Learning to use a controller instead of mouse/kb?

[ibex333]

As a PC gamer, I am finding it extremely difficult, frustrating even to use consoles. I tried in the past, and gave up, selling my 360 and PS3. Now I was able to snag a 360 for cheap, and want to try again. I tried playing Gears of War today, but gave up in frustration after 5 minutes. I am lucky if I actually manage to shoot something once out of 10 times. Yeah, its THAT bad. Sometimes I end up going sideways when I want to go forward, and sometimes I end up switching guns when I just wanted to move somewhere.

I understand practice makes perfect, but are there any other games that you feel helped YOU develop the necessary dexterity, or whatever it is that's needed to use a controller?

Thanks.

 

[dagamer34]

You need to play a platformer, too bad the only good ones are from Nintendo now. Sigh.

 

[Wingznut]

I'm not sure you can learn any skill in 5 minutes. If you want to game using a controller, you are just going to have to drum up some perseverance.

 

[Geosurface]

I was always a DIE HARD trackball and keyboard user for years (though I've had consoles my whole life too, since about 1989 I was much more of a PC gamer than console gamer) and I used to look down my nose at controllers on PC games in particular.

Now I use my XBox 360 wireless controller for Windows on a great number of games... in fact, the only thing I really still use mouse/keyboard (I finally gave up the trackball for a high quality high precision gaming mouse) for are Counter-Strike: GO, StarCraft II, and Diablo 3. Stuff like that.

I really enjoy using the controller, and I also frequently use my TV across the room (via long HDMI cord) as my monitor. I get to play games like Crysis 3, Max Payne 3, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, and a bazillion others... in a completely authentic, casual, relaxed console way, on a nice big TV, but with better frame rate and graphics. It's the best of both worlds.

I really don't need to worry about precision unless it's a competitive online game, particularly CS:GO... but I have never had much of a competitive streak anyway, and have gotten increasingly casual about those games over time. I very frequently am top of the server on CS:GO, but I always play casual servers, and have no intention of stopping that. I also play the most casual type of games StarCraft II provides. It is very liberating not to care about being the best or even particularly good.

I've even started playing most single player games on easy! I would have considered that blasphemy years ago. Now I realize, anything I can do to make it more likely that I will actually finish a single player game rather than lose interest, as I often do, is a good move.

Sorry to ramble, let me bring this home: you should redouble your efforts to adapt to a 360 controller, their design is great and they are really nice to use in a lot of situations.

 

[QueBert]

NBA 2k did it for me, sports games in general make awesome use of a gamepad.

 

[Aikouka]

You need to play a platformer, too bad the only good ones are from Nintendo now. Sigh.

Oh, really?

 

[hans030390]

Just keep doing it until it becomes natural. You will often have to think about every movement and action you take with a controller until then.

 

[exdeath]

If you've been spoiled by mouse control there is no getting use to analog sticks and their awkward press and hold still acrobatics, the auto rubber band need to move without input to force you back to level since recentering the view isn't possible (eg picking up the mouse) and arbitrary slow fixed turn rates defined by the game instead of your wrist. Stick turning is the same as keyboard turning IMO and you'll never get good at it because its inherently flawed anyway. Its only "good" relative to other stick and keyboard turners.

Just focus on enjoying single player games and stories and non shooters on the couch and avoid competitive online versus modes and you'll be able to tolerate sticks.

Which is really what consoles should be for anyway. Serious competitive play should only be on kb+mouse anyway, the twitch reflex and flick and stop on a sub pixel speed and precision of a mouse is just a whole different world.

IMO online shooters don't even belong on consoles and are dragging down innovation and fun in the console space. FPS explosion on consoles is not only producing FPS inferior to PC but their popularity is also diminishing games and genres where consoles excel and are superior to PCs. They should have stayed on PC.

 

[apac]

If you've been spoiled by mouse control there is no getting use to analog sticks and their awkward press and hold still acrobatics, the auto rubber band need to move without input to force you back to level since recentering the view isn't possible (eg picking up the mouse) and arbitrary slow fixed turn rates defined by the game instead of your wrist. Stick turning is the same as keyboard turning IMO and you'll never get good at it because its inherently flawed anyway. Its only "good" relative to other stick and keyboard turners.

Just focus on enjoying single player games and stories and non shooters on the couch and avoid competitive online versus modes and you'll be able to tolerate sticks.

Which is really what consoles should be for anyway. Serious competitive play should only be on kb+mouse anyway, the twitch reflex and flick and stop on a sub pixel speed and precision of a mouse is just a whole different world.

IMO online shooters don't even belong on consoles and are dragging down innovation and fun in the console space. FPS explosion on consoles is not only producing FPS inferior to PC but their popularity is also diminishing games and genres where consoles excel and are superior to PCs. They should have stayed on PC.

wrong forum. PC Gaming is -> that way.

