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[Sye d'Burns]

I don't see why not, however you would likely limit yourself in games that require a lot of input options.

The controller would limit you to 3 buttons max (a trigger and bumper and a clicky analog stick) and then you have to rely on whatever you have for your mouse...

It is a set up that might work for something like Gears 1, but i would use it on something like Mass Effect or The Witcher...

Why three buttons max? I'm a bit confused by your post. Are you talking about the navigator or the move controller itself? There are 10 buttons (counting the PS button)+ analog stick on the move navigator. I've used it on minecraft, left 4 dead 2 and red faction guerrilla and all the buttons are mappable. Minecraft as a ps3 controller using xpadder for mapping and the latter two as a 360 controller with remapping in-game.

Just Cause 2 will require some special attention. It works as a 360 controller but you are not able to remap in game. I suppose xpadder may work though it might defeat the benefit of analog movement.

All told, I think it's been a tremendous success so far. The cost of the controller was worth it for minecraft alone. Everything else is just gravy.

 

[Thrakier]

So, I tried using it in Crysis 2 with XPADDER. Mapped the WSAD buttons to the analogue stick but for some reason I can barely move forward, it's totally weird. Any tips?

 

[The Albatross]

I used to sort of do this with GTA:San Andreas on PC, I had a PS2 controller in my left hand, and then used my mouse for aiming in my right hand for the shooting missions. I just duplicated the buttons for the mouse that some of the face buttons on the controller did.

Worked pretty well.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

So, I tried using it in Crysis 2 with XPADDER. Mapped the WSAD buttons to the analogue stick but for some reason I can barely move forward, it's totally weird. Any tips?

What kind of pad are you using? Crysis has native 360 pad support. If you use XPadder with something which has built-in support, things start to get whacky.

 

[Hari Seldon]

I use Nostromo + Mouse for my MMO Gaming. I use the DPAD on the nostromo as my WASD.

 

[Thrakier]

What kind of pad are you using? Crysis has native 360 pad support. If you use XPadder with something which has built-in support, things start to get whacky.

It has, yes, but what does it help me when I can't configure the controls like I want.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

It has, yes, but what does it help me when I can't configure the controls like I want.

Well, you won't get any arguments from me on that front. Glad I could help.

 

[Swifty]

I use Nostromo + Mouse for my MMO Gaming. I use the DPAD on the nostromo as my WASD.

Do you use the Belkin Nostromo or the Razer Nostromo? I found that the Belkin Nostromo D-pad was hard to use for movement because the D-pad was positioned on the side of the gamepad which caused me to move the entire device itself whenever I sustained prolonged presses. I noticed the Razer Nostromo has a little thumbstick on top of the D-pad which might solve that issue since the force would be applied perpendicular to the D-pad instead of pushing down on the gamepad itself. If the Razer version solves this problem, I might go out and acquire one.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

welp. there is a problem. the gamepad controls don't seem to be customisable at all. so in 360 mode it recognises the navigation controller as only, of course, the left side of the stick. palm to face action. so, I can move nico around. and there's the run button. you can switch weapons. steer cars. not accelerate, but you can brake. and shoot from car. urrrrrr.

oh right. forgot to update my retard post in here. you can of course edit all the button functions with motioninjoy so that it all becomes great and acceleration and braking can be moved to L1 and L2. so driving actually works perfect now, with analog turning.

although there are quite a bit more button functions overall in gta than it's easy to assign to the navigation controller alone. really wish there were a couple of more buttons on it. mostly only for man-mode, since while moving you need to at least be able to push the run and jump button at the same time, so those are on the triggers. run on L2 and jump on L1. so with those two buttons occupied I have to move the thumb away from the analog stick to reach the also frequently used ENTER vehicle button. which ideally I would want to have in reach while using the analog stick, since running or moving at all towards or after a car is often useful when trying to steal it.

hm, but most of the other functions I put on the remaining 5 buttons are not important to use in conjunction with analog stick movement as far as I can remember. so there is only some awkward moments with using the navigation controller with mouse.

