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Need help with getting better on gamepad
Hi guys,
Does anyone have tips and tricks how to improve with gamepad controls during combat?
My setup is an android phone with gamesir g8+ controller. Stable 120fps, excellent gamepad, very precise, but I cant score any hits on the bots - 100% skill issue. I use autofire and autoaim. Maybe Im using wrong weapons? I do not want to use touch controls because gamepad gives me better feel of actually piloting a spaceship.
Thank you!
Does anyone have tips and tricks how to improve with gamepad controls during combat?
My setup is an android phone with gamesir g8+ controller. Stable 120fps, excellent gamepad, very precise, but I cant score any hits on the bots - 100% skill issue. I use autofire and autoaim. Maybe Im using wrong weapons? I do not want to use touch controls because gamepad gives me better feel of actually piloting a spaceship.
Thank you!
Without seeing gameplay, i'm not sure *where* you actually need help. I could share tips on what I consider an optimal control layout, but that would be useless if your actual issue stems from the manner of how you fly. I could share tips on good flight behavior, and it wouldn't be particularly useful if you're just using some wonky loadout or are misunderstanding the game's physics. It could even be that you just need to spend time playing games with a controller to build up that muscle memory! I know I certainly suck playing FPS-style games with a controller because I do not typically do so (Yes, VO combat should typically be considered a relatively close-quarters FPS)
Phones typically have built-in screen recording capability, and/or have free apps on their respective marketplaces that can fill the bill. Can you record some gameplay, throw it on youtube, and share a link here? This will help us know what you really need help with, so we don't waste your time.
tl; dr, or alternatively - have you seen my flight and combat essentials tutorial on youtube yet?
Phones typically have built-in screen recording capability, and/or have free apps on their respective marketplaces that can fill the bill. Can you record some gameplay, throw it on youtube, and share a link here? This will help us know what you really need help with, so we don't waste your time.
tl; dr, or alternatively - have you seen my flight and combat essentials tutorial on youtube yet?
Luxen, thank you for replying. I will watch your link and upload screen recording tomorrow as you requested.
Appreciate your answer!
Appreciate your answer!
So, what jumped out at me is that you are using a gamepad on Android. If it is a wireless connection, the biggest issue I've run into is lag. This is kind of a trigger word, but it is a known issue; use a wired connection, if you can. This is a game where milliseconds matter.
/2c
/2c
Luxen, here is the video https://youtu.be/YNKtXAUgBbc?si=XzLVHisManPaM3_h - it is uncut with a a bit nothingness in the middle when I search for required bots. Could not figure out how to edit it on the YouTube app.
Phaserlight, I thought about it but the controller blocks the USB C port s it is impossible to connect it with a cable. Appreciate the tip!
Phaserlight, I thought about it but the controller blocks the USB C port s it is impossible to connect it with a cable. Appreciate the tip!
It is 100% skill issue at play here but I want to become a bit better. All ship's control axis are bound to the controller including strafing up/down and left/right.
The aim rectangle also isn't moving very predictably... or should I just ignore it and predict where to shoot myself?
The aim rectangle also isn't moving very predictably... or should I just ignore it and predict where to shoot myself?
#1 IMO would be turn off autofire. Use your trigger buttons only. When you line up the shot, autofire will just spray rounds at the bots and bots dodge hard the more shots are in the air. You wanna line up the shot and shoot once or twice and stop until they hit. Then repeat. The bot dodge is crazy in this game and colloctors/transports are the only ones that dont. Autoaim is fine but autofire is bad.
As for piloting on a controller you can gracefully fly a heavy ship with small simple changes to motion in this game against the most aggressive assaults and survive. You just have to learn how to change your motion at the right times, and only slight movements are needed.. I reccommend just sitting in a bot sector and practice avoiding thier fire without killing them for practice if youre having a hard time. This helps you focus on maneuvering instead of trying to put it all together.
Fyi i run a cheap SMX bluetooth controller on an old android phone with no plugins and love it! Its super fast and responsive.
As for piloting on a controller you can gracefully fly a heavy ship with small simple changes to motion in this game against the most aggressive assaults and survive. You just have to learn how to change your motion at the right times, and only slight movements are needed.. I reccommend just sitting in a bot sector and practice avoiding thier fire without killing them for practice if youre having a hard time. This helps you focus on maneuvering instead of trying to put it all together.
Fyi i run a cheap SMX bluetooth controller on an old android phone with no plugins and love it! Its super fast and responsive.
Renaar, appreciate the detailed advice. I will turn off AF and practice.
I might be wrong, but I think you would benefit from switching to third-person and turning Flight Assist completely off - to me, it looks like you need to move forward and reverse MORE, you turn off your thrust when you start long strafing runs but then delay moving forward because it just takes too long to set your forward velocity target. Its similar to the issue Ren mentioned (which I also agree with) - effectively, the underlying issue is that everything you are doing is just slower than you seem to want to go or the game wants you - theres a disconnect *somewhere* regarding reaction time due to input configuration.
