8 replies to this topic

[The Great Unwashed]

I noticed some questions regarding mouse sensitivity settings and such and thought it might be nice to share a few setup details. I’m the occasional online gamer with a few gadgets and these are a few tips of my own; hard-core gamer tips are always welcome. The setup below might not suit your style, of course. Note that MWO takes many more functions than the ordinary first-person shooter and button confusion is easy!

My main setup philosophy is this:

• All functions must be within a fingertip and my hands rest on the keyboard/mouse during the match.
  
• Use a gaming mouse with more than two buttons to transfer keyboard functions to the mouse.
  
• Use toggle functions (1 button) and not on/off functions (2 buttons)
  
• My right hand controls the torso: aiming and firing. My left hand controls the mech and support functions.

So, a good mouse is the first nice gaming pheripheral you need. Check out http://www.tomsguide...eview-2220.html for a list of what is out there (now). I think everyone will do better with a good gaming mouse.









I went to the shop to select a mouse with at least two thumb buttons and where I could reach those buttons without straining my hand; the Logitech Proteus for me. Some mouses have buttons on awkward positions degrading my aim but whatever works for you is fine.

• Gaming mice allow you to change the sensitivity while gaming. I mapped these functions to the tilt of the wheel. This is really fun for changing between brawling and sniping. Not all mechs respond equally well fast and using three settings works wonders for me. I typically use only two settings per match, depending on arm lock, weight class and having advanced zoom or not (lowest setting).
  
• I have the consumable buttons very close; Arty requires aim, so close to the main fire button makes sense. I do not map the individual consumables. You can only take 2 so remember what consumable is in what slot.
  
• I have the chain fire toggle under the wheel and center legs-to-torso under my last thumb button; nice, not really important.

So, most aiming and torso movement functions are combined in one hand and I have no movement confusion. I'd like to use the wheel for zoom but the wheel is not recognized in MWO.








My left hand rests on the Logitech G13 Keyboard. This small gaming keyboard really isn’t necessary (at all), but with the limited space on my desktop I can combine it with a large mousepad.

• The forward/reverse button is nearly always pressed so I cannot really use key G4 for anything important
  
• I do not use the zoom in/out buttons but I toggle x2 zoom; all you need.
  
• (Advanced) Zoom and Night/Thermal vision are used often but not all the time and do hardly lead to conflicts with steering.
  
• Rarely-used functions: arm Lock and ECM toggle are close by and easy to reach by my pink finger; stats and maps not so close by but still reachable.
  
• My thumb is reserved for Jump Jets. I also have a Pogo Jets button; this little keyboard allows the use of small macros and I use it to activate the Jump Jets for 0.1s every 0.2s for easy hill climbing.
  
• Thumbstick: no use to me (If MWO would allow me to use freelook with that joystick I’d certainly use it).
  
• Missile Doors or Shut Down not mapped

Note that a few keys are even not used at all; the mouse takes over 8 (!) functions plus the in-game mouse sensitivity change. The keyboard controls the mech movement and support functions. My normal keyboard is nearby for the ingame weapons grouping changes, talking to team mates and insulting opponents. So, get yourself a good gaming mouse and practice a bit If all goes well you will not have to take your hands off your controllers.

Edited by The Great Unwashed, 24 November 2014 - 04:05 AM.

[McTrevor79]

I made my mousewheel work by following this "guide".

http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__1734025

But no xml-editor is necessarily needed. XML-file can be edited with a simple text editor like notepad oder notepad++.

[The Great Unwashed]

Thanks, I'll give it a try

[xeromynd]

I have the G502 as well, very nice mouse.

Personally, I use the scroll wheel uo/down/left/right to navigate the weapon group grid. Clicking the wheel sets the selected group to chain/group fire. Clicking the thumb button on the lower left side of the mouse turns each weapon on/off.
I use it because I frequently change between chain & group fire depending on the situation, and I'll always adjust my weapon groups in game, the mechlab just adds another step and wastes time imo.

I have the top left two buttons mapped to heat/night vision, and the middle left buttons mapped to Target and Weapon Group 3 (usually missiles). Even with a multi-button gaming mouse, more than three weapon groups is still too much for me

[The Great Unwashed]

Great alternative for the mouse wheel and the use of the game's flexible in-game weapon grouping options; I'll give it a try to map those functions to my otherwise useless thumb stick on my G13 keyboard

I also try to avoid more than 3 weapon groups; I try to aim for high alpha builds (2 strikes per heat reserve) but with even more weapon groups I tend to make small overheating errors. Perhaps I'm getting too old for all this multitasking...

[Marvyn Dodgers]

Moving to Guides

[Lily from animove]

yeha as much as possible on the mouse anything else quick reachable, leavign WASD or any other keys assigned to movement is not good for a "long" time. I don't have big hands, so reachign crtl and shift is easy whithout troubles for my hand. (arm lock hold, and free look for UAV searching).

back in the days I had cybord PM42





it gave you 7 easy to reach buttons (the bbig one is a 4 way button) for your thumb, without much movement. Probably the best mouse I ever had. Unfortunately out of production and mine went broken by accident as we moved. :/

Now I wanted a mouse again with a 4 way button (MMO's when applying also Shift and strg as keycombos allows you loads of skill put on the mouse).

No I have a mmo 7, a lot more expensive.



Has some buttons more, but does definately not challange my beloved PM 42 for some reasons:

the 4 butttons are not as close, so using them with the thumb "takes time", the 4 way button is very tiny, unlike on the PM 42 you can not rest you thumb on it by defailt, since it feels more like a tiny joystick, causing it to click. And the lower button on the tumb area base feels way too far away for me.

All in all still a great mouse. Best is probably the both orange buttons next to the mousebuttons, allowing buttonlock, which comes very handy with a tag on the mech.

I have advanced zoom on it, weapon groups 1-5 consumables 1 + 2. I should also put heatvision and ecm counter there, but for some reason I have been to lazy doing so.

and funfact, after already 2 year with this mouse I have never a single time managed to start a game without forgetting to load my mouse profiles. Nothing is more weird than suddenly not being able to alpha and using UAVS or other stuff other games have.

Edited by Lily from animove, 26 November 2014 - 02:27 AM.

[thegnou]

McTrevor79, on 23 November 2014 - 10:08 PM, said:

I made my mousewheel work by following this "guide".

http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__1734025

But no xml-editor is necessarily needed. XML-file can be edited with a simple text editor like notepad oder notepad++.

the guide is no longer needed.for some months,it is now possible through the graphical interface to assign the wheel

[Rambo1638]

I use this mouse, personally i find that this is the best mouse for its price http://www.amazon.co...rsair+vengeance

Its a nice mouse wich is good for FPS and other types of games.