The alienware "gamer aesthetic" annoys me so much. They actually have some nice concepts and hardware but then you have a frickin' led blinding you from underneath the thumbsticks when playing...
The alienware "gamer aesthetic" annoys me so much. They actually have some nice concepts and hardware but then you have a frickin' led blinding you from underneath the thumbsticks when playing rocket league. WHY?!?
Preach! RGB LED lights are a plague on gaming hardware, and I hate it. All I want is matte black and no extraneous lights on my equipment, is that so much to ask? Apparently so, because sadly that...
Preach! RGB LED lights are a plague on gaming hardware, and I hate it. All I want is matte black and no extraneous lights on my equipment, is that so much to ask? Apparently so, because sadly that is getting harder and harder to find these days, especially on the high-end stuff. :(
I feel like the concept is a bit less a 'switch with windows' (although that's certainty what this particular hardware is trying to be) but more a return of UMPCs, but geared towards games, a...
I feel like the concept is a bit less a 'switch with windows' (although that's certainty what this particular hardware is trying to be) but more a return of UMPCs, but geared towards games, a little like gaming laptops/PCs are to regular laptops/PCs? Given that you could also use this thing as a Windows/Linux/Android/whatever tablet (I'm assuming? I didn't see if the article mentioned a touch-screen, but it has at least one external port & bluetooth for the controllers) with relative ease, but the switch is relagated to Nintendo's OS (at least officially).
I personally love the concept of tiny general computers (I own a GPD Win myself), even though smartphones definitely fill their a lot of their use case.
I like the idea, a lot of the time I wish stuff was on Switch. However, the games I like most for Switch are the ones that take advantage of the entire console, like using the gyro for aim or...
I like the idea, a lot of the time I wish stuff was on Switch. However, the games I like most for Switch are the ones that take advantage of the entire console, like using the gyro for aim or touch on the menu (which is a shockingly low number of games imo)
I can't remember what I used for this (It might have just been the steam input configuration? But maybe some other tool, I'll try to dig up what I used & edit this post) but at least with the pro...
I can't remember what I used for this (It might have just been the steam input configuration? But maybe some other tool, I'll try to dig up what I used & edit this post) but at least with the pro controllers, the gyro can emulate a mouse on a PC, which was pretty fun to use outside of the switch's library, though you have to tune sensitivity and speed a bit before it feels right.
It's an interesting concept. I never felt okay with console-like controls. To my mouse-and-keyboard-trained hands, they feel awkward and, compared to a keyboard particularly, limited.
It's an interesting concept.
I never felt okay with console-like controls. To my mouse-and-keyboard-trained hands, they feel awkward and, compared to a keyboard particularly, limited.
I don't care about the controls but I wouldn't mind if size/heat/fan-noise was brought down as a new standard. I'm seeing diminishing returns from hardware upgrades over the past 10 years or so...
I don't care about the controls but I wouldn't mind if size/heat/fan-noise was brought down as a new standard. I'm seeing diminishing returns from hardware upgrades over the past 10 years or so and I'd rather see that effort put in miniaturization and efficiency. I'm looking at my gaming PC and the only positive feelings I have towards that huge-ass case is... nostalgia? By any practical sense its size annoys me.
For a while I used an M-ITX gaming PC specifically so it would fit on my desk behind my monitor, it was a beast! The only reason I have an ATX size case now is that I had broken the handle on the...
For a while I used an M-ITX gaming PC specifically so it would fit on my desk behind my monitor, it was a beast! The only reason I have an ATX size case now is that I had broken the handle on the M-ITX and cable management was a bitch and I couldn't be bothered dealing with it all again.
I swear, the way PC gamers fetishize the build process drives me nuts. It's such a hassle. You'd think that PC hardware, in the past 40 years or so, had developed some sane standards to make...
I swear, the way PC gamers fetishize the build process drives me nuts. It's such a hassle. You'd think that PC hardware, in the past 40 years or so, had developed some sane standards to make building it a breeze but it's all ridiculously tiny, sharp-edged corners, cables of 10 different sizes, arbitrarily arranged and bits sticking out everywhere.
The process has already been streamlined quite a lot in the last 20 years, I do not miss fiddling with jumpers and ribbon cables. Only thing I could think of that'd make things easier without...
The process has already been streamlined quite a lot in the last 20 years, I do not miss fiddling with jumpers and ribbon cables. Only thing I could think of that'd make things easier without making undue sacrifices would be deprecating molex, 6 pin GPU, 4 pin CPU and 20 pin motherboard power. Messing around with those detachable connectors is the worst, and I haven't used a 4 pin molex connector in god knows how long.
Ah, modern PCs; the only device where 24 power pins aren't enough. And although I like the mechanics of the SATA power plug better than the 4-pin molex, I still have no idea why it needs 15 pins...