I'll try to match your style and record this mission tonight, but with trigger-based firing and no flight assist, maybe if I show you what i *think* you're trying to do, it'd help? As for switching to third person, normally i'd advise against it, but some players find its helpful with spatial awareness, and I wonder if you'd be one of them.
Ultimately, i'm not too sure. To a degree, it might just be a need to practice more. /shrug/
[edit] while setting up, I noticed some very new commands we can now bind - set F/A throttle to full speed/full stop. I'll show *my* gamepad layout since I play F/A off all the time, but you might want to consider using those, if you really want to keep using F/A, because that might fix the entire reason I think you might benefit from flying F/A off.
To clarify, when F/A is on, if you do not give input, the ship will try to redirect your thrust on its own so that it moves "forward" (being the direction you are looking) at the speed you have 'set'. When you give input, the ship will let you strafe laterally or diagonally, depending on your set speed and how strong the strafe input is.
If you turn off F/A, your input is used to directly adjust velocity. If you stop giving input, you drift in the direction you were originally going. To help visualize your direction, turn on "Show Velocity Direction Indicator" in Options > Advanced > Interface > HUD: Down near the bottom, above the HUD Target selection options.
I'll try to match your style and record this mission tonight, but with trigger-based firing and no flight assist, maybe if I show you what i *think* you're trying to do, it'd help? As for switching to third person, normally i'd advise against it, but some players find its helpful with spatial awareness, and I wonder if you'd be one of them.
Ultimately, i'm not too sure. To a degree, it might just be a need to practice more. /shrug/
[edit] while setting up, I noticed some very new commands we can now bind - set F/A throttle to full speed/full stop. I'll show *my* gamepad layout since I play F/A off all the time, but you might want to consider using those, if you really want to keep using F/A, because that might fix the entire reason I think you might benefit from flying F/A off.
To clarify, when F/A is on, if you do not give input, the ship will try to redirect your thrust on its own so that it moves "forward" (being the direction you are looking) at the speed you have 'set'. When you give input, the ship will let you strafe laterally or diagonally, depending on your set speed and how strong the strafe input is.
If you turn off F/A, your input is used to directly adjust velocity. If you stop giving input, you drift in the direction you were originally going. To help visualize your direction, turn on "Show Velocity Direction Indicator" in Options > Advanced > Interface > HUD: Down near the bottom, above the HUD Target selection options.
(So sorry about the audio, I didn't realize it was so badly balanced - that's what I get for not editing or anything...) Okay, so I rambled a bit more and it might not be as helpful as I thought, but I don't really know what I was thinking anymore. Anyways, if it helps, cool, if not, sorry.
I said i'd share my controller setup, but the only ones I'd say are probably important (keeping in mind that you need to find whats best for you in terms of comfort and learnability):
• Phone gyro: tilt to roll. If you don't like it, turn it off - I personally think rolling is only important enough if its comfortable. Since I don't have easy button access for rolling on PC, I don't enable it.
• Joysticks: One should control your strafe, the other your turn and pitch. Maybe you're like Incarnate, and your brain works on a different dimensional plane (sorry!), but keeping these isolated together is a lot easier on my own brain.
• Left and Right triggers: Use one to accelerate, the other to reverse. Use your middle fingers to control these, and use them a lot to actively manage your distance.
• Left and right bumpers: Use these for primary and secondary fire. When flying a vulture, split your blasters to the two triggers, and you can mechanically chainfire (useful in PvP, not so much in PvE, but I do it anyways).
Other things that are probably important to bind would be:
• Activate
• Turbo (but don't use it too much mid-combat, it makes you easy to target)
• Sensor log (or anything that opens the PDA, but I like this one to check for active danger)
• Select next in front
• Chat to active channel
But again, that's just me. I don't play on controller for FPS games a lot, so see if someone else has more help in that manner?
I said i'd share my controller setup, but the only ones I'd say are probably important (keeping in mind that you need to find whats best for you in terms of comfort and learnability):
• Phone gyro: tilt to roll. If you don't like it, turn it off - I personally think rolling is only important enough if its comfortable. Since I don't have easy button access for rolling on PC, I don't enable it.
• Joysticks: One should control your strafe, the other your turn and pitch. Maybe you're like Incarnate, and your brain works on a different dimensional plane (sorry!), but keeping these isolated together is a lot easier on my own brain.
• Left and Right triggers: Use one to accelerate, the other to reverse. Use your middle fingers to control these, and use them a lot to actively manage your distance.
• Left and right bumpers: Use these for primary and secondary fire. When flying a vulture, split your blasters to the two triggers, and you can mechanically chainfire (useful in PvP, not so much in PvE, but I do it anyways).
Other things that are probably important to bind would be:
• Activate
• Turbo (but don't use it too much mid-combat, it makes you easy to target)
• Sensor log (or anything that opens the PDA, but I like this one to check for active danger)
• Select next in front
• Chat to active channel
But again, that's just me. I don't play on controller for FPS games a lot, so see if someone else has more help in that manner?
Luxen, thank you for your detailed explanation. There is a lot for me to digest and I will give more feedback tomorrow after I test it out. Just want to assure you that I will do what you wrote.