Poll: WASD Tank Control

[Rrralphster]

We need a controller that can be used with your feet for turning the turret.(footpedals)
We need buttons for gun elevation.
And we need a backup system for when power is out (cranks)

No thanks.

Training and experience (for a real tanker) makes it as automatic as riding a bicycle...
No need to complicate things for the hell of making it complicated.

 

[Unus Offa Unus Nex]

If you believe using the WASD keys is complicated then I feel sorry for you man...

Try out Darkest Hour.

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

If you believe using the WASD keys is complicated then I feel sorry for you man...

Try out Darkest Hour.

What has Darkest Hour got to do with the WASD keys? Did they revolutionize them or spice them up somehow from ROOST?

Really, it all comes down to a preference with certain people thinking their opinion is 100% fact. Like it or not, the mouse works better when trying to command a tank in ROHOS. Now I would rather aim with the keyboard myself, but I can admit that the way it is set up makes it more natural to command and do things inside a tank. Notice I said command and do as if they are two different things because they are. You are either doing them yourself or commanding a bot to do them for you. TWI has said all along the idea was not to take a natural task and make it more complicated by making it difficult to do in game.

Now, I am all for TWI coming up with the option for keyboard control of the main gun if they have the time, or some sort of .ini solution for players to use if they so choose.

 

[Cpt-Praxius]

You do realize that most tanks had powered traverse right ? So traversing the turret was merely a matter of pressing a pedal or pulling/twisting a stick.

So your "circle mouse movement" argument doesn't really hold water.

Having done real gun laying myself (powered flak piece), I can tell you that using the mouse for gun laying is utterly unrealistic and completely ruins the immersion, permitting lightening fast target acquisition and accurate fire on the move. Using the WASD for control completely removes this problem and on top feels WAY more realistic, having the crucial advantage in realism of demanding coordination between traverse & elevation, something mouse control does not have making it utterly unrealistic and "gamey".

In short: If you had done any real gun laying there really would be no argument from your side against WASD control.

Sez you.... tomato, tamato..... you like the WASD setup for aiming your turret because your specific view tells you it matches what you did "Real Gun Laying" and yes, most of the tanks in WWII switched over to mechanical operation.... but at the same time, the tank commander and gunner weren't the ones moving the turret since they had to keep their eyes on the battlefield, thus aiming the mouse is the equivalent to finding a target, telling the crew to lock to that target and firing.

Again, if you're really that hard up on what's realistic or not, perhaps commanders and squad leaders shouldn't be able to simply look through their binoculars and click on the ground to mark artillery and the player instead has to write down exact co-ordinates based on the actual system used in WWII and then run all the way back to the Commander or find the guy with the radio to call back to the commander to tell them the co-ordinates.

You complain that it's "Gamey"

Guess what?

It is a game.

If I wanted a simulator I'd go play a simulator, but RO is a video game and I originally got into RO because of the mod, which was a game..... and in that game, the tank turrets were aimed by the mouse..... and when RO1 came about with the WASD aiming, I hated it & I still do.

And the other fact that hasn't been refuted yet, is that the WASD system of aiming in RO1 is inaccurate, especially at long range.

 

[Unus Offa Unus Nex]

No matter how much you keep arguing for mouse control you cannot get around the fact that it makes gun laying unrealistically easy & fast, plus that it permits accurate fire on the move. Not only that, turret movement from outside also looks downright stupid when controlled by a mouse (ARMA anyone ?).

Mouse control simply lacks that crucial coordination between traverse & elevation that defines real life gun laying. Period.

Finally WASD control is not inaccurate at all in Darkest Hour, and I don't remember it to be in RO:Ost either. In DH (& ROOST as far as I remember) the traverse starts out real slow and it then speeds up gradually has you hold down the key. This makes accurate long range shots quite easy to achieve.

In short: There was no point in moving from keyboard over to mouse control between RO:Ost and RO2. It was a bad mistake on TWI's part, one that completely ruins the immersion of tanking ingame. But the same can be said about many other things about RO2, sadly it tried to please two different crowds at the same time, the CoD fans and the RO:Ost fans, and it failed at both. Only now are they slowly going back to their roots with the classic mode, but there's still a long way to go, and the way tanking works ingame is one of the areas where there's still a lot of work to be done.

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

No matter how much you keep arguing for mouse control you cannot get around the fact that it makes gun laying unrealistically easy & fast, plus that it permits accurate fire on the move. Not only that, turret movement from outside also looks downright stupid when controlled by a mouse (ARMA anyone ?).

Mouse control simply lacks that crucial coordination between traverse & elevation that defines real life gun laying. Period.

