10 replies to this topic

[DrFistington]

I've been getting into MWO quite a bit lately, and currently enjoy the controller setup I have, which is logitech 3d extreme joystick for the left hand for weapons groups, jump jets, vision modes, etc, and then right hand I use the mouse for aiming, alpha strike, and mouse wheel for throttle control, but I think Ideally I would like to use an analog throttle WITH a mouse ball built in for my right hand control. Ideally the analog throttle would have a mouse ball on the left hand side of the throttle so I could use my thump to control where my cross hairs are looking, and then underneath the mouse ball it would be nice to have a big red button I could map to alpha strike.

Has anyone ever seen anything that seems to match what I'm looking for?

[MoonUnitBeta]

So.. from my understanding... this is what you are kind of looking for...


PS: I'm at work.. so... i had to use MS Paint...

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 02 August 2013 - 08:13 AM.

[DrFistington]

YES! That is exactly what I am looking for. Them's some nice paint skillz, too btw.

[ICUBurn]

Build one. Thats about the best I can say.

[DrFistington]

I've pretty much come to that conclusion. I'm thinking I can get a USB powered analog throttle that's pretty basic, and then remove the bar handle and attach something like this http://www.ebay.com/...180998527433%26

So I could push the mouse forward or backward to operate the throttle, but still have thumb access to the mouse ball and buttons.

[ICUBurn]

my build would have beena bit more frankenstieny but that works too.. iw as gonna say go get a trackball and dismantl it carfully cutting it apart for the different components get some wire and resolder all the circuit board connections after placing everything were ya wanted it.

basicaly something like this but wired. http://store.apple.c...=AOS-US-KWG-PLA cut off track ball section and circuits buttona and circuits and wheel ans circuits. get a shifter from a sal;vage yard somehow rig the shifter to the scrool wheel and build a t handle and install teh trackball and buttons were ya want them using some of that mighty putty knock off stuff you can get at the doller store(my friend build himself a custom 360 controller this way cause it didnt fit his hands like he wanted). some wire and solder everthing back together.

[Tarl Cabot]

You should be asking if anyone is using a trackball and how effective is it in game? Just thinking about it and how I would utilize it, I do not see what has been envisioned to be really effective in combat.

[evilC]

There are many throttles out there that have built-in trackballs or nipp1e (Stupid forum thinks that is swearing!) pointing devices, but tbh they are generally too small to be of much practical use for aiming - the ones I have seen on sticks from Thrustmaster and other high-end stick manufacturers do not have enough weight in the ball to spin it, so would likely have too little range of motion and require you to set the ball very sensitive so you do not need to re-position your thumb (ie like picking up and moving a mouse)

Am wondering why you want throttle and aim on right hand, this seems illogical to me.
IMHO, the logical way of doing it is for lower body control (throttle, turning) to be on left hand, and upper body control (aiming) to be on the right hand - if you play any other FPS games, this is the convention that is typically used, so confusing your brain with different setups could potentially be counter-productive. Muscle memory is very important for minimizing the amount of time (and conscious thought) required to execute the desired move, so if you have any muscle memory built up for left hand move/right hand aim I would stick with this paradigm to avoid having to start from scratch.

I think you already have a pretty much optimal setup - analog movement is superior to keyboard, plus you have mouse aiming which is superior to stick aiming (in relative mode as MWO is limited to ATM). There are compelling arguments for and against having fire buttons on the mouse (Against is the fact that clicking a button may move the mouse slightly, affecting aiming. In favour is having aiming and firing logically grouped onto the same hand) so I don't think I could argue that your current setup is fundamentally flawed in any way.

If part of the problem is that your stick is sprung, meaning you have to hold it to move, I have a potential solution there...
My "Pad Throttle" app (See sig) will let you use the throttle in "Relative" mode, meaning that the joystick behaves more like the WSAD keys - center on your stick would be "No change in speed", not "Stopped".

Edited by evilC, 05 August 2013 - 09:37 AM.

[1Sascha]

Quote

There are many throttles out there that have built-in trackballs or nipp1e (Stupid forum thinks that is swearing!) pointing devices,

LOL.. just call it a mini-joystick or something...

But yeah: A lot of HOTAS-setups come with those mouse-emulating input devices. I used to have a crappy Saitek errr.. X36? waaaay back in the Gameport-era and even that thing had the mini stick/trackball.

CH's Pro throttle has a mini-joystick on it (among a ton of other functions/buttons). Plus it's available as a stand-alone product:



Mini-stick is the grey thing on the right

http://www.chproduct...-v13-d-719.html

Available here (for example):

http://www.amazon.co...ts+pro+throttle


S.

Edited by 1Sascha, 06 August 2013 - 12:11 AM.

[evilC]

I would discount the mini-stick types.
Despite being a "mouse", it is actually a stick. You cannot use it like you would a mouse or trackball as it is an absolute input device (Mapped to a relative scale), not a relative input device like a mouse or trackball.
You will not be able to aim with it anything like as well as a normal mouse or trackball.

Edited by evilC, 06 August 2013 - 04:03 AM.

[1Sascha]

Quote

I would discount the mini-stick types.
Despite being a "mouse", it is actually a stick.

Easy fix: Use the mouse to aim and the mini-stick on the throttle to steer your mech. You got a crapload of buttons and switches on that thing - should easily be enough to map all MWO-functions you'll ever need.

That's what I'd do if my left hand wasn't already busy using the mouse..

Besides: You don't really need that much precision for steering the Mech.. I'd always want to aim with my strong hand. I'm a lefty, but even I wouldn't want to aim with a little trackball/rubber-thingy in this type of game if I can do it with a mouse.


S.

Edited by 1Sascha, 06 August 2013 - 08:24 AM.