M+K Vs controller. FIGHT!!

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

So I'm playing a lot of these Sony ports on pc at the moment and apart from being some of the best console ports ever, I've also kind of come to realise that I'm pretty sure I prefer them with mouse and keyboard. The extra accuracy in Days Gone and customisable ways to deal with hordes improves the game loads and the customisation options and extra accuracy popping heads in the recent Uncharted have given the game a whole new lease of life for me.

 

Strangely I used to hate K+M. It was only my addiction to PUBG that forced me to learn and eventually enlighten me.

 

What do you prefer? Do you use both quite happily (as I do in all honesty despite the above) or really champion one over the other?

[Strafe]

They should make a mouse and half game pad thing so you still have analogue control on movement etc. They probably already have though and it’s probably not very good which is why I guess I haven’t heard of it.

[earlymodernsteve]

There's a recent Linus Tech Tips episode on this very idea, with two late 90s examples by Thrustmaster and Microsoft. 

 

https://youtu.be/20IHBRkAERE

 

Edit: Balls, YT links never work from my phone, will try and fix later.

[Siri]

5 minutes ago, Strafe said:

They should make a mouse and half game pad thing so you still have analogue control on movement etc. They probably already have though and it’s probably not very good which is why I guess I haven’t heard of it.

 

 

I don't know if it was actually any good, but it existed.

 

As for me, I don't mind either, but extended play of Path of Exile and nearly ten years of clicking everything to collect loot before they simplified it has wrecked my wrist and finger ligaments, so I just play everything on pad now.

[Fry Crayola]

After a day of using Bad Input, I prefer to use Good Input at home. Of course, like the screens, these are often one and the same.

 

I generally prefer controllers to keyboards and mice, though, benefits be damned. I'm happier with one and it's all I care about. Better to die in 53rd place than eat chicken dinner off the WASD keys.

 

Never got on with the touchpads on a Steam Controller or Deck, either. 

[simms]

20 minutes ago, Strafe said:

They should make a mouse and half game pad thing so you still have analogue control on movement etc. They probably already have though and it’s probably not very good which is why I guess I haven’t heard of it.

 

 I play GTA V online with a controller and mouse on PC. Controlling vehicles without analogue control is a nightmare

[JoeK]

Controller all the way. Partly down to RSI issues, but also down to the speed a mouse will spin you around the place in a game leaves me decidedly ill most of the time!

 

 

[drkbfhmmr]

I use both, depending on what I play. Any strategy game, tactical RPG or fast-paced FPS I play with mouse and keyboard - pretty much everything else with a controller.

 

Regarding wrist pain from mouse and keyboard play, I used to get this after longer sessions. But couple months ago, I started using a vertical mouse, and the pain is just completely gone. Definitely took some getting used to the vertical design after having used a good ole regular shaped mouse for the last 30 years, but I can never go back now.

[Mr. Gerbik]

I play on Steam Deck lol

[El Spatula]

Despite being PC only these days I'll only use m and k as a last resort. Despise it for anything other than RTS and perhaps the odd CRPG. 

[Jolly]

Live and let live and everything, but if you prefer mouse and keyboard I do think that we can never be friends. 

[Kevvy Metal]

I’m using tilt controls! 

[Mallet]

Most of the games I prefer to play are simply better with keyboard and mouse imo.

 

First person games, they can be shooters, RPGs or adventure games are simply better with a mouse. CRPGs are better with a mouse and keyboard as are strategy games, especially RTS games. I much prefer mouse and keyboard for third person games as well, most involve shooting or the need to move the camera quickly to see the world around you. When I get around to playing the Sony games on PC it will 100% be with keyboard and mouse. Trying to aim with a control stick is incredibly slow and clumsy once you become used to a mouse. Seriously aiming a gun using a mouse on a 100fps+ vrr screen is just so buttery smooth

 

Racing games, platformers, sports games or fighters need a controller imo but just about anything else I prefer M+K. Some games if they involve driving and shooting sections, like GTA, I will use K+M for the foot sections then switch to a controller for the driving.

 

It's a small thing but I also love having hotkeys for just about everything, I for inventory, M for map etc. A single key gets you to where you want, no need to get to one screen then use the shoulder buttons to get to where you actually want to go.

 

Strangely enough I get hand pains using a controller not when playing K+M.

[simms]

FPS or games that require precision shooting, menu driven games, strategy games etc, no doubt are much better with a mouse and k/b imho. All other games on controller.  Usually third person shooters where analog movement is important I play on controller but use gyro aim (steam controller).  For example I tried MGS V on keyboard initially as it’s quite shooter heavy but found play much more fluid on controller with navigating the environment then using gyro to assist with aiming.

[Shimmyhill]

Obvs for games of Excel KB & mouse is better but ive long since had my time playing games on keyboard - obv the mouse is better to aim with but the keyboard is worse to move with and I cba to be on a desk to play games (never got on with tray on a lap etc on the sofa) anymore.

 

For me the compromise of a pad on a sofa with a big fuck off tv is worth it over the advantage a mouse gives you - obv for racing games neither work and you need a wheel  

[Giddas]

First person and strategy mouse, rest controller. I’m terrible at fps with a controller.

[ZOK]

I’ve played a few games with keyboard and trackpad on the Mac…Homeworld was fine, Hotline Miami was not.

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

This was not the heated discussion I expected. We have all become so wearied and weathered by the last years of events that there is no frivolous vitriol remaining I fear.

