41 replies to this topic

[Frosty Alpha]

I apologize in advance if this question has been answered elsewhere on this forum, but my cursory search has been unsuccessful. What tricks do you guys use to be able to fire 3 or more weapon groups accurately using a mouse?

I am currently using a Logitech G5 gaming mouse that I've had for about 5 years, and I find that I can shoot pretty well with the left and right click, but pressing any other button on the mouse moves it slightly and I wind up missing. MWO is tricky because in order to hit a moving target with a Large Laser (for example), you need to not only get the reticle over the target, you have to KEEP it there for a full second to get all the damage delivered.

For example, suppose you have a K2 with one LL on each arm, one LL on each side torso, and 2 AC2s (the heat management would be horrible, but just for the sake of argument). I would put the AC2s on left click, because I would need to fire them often and accurately, the arm LLs on right click, and the torso LLs on one of the side buttons (e.g. mouse 3). Well... I actually did try this build at one point, and every time I hit the side button, I would spray the laser beam all over the mech I was trying to shoot because my mouse would move a few millimeters.

Do you guys have any suggestions? Do you bind keys to weapon groups? Should I invest in a new gaming mouse with buttons that are easier to press?

Thanks.

[XphR]

I use a Logitech m705 key four and five are mounted to the left side, to compensate I drag my pinky along the mousing surface opposite the buttons. When I click the very slightly added traction from my pinky keeps the mouse from any visible twitching.

[Warrax the Chaos Warrior]

I have weapon group 3 bound to "left shift". My little finger is right there anyway, and it ends up being really accurate since you don't have to press on the mouse at all.

[Victor Morson]

Most mechs generally operate around 2 good firing groups, with maybe a 3rd for bracket weapons, and then 4/5/6 are usually set either as different groups to fine tune, or chain fire. Generally most people fire 3-6 with the keyboard (or 4-6), because 4-6 don't get used all that much.

So that's really what I recommend: Setup key binds you can hit and use the keyboard for 3+. Don't try to make mechs that need to constantly use more than 2 main, one secondary group (i.e. AC5 Group 1, PPC Group 2, Streaks Group 3).

[XphR]

I guess I should add, my mouse fires groups Five(m1), Six(m2), Three(m4) and Four(m5).

[Conan Librarian]

Try lowering your mouse sensitivity, if your crosshair moves a lot just because you pressed side mouse button then something is wrong...


If that doesn't help then I suggest a mouse where 3rd button is on the top, not side. That's how I play the game anyway, 2 extra side buttons are used for zoom and mic activation on TS3. I play with 3 weapon groups max on all my mechs. When I need to alpha strike I just press (default?) button Z.

Edited by Groovy4life, 19 November 2013 - 11:04 PM.

[Fuerchtegott]

Just move wasd to esdf and then bind "w" as group 5 and "r" as group 6 and use those groups for left and right weapons.
The reason behind this is, that you rarely will us this when you are on high speeds, but when you are behind cover and in those moments precise mouseaiming combined with keyboard firing will be fine.
It's of course just a suggestion.
Using an MX 500 Series I know what you mean by accidentially moving you mouse while aiming.
I use my thumb button just for tag (for the second thumb button my effin thumb is too short xD ).

[Modo44]

Lower you mouse sensitivity, and disable mouse acceleration (both in MWO, and in Windows). Mouse smoothing may help prevent some jerky movements, but it will make the cursor feel sluggish.

Use a good mousepad to make sure the mouse sensor has no issues recognizing movement.

Finally, buy a better mouse. The G5s sensor is OK, but not on par with more modern mice, like the G400 or G500.

[Fooooo]

Fuerchtegott, on 19 November 2013 - 11:26 PM, said:

Just move wasd to esdf and then bind "w" as group 5 and "r" as group 6 and use those groups for left and right weapons.
The reason behind this is, that you rarely will us this when you are on high speeds, but when you are behind cover and in those moments precise mouseaiming combined with keyboard firing will be fine.
It's of course just a suggestion.
Using an MX 500 Series I know what you mean by accidentially moving you mouse while aiming.
I use my thumb button just for tag (for the second thumb button my effin thumb is too short xD ).