the camera seem to be a little more awkward to use with the mouse while using the controller simultaneously though. it's as if the game switches between keyboard/mouse mode and controller mode for the camera between using the analog stick then turning around with the mouse and then moving with the analog stick again. the camera sort of goes into a follow mode for the analog stick. but becomes freecam again when I touch the mouse. it isn't really too noticable most of the time, since it has a bit of a "soft" stick to it. so it never jerks too terribly and jarringly between the different modes. it's most noticable when you're driving, as the camera seemingly is slower to switch back to follow mode from freelook. although that could actually just be me not having played gta4 for a long time.

here's a video I uploaded while testing navigation controller in gta4, https://tv.rockstargames.com/videos/view/id/FFD6CC53FC8D25E0

 

[1-D_FTW]

Just ordered a Navigation controller for 16.19 through Target.com.

http://slickdeals.net/?sdtid=346257...n-Controller-Black-PlayStation-3/-/A-12802358

On sale for 19.99. You have to log into your Target account (or else the code won't work), and then enter the following code:

TGT75HFN

That takes it down to 14.99. Order has free shipping too. 14.99 + tax.

 

[Thrakier]

It's a pity that some games don't let you map buttons as you want. You can connect the NAV as 360 controller via motioninjoy just fine, but you can't use it because you can't remap the functions. Sou you need to use XPADDER but you loose the analog movement when you do this, which is quite a pity because analog movement >>>>>>>> WSAD.

Any solution to that?

 

[Thrakier]

oh right. forgot to update my retard post in here. you can of course edit all the button functions with motioninjoy so that it all becomes great and acceleration and braking can be moved to L1 and L2. so driving actually works perfect now, with analog turning.

although there are quite a bit more button functions overall in gta than it's easy to assign to the navigation controller alone. really wish there were a couple of more buttons on it. mostly only for man-mode, since while moving you need to at least be able to push the run and jump button at the same time, so those are on the triggers. run on L2 and jump on L1. so with those two buttons occupied I have to move the thumb away from the analog stick to reach the also frequently used ENTER vehicle button. which ideally I would want to have in reach while using the analog stick, since running or moving at all towards or after a car is often useful when trying to steal it.

hm, but most of the other functions I put on the remaining 5 buttons are not important to use in conjunction with analog stick movement as far as I can remember. so there is only some awkward moments with using the navigation controller with mouse.

the camera seem to be a little more awkward to use with the mouse while using the controller simultaneously though. it's as if the game switches between keyboard/mouse mode and controller mode for the camera between using the analog stick then turning around with the mouse and then moving with the analog stick again. the camera sort of goes into a follow mode for the analog stick. but becomes freecam again when I touch the mouse. it isn't really too noticable most of the time, since it has a bit of a "soft" stick to it. so it never jerks too terribly and jarringly between the different modes. it's most noticable when you're driving, as the camera seemingly is slower to switch back to follow mode from freelook. although that could actually just be me not having played gta4 for a long time.

here's a video I uploaded while testing navigation controller in gta4, https://tv.rockstargames.com/videos/view/id/FFD6CC53FC8D25E0

How did you find out which NAV-Controller Button relates to which 360 button?

 

[dangeROSS]

I finally got around to re-installing Mirror's Edge and decided to try the Playstation Move Navigation Controller with it. It works nicely. since the game doesn't have very complicated controls, I didn't have to remap anything for the nav. I did have to remap 1 or 2 things for the mouse, but it was easy and the game gave me no problems. I'm excited to try this new control set up with it.

Here's a video of it working:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iL_0FrnaFY

 

[dangeROSS]

I've got the Nav controller running with Crysis 2 now. Fitting all the commands was kind of tricky, but I think I've got a set-up that works now. I was using it with Alice The Madness Returns, but I feel like I liked the controller for a 3rd person game more then the mouse.

