Controller or Keyboard and Mouse?

[PerditusQuaesitor]

How are the controls with this game? Are people generally using twin stick for movement and aiming and the shoulder buttons for controls and finding that comfortable? or is this something that really benefits from a keyboard and mouse for controlling the grappling hook?

[Five Pebbles]

I'm using keyboards and mouse, and I gotta say I'm having a blast. Haven't tried any other controllers and I don't think I will, it works great for keyobard and mouse

[happysquared]

Hey I've read a decent amount of feedback about controller vs. KBM. I don't have an easy answer.

There are a lot of people that find the controller in the game uncomfortable and there are also people that prefer to play the game on controller. I think both of those groups of people pick controller over keyboard whether it is for ergonomic issues or just having a general preference for not playing with KBM.

The people that find the controller uncomfortable tend to really hate the game and find it unplayable.

The people that don't have these issues have had a good time. I think the positive review we got from Polygon was from someone that played with the steam deck controls.

You are correct that twin stick is used for movement and aiming. Rusted Moss requires precise aiming that is not unlike traditional shooters. This is used for both the grappling hook and the gun. There are no strict grappling anchor points so the angle you have attached your grapple and the location you have anchored it will affect its behaviour - it isn't the kind of hook that as long as you shoot it at something, your path will be predictable.

By default, I think we have the jump button on one of the triggers for this reason. It is important to be able to move around with thumbs on BOTH sticks and jump at the same time. I think a lot of platformers keep the jump on "A" and movement on the D-pad because this kind of coordination isn't typical. I'd say our control scheme favours similar things to an FPS in that regard - being able to move, aim, and jump at the same time without moving fingers off key spots.

So you can say that Rusted Moss favours KBM for the same reason an FPS does - precision of aim. Our controller support does have an auto-aim that helps and we have accessibility options to play with that too.

I've heard from some people that they find our controller settings unplayable/broken. I've tried to follow-up with them to see if it is a bug or not as I couldn't tell what issues they were having based on the description.

I've also heard some people really find the controller unplayale.

Aaand I also heard a not insignificant number of people really have 0 issues with the controller.

Anyway, this varying amount of opinions I've heard make it hard for me to give a definitive answer. I'm not sure what the people who can't play with controller have in common. I'm not sure what the people who can play with controller have in common...

You can try the demo out first to see how you feel: Demo itch link here [emlise.itch.io]

[PerditusQuaesitor]

Thanks for the complete reply! That was at least worth picking the game up to give it a good go.

Playing with the controller takes a bit of getting used to. I suspect some people find it a bit easier if they're used to FPS controls with a controller. I'm personally still having a bit of a rough time, but it's playable on Normal so far.

A couple of things were a bit awkward - one was my direction would reset quickly after I adjusted aim, so I would need to hold the right stick to keep aiming in a specific direction. I couldn't aim and then fire. Also, I would have expected firing direction to be towards movement without input from the right stick. It's not terrible, and I can see some people having the opposite preference.

The option to bind jump to 'up' on the left stick was nice, but another alternative option that might be nice would be actual aiming on the left stick, while leaving the right stick to override aiming for precision movement, aiming while still, backpedaling, etc. But if you think about it, if most grapples are being done while moving, then maintaining forward movement from the joystick while aiming up a bit does simplify the control operation a bit. It's also similar to some other gun-based 2-d platformers.

In any case, you've already done much more than most devs at providing options, and the game is fun so far, so thanks again!

I might need to try kbm controls too when I'm gaming at a desk, not the living room!