Sensitivity, mouse accleration, and raw imput...

CommunistWithAGun

So, I'm pretty "used" to a single setting and sensitivity, for backround-

I use the default sensitivity within windows itself, and have left mouse acceleration on the entire time I've ever gamed. So, I'm really "used" to it. Now for the weird question- My "ideal" sensitivity is the exact same that I use in L4D2- and my aiming feels very comfortable in that game. NS2, I find myself playing with it a lot, and this results in spotty performance. Sometimes I'm amazing, other times, not, and its always when my mouse feels weird

TL:DR

My mouse settings are perfect in L4D2 and I want to translate them over to NS2- What ways are there for me to do this?

Also, what are the benefits of raw imput and disabling mouse acceleration? Is it worth me "relearning" my aiming style?

Frothybeverage

Get a ruler.
Measure how far you have to move the mouse to do a 180 or a 360 in L4D2.

Adjust your sensitivity in NS2 so that it's around the same distance.

Mouse acceleration can screw with your aim, because it can cause you to overcompensate.
I'd say if you're used to it, either leave it as is, or change it and prepare to get your ass kicked for the next month.

CommunistWithAGun

Thats a good idea. Thanks.

Im wondering if the benefits of raw and disabling mouse acceleration are worth it

Paragon

While I'm in the no-acceleration-ever camp, I also believe that you can learn to be effective with any settings. So, if you do well with acceleration on in L4D, that's great! I think that your problems in NS2 may be caused by other factors like low FPS or bad hit registration. Also, if you played your whole life with acceleration on, chances are you grown so used to it, that it would be very hard, frustrating and counterproductive to start using raw input now. I'd say use whatever is most comfortable for you.

I for example still use the arrow keys for movement in every FPS. I do realize the potential benefits of using WSAD but it's simply too late to change that, after almost two decades of gaming. I've tried a couple of times and every time I went back to the good ol' arrows after a short while. My hand is simply so used to the layout that it's a pain to use anything else.

turtsmcgurt

if the game implemented acceleration properly, it would probably be advantageous to get good with it.

a lot of games don't, though.

CLARK_KENT

The other thing to consider is the highly variable frame rates (i.e. "peak"-y vs smooth) in the game that you might encounter when needing to move your mouse, especially when needing to aim... on usually a fast moving target. At this point, the mouse movement is no longer linear, thus making it seem like you have slight mouse acceleration and/or deceleration... randomly. With such variable mouse acceleration, extremely precise aim can... and usually does suffer.

CommunistWithAGun

The ruler trick that Frothy suggested worked wonders for me, thanks.

SquishpokePOOPFACE

Keep in mind that even some pro Quake 3 players did just fine with mouse acceleration.

statikg

Interestingly I was in the same boat as you very recently, and this week I turned off my mouse acceleration and am in the relearning my aim process and I definitely think it was worth it. My aiming now just feels crisper now and I feel I can hit skulks especially more consistently whereas before I felt like I was always missing at a variety of distances. I think its the tracking that is easier, you can get used to twitching with mouse accel but tracking is hard because your aiming at targets moving different speeds and in different vectors, so your mouse movement speed has to be different.

I would say at least give it a shot without the accel for a week. I got back to my old level of competence in less then 10hrs of marine play although obviously your experience may vary.

xDragon

There are a lot of irregularites regarding inputs in Spark, which makes aiming more difficult than it should be even when using the same sensitivity as many other Source/GLDSRC games.

deathmonger

Is there any way to view the actual sensitivity? Even if not in game, is there a settings file somewhere in the NS2 directory we can look? I would like to keep it pretty constant across games, but not being able to see the actual numerical value makes it pretty hard.

semihandy

deathmonger87 wrote: »

Is there any way to view the actual sensitivity? Even if not in game, is there a settings file somewhere in the NS2 directory we can look? I would like to keep it pretty constant across games, but not being able to see the actual numerical value makes it pretty hard.

i_sensitivity in console

deathmonger

Thanks!

invTempest

xDragon wrote: »

There are a lot of irregularites regarding inputs in Spark, which makes aiming more difficult than it should be even when using the same sensitivity as many other Source/GLDSRC games.

This.

I often feel like my mouse sensitivity changes on a server basis even though the amount reported remains the same. I can be dead on in 1 server only to move to another and find that I am missing a lot of shots that I should be hitting leading me to get frustrated with my mouse.

There seems to be a great deal of variability with mouse input delay in spark compared to other games. This makes it quite difficult for some users to find a sensitivity that they can stick with as it seems like it keeps on changing depending on the delay they are experiencing.

Would like to see UWE investigate this issue as it is one of the most frustrating aspects of the game right now.

CCCorp

i think like you said try and switch between games doing 360's and change sensitivity too match, all i know is i'm in the no acceleration camp too with my sensitivity down almost too zero, in ns2 the sensitivity command i have it set too 3

kalakuja

On some games the fps on the screen effects the acceleration. With same movement on 10fps and 100fps you move the mouse different amount.
This is why i'm in the no acceleration camp.

PneumaticCrab

imo be cool and use mouse accel or be even cooler and quit playing video games and replace the void that leaves in your life with alcoholism, posting on a forum associated with a game you havent played in ten years, and an ever growing beer gut. good luck with your aim and have fun fraggin it up!

1stToast

I have a programmable mouse where I can change speed on the fly. I use it to compensate for the apparent differences between servers. Then there seems to be an issue with ping. I keep the acceleration off because the acceleration doesn't seem uniform with speed changes. I wish I could use that as an excuse for my bad aim.

Mindstorm

xDragon wrote: »

There are a lot of irregularites regarding inputs in Spark, which makes aiming more difficult than it should be even when using the same sensitivity as many other Source/GLDSRC games.

I do notice difference in servers but I believe in only some occasions it's the FPS and entity count that counts. In my opinion a server with bad performance is killing. If you get a server with 25< ticktrate then I feel like I can't hit anything. But this is mostly due to the fact that the server isn't registring hits good. Besides tickrate you also have higher pings which tend to wreck hit detection.

Also the minor freezes which happen from time to time (beacon and what not) tend to hit the server as much as they hit your client, therefor I also believe that they contribute to hit detection.