficult to master.

 

[dfuze]

That's a good idea. Do you find it difficult to hit the top thumb button, the one closest to the monitor, though?

Nope, at least with this mouse it is close enough to not make it hard to reach.

Also, another tip is that when aiming at someone at a distance, hit "V" to switch to single shot for better chances at hitting the target.

 

[ImpulsE69]

You guys are reminding me how much easier it is to shoot someone IRL.

 

[Teego]

Nope, at least with this mouse it is close enough to not make it hard to reach.

Also, another tip is that when aiming at someone at a distance, hit "V" to switch to single shot for better chances at hitting the target.

That is an awesome tip. Thank you.

I made my scroll wheel right turn thingy for spotting, and the left scroll thingy my gadget 1 slot. The other 2 buttons on my mouse are assigned to reload and throw grenades.

I made my primary gun #2, my knife #1, and gadgets 3 and 4. Moved pistol to 6 because I never use pistol.

 

[rgallant]

any one have any idea's why my tank main gun can't zoom in with the rmb
-I reset all control remap to default and just used the g13 remap and set point for the 9x mouse
- rmb zoom works on the mg but not on the main gun

--btw note
when I reset the controls\binding different values came up for the joystick ,I had not changed any of them.

 

[Teego]

I just noticed that over 10 years, I have yet to crack 60 posts. Now that is how you shut up and listen.

 

[pauldun170]

Some folks would pay good $$ for that Sidewinder 2 Feedback joystick.

 

[Cutterhead]

For well over a decade now, I have been using my own homebrew key bindings for first person shooters. Whenever I fire up a new FPS the first thing I always do is rebind keys from the standard WASD. Some keys are game-specific, but this is generally what I do for all FPS:

RDFG replaces WASD. This frees up many more keys to be bound surrounding my left hand.

E is reload, left ring finger.
W I bind differently depending on the game, but I also use my left ring finger for this key.
S is crouch, left pinky.
A is usually melee/knife, left pinky.
Z is usually grenade, also left pinky.
T is prone, left pointer.
Y is use/activate, left pointer.
H is for anything frequently used, spotting in BF3 is a good choice, also left pointer.
B and V can be bound as needed as these are also easy to reach with left pointer finger. I usually bind one of these to fire mode.
Note that more number keys (2-7) are also easily accessible for binding with this setup, too.
Left SHIFT is still within reach for SPRINT, so this is unchanged.

This setup may take some getting used to, but it's well worth the trouble of abandoning WASD in my opinion. This also works great for other games like MMOs where you need a lot of key bindings within close reach.

The idea is that with some practice, you don't need to look down at the keys at all because you never lift your hand.

 

[brencat]

I don't have BF3, but WASD maybe a convenient location, spatially speaking, but it's rather vague for the Noob. You either have to just use it until it's natural or you change the Keys to a more unique location. Which is why I always use the Arrow keys for movement, then bind the keys around that area to various tasks, like this:

Up/Down: Forward/Back
Left/Right: Strafe Left/Right
CTRL: Jump
Shift: Crouch
Enter: Use
Insert: Reload
Delete: Drop Weapon or Prone

Wow, thought I was the only one who used the arrow keys to move and my left hand on the mouse to fire/aim/throw grenade/sprint. Using an older 5 button MS Intellimouse for years on shooters. Works great. I use the Enter key for prone (whale diving shoot) and RShift for knifing.

 

[sygyzy]

Some folks would pay good $$ for that Sidewinder 2 Feedback joystick.

Who? What's so special about it?

---

I discovered (honestly, new to me) marking. It's Q by default and it's really addictive, not to mention helpful. Everything I spot any sort of enemy, I press Q. It helps mark the guy for your team. But I noticed that other people aren't marking or at least it doesn't seem like it. What are your guys' thoughts?