Ah, modern PCs; the only device where 24 power pins aren't enough. And although I like the mechanics of the SATA power plug better than the 4-pin molex, I still have no idea why it needs 15 pins for just three voltages and a ground. Heck, there's usually only four or five wires heading into them.
Do modern computers even really need 12V any more? Especially when it's so common to avoid mechanical drives nowadays.
I've played on console most of my life, but found the switch to feel dinky and annoying to use. Xbox controllers are the only ones I like. I got one that is basically an xbox controller (came with...
I've played on console most of my life, but found the switch to feel dinky and annoying to use. Xbox controllers are the only ones I like. I got one that is basically an xbox controller (came with two flush buttons on the back, which should be a new standard) for the switch and use that most of the time.
I do find a mouse easier to do just about everything with. Only thing I am bad with is games that heavily use the number buttons for a hot bar. I miss too frequently so have the bad habit of using the mouse wheel to select things instead. Just feels awkward reaching for those in the middle of an intense PvP battle.
Overall though I liked being able to sit literally wherever with the switch or even the PSP back in the day. I find that benefit to be well worth being uncomfortable with the controller. I think especially for kids that would be awesome.
That's a good point. I want to give e-books a shot because they offer the readability of books with portability of digital documents – something no smartphone or laptop (the types of devices I'm...
Overall though I liked being able to sit literally wherever with the switch or even the PSP back in the day.
That's a good point. I want to give e-books a shot because they offer the readability of books with portability of digital documents – something no smartphone or laptop (the types of devices I'm limited to, at the moment) can afford.
Only thing I am bad with is games that heavily use the number buttons for a hot bar. I miss too frequently so have the bad habit of using the mouse wheel to select things instead.
Interesting. I prefer number keys. My fingers default to WASD formation anyway, and I regularly use WASD outside FPS/TPS (for example, in Dota 2 I use it to move the camera around if I need to reach for something nearby, just like in any strategy I play). Reaching from that position feels natural to me.
In Call of Duty, I even have the 1 number key set to switch between primary and secondary. Wheel is imprecise in my hands: in a tense moment, I either spin it madly, or use it to press the middle button during all the shooting. Easy to overshoot for me this way. Keys don't escape my hands quite so easily.
Yeah I am new to PC gaming and really need to break the mouse scroll wheel habit. I have big hands too so it's not even that I can't reach or another. When you press 1 or another number do you...
Yeah I am new to PC gaming and really need to break the mouse scroll wheel habit. I have big hands too so it's not even that I can't reach or another. When you press 1 or another number do you lift your fingers off the WASD keys?
I need more practice, cause the mouse wheel thing is a bad habit. The other thing I struggle with is using the ctrl button. That hurts my hand. But yeah I think all this is mostly because I'm new to PC gaming. Practice pratice pratice.
Getting a "gaming mouse" will help with a lot of these kinds of issues. The scroll wheel on a gaming mouse will be rigid and have very clear clicks, making it far easier to use for switching...
Getting a "gaming mouse" will help with a lot of these kinds of issues. The scroll wheel on a gaming mouse will be rigid and have very clear clicks, making it far easier to use for switching weapons. The gaming mice usually have extra buttons which are nice for things like voice chat or special abilities.
You're correct about practicing; The awkwardness of lifting your hand from WASD or holding ctrl is something that goes away with time. I don't even think about my hands anymore, the muscles just know what to do. Each time you pick up a new game you'll usually have some new awkward movements to get used to.
Edit: Another important mouse tip on PC is to disable "mouse acceleration" in windows. The effect (when enabled) makes it impossible to get an intuitive feel for aiming with your mouse as it constantly adjusts the speed of the cursor.
I lift my ring finger off the A key position and press it. For 2 and 3, I lift the W key finger. For 4, 5, and maybe 6, it's the D key finger. The rest of the number keys require right hand's...
When you press 1 or another number do you lift your fingers off the WASD keys?
I lift my ring finger off the A key position and press it. For 2 and 3, I lift the W key finger. For 4, 5, and maybe 6, it's the D key finger. The rest of the number keys require right hand's input.
The other thing I struggle with is using the ctrl button. That hurts my hand.
Ctrl is a bitch to press, I agree. Even with practice it's clunky and awkward.
What I would recommend, if you aren't working with texts often, is to remap your Caps Lock key to Ctrl. That way, Caps Lock will behave as Ctrl in all cases unless you disable the remapping, system-wide, in all applications. Caps Lock is easier to press, and you can do it with your little finger, without interrupting other key work.
I used SharpKeys (GitHub repo with source and an FAQ) back when I needed the remapping functionality, and it worked well when all you needed was to map a single key to another.