Here's the video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAG_nBVOZlQ

 

[Dash Kappei]

Hey DangeRoss, great imput to this thread, keep it up
I seem to remember that by using MotionInJoy DS3/Move drivers in wireless mode through bluetooth will actually make it so the BT dongle can't be used with any other bluetooth devices. Basically you gotta assign a BT adapter (and thus also a USB port) just for Motionjoy.
Is that still the case?

Also, is there a way to get your xpadder profiles for Amnesia and other games which don't support a controller (COD:MW3?)?

 

[Jtrizzy]

That's exactly it; the angle that your thumb rests on the stick doesn't allow for good, even movement. Plus the top is considerably smaller than a 360's joystick. It works, its just noticeably compromised.

I have one too, and to get really good movement you need to use your pointer finger and thumb, which makes things more difficult. I bought one hoping that it would help me play BF3 on PC, coming over from consoles but it isn't ideal.

I am glad I have one for other reasons like temperature and performance monitoring. I guess it could be good for Skyrim though. I've been using a 360 controller for all of my pc gaming so far, it's just really counter intuitive and difficult having to use so many fingers on my left hand, which is used to just moving the character and the two left shoulder buttons.

I think the ideal setup would clearly be something similar to the PS3 nav controller paired with a mouse. Another interesting set up would essentially be two moves, both with analog sticks.

 

[RetroMG]

Unrelated to the topic but in the spirit of the thread: Is anyone aware of an option to use the 360's keyboard attachment on the pc, or a controller with a similar mini-keyboard setup? I got my controller set up to play WoW using joystix pro but I hate having to switch to keyboard to send messages.

 

[Jtrizzy]

So can you config BF3 like the following:

L3-movement
L3 click-sprint
L1-crouch/prone
L2-grenade
L DPAD-switch weapon
R DPAD-switch weapon
UP DPAD-Spotting
Down DPAD
X-Jump
O-Arm Crates

Mouse only used for aiming and shooting, with extra buttons still...

This would be my dream set up.

 

[Thrakier]

TBH I gave up on it. It's a big hassle to set it up everything everytime and in the end most of the time you'll only get digital movement anyway. And digital movement with an analog stick really sucks.

 

[Tenck]

A guy I play with on Quake uses a joystick for movement and mouse for aiming. I never knew others would want something similar :O

 

[1-D_FTW]

TBH I gave up on it. It's a big hassle to set it up everything everytime and in the end most of the time you'll only get digital movement anyway. And digital movement with an analog stick really sucks.

Same. Plus I threw my USB bluetooth out. Thought it was broken. But because motion joy is such a POS, I think it just got fubared when I reinstalled Windows 7 and didn't remember it needed software installed before I plugged it in. Once Windows installed it's crap, the thing was junk short of a Windows reformat.

Sucks, because the Navigator and G700 mouse would be an awesome wireless combo. Just not worth the effort.

Every time I try and install motion joy, I'm reminded why I hate the program. Felt good when there was a recent hate thread and a lot of PC gaf came out and declared their hate for the program. At least I know I'm not in the minority anymore.

 

[dangeROSS]

Hey DangeRoss, great imput to this thread, keep it up
I seem to remember that by using MotionInJoy DS3/Move drivers in wireless mode through bluetooth will actually make it so the BT dongle can't be used with any other bluetooth devices. Basically you gotta assign a BT adapter (and thus also a USB port) just for Motionjoy.
Is that still the case?

Also, is there a way to get your xpadder profiles for Amnesia and other games which don't support a controller (COD:MW3?)?

Hmm. I don't really have many bluetooth devices. But I can try to look around and see if I can find something, and I'll test it.

I did run into a quirky little issue when I had both the Nav. controller and the 360 pad plugged in at the same time. But I should test that again too and see if it causes any serious problems.

I don't know of a way to share Xpadder profiles. But when I was using Xpadder with Amnesia it was a pretty basic setup. The game didn't require complex controls. I can maybe take a quick pic of what I had buttons assigned to and share that on here.

