Controllers for Playing

[Cush1]

I was just wondering how many people playing GR use the keyboard/mouse controls and how many use some kind of control pad.

also, for the ones that use a gamepad what type would you select?

Thanks for the feedback.

Cush1

[WhiteKnight77]

Mouse and keyboard.

[Zantar45]

I have been playing video games since I was 2, and I hated playing PC games with the mouse and keyboard.

FPS are far more easier with mouse and keyboard, while platform and action/etc games are better with control pad.

Mostly its all preference, but thats just my opinion.

[MATRIX]

MS SideWinder Dual Strike...........EXCELLENT!!

[Dark Ranger]

I am a biased PC Gamer, however, I have played HALO, GR for X-Box, and SC for X-BOX. So I understand CBGs.

Mouse and keyboard are more precise IMO. That is the thing I can't stand about gamepads...you have to move and hold your thumb toggle switch or hat switch to look around and behind you. With a mouse, just slide it a bit off the mouse pad if need be.

[Copenhagen]

Mouse & Keyboard.

Edited April 1, 2003 by Copenhagen

[GP_Joltin_Joe]

I tried GR for XBox, and I think the mouse is much better for aiming. For me, it's much easier to swing faster or make small adjustments with the mouse.

I also like having lots of keys on the keyboard assigned to tasks without having to worry about combinations of buttons you need with controllers.

[WickedWeasel]

Logitech Thumbball mouse and keyboard.

[mik]

key b & mouse.

But I rekon I'd be pretty cool to have some sort of mouse designed so it'd resemble a pistol grip, but on it's side; trigger towards your body, palm down. I rekon this'd add a bit of realism but without looking like a complete nut case standing in front of your screen with a full sized computer rifle or whatever.

What do you people rekon of that idea

[Dark Ranger]

key b & mouse.

But I rekon I'd be pretty cool to have some sort of mouse designed so it'd resemble a pistol grip, but on it's side; trigger towards your body, palm down. I rekon this'd add a bit of realism but without looking like a complete nut case standing in front of your screen with a full sized computer rifle or whatever.

What do you people rekon of that idea

Here's what I envision:

1: Cool the room to 60F.

2: Don a full-body tactile suit( on the wet-suit idea, however this one is special:

>When wounded, the suit reproduces a small shock or impact where the virtual bullet hit. The suit would tighten a bit during long runs, because of exertion and heavy breathing.

>When immersed in the 3D water, your suit would react by siphoning water from a small water tank into your lower extremities for dampness.

>Suit would react to hot or cold 3D enviroments)

3: Grasp full size rifle with "Recoil Simulator".

4: Bag them Baddies!!

ALL IN FRONT OF HUGE 360 DEGREE MULTIPLE-PROJECTION SCREENS!!!

Don't look at me like that! You know you'd sign up for beta testing!

[the-dutchman]

i've been playing with mouse and keyboard for years untill last week...

now i've bought the Nostromo N50 and ive got to say it works perfect !!!!

u can check it out here... Nostromo N50

[Avey]

i found gr (demo) crappy on my x-box with a controller. I am a keyboard and mouse man all the way

[GimpyCON]

I'm told i beat Super Mario Bro's when i was 2, quite a task for somone who could have potentially been wearing diapers, so thats why a joystic is better, all the buttons are there and you dont mess up and press soething you werent suposed to (i do that all the time with mouse & keyboard, usually at the expense of my position)

[RatPatrol]

Hey dutchman... how do you switch from the keyboard to the N50... is it easy? Or do you have to undo your keyboard and plug in the N50 each time?

[the-dutchman]

@RatPatrol

it's very easy to use... it's an usb-device and i've got it plugged in all the time...

during the installation under winXP u'll see it installs several devices in one...

it sort of takes over the keys from your keyboard but also the scrollwheel on your mouse...

the software comes with a profile-manager that allows you to save different configurations and it's easy to switch between them even during gameplay...

the profile manager also starts up with windows so it's ready for use at all times

[Fehyd]

I'm also using the nostromo speedpad. I honestly dont think I could ever go back to keyboard/mouse. It doesnt work all that well for Mechwarriors IMO, but it totally rules the FPS games like GR and UT.

Fehyd

[Xio]

KB/mouse here.

Funny little anecdote:

My little brother refers to KB and Mouse as "Two-Hand Luke style" as if it were some sort of martial art.

This is because he plays console games rather than PC and has a hard time with KB and mouse FPS's. I have several copies of Ghost Recon so I gave him one. When he took it he looked at me and said, "Ah so...I must study Two-Hand Luke style, and return to defeat the Master" :lol:

Edited April 2, 2003 by Xio

[RatPatrol]

@Dutchman

Thanks for the info!

[bkriley]

i've been playing with mouse and keyboard for years untill last week...

now i've bought the Nostromo N50 and ive got to say it works perfect !!!!

u can check it out here... Nostromo N50

Far as I'm concerned the Dutchman hit the nail on the head I got the N50 Speedpad and you can't beat it! My uncle loves the speedpad so much he bought one for each of his SEVEN PC's in his game room!

Every key is programable you set it up just the way you like it!

MUST BUY!!!!!

