[Embarrassing] Any tips for properly using a gaming mouse?

[KingFatty]

Ok so I've been gaming for years, started on a really old trackball to play original wolfenstein on a 386 computer. Eventually upgraded that trackball to various trackman marbles. trackman all the way all the time, including years of Starcraft 1 and now Starcraft 2.

Now I realize I need to switch to a mouse, and bought my first mouse, a "gaming" mouse from monoprice. It's nice, it has buttons to adjust the DPI on the fly so I can make the mouse cursor move faster or slower.

I just can't seem to get it. I tried this arcade level in starcraft 2, where you play a series of challenges. With my trackball I could beat all of them, but now I'm just stuck.

I seem to overshoot my targets, lose track of where my cursor is, just can't seem to grip the mouse correctly? If I reduce the speed, then I fall short of my targets.

So I'm worried about learning the wrong mousing technique. Like typing or playing the piano, I could see there might be a benefit to proper mouse technique? Should my pinky rest on the mousepad to stabilize the mouse? Is there a certain grip style with how I should arrange my fingers?

Here is the mouse:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=114&cp_id=11401&cs_id=1140101&p_id=9258&seq=1&format=2

 

[Ben90]

The only thing that really matter is to not use the DPI buttons. Turn off acceleration and keep windows at default sensitivity unless you have specific needs.

Hold the mouse however it is comfortable for you. Change takes time. I switched my keyboard layout and I'm currently typing around 10WPM, although it's slowly getting better.

 

[BrightCandle]

Acceleration off in windows, get rid of smoothing in the game if it has it and choose a distance across the mat for that type of game. So something like a full swipe of the mat is one side of the screen to the other with some space to spare, note the exact distance and use it forever more. You'll soon gain the muscle memory and start building up the speed to really use it well.

 

[Midwayman]

Disable using mouse accel and angle snapping. Generally its supposed to be better to use a low dpi with larger arm movements if you have the room. Allows more precise aim.

 

[Eureka]

There's no wrong way to use a mouse. Find a way that fits you... definitely turn off acceleration and snapping if you have it on, it tends to hurt more than help in FPS gaming.

Also, one thing to note... I had a monoprice mouse (This one), and it had a very strange sensor/tracking system on it. If you try to draw circles using two mice, it had a huge amount of vertical tracking... so if I were to draw an O, it would look more like an elongated 0. Something to take note of. I ended up returning my monoprice mouse and got this:

http://dx.com/p/mcsaite-usb-optical-mouse-black-130cm-cable-55296

 

[Binky]

Different mice fit different people differently. If the mouse causes your hand to stay in an uncomfortable position, try a different mouse. Some mouse shapes and sizes just don't work well for some people.

IMO, getting a mouse specifically made for "gaming" is far less important than a mouse that makes you the most comfortable.

 

[giantpandaman2]

You could always just get a Logitech M570. That's what I replaced my trackman with.

 

[KingFatty]

Disable using mouse accel and angle snapping. Generally its supposed to be better to use a low dpi with larger arm movements if you have the room. Allows more precise aim.

Oh crap, I was doing this backward, no wonder I keep missing.

Also I do believe that the vertical tracking is slightly different than horizontal, so if I traced a perfect circle with the mouse, the cursor would follow more of an oval shape.

I'll adjust the settings for more precision and less "quickness" or whatever. Currently I barely touch the mouse and the cursor flies across my screen.

 

[styrafoam]

If you aren't happy with your results don't be afraid to replace the mouse with something else. I picked up one of these for kicks (was on special for $6 i think) and couldn't get it to behave. I didn't care for the giant mouse5 button either, as it made using mouse4 extremely awkward. There was a killer deal on Logitec mice last week on Amazon, with luck they may run it again.

 

[_Rick_]

As long as acceleration is predictable, and you can get used to it, it's a convenient tool.
You may lose some precision in very quick movements, but you gain some speed.
If you're into marine-micro, or the like, I would probably disable it, but if you're not at the level where micro matters, than you're probably better off with leaving it enabled, because you can use wrist-flicks more efficiently to cover large distances.

It'll just take a lot of practice.

 

[BrightCandle]

Its a bad habit to learn acceleration. At some point you will have to unlearn it to get better and it will a longer time.

 

[KingFatty]

And for acceleration, I guess I should look for disabling it in the Windows operating system settings, and also in each game under mouse settings? Well I guess that's for every setting?

I changed the physical settings on the mouse for the speed/DPI, and that affected everything (games and windows), but I think acceleration is different and is a software setting?

 

[BrightCandle]

There is acceleration under the mouse settings in windows and then some games have a setting for it as well. Somewhere around 400 DPI is likely a good starting target for low sensitivity zero acceleration. It will probably feel really slow to begin with but you will get used to it.

