15 replies to this topic

[Blaze86Vic]

Hello and thanks for any feedback in advance.

I am not new to MW gameplay in general as I was very fluent in MW2 and all its subsequent versions on through MW4, but I am new to MWO.

I have done some searching and can't seem to find anything on here pertaining to my issue, though I understand that joystick support seems to be relatively new to MWO.

My setup has always been joystick in the left hand and mouse in the right.

Joystick does throttle and rotations.
Mouse does torso and pitch.

My issue is that joystick inputs start off at what appears to be about 11-12% input. After that it works fine. But I can not get fine throttle and turning with the joystick.

Best example is when I try to accelerate slowly.
- If I press '1' for 10% throttle said mech will move at 10kph.
- If I lean forward on joystick the minimum input yields 12kph.

Please readit is not a configuration issues with dead zone or sensitivity as those do function and adjust as they should. But that I can not obtain 1% throttle or turning. Even using the throttle slider I get the same result. At 1% actual throttle input said mech moves at 12kph. After that it works great, I can finely adjust up 1kph at a time.

Now throttle isn't my biggest concern, it's actually the turning that I need most to be smooth. But the throttle and turning (or for that matter any axis input) act the same, and the throttle example is the easiest example to replicate.

Again, I appreciate any input. However, I have seen a lot of negativity to joystick usage and though I appreciate each persons opinion I will not be undoing over two decades of a playing style (wow, sad realization that I will have been playing this way longer than some of you reading this have been alive......this is what it's like to get old?)

Edited by Blaze86Vic, 15 April 2019 - 05:38 AM.

[Thrudvangar]

Hi and welcome to mwo!

Please... PLEASE do yourself and future teammates a favour and dont use a joystick!

This game is by no means a simulation. Youll have to be fast in targeting, rotation your mech/torso and so on... its a pain in the *** spectating someone playing with a joystick and his team is handicapped from the beginning of a match...

Playing with a joystick, no matter what it is for, isn't good nor effective. MWO is a fast shooter, nothing more, nothing less.

[Blaze86Vic]

Thrudvanger,

I hear you and many others say this, and that is why I use the mouse for targeting. Also, it appears that movement is acceleration limited, so input would not be the limitation.

The difficulty I have with the input in this game is that when turning the mech, they do instantly start turning. Which instantly loses tracking of your target. I would like smooth rotation to be achievable, rather than the jerky motion that is available with keyboard. Especially since all weapons in this game do not have instantaneous rate of fire, so maintaining target tracking is incredibly crucial, especially for MG and lasers which have a distributed period of damage.

I have to do a lot of practice to get back to where I was before, but once i get back up to speed and this single hurtle is crushed, I'll really be able to get the most out of each fire, and pilot this thing more effectively. It's not the biggest problem I have now, since I'm new and all, but something I'd like to sort eventually.

[Napoleon_Blownapart]

look in the controller settings and set the stick to 'analog throttle' and 'analog turn'

[Thrudvangar]

Blaze86Vic, on 15 April 2019 - 10:15 AM, said:

Thrudvanger,

I hear you and many others say this, and that is why I use the mouse for targeting. Also, it appears that movement is acceleration limited, so input would not be the limitation.

The difficulty I have with the input in this game is that when turning the mech, they do instantly start turning. Which instantly loses tracking of your target. I would like smooth rotation to be achievable, rather than the jerky motion that is available with keyboard. Especially since all weapons in this game do not have instantaneous rate of fire, so maintaining target tracking is incredibly crucial, especially for MG and lasers which have a distributed period of damage.

I have to do a lot of practice to get back to where I was before, but once i get back up to speed and this single hurtle is crushed, I'll really be able to get the most out of each fire, and pilot this thing more effectively. It's not the biggest problem I have now, since I'm new and all, but something I'd like to sort eventually.

Hmmm ok, all the best to you!

Unfortunately i can't help with your problem.

If you need any help regarding other stuff, feel free to contact me!

[Blaze86Vic]

Napoleon_Blownapart, on 15 April 2019 - 10:26 AM, said:

look in the controller settings and set the stick to 'analog throttle' and 'analog turn'

I got excited that I might have missed something, but I checked to make sure and I have already set them up under those.


Thrudvanger,
Thanks for the input either way!

[Koniving]

Throttlestick be works better. That minimum issue isn't going to get worked around though pgi's joystick support is terrible.

[Koniving]

It's worth noting the game itself has a minimum amount of thrust to function at all. Anything less than a certain amount and it wont even function. For example a stalker with minimum engine cannot go in reverse. Try it. It's impossible. The reason why is even at full reverse there is not enough power for the bare minimum the game will accept due to HSR.

The game itself also has limits to speed also related to hsr. As such certain speeds such as somewhere between 26 and 32, there's a few numbers that you cannot touch at all...the game won't permit it.

[Koniving]

HSR is the lag compensation that helps with hit detection. It has to be a level to calculate where you were when fired at based on the other guy's screen. As such certain speeds can produce problems and as such they get cut. Some mechs can't even move without at least 14.7 kph so getting 10 to 12 is a miracle...which could mean some improvements? Who knows.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

What specific brand of joystick do you use? There may be out-of-game settings associated with the stick's own software that you can adjust for a smaller deadzone, or greater precision, or higher DPI.