This is pretty much what I do.

Except I left wasd and used Q and E for groups 3 and 4. (and left shift for group 6, which is basically my ac/20 for atlas and chain-fire for other mechs, or is for alphas etc)

The reasoning behind this is pretty much exactly like the poster above. Using cover and only having one side exposed, plus a few others like secondary weapons on the same positions as my mains.

Like if I have say group 1 with 1 PPC (in the left arm - mouse1), group 2 with 1 PPC (right arm - mouse2), group 3 (Q) would fire any LL in my left arm. Group 4 (E) would fire any in the right arm etc.

Left shift in this situation (being bound to group 6) would probably have all 4 weapons so I can alpha easy if I need to, or set to chain-fire.

It all depends on the build really, but like others have said, find bindings on the keyboard you have a spare finger for is probably easiest way to stop moving the mouse when you click the button.

Edited by Fooooo, 19 November 2013 - 11:47 PM.

[Kaeb Odellas]

I use the thumb buttons for groups 3 and 4, and have never had an issue with the button click screwing up my aim. I would second the sensitivity reduction and also examine the way you're holding the mouse to see if adjustments can be made there.

You should also consider adjusting the way you group weapons. For me, groups 3 and 4 are used for weapons that don't require as much in the way of fine control, such as missiles and torso-mounted backup lasers. Those I tend to fire only at close range or are lock-on weapons that don't need to be aimed period.

[MonkeyCheese]

Razer Naga for me



Numbers 1-6 are my fire groups

7 is my ECM toggle

8-9 are my 2 vision modes

10 is the battlemap

11 is push to talk when not solo puggin

12 is zoom module

and the 2 buttons you can see in the top left of that image that are you the left of the left click are UAV and artillery strike

Everything else

Targeting, normal movement, snap to direction arm lock is done by the keypad on my razer nostromo and all speed variables like max speed and full stop are mapped to the thumb dpad, JJ are the button over the dpad

[Uncleclint]

I was using a Logitech mouse a couple of months ago (forgot which model it was since it broke and i threw it away) and had some real issues with accurately firing weapon group 3, with the thumb button on the left side. I am since then using a six-year old cheapo (~4-5€) standard Dell mouse and firing weapon group 3 is not an issue anymore. I can hit anything as good as with the left and right mouse buttons now.
Looks like i been lucky with that model, which i only kept for the case that my "good mouse" would one day stop working (most likely on a weekend where all shops are closed and you can´t get a replacement until monday - y´know I´m that kinda sort of luck guy).
I can´t really fire group 4 though, so most of my builds come with 3 groups max. Only way I can use it is with streaks or LRMs, where the loss of accuracy doesn´t matter.

Anyways, what I wanted to mention was that it´s not always the most expensive stuff that works best for you. Go to a store where you can test every single model they have until you find the one that suits you best.

[TercieI]

My setup is like MonkeyCheese's, but with a 5-button DeathAdder.

For firing side buttons, it's like firing a gun: squeeze, don't pull (press). My whole hand squeezee the mouse when firing those.

Low sensitivity and low number of weapon groups are definitely helpful, too (4 is my max, but I prefer 2-3). And I do always put lock weapons on side buttons if I have them, lasers being second choice. 1&2 are primary with center for targeting and I do like to keep ballistics and PPCs there.

[Redshift2k5]

I only have an ordinary two button mouse. Most of my mechs utilize 3 weapon groups.

I use M1 and M2, obviously, and the 3 key for the third group. This third group is usually an LRM rack (I really like using a single LRM15 to open up targets before I wade in) or otherwise a tertiary weapon like an SRM rack on a PPC centric mech.

[Koniving]

Frosty Alpha, on 19 November 2013 - 09:14 PM, said:

Do you guys have any suggestions? Do you bind keys to weapon groups? Should I invest in a new gaming mouse with buttons that are easier to press?

I keep mine in 2 to 4 groups.


