How do pc gamers play FPS games?

I've been playing Call of Duty Black Ops II on PC recently and other players seem to be really really skilled compared to console versions of cod games. I play with an xbox 360 controller on pc and I can't seem to do good in games (my k/d is usually 1.00 in games now).

Are other pc gamers playing with a controller or do they use keyboard and mouse and is it easier?

PC FPS gamers seemed to be more skilled than console fps gamers IMO.

@tonyx429:

You should be happy your KD is even 1, your getting either really lucky or the people you play with suck.

KB/M is always better for FPS games, so use one or prepare to die with your stupid controller.

i too am surprised your K/D ratio is 1 with a controller. just use a KB/M.

KB&M since my Quake days. Started with direction arrows, until strangely enough Neverwinter Nights and KOTOR taught me to use WASD. Tried the controller a few times; didn't like it - KB&M are just faster and more precise. You really should use KB&M when playing PC FPSs online.

Most people play with mouse and keyboard.

KB/M is a better way to control FPS games. And that's complete objectivity. It's not opinion. A mouse is way more precise for aiming, and a keyboard allows much quicker weapon switching, and other hotkeys.

And you're just playing CoD. That game was tailored to controllers. If you ever want to play something like Counter Strike, TF2, or the upcoming Unreal game then you will want to learn how to use a keyboard and mouse.

It's great for a lot of other types of games too.

I agree with your statement "mouse is better for aiming" but saying a KB allows for much quicker weapon switching is wrong.

A wireless KB is slower at processing the data than a wired controller, even if its 0.0000001 second slower, it still is slower.

Mouse and keyboard for online fps, you just can't aI'm fast enough with a controller.

Any single player game ill use controller were puss I've for comfort so I can slouch.

A really good gaming mouse with high DPI and a gaming mechanical keyboard with macro keys if you are keen on serious MP. I think PC games that have multiplayer and support controller should have in place a system that enables auto-aim if using a controller. Could help level the playing field a bit.

It's not wrong, key button presses are much easier to actuate than a controller. Also keyboards are 125hz, you can overclock them if you want on Windows 7 and below. 125hz ~8ms of input lag.

To the tc, pretty much everyone uses mouse and keyboard on pc for fps. Console players are generally much worse regardless of input, they don't have any awareness.

@JigglyWiggly_:

Its much easier, yes, I agree with that, but you cant conclude its always quicker/faster, I have this old gamepad which you can also OC, not sure how much, but it does improve.

And not everyone OC's KB/M, I just wanted to state that its not ALWAYS faster.

Playing FPS games with controller because f&ck logic.

Do yourself a favor and start playing with mouse and keyboard and your k/d will be vastly improved.

It is, you can use this http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/index.php

Use autohotkey and bind a key to your keyboard vs using a gamepad.

That measures reaction time, how can I conclude that the lag is non-existant on the wireless KB vs this ancient gamepad?

"players seem to be really really skilled compared to console versions of cod games.

Thats an understatment.

The mouse is 100 times faster and precise than a controller, if you play cod online with a controller, stop, you will get destroyed use a mouse.

If you want to play with a controller, try Titanfall. It is one of the few mp games where controller sticky-aim is enabled. It helps quite a lot in that game as well.

Most PC games do not have auto aim for controllers, which is something common on the consoles.

your reaction time obviously would not change. the above test using a wireless keyboard vs a wired gamepad would eliminate reaction time from the test and give you the difference in time between using the two peripherals. in mathematical terms:

wireless keyboard reaction time - wired controller reaction time = difference in activated output.

a controller would always lose because the increased wireless delay would always be less than the increased time it takes to press a controller button compared to a keyboard key.

nobody has ever said that a wireless keyboard causes any measurable lag. and you can literally press 5 keys on your keyboard at the same time (+1 if you hit control with your palm like me) and then still have your mouse completely available for aiming and pressing another three buttons. you can only press like 6 buttons if you play twister with your fingers on a controller and you won't be able to aim.

there's a good reason why consolized FPS have only two or three weapons available at a time; no one can switch through any more than 3 the way you can on a keyboard. games like quake and unreal tournament have all the numbered keys on the keyboard bound to weapons and you have to switch to any one of them at a moment's notice. below is ut2004's for reference.

Playing FPS with a control pad should be illegal.