I also use a stick-drive, mouse-aim setup; I've been using the same with 'Mech games for about twenty years. Oddly enough, recently, with the first stick I ever tried it with back in the day, because its replacement literally broke from overuse and I can't afford a replacement at the moment. Nevermind that neither is still in production... the problem with becoming comfortable with a particular piece of very well built hardware is that when it does finally give up the ghost you're pretty much up ^&% creek without a paddle.

There are some advantages to driving with a stick, and you've hit on a few of them. Keyboard inputs offer the best response time; there is truth to that... but analog input offers superior precision, and is more intuitive. Joysticks make good driving controls for the same reasons that a mouse makes a superior aiming control. Using the arrow keys would technically offer faster responses than the mouse- but you wouldn't have the same control over your aimpoint and rate of travel. The same applies to driving. With a joystick, it is no effort at all to match speeds with your lancemates in a deathball- or to slice a wider turn to shoot the gap between two buildings and evade a pursuer hot on your tail. You can smooth out your movements to land a difficult shot at long range while moving, or take a slight-but-significant edge in a turning fight by precisely matching or mirroring your mouse and stick inputs so that your crosshair (or your shield arm!) stays exactly where you need it to be.

With keyboard input you only ever have access to your fastest possible turn rate, and your throttle inputs are extremely limited- a pre-set range of percentages, 100%, or zero. With a stick, you can utilize your entire range of movement options- and, if you really still want the instant response of keyboard inputs, you can always map those inputs to the hat switch for redundant chassis control. Options are good. Speed is good. Precision is also good. Contrary to popular opinion, you can have the best of both worlds.

So... yeah. Don't let anybody guilt trip you about using a stick they way you're using it. This is a shooter, yes, and you should always be using the mouse to aim (provided you have two hands to work with- I have known a few people with disabilities who needed a one-hand input). You're already doing that! However, whether you use keyboard, or stick, or both to drive is up to you. This isn't a typical FPS, and joystick chassis control does not put you or your team at any kind of disadvantage.

[Blaze86Vic]

The joystick I'm using is the Thrustmaster T16000M in left hand configuration.

Koniving,

Hmm, well I may never be able to get 100% adjustability. Though there is still room for improvement, I can get lower speeds by pressing '1' for 10% throttle, than the minimum analog axis input yields. But that keeps me from having too much expectation.

I have messed with all the joystick settings in windows and MWO to no avail.

WrathOfDeadguy,

It would seem very few people use the joystick & mouse setup, and you have far more clearly layed out the pros and cons with both setups!

Thanks again for the additional input and information.

Edited by Blaze86Vic, 16 April 2019 - 07:34 AM.

[Napoleon_Blownapart]

I use a T16000M and a Tflight throttle, the joystick turns and the z axis aims I wonder if you have a conflict between settings somewhere.The only conflict i get is the z axis and rudder on the throttle are the same. I can try to play around with the settings and see if i can get the joy to throttle.

I could not get a spider or a misery to move forward less than 15kph with the joystick either, i can't test the throttle with the game patching, i don't understand what problkem you have turning.

Edited by Napoleon_Blownapart, 16 April 2019 - 09:30 AM.

[loopala]

long time joystick user.

i use my mouse left handed, left over from a failed CAD thing. My joystick is primarily for buttons and turning. my mouse handles all torso stuff like turning my torso and arms. now I do use one of my mouse buttons for JJ,s and the other for center legs to torso. king of look, tap and go. MWO does not lend itself to HOTAS types. now my mouse (logicTech G300) has a bunch of other buttons i use for like Full throttle, Reverse Throttle, throttle up/down, all my weapon stuff is on the hats/buttons on an X52. most of the buttons/hats are set as buttons in software and assigned in game. also use a very wide dead band as MWO really does not have analog turning, just turn/no turn

this video show some of my play style with an urbie, which is a mech that does a lot of moving this way while shooting that way. also show off a bit of the finesse you can achieve with JJs

[Draco250]

I had this same problem and i got it. I run this exact set up you want. (First have your joystick plugged in obviously) First you open the game and click on settings. Then open the tab on the left that says "controllers" the first thing you're going to see at the top left are your axis control options. Clear all of them. Now for "analog throttle" double click the blank area and push your joystick forwards and it will bind. Do the same for your "analog turn" and you have made your left handed joystick for movement! from there you can look through all the commands your buttons on your joystick can be mapped to and all controls can be mapped there is a small slider on the side of that options menu that you can drag down to see all binding options.

[Draco250]

Also if that doesn't work for you try setting up a profile in the TARGET GUI with the button layout you want programmed and then run the profile before you boot them game. Plus have all that put in. I'm using the same stick as you and have been playing

[zzoxx]

Draco250, on 22 April 2019 - 12:35 AM, said:

Also if that doesn't work for you try setting up a profile in the TARGET GUI with the button layout you want programmed and then run the profile before you boot them game. Plus have all that put in. I'm using the same stick as you and have been playing

Draco250 brings up a very good idea. If you are not using the Thrustmaster Target Software yet, it probably will help a lot. I configured my T16000M with it to play MW4. You can tweak almost everything with it.