My mouse.
Left click: group 1 (primary weapons go here)
Right click: group 2 (any spammer weapons go here)
Left-top: group 3. (Tertiary weapon; usually close range or LRMs).
Left-bottom: group 4: (Usually LRMs or a flamer for fun).

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

I use LMB and RMB and space bar for weapon groups 1,2 and 3. Other than that, TAG is dropped into group 6 with an AHK script so I can toggle it using MMB.

In the K2 example with 4xLL and 2xAC2, then I would have 4xLL in WG1(LMB) on chain fire, the high-mounted "sniping" large lasers in WG2 (RMB), and the AC2 pair in WG3(Space).

I swap between mapping left side/right side weapons to LMB/RMB with missiles launches using space for 'Mechs with no horizontal arm movement, or arm-mount/torso-mount for 'Mechs with arms that can target horizontally independently of the torso.

There are very few builds which absolutely require more than 3 groups - although you may find yourself slightly compromising on some flexibility.

[Koniving]

Of course, for your build original poster... You could trade 2 LLs for 2 ML, and more heatsinks. Then you can fire all 4 lasers on a single click. It'll be the same heat as firing 3 LLs (without ghost heat) and you'll be doing 28 damage per firing.

[Modo44]

KISS:
1 - left arm
2 - right arm
3 - special/chain fire
4 - alpha
5 - UAV
6 - arty
7 - airstrike
8 (left click) - main weapon group (big stuff on the arms)
9 (right click) - secondary weapon group (big stuff in the torso)
0 (middle click) - tertiary weapon group (e.g. missiles or whatever is not in main and secondary)

The last 3 groups are mouse-only. You get 6 instead of 3 easily accessible, different weapon groups, and easy access to oft-used other functions.

[Eggs Mayhem]

XphR, on 19 November 2013 - 09:19 PM, said:

I use a Logitech m705 key four and five are mounted to the left side, to compensate I drag my pinky along the mousing surface opposite the buttons. When I click the very slightly added traction from my pinky keeps the mouse from any visible twitching.

At first while reading I was confused, but after trying it out I realized that this is completely natural for me and that I do this as well. I have a Logitech G500 mouse and have my groups 3 and 4 on the left.

For mechs with ballistics in one arm, I bind my left click to my left arm, my right click to my right arm, the 3 button (which is the back one) to any missiles and the 4 (which lies naturally under my thumb) to any backup lasers. For mechs with symmetrical arms I usually bind the main ballistic to left click, arm lasers to right click, and then 3 and 4 are the same as before. Because the 4 click is so natural I have no problem firing lasers using that button, but the 3 button gets a twitch so I bind my missiles to it since they usually lock on anyways.

[MrBlonde42]

Modo44, on 19 November 2013 - 11:40 PM, said:

Lower you mouse sensitivity, and disable mouse acceleration (both in MWO, and in Windows). Mouse smoothing may help prevent some jerky movements, but it will make the cursor feel sluggish.

Use a good mousepad to make sure the mouse sensor has no issues recognizing movement.

I agree

Modo44, on 19 November 2013 - 11:40 PM, said:

Finally, buy a better mouse. The G5s sensor is OK, but not on par with more modern mice, like the G400 or G500.

I Disagree!
I'm of the opinion use it till it's broken. There is nothing wrong with the G5 at low DPI, and the G500 and G500s sensors improve higher DPI which I don't find useful in this game. I had the G5 until the G500s was available at a local Best Buy. My mouse glide pads were worn and replacements didn't fix my issues with dragging on the pad. With both mice I have to use low DPI settings to accurately fire the weapons on the thumb buttons.
do you have the latest Logitech Gaming software (not setpoint), Unfortunately I'm not sure it's compatible with the G5. If the software and G5 are compatible the game auto detect needs to be tweaked, but once it's done you should be able to set your DPI settings to lower only while the game and client are running.
Setpoint should be able to do game profiles, and set a low DPI package while the game is running. I just never bothered with that side of the software.

Edited by MrBlonde42, 20 November 2013 - 10:46 AM.