[WickedWeasel]

I bought the N50 thinking it was a perfect gadget. I was soooooo disapointed in it I almost crushed the silly thing rather than waste the drive back to the store to return it. Everyone has their dif preferences and quirks. I personally would quit gaming if I had to use a dif mouse other than a logitech thumb ball. My best advice would be to go to your major PC store and physically try out an item before buying. If they wont let you try it out then dont buy it. Or try out dif things and return them if you dont like it.

[Lupus]

I just bought a Nostromo 50, since they created a Mac interface. I am having some problems getting it programed. On the Mac platform there are no existing, prerecorded key combos (a couple of the Mac keyboard keys are different) for games.

I believe the scrool whell only has two settings, so if you use it to zoom the reticule you only get full zoom or no zoom. For some reason the keys I set as keyboard letters do not appear to work.

Has anyone created a succesful Mac key combo they are willing to share or discuss?

[RatPatrol]

I give this N50 2 big thumbs UP!!!!!

I programmed the 10 keys like this:

Reload, PeekLft, Rise, PeekRt, ChngWeapon

Map, Action, Crouch, RateFire, NiteVision

Using my thumb on the mini-gampad like control to move forward/left/right/back has takin some recomputing of my brain... but i'm getting used to it.... and I don't have to worry about hitting the wrong key!

If you program this thing to your liking... and give it a Chance (not a quick, knee jerk reaction)... you'll soon wonder how you played without it. jmho.

I have the n50 to the left... keyboard in middle... and mouse to my right. They all work .. and work well together. It's well worth the $30... again... jmho.

[Lupus]

So you are using the keyboard and Nostrmo 50. I was trying to get everything on the Nostromo. I have been trying to program the four levels red, green, blue & plain. I think it is suppose to hold like 48 key combos.

I agree about using it to move with. I had serious doubts about that little pad being useful but it works like a champ!

[Cobblers]

I'm also using the nostromo speedpad. I honestly dont think I could ever go back to keyboard/mouse. It doesnt work all that well for Mechwarriors IMO, but it totally rules the FPS games like GR and UT.

Fehyd

I also use the Nostromo Key Pad, which as you said is something I could not do without now, epecially for GR. However, for games like Raven Shield it can be slightly annoying, as it just doesn't have enough keys to cope for your needs, but yes for GR it is a must.

[Lupus]

Hello again;

I figured out my problem with the Nostromo 50 and thought I would document my findings here in hopes of saving someone else a great deal of work. I think the documentation for Mac and PC are basically the same. Although a good amount of information is provided there are some omissions that I found very large stumbling blocks. Namely: how to program the shift keys, what category and type do various keys need to be set to.

There are operational modifiers for character keys that determine how they function. The main two I have found useful in Ghost Recon are hold and use once. I figured most character keys needed to be used once, wrong most need to be hold. An exception to this rule are keys that "execute" something like quick save. I had to set quick save to "use once" for it to work correctly. My other character keys are currently all "hold". Some "keys" are modifiers (such as shift, caps lock....) these "keys" have a special modifier key category and can not be set within the character key category.

For those who say there are not enough keys. It is posible to set 4 different "shift levels" (no shift, red shift, green shift, blue shift). Each key can be reprogramed for each different shift level essentially quadrupling the available keys. I should note here that I elected to use three keys on each of the 4 different shift levels as shift level keys allowing me to get to any shift level from any other shift level. Each programed shift key can be on or off. If all 3 shift keys are off then the "no shift" level is in effect. Yes this burns 3 of the 10 keys (10 more are available if you count the thumb pad (8) and "scroll" wheel (2) (may not actually be a scroll wheel).

I am still "playing" with my key settings but thought I would list what I am using now.

Please note:

1) At each shift level: key 7=red shift, key 8= green shift, key 9= blue shift.

2) At each shift level the directional pad is programed with the four Ghost Recon directional keys: w (move forward), d(move right), s(move backward), a(move left)

3) The Nostromo scroll wheel actually just has two key settings, each is in effect for half of the radius of the travel of the wheel. It may be posible to make this work like a scrool wheel on a mouse but I have not figured out how to do that yet. I currently use the wheel to switch between: all teams recon, all teams engage on each shift state except blue where I have it set to: all teams hold, all teams advance. My mouse works fine to zoom my reticlue, which was originally my plan for the Nostromo scroll wheel.

No Shift

1- Run

2- Peek Left

3- Perform Action

4- Peek Right

5- Raise Stance

6- Shuffle

10- Drop Stance

Red Shift

1- Team Alpha

2- Team Brave

3- Team Charley

4- Quick Save

5- Up Soldier

6- Map Mode

10- Down Soldier

Green Shift

1- All teams hold

2- All teams advance

3- All teams advance

at all cost

4- All teams recon

5- All teams engage

6- Al teams suppress

Blue Shift

1- Change weapons

2- Change magazine

3- Semi-Auto firing

4- Toggle Night Vision

*as is apparent form this I still have keys that are not being used, although as noted above I did not show some of the keys I have programmed the same for all or most shift states.

I am sure these settings can be improved on but its a starting place. Maybe some others will list there settings. According to a Mac review on this product there are pre sets in the PC world for this pad. That is you just select the game you are playing and there is an entire pre-programmed set up for the keys designed for that app. I am not sure if there is a pre-programed set for PC Ghost Recon. Unfortunatly the Mac has a couple of key odities so these are not available in the Mac environment.

Good luck & better key stroking!