 

[HeXen]

Anyone considered the Nostromo or G13?
i have a g13 and its definitly more comfortable than kb. but i prefer my Merc Stealth to anything else.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I think finger placement could actually be anywhere - wasd is due to the F key and it's placement groove. Personally I prefer to move to putting it on J so you can still tell where you are but get all the benefits from what was said above. I've tried using the arrow keys but that never worked for me.

 

[sygyzy]

I just ordered a G9 from Newegg. I hope I like it.

 

[sandorski]

Wow, thought I was the only one who used the arrow keys to move and my left hand on the mouse to fire/aim/throw grenade/sprint. Using an older 5 button MS Intellimouse for years on shooters. Works great. I use the Enter key for prone (whale diving shoot) and RShift for knifing.

Left hand on the Mouse?

Witchcraft! D:

 

[Mr. Lennon]

Anyone know when the stats for a round are saved to your profile? I've been leaving games right after they finish...should I wait until the next round starts to leave the server?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Anyone considered the Nostromo or G13?
i have a g13 and its definitly more comfortable than kb. but i prefer my Merc Stealth to anything else.

I use a G13(use to use a Nostromo) and find that I am able to remap and reach more keys more quickly. I use the two thumbs buttons for space(jump/parachute) and for TS VOIP. The thumbstick switches from gun and pistol while infantry and rotates the turret if I'm in a vehicle(faster than mouse).

I use G9 with thumb buttons set to Knife and switch from auto/semi. Wheel mouse left/right buttons are set to Gadget 1 and 2(ie. Assautl - Defibs/med pack). Thinking of getting the G700 for more mouse buttons.

 

[rgallant]

G13 here also -3 years apox.
-remap most keys away from my left fingers , use 7 key commands for my thumb ,2 for pinky.
-fingers sit on wsad 95% of the time ,joystick has 4 ,eg. up- reload ,push to right -knife with a flick . but never use it ammo is cheap.
-with armor game maps my thumb will rest on the enter key for quick exit before it blows up.
-takes along time to remember all the keys for each game , but it becomes reflex after awhile.
-also have a g15 above it ,for non quick\unmapped commands,
-g9x keys for other quick commands
-find I never miss a key on the g13 , my left hand fingers used to get lost on a kb during fast fire fights\battles.
-also the software is good
-eg. unlocked a m4 today that only has 1 + 2 shots , no auto game bug ? said it should
-it seems to do a lot of damage[for a engineer pea shooter] with 2 shots but when clicking away it's hard to keep aim on a moving target. ,
-so you could take a g13 key - map a lmb + lmb + lmb + lmb macro and have it fire x8 shots if you wanted to.

 

[CottonRabbit]

any one have any idea's why my tank main gun can't zoom in with the rmb
-I reset all control remap to default and just used the g13 remap and set point for the 9x mouse
- rmb zoom works on the mg but not on the main gun

--btw note
when I reset the controls\binding different values came up for the joystick ,I had not changed any of them.

You have to unlock the scope on the main gun.

If you already unlocked it, make sure you have it in your load out (tab called "land" on the loadout screen). It took me a while to figure out vehicles have load outs in addition to classes.

 

[dfuze]

Anyone know when the stats for a round are saved to your profile? I've been leaving games right after they finish...should I wait until the next round starts to leave the server?

Not sure, I just wait until after the round adds up my score and the countdown for the next round begins. So far that has kept my score.

 

[mrblotto]

I've been using the arrow keys for years as well, along with the surrounding keys
Delete=crouch
End=jump
Pg Dwn=prone
R Shift=Run
Enter=use
R Ctrl=no idea lol

And I use most of the buttons on my MX518, 'cept for the '+' button. I keep accidentally hitting the scroll wheel lol.

I've yet to completely be satisfied w/the mouse bindings yet
LMB = Fire
RMB = Zoom
back arrow = reload
fwd arrow = grenade - although I think I may change it to 'spot' or whatever the Q button is for lol
Minus key = Map
Pg Flip = ??
Scroll Button = use/enter vehicle/something something