[Qazimod]

M&K is more satisfying for anything requiring any kind of speed and precision because there are that many more degrees of sensitivity. However, there are a bunch of genres that are more "comfortable" to play on a controller because you're not dancing around a cluster of keys that really should be mapped to buttons. I'm playing Persona 5 Royal on Steam with a DualShock 4 right now, and if I Alt-Tab away for whatever reason then all of the on-screen commands change to keyboard keys and give me a mild anxiety attack.

[Siri]

29 minutes ago, Opinionated Ham Scarecrow said:

This was not the heated discussion I expected. We have all become so wearied and weathered by the last years of events that there is no frivolous vitriol remaining I fear.

 

We've got to the point where we're better off getting an arguement from starting shit with gamer chuds on Twitter.

 

That. Is. A. Disgrace.

 

(It's not)

 

I think half the reason I'm okay without KBM is that I'm too old and too crap at playing anything that requires a ridiculous amount of APM, namely RTS, so I don't really miss it. The only other thing that's barred is games that require a lot of keyboard typing, which is very rare outside of text-based RPGs and Typing of the Dead.

 

Everything else can be slummed to some degree on a controller. I'd rather be comfortable than efficient.

[matt0]

11 hours ago, Strafe said:

They should make a mouse and half game pad thing so you still have analogue control on movement etc. They probably already have though and it’s probably not very good which is why I guess I haven’t heard of it.

 

There was a mad analogue keyboard a while back that was pressure sensitive and you could manually adjust travel time for super quick keypresses for digital controls l too. Not many games supported it natively but it had a driver that would map key presses to controller inputs.

 

Pretty cool but expensive iirc.

[Windowlicker]

I'd watch a Street Fighter tournament using M+K only, could be fun. A throwback to playing Soul Calibur using the fishing rod.

[Pob]

I played a game (Hitman 2016) with M&K for the first time in 15 years the other day, as I wanted to see if it ran on my Macbook. It was really strange to go back, having been a pure PC gamer for a few years back around the turn of the millennium.

 

Two things struck me: keyboard really is shit compared to the button and left stick stick combo of a pad - it was so awkward trying to reach all the keys around WASD to do stuff, and having movement restricted to 8 directions, with diagonals requiring me to press two keys at once.

 

Secondly, although I happily abandoned the mouse as an input device for looking and aiming back in 2007, I do quite like the way the quick, jerky movements recreate saccadic eye movements we're all used to from real life. The slow panning and swinging you get from holding an analogue stick is relatively uncomfortable and unnatural.

[Mr Majestyk]

I used to only play with mouse and keyboard until I started on console gaming online with Xbox. Multiplayer Rainbow 6, Halo etc. Then I just had to git gud which took a few weeks. Now having a desk job I don't want to sit at a desk at night and play the PC so even that's moved to an Xbox pad and TV out. Whenever I do play shooters on the PC with a mouse I find it too sensitive. 

[Mallet]

4 minutes ago, Pob said:

I played a game (Hitman 2016) with M&K for the first time in 15 years the other day, as I wanted to see if it ran on my Macbook. It was really strange to go back, having been a pure PC gamer for a few years back around the turn of the millennium.

 

Two things struck me: keyboard really is shit compared to the button and left stick stick combo of a pad - it was so awkward trying to reach all the keys around WASD to do stuff, and having movement restricted to 8 directions, with diagonals requiring me to press to keys at once.

 

Secondly, although I happily abandoned the mouse as an input device for looking and aiming back in 2007, I do quite like the way the quick, jerky movements recreate saccadic eye movements we're all used to from real life. The slow panning and swinging you get from holding an analogue stick is relatively uncomfortable and unnatural.

Can you not use the mouse to turn in Hitman?

 

If not, then it's a bad port. The only movement you should have to do with keyboard is forward, backwards and maybe strafe left and right. Any game with a decent PC port will let you turn with the mouse.

 

This reminds me I really need to play that game, I bought a humble bundle a while back that had the game and then forgot about it...

[Qazimod]

17 minutes ago, Windowlicker said:

I'd watch a Street Fighter tournament using M+K only, could be fun

 

Fighting game fans have seen keyboards pulled out during tournament streams.  

 

The keyboard player below is playing Karin, the character on the right in the blue dress.

 

 

[Popo]

Mouse and keyboard naturally offer more precision for things like first person shooters, but I can’t use a mouse and keyboard while reclining on the sofa, so controller it is, while RTS games I shall play no more.

[Pob]

12 minutes ago, Mallet said:

Can you not use the mouse to turn in Hitman?

 

If not, then it's a bad port. The only movement you should have to do with keyboard is forward, backwards and maybe strafe left and right. Any game with a decent PC port will let you turn with the mouse.

 

This reminds me I really need to play that game, I bought a humble bundle a while back that had the game and then forgot about it...

Yes you can but after so many years of using a controller I'm used to having analogue control over which direction my character walks, while being able to look (I'd say the right stick / mouse is more about 'looking' than 'turning') in any direction I want. Looking is pretty good with the mouse as you can dart your gaze around like in real life, but character movement is artificially restricted by the digital keyboard.

[LaveDisco]

This is the wrong question. The real question is Couch vs Desk. And Couch wins - obviously. 
 

KB&M on a couch feels wrong, and so controller is better. 

[mikeyl]

Keyboard and trackpad for Football Manager because it’s a pile of spreadsheets and reminds you of work. Keyboard and mouse for absolutely nothing else because it reminds you of work.

 

Actually have a hatred of M&K players who keep popping my brains in FPSs. Oh look, you’ve swung your pointer to my head in the same time it takes the touch typist in the admin pool to hit Reply All, CONGRATULATIONS. So good.