Just bare in mind your mouse might have some acceleration built in, most mice are flawed in their reproduction of your movements but it won't impact you in the early stages.

 

[Binky]

Mouse acceleration is called "Enhance Pointer Precision" in the MS mouse settings box. When this is on, it causes the mouse to move farther if you move the mouse faster. Another way to say it is it causes the mouse to move less when you move the mouse slower. I prefer this to be on. I'm sure that some mouse software might also have this, and it may not be configurable.

You will also have to find the balance of settings for mouse speed. These can be set in Windows, and also in many mice (all gaming mice have this). With "Enhance Pointer Precision" set to be on, changing the mouse speed in the windows settings may have a different effect than changing the speed in the mouse software.

Use what is comfortable to you. Try different settings and pick those settings that work for you.

 

[KingFatty]

Well, that was a huge difference, changing the speed alone was enough, so now my mouse is super 'sensitive' where the cursor doesn't zoom around as fast. The hardware setting on the mouse is fully sensitive. It really felt much more natural, and now I easily passed the challenge I was stuck on ("Deadeye Ghost" where you have to snipe a bunch of incoming waves of banelings before they get you).

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Sometimes a game will include a lookupscale, and a lookrightscale. This affects the input on the mouse no matter how much you do to the rest of your system.

 

[Throckmorton]

Get rid of that mouse and buy a small mouse that you can use with your fingertips, like a G9X.

That's a mouse you have to grab with your palm, which is a lot less precise. People who use their mice like that probably use low speed so they can get accurate movements. Since you're a trackball user, you're probably used to much smaller, much more precise fingertip movements.

 

[pandemonium]

I find the most proper mouse wrangling technique to be with my junk slapping it around. It doubles as a security measure for my computer, too.

Seriously though, there is no wrong way. That's akin to saying writing left-handed is wrong. Every person has their own developed ways of doing things or innate ways they operate peripherals. Find the best way out for yourself. Decide if you like it light or heavy, large or small, form-fitted or boxy, etc...etc... Go to Best Buy or a retailer with with mice on display to get a feel for each of them. Just remember that some mice have adjustable weights.

One thing I can certainly say, is don't bother with wireless for gaming. It's a huge pain in the butt when your batteries are dying and you're in the middle of something. I just position my cord so that it doesn't interfere with the operation of it.

 

[Ben90]

Get rid of that mouse and buy a small mouse that you can use with your fingertips, like a G9X.

I personally find the G9X to be a terrible shape. It's almost usable without the flimsy grip thing that starts to get loose after a month.

Like pandemonium said, everyone likes something different.

 

[Zap]

Get rid of that mouse and buy a small mouse that you can use with your fingertips, like a G9X.

FYI there's a current hot deals thread on a G9x MW3 edition (same thing, MW3 graphics on the removable cover) putting it under $40 shipped.

 

[BrightCandle]

Many of us may have leant to use a mouse in a particular way and are fine using it as you are. However there is a considered optimal way to use a mouse for maximum accuracy so learning that way to begin with is far better than learning a less ideal way. We might all have our own style now but if someone had told us a decade ago what the best usage pattern was for reducing carpal tunnel syndrome and giving us greater accuracy and muscle memory we would have chosen it.

Having an experienced person switch can take them months to years to get as good again with the new mechanism, but we should't suggest our bad habits for someone learning now, they should learn to use it the best way initially.

The G9 is a positive acceleration mouse, its far from flawless and its not really any good for low sensitivity. Really the OP should learn the palm grip not the claw or finger tip for low sensitivity and hence use a bigger mouse with palm rest space.

 

[24601]

Get a Logitech G400.

Install the drivers.

Play your games .

G500 and its cousins = positive acceleration which is maddening in twitch FPS

Anything with the Phillips Twineye = maddening z-axis bug/feature that persists even when mousing on a solid sheet of aluminum (first hand experience) just from the minute flex of the Polytetrafluoroethylene feet (and however much the plastic casing flexes)

Until Avago stops implementing positive acceleration on purpose in their laser sensors (to badly make up for the slight negative acceleration in some use cases [ala G5]) the G400 is the only choice for precision twitch gaming.

 

[KingFatty]

Interesting, I hadn't though if I was using a particular grip, such as claw or palm. Any particular good resources wehre can I read more about this, or I'm fine just researching around on the web but if you already know of a resource please let me know.

 

[Ben90]

Honestly the type of grip doesn't matter in the slightest. There are threads and threads debating whether or not a Deathadder is a claw grip or palm. Just hold the mouse however it is comfortable. If it isn't, try something else.

 

[KingFatty]

Thanks for the handy post.