15 replies to this topic

[Kelsandria]

Hey there all,

The topic probably seems very strange to most of you, but I am a Keyboard warrior and usually don't deviate since I can be more precise then I can with my mouse as it is hard to play games with my mouse because of my desk. That being said throughout MW4 I was able to rotate my torso with my keyboard and I was wondering if there is anyway to do it in this game as well?

[n r g]

you need a new desk then.

you'll never be as accurate with the keyboard aiming torso, as you will as mouse. It's probably even worse than a joystick tbh.

I recall one player in MW4 who used keyboard who was pretty decent actually, his name was "Busted™"

But like I said, the elite of elite use mouse & keyboard, so if that's an issue, spend 50$ and get a bigger desk.

It would almost be like playing CounterStrike or Battlefield and wanting to aim the character with the keyboard....

[Kelsandria]

Considered that to be honest but before I do I am just wondering if I can use full keyboard really

[IraqiWalker]

Lemme double check that for ya. (Logging in right now)

EDIT: you cannot move the arms cursor with the keyboard. Best you can hope for is activating arm lock, and just rotating your mech with A and D. Meaning you will operate like a Dire Wolf, without the benefit of lots of armor, and dakka.

You need either joysticks, or a mouse. You don't even need a gaming mouse. Any 2 button mouse will do for 90% of all mech designs.

Basically, keyboard only is not feasible with the command scheme we have.

Edited by IraqiWalker, 02 September 2014 - 10:22 PM.

[Redshift2k5]

A torso has to move in two axis at the same time (turning and pitch), so in addition to movement input for legs, that's a lot of keys you'd need, and the input would never match the speed and accuracy of a mouse.

As far as I know there is no way to control torso or arm movement without a mouse, joystick, or gaming controller. MWO itself offers no such option. I suppose some 3rd party input tool emulation would be possible but there is nothing I'm aware of specifically to do this.

[IraqiWalker]

Might wanna ask Loc Nar about this. Far as I can tell, if there's anyone that can help with non-mouse controls. It would be him. However, I'm personally not seeing a keyboard only way for controlling mechs here.

[n r g]

Redshift2k5, on 03 September 2014 - 06:04 AM, said:

A torso has to move in two axis at the same time (turning and pitch), so in addition to movement input for legs, that's a lot of keys you'd need, and the input would never match the speed and accuracy of a mouse.

As far as I know there is no way to control torso or arm movement without a mouse, joystick, or gaming controller. MWO itself offers no such option. I suppose some 3rd party input tool emulation would be possible but there is nothing I'm aware of specifically to do this.

It was available in MW4 but it was horrid lol, as I keep saying. One of the best players I ever saw use it, went by the name of Busted™.

This was around when I was 14-15 or so playing MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries/Vengeance and I was so impressed (I was using a joystick at that time and didn't have that much knowledge about FPS) that I asked him for his settings and he told me he played with keyboard. He sent me his configuration file over MSN Messenger (that's what the pro's used back in the day).

I even used it for a while and got some kills. But the amount of difficulty it took was just a joke, and when switching over to mouse and keyboard later, it literally felt as if the keyboard torso aiming was like jogging on a treadmill with 100lb weights stuck on your shoes -- where as the mouse and keyboard is like running barefoot.

If you even take your playing slightly serious, you would benefit from just buying a better desk (seriously, you can get a used IKEA galant on ebay or craigslist for 50$ and they are one of the best gaming desks around, or brand new for 199$~)

[Stickjock]

Kelsandria, on 02 September 2014 - 08:45 PM, said:

Hey there all,

The topic probably seems very strange to most of you, but I am a Keyboard warrior and usually don't deviate since I can be more precise then I can with my mouse as it is hard to play games with my mouse because of my desk. That being said throughout MW4 I was able to rotate my torso with my keyboard and I was wondering if there is anyway to do it in this game as well?

Just checking... what about your desk won't let you use a mouse fully... size an issue/lack of space??

While my desk had the space, it sat up a little higher than was comfortable to use my mouse for extended periods of time... found some scrap materials and made my own slide out keyboard/mouse drawer... keyboard stays on the desktop and mouse and Razer Nostromo go on the slide out drawer...

[WonderSparks]

Kelsandria, on 02 September 2014 - 08:45 PM, said:

Hey there all,

The topic probably seems very strange to most of you, but I am a Keyboard warrior and usually don't deviate since I can be more precise then I can with my mouse as it is hard to play games with my mouse because of my desk. That being said throughout MW4 I was able to rotate my torso with my keyboard and I was wondering if there is anyway to do it in this game as well?