This. What is wrong with people. If you're playing a FPS with a controller you need to shut down your PC and go back to your console.

Playing a FPS with a controller is the equivalent to trying to pleasure yourself with a fork.

@jimmy_russell: nice try but no.

WHAT???

KB+M, if you're just switching from consoles just force yourself to use that combo. Drop the controller.

You won't like it at first but you'll get use to it. You'll die a lot, it doesn't matter, keep using it.

Play with your sensitivity, until you know what's comfortable for you, if you move your arm while using your mouse, a low sensitivity might be the best for you.

If you only move your wrist, you should use a medium sens.

I like playing GO with a controller every once in awhile. But yea, if you want a level playing field, you need a M&KB.

That still doesn't answer what I said, a controller button is the same as a KB button, it uses the same USB port and the same OS, drivers are different.

I could use my left hand for a controller (I rest controller on desk or something like the Wii Numchuk are just examples), right hand for the mouse. Yes its a bit pointless to do it and I've only ever done it for 1 game, FSX, but I'm saying that the controller buttons aren't any slower to press than a KB key.

I also ran that reaction time test and I got the same results, controller button input vs KB input.

Post your times? Controller button actuation has always been worse for me. I use chiclets on my desktop for this reason, their actuation speed is the quickest.

@JigglyWiggly_:

KB (pressing W key with left middle finger) - 0.293, 0.311, 0.244, 0.280, 0.288 avg 0.283

Controller (pressing the 1 key with left middle finger) - 0.305, 0.287, 0.288, 0.265, 0.320 avg 0.293

Yes its slightly slower, but that can be attenuated to natural variance, if someone has a program which lets you enter a value using the computer such as entering 0.100 every button press so that I can eliminate the human factor, I'll give it a go and post back results.

@GTR12: technically, you are right.

By utilizing the gamepad in a way that makes it useless, it can become faster than a keyboard.

@Kh1ndjal:

I never said its faster, not sure where you got that, I just said that a controller wont necessarily be slower thank a KB.

People use mouse, and keyboard more than a controller for everyday things. Therefor they subconsciously are familiar with the movements, and accuracy of the mouse, than a controller. (who really browses, shops online, make music on PC) without the mouse + Keyboard as their main input devices? Who uses a controller for such tasks on a normal/steady basis? Very few people do!

This automatically means there is far more familiarity with KB+M than controller for just about any user! The only ones where this may not apply are younger gamers today. (and that still is debatable)

This is true, actually. Hell, my dad beat Call of Duty 2 on the PC (on NORMAL difficulty, even) and has never played a PC game in his life. I let him play Modern Warfare on my Xbox and he couldn't pass the tutorial (doing the obstacle course in time). Dual thumb sticks aren't very intuitive I suppose.

I might be one of the first to say this without making sweeping generalizations or trying to pick a fight: most PC gamers play fps using a mouse and keyboard, because aiming with a mouse is much more accurate. It make take awhile to get used to the setup, but if you want to be on par with these players, you may have to get used to the mouse.

Cool thanks for the advice,

I'll try KB/M combo and see how that works out.

I don't think a 1 to 1 kill death ratio is bad. That means your average or maybe at the lower rung of average people, but not bad IMHO. Oh, and here's more good news, OP. It's a 3-day weekend!

EDIT: I should just put in this caveat though. I am not a COD player. Normally, I would say 1-to-1 is average, but come to think of it.... I played some Alliance of Valiant ARms and just the nature of the maps, you get many opportunities to get multikills.

If you have a 3to1 k-to-death ratio in AVA you will likely be toward the bottom of the player scores in that game. However, in Gotham City Impostors (a great and underrated game mind you) that would be a pretty good score.

I think in most games I've played though, outside of AVA, 1to1 is okay. But again, I am not a CoD guy as of yet.

@Fire_Wa11:

Actually i forgot to clarify my overall K/D is around 0.67 i believe, but currently in the matches I play I end up getting K/D's around 0.9-1.0, so I think I'm improving.

When I'm not playing competitively which is never. I use a wiimote as a lightgun for aiming and a move navigation controller for moving. I also have a 360 Kinect for extra gestures.

@NexusP:

lol I never heard that before, how'd you set up the kinect and wiimote to pc?