Finally WASD control is not inaccurate at all in Darkest Hour, and I don't remember it to be in RO:Ost either. In DH (& ROOST as far as I remember) the traverse starts out real slow and it then speeds up gradually has you hold down the key. This makes accurate long range shots quite easy to achieve.

In short: There was no point in moving from keyboard over to mouse control between RO:Ost and RO2. It was a bad mistake on TWI's part, one that completely ruins the immersion of tanking ingame. But the same can be said about many other things about RO2, sadly it tried to please two different crowds at the same time, the CoD fans and the RO:Ost fans, and it failed at both. Only now are they slowly going back to their roots with the classic mode, but there's still a long way to go, and the way tanking works ingame is one of the areas where there's still a lot of work to be done.

That is your opinion that is not shared by everyone. And who is to say that as a tanker you weren't trained to aim the gun?

 

[defektive]

And the other fact that hasn't been refuted yet, is that the WASD system of aiming in RO1 is inaccurate, especially at long range.

Not a "fact" at all. I found WASD to be far more useful for incremental adjustments to extreme range shots and in addition you didn't have to worry about the mouse being ever so slightly nudged, which happens an awful lot when swapping between tank crew positions currently.

 

[Cpt-Praxius]

Not a "fact" at all. I found WASD to be far more useful for incremental adjustments to extreme range shots and in addition you didn't have to worry about the mouse being ever so slightly nudged, which happens an awful lot when swapping between tank crew positions currently.

Can't say I ever experienced this as being any sort of problem..... I could easily target something at great distance with the mouse in the Mod and in RO2, while in RO1, I continually had my aim jerk too far to the left, or too far to the right, or too far up or down and by the time I finally got my targeting right, it was usually too late.... now if that's supposed to be considered "Realistic" than I'd hate to have been a real person in a real tank back then.

And most times in RO1, while I had my sights on an enemy tank, I usually needed it nudged a bit to get a specific weak spot on the armour, yet I'd either end up hitting the same spot where my rounds would bounce off, or I'd miss the tank entirely..... if people want to bring up what's game breaking to them, that's pretty damn game breaking to me.

I don't even really care if the turret moved slower when aiming with the mouse, so long as I can keep aiming with the mouse.

I'm all for it being an option in the menu where you can choose one or the other....... but if that's not good enough, then I choose to leave it exactly as it is.

No amount of arguing is going to change anybody's mind on this, much like many other topics in here.... you either like something or you don't & your reasons are your own.

I have what I like and what I don't and I have my reasons for them. Whether others think my reasons are justified or not doesn't matter to me. The question was asked, I answered it.

 

[Kleist]

I really hope TW will find a way to bring WASD in the game , because a lot of people really like it.

And maybe if both variants are in, the mouseplayer will see which control is much more fun and bring much more tankfight feeling back into RO2

I personally will have no problems to switch from the soft rubbery "Battlefield" mouse control back to the steel hardened "RO:Ostfront" WASD-Control.

I learn it fast when i started with RO:Ostfront and it

 

[Proud_God]

Mouse control: point and your gun moves
WASD: operate the gun yourself

-> WASD is way more bad-***.:IS2:

 

[Unus Offa Unus Nex]

That is your opinion that is not shared by everyone. And who is to say that as a tanker you weren't trained to aim the gun?

I don't understand this statement at all ?

This is all about basic gun laying principles, and the mouse gets rid of them completely, whilst the keyboard holds on to them instead whilst not at all being hard to incorporate.

Using the keyboard is the closest we're going to get to actual real life gun laying without having to install footpedals and handwheels to our computers, and on top it's ridiculously simple. Most importantly keyboard control holds on to the all important coordination needed between traversing & elevating the gun in real life, and eliminates the arcade shooter "fire on the move capability" present with mouse control.

I can understand why some people like the mouse control though, I mean it's easy & quick to use, but for those of us who've tried actual real life gun laying though, it just completely ruins the feel and constantly reminds us that we're playing a video game - and being reminded of that isn't the reason we're playing btw

In short: Keyboard control is a no-brainer for anyone who has done any real life gun laying, the rest may ofcourse be excused.

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

I don't understand this statement at all ?

This is all about basic gun laying principles, and the mouse gets rid of them completely, whilst the keyboard holds on to them instead whilst not at all being hard to incorporate.

Using the keyboard is the closest we're going to get to actual real life gun laying without having to install footpedals and handwheels to our computers, and on top it's ridiculously simple. Most importantly keyboard control holds on to the all important coordination needed between traversing & elevating the gun in real life, and eliminates the arcade shooter "fire on the move capability" present with mouse control.