I used to be a die-hard kb/mouse FPS gamer when playing Rainbow Six, UT, CS, CS:S, BF1942, etc. I learned how to play FPS games on consoles playing Halo 3 with my roommates. Now that I'm older and have started a family I don't have the time to play games for hours each day, and I prefer to play in the living room where it's easy to be social. Hanging out in an office with headphones on isn't exactly family-friendly.

It takes a while to feel "natural" but you do get used to the controller. I feel as natural using a controller as I did with KB/mouse, with a couple exceptions

1) it's more difficult to quickly pan around if you need to do a 180, since the sticks aren't as "twitchy" as a mouse
2) most games have a little bit of auto-aim to compensate for the lack of precision, which I find very annoying.

Who cares if it's not the same precision as competitive play, who is really trying to play at a level where it matters? Maybe .00001% of the population have the skills and resources to be professional gamers where competitive play matters, for everyone else it's primarily FUN and secondarily competitive.

 

[American Gunner]

You need to play a platformer, too bad the only good ones are from Nintendo now. Sigh.

There are the Rayman games on the 360, which are just as good if not better than the Nintendo platformers.

 

[American Gunner]

Maybe try slower more methodical games. Give the Rainbow Six games a try since they move at a slower pace than other shooters. It will pretty much come down to you just sticking with it. All of us older console gamers had to learn how to use sticks at one point, since most of us moved from controllers with just a d-pad.

 

[bunker]

I was just like you. The first Borderlands game is what got me used to using the controller. I'm still nowhere near as good as I was with a mouse/kb but I got tired of upgrading my PC to play games so I deal with it.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I don't know - I feel extremely awkward playing dual stick games on consoles as well. I've played the big PS3 exclusives (Uncharted 1-3, Last of Us, Resistance) that I can't get on PC and I still don't feel right with a controller. I think I'll always be a mouse and keyboard person for shooters.

 

[sweenish]

I'd ease in games that fare better with a controller first. Arkham games, Darksiders, or Tomb Raider. Once you get the feel for the controller, Gears of War, then finally a FPS.

Depends on how foreign a controller actually is for you, though. From there, it's just perseverance as others have said.

 

[Lil Frier]

I guess I got the "benefit" of growing up on consoles, mostly. I had the N64, Xbox, PS2, and Xbox 360, while my PC gaming as a kid was just a LITTLE bit of Urban Terror here and there. Generally using a computer helps you have mouse+keyboard skills, even without playing a game, so going from controller to mouse+keyboard is a fairly-smooth ride (as far as understanding buttons is concerned).

My dad, a year or two back, complained that he felt like the keyboard setup for Black Ops wasn't very good, and I let him borrow a controller, to see if he liked that any better. He couldn't handle the two joysticks and gave up really quickly. My brother-in-law had nothing but Atari and some PS2 experience playing shooters when I met him (we were in college). I helped him out by giving him the beat down in MW2 on 360 in 1-on-1 to start, and he's semi-capable on Xbox LIVE now.

But hey, if we have any games in-common on Steam, I'd be glad to plug in my wired controller (which I use for Poker Night 2 and Dishonored) and run around in a game or two with you, if it helps you get a grasp of things. The main thing you'll want to think of doing it relying a LOT of strafing. People say that said method is better for controllers, though I admittedly don't do that as much as I should.

Like people said, play slower, non-competitive games to start. Platformers aren't a great idea, IMO, because they're usually 2D, and they don't give you a great habit of differentiating between vertical and horizontal stick movement. Sports games, particularly NBA and FIFA, should do you a lot of good, though. They require nearly-constantly moving in 3 dimensions.

 

[Doppel]

I don't know - I feel extremely awkward playing dual stick games on consoles as well. I've played the big PS3 exclusives (Uncharted 1-3, Last of Us, Resistance) that I can't get on PC and I still don't feel right with a controller. I think I'll always be a mouse and keyboard person for shooters.

I think those games are well suited to a controller and do fine--more than some others.

The first FPS I've gone back to on PC in many years was Dishonored last year. Until then 100% console for years. The second I got back to that KB+mouse I felt immediately more comfortable.

exdeath's use of the word "tolerate" is dead-on. I play FPS on consoles, but they are tolerated. I've never gotten 100% used to them, because that would require them being as good as a mouse and they never will be/can be. No self-respecting PC player would use auto-aim or anything close to it, but it seems far more palatable on a console.

 

[Lil Frier]

Yeah, CoD's "Target Assist" annoys me. On the first Black Ops, I turned it off on the 360, and I'd still beat most people. For Black Ops II, it felt SEVERELY worse. I had to leave the thing on, because it actually felt like the game made you miss for not having it on, even when your sights were right on the person and you were burst-firing. I didn't want to tolerate going out with a K/D of 0.5 or something while getting used to not using the Target Assist all over again (you can't turn it off in Halo, for example), so I left it on and am pretty-well above 2.0 on there now.

They're REALLY handicapping you if it's off, and it annoys me. I'd much rather they abolish the dumb thing. They think it needs to be there because mouse+keyboard > controller, but they don't get that everyone is using the same input method, so the playing field is level.