I am actually quite fond of the idea of keyboard-only controls, since I grew up playing Battlezone II using a keyboard (before later getting a controller to remedy the wrist pains it caused) and MW4 was all-keyboard for me (since that game's controller support was not up to snuff with my "needs").
But like others have said, there is no way keyboard-only is really viable in MWO. Doable, yes, but not optimal. Even my controller does not have the speed and accuracy that the keyboard/mouse combo does. (A bit sad, really, but I will always have it for my SNES/GBA emulators )

Also, if the desk is an issue, maybe I could come take a look at it and buy you a new one; anything has to be better than the desk I use! (I kid, of course, as I cannot travel)

[Modo44]

You could use an external program to map your keyboard to a simulated joystick input, which you would then assign in MWO to control the arms. There does not seem to be a direct way to do it in MWO. Even if you manage to get keyboard controls working, they are bound to be slow and/or terribly imprecise. If space is an issue, consider a trackball device.

[n r g]

Stickjock, on 03 September 2014 - 07:55 AM, said:

Just checking... what about your desk won't let you use a mouse fully... size an issue/lack of space??

While my desk had the space, it sat up a little higher than was comfortable to use my mouse for extended periods of time... found some scrap materials and made my own slide out keyboard/mouse drawer... keyboard stays on the desktop and mouse and Razer Nostromo go on the slide out drawer...

Personally I'm not a fan of mouse and keyboard "slide-out" trays that most generic desks use. The is because the width is usually very small, especially if you like some space between the keyboard and mousemat (which I use).

Furthermore, desks like the IKEA galant are great for the reasons you stated because the height of the legs are adjustable. I have OCD so one thing that always bothered me when gaming was how high off the ground some desks are, which put you arms at an incline and it puts alot of pressure against the inner portion of your forearm.

New for ~100$ or used 50$, seriously , you guys will thank me later:
http://www.ikea.com/...ucts/S19852113/

[Wrathful-Khan]

Yeah man, I've been rolling with a $50 trestle for years. (Also great for DJ rigs)

Edited by Indiandream, 03 September 2014 - 09:40 AM.

[Koniving]

Kelsandria, on 02 September 2014 - 08:45 PM, said:

Hey there all,

The topic probably seems very strange to most of you, but I am a Keyboard warrior and usually don't deviate since I can be more precise then I can with my mouse as it is hard to play games with my mouse because of my desk. That being said throughout MW4 I was able to rotate my torso with my keyboard and I was wondering if there is anyway to do it in this game as well?

There's always something. I was able to control torso twist and turn with a single joystick. Lemme see if I can figure out how to do this...

(Link to video of researchy-stuffs for prosperity. It's pretty catchy.)
Research is done.

You can, in theory, do this.
What you need to do is go into your MWO folder, then USER, Profiles, (the folder with your user name) and then ActionMaps.xml

From here, what you want is "Pitch" and "Torso Twist". These are intended to be Joystick and Mouse exclusive commands and as such once you plug in keyboard keys you are going to get some rather wonky potentially explosive results.

That said...
Here you are. This is the instruction set. You'll have to figure out the rest on your own but at least you have a map and a means to get to your destination. Just combine that with what's already in the actionmaps.xml (from changes you made to controls) and you should be able to piece it together. If not, ask someone in the Tech end of the forum can help. Keep in mind you won't be able to post there until after 25 matches.

---------

But honestly... Laser mouse + Denim pant leg = win. It's not hard at all (in fact it's more accurate than most 'mouse pads'.)

Edited by Koniving, 03 September 2014 - 11:29 AM.

[TheArcher]

Would an alternate pointing device, such as a Logitech Trackman, work? It's a trackball for your thumb, leaving 3 fingers for the mouse buttons.

Unfortunately, they've stopped producing the wired version.

http://www.newegg.co...A2188-_-Product

There are also fingertip trackballs, but they look like your thumb and pinky would control the buttons.

[Ertur]

I played MW4 online with only a keyboard. I wasn't great, but I wasn't sucktacular either. I was DR_Gefallen back then. I had done my best to re-create an MW1 control scheme for the numpad in both MW2 and MW4. It worked ok. Can't do it here, though, so I use a mouse. I do have more desk space now than I had then, which helps.

[Satan n stuff]

E N E R G Y, on 02 September 2014 - 09:00 PM, said:

you need a new desk then.

you'll never be as accurate with the keyboard aiming torso, as you will as mouse. It's probably even worse than a joystick tbh.

I recall one player in MW4 who used keyboard who was pretty decent actually, his name was "Busted™"

But like I said, the elite of elite use mouse & keyboard, so if that's an issue, spend 50$ and get a bigger desk.

It would almost be like playing CounterStrike or Battlefield and wanting to aim the character with the keyboard....

Well MW4 had terrible mouse support in the first place, so it really didn't matter much as long as your keyboard could handle enough simultaneous inputs. In MWO and just about every other modern FPS mouse + keyboard is far superior.