How can you play FPS's on controller?

[Louse]

Literally how.
I was playing Titanfall 2 on the DualSense, which I would consider a fantastic controller, and I just could not manage.
Went back to my PC and nope, not rusty or anything.

It feels weird and gross, and slow and bad. All my kills felt devoid of skill, because it was all the ADS auto-aim at that point.
My spacial awareness went from "eh, i can kinda tell where that man who i am chasing is relative to me" straight to "what even is peripheral vision?"
How is it that a good portion of FPS players can enjoy their games on these sticks?

(must clarify im talking about full twin-stick controller, not hybrid. controller&mouse is based as hell)
(also must admit that this makes me sound like a pc master-race cunt, but i wouldnt know how to rephrase it. no shade to console peeps, i use both cons and pc myself.)

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

motion control aiming is the only way that controller becomes bearable for me

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Gyro aiming helps a lot, also, I use a Steam Controller on PC for games designed for mouse camera control and the touchpad is nearly as good as a mouse.

 

[Louse]

i like gyro aiming, very cool. there isnt a gyro option for PS4/5 games tho. really weird imo

 

[Veho]

Aimbots

Whenever this theme pops up I remember an email from the developer of "Monday Night Combat", that they sent to Penny Arcade, about the issues they faced when they were porting the game from Xbox to the PC:

https://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2011/01/24/a-new-world-record


The console version had a bunch of aim-assist methods that helped players aim faster and more precise using a gamepad (most F/TPS games on consoles have them):

"View friction slows down the player’s turn speed when an enemy passes in front of their cursor.
View adhesion [...] will cause the player’s cursor to adhere to enemies passing in front of the player.
Aim attraction [...] takes a shot you make, sees if it’s going to be close to a target, and adjust that shot ever so slightly so that it hits."

Basically, the game holds you by the hand and does most of the work for you.

When the ported the game to the PC they removed those systems, but it wasn't enough. The mouse was so much better at aiming, they had to rebalance the entire game to compensate.

Sniper rifles became massively overpowered by the sheer fact you could actually aim for a change. So they dropped the ammo capacity from 10 to 4, and increased reload times.
The turret sentry had a "deploying" time during which it would take extra damage, allowing people to damage it before it became a threat. On the PC, people would just destroy it (several times over) during that time. The extra damage was scrapped to give the thing a chance.
And so on. The entire game had to be rebalanced because people were suddenly able to aim, which made some weapons and maneuvers way overpowered.

So yeah, FPS games on consoles are only possible because of slower opponents, tweaked weapons stats, and aimbots.

 

[Taleweaver]

I remember playing gta :San Andreas after years of fast paced fps'es (mostly ut2004). I don't have the stats but I think I've got me Hadid than 'other' hits.
... And that's not even an fps.

A mouse is just better equipment for faster precise movement. That isn't to dish console gamers but just muscle memory and the way human hand eye coordination work. If it were equal, it'd be implemented in regular (business) laptops, as nobody's contesting that TouchPads are at best a poor substitute.

Different, but also worth considering is that professional drawing artists use drawing pens for digital art. That's not because it's "superior" to a mouse, trackball or game controller, but just best equipped for the task.
The only reason mouse and controller are pitted against each other is because they've got the same audience (fps gamers), and sometimes even the same game. That's the only reason (and it's an artificial, aka fake one at that) they're being compared in better and worse.

 

[yuyuyup]

in 100 y people will finally appreciate wii remote aiming

 

[Chickenii]

It mostly has to do with which system you started on. I started on console and didn't realize just how much the game assists with aiming until I went to PC. Originally used a controller on PC in games that allowed for controller input, but lacked all the auto-aim functions that are native to console. From there, I learned how to play on KB+M and now I cannot play with a controller anymore. Precision aiming just feels so much better when you do it yourself, rather than relying on the game automatically aiming for you.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Sometimes, I use my index fingers to hit the dpad or XYAB buttons and my middlefingers on the L and R triggers. On the fire truck missions in Vice City, I used my index fingers with my thumbs on the L and R sticks, then my middle fingers on the L and R triggers.

 

[SagaP]

I'm at the other end of the spectrum, i dread playing games with mouse and keyboard, having my hand clenched on the desk, is the worst, nothing beats the feeling of having a controller between your hands, and slide into whatever position you want.

You do loose on precision, but i'm not trying to become an e-soprt start, i played doom, destiny and borderlands with no issues, and i got and awful controller (SHANWAN dualshock 3). the only bad experience i'm having is when i'm playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild with it and it feels like aiming in ocarina of time.

I'm hoping to get my hands on a dualsense or dualshoock 4 soon, not only for having a better quality original controller all around but also for the gyro aim, i've been looking forward to playing apex legends, and these controllers seem the perfect fit for it

 

[Shrubber]

I dunno but when I was in high school around 11 years ago a classmate was getting sponsored to play Call of Duty on the Xbox 360. There must be some element of control possible... Still I can't hit the broadside of a barn with anything other than a mouse.

 

[Chary]

I got through all of Borderlands 1 and 2 with a controller. I didn't really notice any problem with playing games like that until I used a mouse and keyboard for L4D2. I still like controller even with its imperfections, though. It's more natural for me because I never really played m+kb enough to get used to it.

 

[rcodi]

I'd assume with aim assist and enough practice it's possible to stay relevant. There's even that pro lobby shotgun main in Valorant that plays on controller, so if you're willing to play a certain play style you can definitely make it pretty far.

 

[Xzi]

I can't. FPS and strategy games are the two genres I absolutely have to play with a keyboard and mouse. OTOH, racing, fighting, and most platforming games I have to use a controller for, KB+M is just too awkward for those.

 

[NyaakoXD]

As said earlier, some first-person shooters have some form of aim assist to help players that use controllers instead of KB+M on consoles. There's honestly nothing wrong with using controllers on FPS games considering a lot of people grew up playing those games with controllers before PC gaming got this big.

I do think that trying to play FPS on PC with a controller is a big disadvantage since a lot of the times they don't have aim assist available for controller users, especially in online matches.

 

[ChubSwagLad]

if you use it enough, you get good with it and used to it

 

[Louse]

ok nvm. q1 on circle pad is godtier

 

[Kioku]

Literal decades of experience. I can go back and forth, and for the most part do fine on either one. Granted, I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I do think that trying to play FPS on PC with a controller is a big disadvantage since a lot of the times they don't have aim assist available for controller users, especially in online matches.

This was a true a decade ago. Where controllers were just starting to become a prominent form of input on PCs. Nowadays? Most shooters will have aim assist implemented for the controller players. Especially with crossplay slowly becoming a standard, not to mention multi-input options on even consoles.

 

[Hambrew]

i like gyro aiming, very cool. there isnt a gyro option for PS4/5 games tho. really weird imo

I hate that about PS4/5, most PC and Switch versions of these games are guaranteed to have motion users who are competitive with KBM users, let alone dual analog users.

 

[Ghost]

Aim assist