Megathread: Streamlined Controls Mode (Including Current Mapping)

[[RUST]Grumplestiltskin]

Currently Available In: Alpha 1 Branch

Current Control Mapping: https://imgur.com/a/30oGlj6

Who is this for: Anyone with controllers with 2 face buttons (ABXY) and 1 joystick per controller.

Please note, in this control mode, some weapon function is not available. This is by design, and part of the nature of having two buttons per held object to work with. This will not be changed.

Current Known Issues / Counterindications:
- There is no way to change settings on scopes and red dots currently. This will be fixed (via a pointing laser interface)
- This control mode is not compatible with Single 2Axis, Joystick Teleport, SlideToPoint

[Violaceous Dahlia]

Seems to be working now.

One minor note: If the movement icons (with the arrows; Attached to the controller models) are showing when streamlined mode is enabled, they cannot be removed without switching to original, turning the joysticks off, then switching back to streamlined

[Rithman]

Suggestion: can you make releasing the bolt on the same button as mag release? That works fine in Pavlov VR. When the bolt is locked open the button will release it. When the bolt is closed it will drop the mag.

[SirViver]

I think the suggestion of making buttons have two functions each by distinguishing between long hold* vs short tap has merit and should be considered. Granted, I already use Steam VR input remapping to achieve the behavior that I want, so I have no horse in this race, but still...

Right now the forward button will toggle the safety on pistols. The first thing that I thought about this when watching the latest update video was "oh god Anton, whyyyy did you do this?". Obviously the safety is a pretty useless feature from a gameplay point of view - there's never a reason to put your gun on safe in any of the game modes - so dedicating a button to it seems bonkers. The answer to this is clearly cross-firearm consistency: presumably (actually, the mapping image confirms it) the forward button will cycle through the firemodes (including safe) on weapons that have that capability, which is a function that actually makes sense to have mapped. Not an ideal situation for pistol users, but the reasoning makes sense at least.

My first thought was to make the buttons context-aware such as Rithman suggested in the post above, but when I thought about how I actually use bolt release, this option became much less attractive. My reason being that in firefights I don't actually pay attention to whether the bolt has locked back. Reload for me is always 1) drop mag (lower button) while grabbing new mag 2) insert mag 3) hit bolt release (upper/forward button). If the bolt wasn't locked back then #3 will obviously not do anything (same as IRL), but with the context-aware toggle on the same/lower button it would instead drop my just-inserted mag again. This behavior would make actually using the button such a huge liability that it might as well not exist, defeating the point of having it in the first place.

Instead, I'd suggest having a long press of the forward button act as slide/bolt release. That way you're pressing a different button than mag release, completely removing the possibility for accidents, and the hold vs tap action is distinct enough that there shouldn't be any mistakes. And even if you do make a mistake, all you did was switch firemode, which can be quickly corrected with a few additional button taps - much faster than loading another mag or even having to pick the one you dropped back up in e.g. limited ammo mode.

As to the long hold on the lower button... not sure? But whatever it may be used for, having effectively 4 instead of 2 buttons would open up much more weapon functionality for streamlined mode.


* Triggered automatically after ~0.5s (configurable?) of hold time - button release not necessary. Having it work like this is important for this feature to make sense IMO.

[McJet]

it would be awesome to have the top button become a slide release button when the gun's slide locks due to running out of ammo. Really loving the streamlined controls since I am a twin stick player. Thank you for implementing it!

[ITNoetic]

I am also pro one-button-two-functions, or tap vs hold.

I would take things one step further and say to maybe allow a setting for ArmSwinger to be analog stick cap touch instead of up.

[Synthul]

Done a few tests with different firearm types. I think revolvers and semi-auto/full auto rifles/smgs work well. Im definitely echoing the slide release instead of safety for pistols, and I'd also suggest mapping B/Y to the right stick click function for bolt-action rifles, (aka the quick bolting) instead of safety.

[sargew00tles]

As a long time twin-stick user, I greatly appreciate this control schema already. This is really gonna save my bacon in some more intense T&H situations where switching on and off locomotion/turning is less than ideal.

My one suggestion: make use of the now unassigned thumb-stick click. This could be the slide/bolt release button, as even if it's pressed accidentally, it likely won't leave the player in a bad way (unlike if the mag release or safety/fire select were mapped there).

I think this is an attractive alternative to the press and hold vs. short click many have suggested above. Making use of available buttons is always preferable to doubling up the purpose of a previously used button, IMO.

[Hoooldini]

Hey Anton, love the game and I'm super glad you're streamlining the controls out. Been playing on my Quest 2 and my Index and it's my favorite game right now. I put together something of a suggestion for how to streamline the controls to encompass a few more features and provide a consistent and intuitive design.

Diagram: https://i.imgur.com/HwSrFZf.png

The main ideas I put down here probably mark a bit of a different direction than you probably have intended right now, so it's only a suggestion. It's mostly tries to encompass more features on your main hand controller, which means that there has to be a way of differentiating between the two by handedness.