 

[zerocool84]

Seriously, it's not hard, I've played console and PC games both just fine. It's called practice. Do that and you'll be fine. You weren't immediately good with a keyboard and mouse either.

 

[Fulle]

I would recommend a 3rd person shooter, with a decent length single player campaign, for getting used to analog controls.

A few examples of what I'm thinking of, would be something like Gears of War, or Tomb Raider. You can get used to aiming more easily in a single player game, and the 3rd person shooters are a bit of an easier first step since often in between areas where you're aiming (like using Laura's bow), you are controlling the character's view in 3rd person, which is easier to manage.

From there I'd suggest graduating to a first person shooter in a SINGLE player campaign (Like Bioshock Infinite), or a first person shooter with Co-operative play (like Warframe or Borderlands 2).

Step 3, is when you're feeling nice and comfortable with your controls... you can move on to a competitive online shooter. Expect to do poorly, since competitive shooters require the fastest reaction time from the player, and people who have more practice in will have a strong advantage at first. Unfortunately, some of the online shooters give players advantages for playing more, so you'll have that to contend with as well... but, it shouldn't take that long to get better.

 

[cmdrdredd]

There are the Rayman games on the 360, which are just as good if not better than the Nintendo platformers.

Rayman legends is fantastic.

You can only get used to it and learn how to get good with a control type by using it more.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I know how you feel, I tried playing Infamous and kept dying over and over at the first firefight. I need a setting below easy for that one unless I'm willing to spend a lot more time practicing.

I did better in Dark Sector on the PS3, maybe I just spent too many months away from playing shooters with the controller, too much time in Borderlands 2 on the PC.

are there any other games that you feel helped YOU develop the necessary dexterity

For the 360: I eventually got to be decent with the controller in Crackdown 1, but it has aim assist. It's a fun game, I recommend it if you don't have it already.

 

[bigrash]

I've been a PC gamer for the last few years and had a tough time adapting to the xbox one controller. After a couple of weeks of practice, it's like 2nd nature to me.

 

[Aikouka]

1) it's more difficult to quickly pan around if you need to do a 180, since the sticks aren't as "twitchy" as a mouse

What if you just turn the sensitivity up? You should be able to turn rather quickly, but you'll have to adjust to making very small joystick movements for a lot of the finer motions.

Generally using a computer helps you have mouse+keyboard skills, even without playing a game, so going from controller to mouse+keyboard is a fairly-smooth ride (as far as understanding buttons is concerned).

I gave a friend of mine a copy of Borderlands awhile back, and he told me that he had the hardest time adapting to the keyboard and mouse. He normally plays Call of Duty on the 360, so he was used to using a controller. Once he started using a controller, he got better, but he still admitted that he sucked at the game.

This same friend also decided to try out Black Ops II during Steam's free weekend. He told me about how he tried to use a controller, and that the PC Gaming Master Race stomped him into the ground.

 

[Doppel]

Seriously, it's not hard, I've played console and PC games both just fine. It's called practice. Do that and you'll be fine. You weren't immediately good with a keyboard and mouse either.

I was awful, but it's like riding a bike, eventually it becomes second nature. Controllers are in between walking and riding a bike, maybe a tricycle.

As far as multi is concerned as long as everybody has the controller it's all fine (and most do, though at least one device allows mouse/keyboard on a console).

 

[Lil Frier]

What if you just turn the sensitivity up? You should be able to turn rather quickly, but you'll have to adjust to making very small joystick movements for a lot of the finer motions.

I gave a friend of mine a copy of Borderlands awhile back, and he told me that he had the hardest time adapting to the keyboard and mouse. He normally plays Call of Duty on the 360, so he was used to using a controller. Once he started using a controller, he got better, but he still admitted that he sucked at the game.

This same friend also decided to try out Black Ops II during Steam's free weekend. He told me about how he tried to use a controller, and that the PC Gaming Master Race stomped him into the ground.

I guess it depends on your style of play. I'm used to a more-methodical approach on consoles, I guess. The "crank it up to 14" sensitivity is more disorienting than anything. A mouse has variable speeds of turning, depending on how you move your hand. A joystick is basically really slow or full-out, not a lot of in-between.

I don't see adapting to keyboard and mouse that tough, at least from a "get going" standpoint. Getting good at it is rough, but I think that it's easier to learn that style of play later in life than a controller. Pretty much anyone who comes from console to PC has some experience in computer navigation with a mouse, so the aiming's not too bad. However, someone going from PC to console might have no prior experience with a controller, and it can be cumbersome/slow to figure out (the issue my dad had).

But yeah, if you try to take a controller into an online multiplayer session of a FPS, you're going to have a bad time. Stick to single-player, for sure. I use my controller for Dishonored and Poker Night right now, and I'll probably CONSIDER it on the other single-player stuff I have (Dark Souls, Deus Ex, Max Payne, Metro), depending on control scheme and comfort, I guess.