Getting good with a controller/thumbsticks...

[Dimwit Donald (very high IQ)]

Is there a secret? I've always been a pc gamer since the days of NES and amiga were over. I occasionally used a controller, but I never ever got remotely as good at 1st/3rd person shooters as with a mouse and keyboard. I can play CS better than the average, I'd say (not that I ever do, these days). But if you give me a controller, I can barely hit the side of a barn, if I have enough time to aim. The thumbstick input is heavily accelerated and clunky, and there seems to be no way to turn with both speed and precision.

So, the point is there are so many games that are supposed to work great on the deck, but, in reality, as soon as time-critical aiming is involved, they are basically "unsupported" on my end... I must be doing something wrong. Evidently, there are people playing Helldivers 2 with a controller now. What is their secret? Black magic?

[Haruspex]

Practice, mostly.

However thumb sticks have a top end skill level lower than a mouse, no matter what you do.

You can use gyro aim to help make up some of what you lose, and it helps, but it's not a perfect solution.

The trackpads too. You might like using the right trackpad in lieu of the right thumbstick. There's a setting for it that makes it act a bit like a trackball that I find pretty good, since you can "spin" it to quickly rotate.

Honestly if you're playing first person shooters or anything else that requires precision, just get comfortable with playing at a more casual level. Millions of console gamers do it every day.

[ugafan]

Gyro. Setting it up is kind of complicated, but once you get it dialed in, it's much easier to aim.

I'll give you some my settings for Counter Strike with the default mouse sensitivity in game at 1.25.

Gyro to Mouse
Angle Calibration: 13090px
Gyro Sensitivity: 3.25x
Gyro Speed Deadzone: 0.45
Vertical/Horizontal Output Mixer -37.5
3DOF to 2d Conversion Style: Roll

Joystick Mouse
Mouse Sensitivity: 600%
Stick Response Curve: Relaxed
Deadzone Source: Custom
Dead Zone Inner: 1600

Trackpad As Mouse
Sensitivity 300%
Acceleration: High

Here is a link to a video that gives an overview of Gyro to Mouse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP6JXpK1p24

Here a link to a website to find out what value to use for the angle calibration
https://www.mouse-sensitivity.com/

Some people use Flick Stick on the joysticks. I prefer Joystick Mouse. It's a matter of finding what feels right to you. I often used a relaxed response curve and set the dead zone inner to a value that is lower than default, but high enough to prevent stick drift. On my Steam Deck, this is around 1600. If you get stick drift, raise this value. As to the mouse sensitivity on the stick, I try to find something that will allow me to easily turn and stop at 90 degrees.

[invision2212]

Play story based games. Preferably not a shooter so you can get use to how controller feels.

You can also go into controller options and configure the right stick to wide, relaxed, extra wide. This will make the stick move more slowly as you increase the range and then at the outer edge become faster.

[deaddoof]

but I never ever got remotely as good at 1st/3rd person shooters as with a mouse and keyboard. I can play CS better than the average, I'd say (not that I ever do, these days). But if you give me a controller, I can barely hit the side of a barn, if I have enough time to aim. The thumbstick input is heavily accelerated and clunky, and there seems to be no way to turn with both speed and precision.

Yea. KB&M is the best input for shooting games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5L_Px3dFtE

I heard people have success with flick sticks, but I never figure out how to configure it. I will figure out how to do it one day.

[[?]legit]

G.O.A.T. původně napsal:

I can play CS better than the average, I'd say (not that I ever do, these days). But if you give me a controller, I can barely hit the side of a barn, if I have enough time to aim. The thumbstick input is heavily accelerated and clunky, and there seems to be no way to turn with both speed and precision.

Yep, there isn't, this is on of the main restrictions of controllers. You'll have to find a middleground between turning speed and accuracy.

G.O.A.T. původně napsal:

I can play CS better than the average, I'd say (not that I ever do, these days). But if you give me a controller, I can barely hit the side of a barn, if I have enough time to aim.

I wouldn't recommend playing csgo with a controller, because the game gives you no aim assist.

G.O.A.T. původně napsal:

So, the point is there are so many games that are supposed to work great on the deck, but, in reality, as soon as time-critical aiming is involved, they are basically "unsupported" on my end... I must be doing something wrong. Evidently, there are people playing Helldivers 2 with a controller now. What is their secret? Black magic?

Make sure that you play a game that actually has a good controller mechanics, and not just the "full controller support" tag on steam. For example, Call of Duty (which you can't play on the steam deck) has excellent controller support, you can change many controller settings in game, even the aim response curve. It also comes with huge aim assist. But there are also games which have bad controller mechanics, like dishonored 2, where everything feels slow and clunky. If your game feels like that, it might be best to check if it's a game issue and if there are some workarounds.

If you've never played with a controller, it takes lots of time to practice. Nothing really you can do other than practicing. And maybe take a look on how pro players hold their controller and with what controller settings they play.

[Dimwit Donald (very high IQ)]

Thanks for replies. I will try to fiddle with the controller configuration a little, maybe even try to use the gyro for fine-tuning, though it probably feels a bit weird when you have to turn the display in your hands all the time. It's not like I never used a controller for 1st/3rd person games before. I played GTA IV and V on the xbox 360, for instance. Practice certainly helps, but only to an extent for me...

[WarnerCK]

Practise.

Stop comparing controller to mouse in your head.

Practise.

Realise that controller inputs are analogue so you don't need to be riding the extremes of a game's input curve all the time.

Practise.

Use gyro for fine control.

Practise.

Also, the Portal games are particularly good for getting good, since it's (mostly) not timing dependent and (mostly) things aren't shooting at you.

[Mahjik]

Before jumping into gyro, first try just slowing the response of the right stick (assuming that's what you are using for look/aim). You can quickly edit the response curve and that will help making the transition from keyboard/mouse to gamepad a little easier.

In the configuration for the right stick, you'll see response curve options. By default, it will be linear. Try the other options. You can pause your game and change them while playing to find a good setting.