While some things do make sense to have flipped between the top and bottom button, I think that each of the buttons should have some consistent categorized usage. So, in my opinion, I think it would be more intuitive to use the lower button to deal with the magazine/cylinder/tube in every scenario to keep things consistent. The top button gets to have more freedom because it just corresponds to the other function of the weapon.

This means that the fire mode is not bound to a button, however. So to remedy that, I thought it would be best to cycle the fire mode and toggle the safety by clicking the stick. This keeps it out of the way of other functions that need to be used more, and gives it a permanent home. Then, the main hand's stick can be used for other functions for the player's convenience. This effectively gives it a similar control scheme to HL: A, which is the most popular VR game to date. As a result, it will ease new H3VR players in and probably contribute to a standardized control scheme across the VR platform.

But I'm not you, and you know your game much better than I do. So please take it as a suggestion more than anything else! I love the game and I'm thrilled to hear that a new control scheme is coming out to streamline gameplay. I look forward to how it goes :)

[[RUST]Grumplestiltskin]

@sargew00tles, Hoooldini: Part of the point of this scheme is to make stick clicks no longer neccesary at all, due to complaints of it wearing them out. I will not be making use of stick click.

[Spankeey77]

Suggestion for Rift/Quest: Make X on left controller a modifier button. This would allow for 4 firearm controls. A, B, X+A, X+B.

Slide / Bolt Release is such an integral part of operating a firearm. It feels incomplete without this mapped to a button!

Would love matched HL:Alyx controls. A is mag release, B is slide/bolt release. Then X+B could be safety toggle.

Overall loving the streamlined controls. I’ve played this game a lot with Armswinger, and I took to the new controls like a fish to water. Joystick up as the armswing button works really well a replacement to B/Y. Would be nice to have option to map snap turn to left/right though.

Pushing buttons is so much more tactile than joystick direction down presses. Thank you for this!

If you make one change, please map slide / bolt release to a button!

[JohnEdwa]

I had a quick go with the simplified controls, and while these aren't directly related to the controls (which I do like quite a lot), they are something that I noticed because of the lack of some of the features.

Namely, as I have the Oculus Touch controllers with the Mamut Halo bump guards that add a few mm of thickness to the rings:

* Racking smaller handgun slides is sometimes hard or even not possible due to the tracking ring colliding with the other controller. It would be helpful if the grabbing ball would be larger or float bit higher off the surface. As is, I need to put the other controller inside the tracking ring and hope the travel is enough without hitting the back. https://i.imgur.com/1RWXsgs.jpg

* Reloading a revolver in your left hand without the ability to flip it is really hard or in this instance, practically impossible for the same reason. I simply cannot bring the other controller close enough for the bullets to snap in. https://i.imgur.com/6gtMehj.jpg

* A thing I noticed with the revolver: if you ♥♥♥♥ it, I didn't find any way to decock, and therefore open and reload it, without firing and alerting the enemies? My logical reaction was to try holding the cocking button down while pressing the trigger, but that didn't work. Maybe this could be added in?

* Adding a turning mode(s) that's a mix of smooth and snap: I can't use smooth turn as it makes me nauseous in a matter of seconds, yet I kinda would like not to hammer the stick to do the turns, or have to use the large angles - it's an analog stick and not a button after all.
I though of two ways, both could be worth implementing: static angle mode where you set it to always turn you x degrees, but you can configure and control the time delay between turns with the stick. Essentially just Snap Turn with an analog repeat function if you keep holding the stick.
And static time, where it always turns you after a certain time, but the stick controls the angle you snap turn to. So Smooth Turn, except it doesn't show you the middle positions, just snaps you to where you would be now looking at every x time delay.

[Bear Arms]

Would it be possible to make an official Index control scheme? Just like streamlined but with additional functions on the touchpad.

[eroticfishcake]

Using the mag release button (A button on an Oculus Rift) on bolt action rifles with an internal magazine (Kar98k or Model 70 for example) will release a "ghost magazine" (as seen when a bullet falls out the bottom).

This results in the rifle losing it's magazine capacity and stripper clips doesn't seem to fix the issue. The only way to use the bugged rifle is to manually load a single bullet into the chamber between each shot.

The issue also affects the Obrez Mozin.

On a more pedantic but slightly different issue. The bug doesn't affect the Carcano 1891 rifle as the en bloc charger clip is probably considered as an external magazine as far as the game is concerned. That said, a mag release probably shouldn't be mechanically possible for this rifle.

Pistols with an internal magazine and the M1 Garand with it's en bloc clips are NOT affected. Seems the bug only applies to bolt actions with internal magazines specifically.

[WickedInsignia]

I have also experienced Eroticfishcake's issue. Mag will fall straight out of a bolt-action and it will no longer fire nor be reloadable....only happens on certain rifles.

[[RUST]Grumplestiltskin]

Known issue.