I tried using the Nav controller last night with Crysis 2 online. It did seem to make aiming better compared to the 360 pad. But I on'y played briefly so I can't really compare them yet. I think my next PC game is going to be Deus Ex - Human Revolution. I'll post when I get that up and running.

 

[Thrakier]

It's a shame though because for comfy couch gaming it would be just too awesome to have something like a nav controller working in every game.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

I knew a guy that played tribes with a flight stick and a trackball and he was a competitive player.

 

[metareferential]

Many games just let you use both the 360 controller and mouse for pointing.

I do it in L4D and other games sometimes. It's great, actually. Someone should mode the 360 pad into a nav controller case.

 

[Shanlei91]

Seeing a topic like this always brings comfort to me that I'm not the only nutcase who prefers a controller over a keyboard.

When I first bought a PC to game it was for Quake 3...had one of these in my left hand and a mouse in my right.

Since then, nearly every game I have played on my PC involved either a controller + mouse or just a controller. Never felt I was at a disadvantage.

 

[Tellaerin]

As far as I'm concerned, controller plus mouse is the only way to play on PC. Been doing it for years myself.

Still waiting for someone to release an all-in-one gamepad for FPS's that substitutes a mini-trackball for the right analog stick...

 

[dangeROSS]

It is nice to see others out there feel the same way about having some sort of controller like this for the PC. But I'm still sort of suprised no-one has jumped in and made a product to fit this niche. The trackball idea mentioned seems like it would be neat to try. I've never had the opportunity to use a trackball for gaming.

And with Steam talking about big picture mode, it seems people would like more controller-type intergration options. Maybe Valve will step in and create the one controller to rule them all. I know they had a bit of a hand in that Razer Hydra controller which had some Portal 2 functionality. But that was pretty darn expensive.

 

[Thrakier]

Seeing a topic like this always brings comfort to me that I'm not the only nutcase who prefers a controller over a keyboard.

When I first bought a PC to game it was for Quake 3...had one of these in my left hand and a mouse in my right.

Since then, nearly every game I have played on my PC involved either a controller + mouse or just a controller. Never felt I was at a disadvantage.

Then let us know how you set things up pls. If it involves XPADDER it already failed. ;D

 

[Jtrizzy]

Had to come back to this thread to ask you guys about BF3, as I finally fixed the problem that wouldn't allow me to connect to MP matches.

I basically built a pc for the game after putting in tons of hours in BC2 and BF:MC on consoles, and have not been able to play a single online game till tonight. Of course all of the other incredible pc games this fall like Skyrim have held me over, but it has been pretty disappointing.

That said, still have this issue that I am terrible with the kb aspect of kb/m. Like you guys, I am sitting in a recliner or on the couch and am playing this on my big screen, so I really have no desire to become proficient with kb/m.

Sadly, I know I will get destroyed online using the 360 controller, so I'm wondering if this NAV setup would allow me to be more competitive online. Seems like the only real advantage the kb/m setup has is the mouse, so I don't see why this wouldn't be ideal.

 

[dangeROSS]

I would guess that a mouse would be more accurate for gaming online. The big reason I tried this whole set-up out was for Left 4 Dead 2 multiplayer. And I think that it was more accurate then the 360 gamepad I was using. The biggest shortcoming I've expierenced is that the 360 pad had the connection for the only microphone headset I have. If you have a wireless headset or some alternative it proabably doesn't make a difference however.

 

[morningbus]

I just had a thought...

I know this sounds weird, but is it possible to use two Move navigation controllers at the same time on a PC and have them fully emulate the 360 pad? I love split design controllers.

 

[Decker]

Do you use the Belkin Nostromo or the Razer Nostromo? I found that the Belkin Nostromo D-pad was hard to use for movement because the D-pad was positioned on the side of the gamepad which caused me to move the entire device itself whenever I sustained prolonged presses. I noticed the Razer Nostromo has a little thumbstick on top of the D-pad which might solve that issue since the force would be applied perpendicular to the D-pad instead of pushing down on the gamepad itself. If the Razer version solves this problem, I might go out and acquire one.