@tonyx429: Lol, i like to go outside of the box. It's really fun though. Wiimtoe is used exclusively as a Lightgun and i can do gestures with it to reload and change gun types. I also use the buttons on top for extra things and the B button is the trigger (I use Wiimote Nerf gun attachment). The Wiimote is very accurate when used with the sensor bar. You can get a sensor bar that plugs up via USB or one that operates on batteries. The wiimote and Move Nav hooks up through Bluetooth. I also have a balance board hooked up and i've used that to move through games (tried mostly with Metro Last Light).

The Azio bluetooth (or any toshiba based bluetooth) adapter works best. The Move navigation controller also works via bluetooth but the Asus blue worked best for that. I used SCPDS3 to permanently pair the Move Nav and WiiPair for the Wiimote. I use the Kinect in games like GTA4 to hail caps, open doors (left hand out to side) or box (seriously works), and stab. I can also use voice command with the Kinect Mic. You can get a 360 Kinect usb adapter and use the Kinect SDK. Btw they have a Kinect 2.0 for Windows but it's $200 and a dev kit. I heard that there is a consumer version coming out.

You can set keyboard keys or buttons via Vjoy 1.0 (much more stable then ppjoy). Vjoy creates a virtual dinput joystick. It doesn't work with all games but you can use x360ce to make it emulate the 360 controller. Kinect can be configured with FAAST or Glovepie (only works with Kinect SDK 1.0 beta 2 on Win7 (also install visual studio 2k13)). You can use Glovepie or Freepie for Wiimote. I use I just use Glovepie is easier than FAAST and Freepie, but doesn't work with as many input devices as Freepie minus Kinect. Glovepie can be used to combine multiple controllers including my Hotas and Wheel. You can create hotkeys and modes but you have to script. There are a lot of examples out there but some stuff isn't as intuitive. I'll post one of my scripts here so you can get the idea.

The following Links are .pie files that only work with Glovepie.

GTA4
Battlefield4
FarCry3
Metro:LL
Freelancer

@NexusP:

Thanks Nexus, I might actually try this one day

Who cares about the aiming the aiming means nothing. Ok yes it does but the real advantage of using a mouse is the ninjedi like reflexes. Mouse allows you to spin around and shoot in all directions within nano-seconds. Even if you crank up controller sensitivity there is only so fast it can go. Plus every controller is most likely the same while there are tons of different mice to choose from and mouse pads.

They way FPS is meant to be played

How the hell ppl can play FPS with controller i wonder....man FPS is meant to be played with KB/M especially competitive multiplayer

+

It's not about K/D , it's about score ! actually i play Battlefield series so score matters to me more ...in COD it's all about K/D which is...meh IMO.

btw, I might be getting a gaming KB/M in the future, are there any that you guys recommend?

I thinking gaming keyboard and mice that are $100 are way too expensive.

Are these good?

http://www.amazon.com/Illuminated-Ergonomic-Multimedia-Backlight-Keyboard/dp/B00FWK8UWI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409454061&sr=8-2&keywords=gaming+keyboard

http://www.amazon.com/Precision-Programmable-Buttons-Cartridges-Switches/dp/B00AAQRNQ8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409454050&sr=8-2&keywords=gaming+mouse

@tonyx429:

Playing an fps on PC is a whole different ball game. It's wayyy more fast paced and twitch based. You will not be able to hold your own using a controller against keyboard and mouse users.

I prefer a controllers layout to a keyboards because its easier for me to memorize. But playing a fps on pc with no auto aim is not ideal. THat's why I am looking forward to the steam controller. Though the trackpads don't look too comfortable when playing games.

I love to prove KB+M players wrong when I destroy them on PC using a console controller. Yes, with no auto aim assist on PC, I am at a disadvantage when I use a gamepad. However, I manage to average 1.7-2.0 on all FPS shooters even with this handicap. Whatever you feel comfortable with, stick with it. Here's a video of my gameplay on BF4 PC using the Xbox One controller. You can hear the clicking in the background of the RB button, and of course observe me wrecking KB+M players. See for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dwk7XV_51U

I want to see you play counter strike, UT or Q3A with pad. Let us see your "skills". And utter bs on destroying others with pad.

Keyboard and Mouse is the way to play FPS on PC

watch the end of the video starting around 2 minutes mark

can you do such a thing with a gamepad?

old ass thread