I can understand why some people like the mouse control though, I mean it's easy & quick to use, but for those of us who've tried actual real life gun laying though, it just completely ruins the feel and constantly reminds us that we're playing a video game - and being reminded of that isn't the reason we're playing btw

In short: Keyboard control is a no-brainer for anyone who has done any real life gun laying, the rest may ofcourse be excused.

Well, I do support an option if TWI offers to create one. Probably even use it if they do because as I stated before I prefer it myself.

But it is a game, in real life we do not run by pressing and holding down a key, we don't aim and fire a rifle or smg by sliding around a hand held object on a flat surface, I could go on and on. I'm also guessing you do not aim the main gun in a tank using a keyboard no matter how much you think those keys closely resemble what was used in a WW2 tank.

You have to be able to do a number of things based on real life using what we have in front of ourselves. In this case we sit in front of a computer and because we need to be able to command a driver (WASD) and aim a main gun (mouse) and since most players by default already have one hand on a mouse and their other on or near the WASD keys, it makes sense that this is the logical way to do both. You may not like it but that seems like the best option.

Now there is always a chance that TWI gives us that option in the future, but I highly doubt that they would replace their current system. Those that think they will replace it are probably deceiving themselves or just saying so to keep up appearances on the forums.

 

[Unus Offa Unus Nex]

Well, I do support an option if TWI offers to create one. Probably even use it if they do because as I stated before I prefer it myself.

But it is a game, in real life we do not run by pressing and holding down a key, we don't aim and fire a rifle or smg by sliding around a hand held object on a flat surface, I could go on and on. I'm also guessing you do not aim the main gun in a tank using a keyboard no matter how much you think those keys closely resemble what was used in a WW2 tank.

It's about getting as close to reality as possible without turning to the ridiculous, such as installing handwheels & footpedals to your computer

No you don't run in real life by pressing a button and neither do you aim or look around by sliding an object over a flat surface, but there is no other alternative that's more realistic right at hand for a PC game. That doesn't mean we should take a step backwards though and suddenly use controllers or joysticks for aiming and looking around like on consoles though. Get it ?

Just like the mouse already does a beautiful job of simulating aiming & looking around thanks to its dexterity in movement, the keyboard does an even greater job at simulating real life gun laying.

You have to be able to do a number of things based on real life using what we have in front of ourselves. In this case we sit in front of a computer and because we need to be able to command a driver (WASD) and aim a main gun (mouse) and since most players by default already have one hand on a mouse and their other on or near the WASD keys, it makes sense that this is the logical way to do both. You may not like it but that seems like the best option.

The beauty of a keyboard is that it holds a lot of buttons that can be assigned to what'ever action you may desire. Simply use the arrow keys for driver commands, problem solved.

 

[defektive]

I’d say I’m with One Shot, One Kill on this one. When representing the characteristics of something within a game it makes sense to use the most appropriate and commonly available tool to do the job, be that mouse for looking around or keys for training a gun; RO:O mods got that part right IMO (they were not widely regarded as being amongst the finest [flawed] WW2 tanker games for no good reason).

I do not advocate taking mouse aim away from players, it’s far too late in the day to correct that particular oversight (!).

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

The beauty of a keyboard is that it holds a lot of buttons that can be assigned to what'ever action you may desire. Simply use the arrow keys for driver commands, problem solved.

Simply use the mouse to aim the gun, problem solved

In general, I am for keeping one hand on the keyboard, the other on the mouse. You know, how it currently is.

But again, I am all for the OPTION, not REPLACEMENT

 

[tixhal]

sorry, but i don't have three hands to use wasd, the arrow keys and the mouse simultaneously. i'm all for options but crippling the mechanic like suggested in the poll is not a good idea imo.

 

[KaB]

sorry, but i don't have three hands to use wasd, the arrow keys and the mouse simultaneously.

When do you have to use those three controls simultaneous ?

Lets say WASD is still used for the tank movements order, the arrow keys for the turret and the mouse for the free looking (when available).
If you're aiming and want to move your tank, you have your left hand on WASD and your right on the arrow keys. Now if you wanna take a look outside, you leave the arrow keys for the mouse and it's not a problem because you cant move the turret anymore. And you still have the left hand on WASD to move the tank. So ? Still in trouble ?

 

[tixhal]

WASD for the turret control (like RO:Ost)
Arrow-Keys for the driver commands

That is only a example, every player can use his keyboard like he want.
It

 

[Mike_Nomad]

As long as its Server/Admin optional......

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

As long as its Server/Admin optional......

Player optional