I use Razer Nostromo and I find it very comfortable

you can adjust the palm rest according to your hand size in order to reach the most distant keys

the thumbstick is detachable if you don't like it, leaving you a traditional dpad to use for movement (this is from Belkin Nostromo N52 TE, but you get the idea)

 

[dangeROSS]

I think this set-up works pretty well for Crysis 2 online. I can look and aim quicker and easier with the mouse. And the nav controller has no problem emulating half the 360 controller. I feel like a total parkour guy running around and climbing everything now.

I tested having both the Nav Controller and the 360 Pad on at the same time, and didn't experience any issues while playing. I don't know if that will be true with every game or not.

I still can't find any other Bluetooth devices to test whether or not there would be issues with having more then one bluetooh device being used at the same time. So I have no answer on that.

I don't know if you could hook up 2 Nav controllers at the same time and them as a dual stick set up. I think it probably would work.

I'd like to try a Nostromo someday. They are just a bit too expensive for me to grab one without knowing if I would really use it or not.

 

[dummydecoy]

Has this been mentioned yet? Coz it's all you need OP

http://tuact.com/

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Pretty neat, though compared to PS Navigation controller that wand does have one less button; no equivalent to the PS button under the d-pad.

 

[FlappyHands]

To be honest, if using a controller alone isn't sufficient then I'd probably just mouse and keyboard it. I really can't see using a mouse + controller being very practical in many situations, but hey, if you can make it work then more power to you.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

That mouse looks awful to use.

 

[Cheeto]

I know tons of people use controller+mouse for Battlefield games. Left hand on controller (360 usually) and right hand on mouse, and they switch to only controller when they get in a flying vehicle. I know for a fact this works because if I leave my 360 controller plugged in and set it down on one of the analog sticks it makes my view or movement go crazy. When I first got BFBC2 every game I joined my view would tilt up non-stop and I had to fight it with my mouse...eventually I figured out it was the controller...felt so dumb,

 

[dangeROSS]

I started playing Deus Ex Human Revolution the other day. For some reason the game will not let me use the 360 pad and a mouse at the same time. It seems to only accept one form of input or the other. There is a few second delay if you try to switch between the two. I haven't tested it yet with the Nav controller. But I assume it would be the same situation. I may play around with Xpadder and see if I could get that working with it.

The Tuact set-up does look interesting. Have you tried it? Looking on Amazon I only saw a few for sale and they are somewhat expensive. And I'm not sure I would trust the product. Are they the same people who made the FragNstein? I heard mixed things about that.

I recently got Battlefield 2 from that Amazon sale. I was curious if it accepted the 360 pad. When I do get around to installing it, I'll test the nav controller with it as well.

 

[dangeROSS]

I tried the navigation controller/mouse combo last night with Alice: The Madness Returns. It worked great. I only had to remap some of the controls for jumping and such onto the mouse buttons.

I still havent gotten around to getting Deus Ex: Human Revolution working with Xpadder yet. Sooner or later I'll try. So far I haven't encountered many games besides Deus Ex that won't allow a mouse/pad combo. I plan on installing Battlefield 2 at some point as well, and will test that.

 

[Sethos]

 

[dangeROSS]

Well that is certainly an interesting way to combine a mouse and a controller. I can't imagine that using it as a controller would be very comfortable though.

 

[Orayn]

I read a review of that mouse monstrosity and it sounds like it's pretty awful.

 

[dangeROSS]

So Battlefield Bad Company 2 doesn't seem to have native support for a gamepad. Which i find weird. So i hooked up Xpadder and have been using the Nav contoller to play. So far no issues. But i have yet to really get into things, so i hope all the commands have been mapped and I haven't missed anything.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

its funny, I heard about someone using the analog on the 360 controller for movement and the mouse for looking/shooting just the other day. GOtta try it sometime.