I typically remap numbers to keys near WASD if possible. You want stuff that's as close as possible to WASD if movement is important - so Q, E, R, F, G, Z, X, C, V are all good candidates. Get...
When you press 1 or another number do you lift your fingers off the WASD keys?
I typically remap numbers to keys near WASD if possible. You want stuff that's as close as possible to WASD if movement is important - so Q, E, R, F, G, Z, X, C, V are all good candidates. Get familiar with hitting those keys with different fingers because you might need to be holding W and A at the same time as you hit Q or E... which is why I also use mouse buttons and scroll wheel as appropriate. The goal should be to never have to lift your fingers off the WASD keys when you need to be using them.
Does this seem like something you would be into for Portable Mode with the Switch? https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Switch-Machina-Ergonomic-Controller-Handheld/dp/B07T5QKKVP EDIT: Or would you...
Does this seem like something you would be into for Portable Mode with the Switch?
The alienware "gamer aesthetic" annoys me so much. They actually have some nice concepts and hardware but then you have a frickin' led blinding you from underneath the thumbsticks when playing rocket league. WHY?!?
Preach! RGB LED lights are a plague on gaming hardware, and I hate it. All I want is matte black and no extraneous lights on my equipment, is that so much to ask? Apparently so, because sadly that is getting harder and harder to find these days, especially on the high-end stuff. :(
Looks like "Switch but with Windows" is becoming a thing between the GPD Win, Smach Z and whatever else is available.
I feel like the concept is a bit less a 'switch with windows' (although that's certainty what this particular hardware is trying to be) but more a return of UMPCs, but geared towards games, a little like gaming laptops/PCs are to regular laptops/PCs? Given that you could also use this thing as a Windows/Linux/Android/whatever tablet (I'm assuming? I didn't see if the article mentioned a touch-screen, but it has at least one external port & bluetooth for the controllers) with relative ease, but the switch is relagated to Nintendo's OS (at least officially).
I personally love the concept of tiny general computers (I own a GPD Win myself), even though smartphones definitely fill their a lot of their use case.
I like the idea, a lot of the time I wish stuff was on Switch. However, the games I like most for Switch are the ones that take advantage of the entire console, like using the gyro for aim or touch on the menu (which is a shockingly low number of games imo)
I can't remember what I used for this (It might have just been the steam input configuration? But maybe some other tool, I'll try to dig up what I used & edit this post) but at least with the pro controllers, the gyro can emulate a mouse on a PC, which was pretty fun to use outside of the switch's library, though you have to tune sensitivity and speed a bit before it feels right.
It's an interesting concept.
I never felt okay with console-like controls. To my mouse-and-keyboard-trained hands, they feel awkward and, compared to a keyboard particularly, limited.
I don't care about the controls but I wouldn't mind if size/heat/fan-noise was brought down as a new standard. I'm seeing diminishing returns from hardware upgrades over the past 10 years or so and I'd rather see that effort put in miniaturization and efficiency. I'm looking at my gaming PC and the only positive feelings I have towards that huge-ass case is... nostalgia? By any practical sense its size annoys me.
For a while I used an M-ITX gaming PC specifically so it would fit on my desk behind my monitor, it was a beast! The only reason I have an ATX size case now is that I had broken the handle on the M-ITX and cable management was a bitch and I couldn't be bothered dealing with it all again.
I swear, the way PC gamers fetishize the build process drives me nuts. It's such a hassle. You'd think that PC hardware, in the past 40 years or so, had developed some sane standards to make building it a breeze but it's all ridiculously tiny, sharp-edged corners, cables of 10 different sizes, arbitrarily arranged and bits sticking out everywhere.
The process has already been streamlined quite a lot in the last 20 years, I do not miss fiddling with jumpers and ribbon cables. Only thing I could think of that'd make things easier without making undue sacrifices would be deprecating molex, 6 pin GPU, 4 pin CPU and 20 pin motherboard power. Messing around with those detachable connectors is the worst, and I haven't used a 4 pin molex connector in god knows how long.
Ah, modern PCs; the only device where 24 power pins aren't enough. And although I like the mechanics of the SATA power plug better than the 4-pin molex, I still have no idea why it needs 15 pins for just three voltages and a ground. Heck, there's usually only four or five wires heading into them.
Do modern computers even really need 12V any more? Especially when it's so common to avoid mechanical drives nowadays.
I've played on console most of my life, but found the switch to feel dinky and annoying to use. Xbox controllers are the only ones I like. I got one that is basically an xbox controller (came with two flush buttons on the back, which should be a new standard) for the switch and use that most of the time.
I do find a mouse easier to do just about everything with. Only thing I am bad with is games that heavily use the number buttons for a hot bar. I miss too frequently so have the bad habit of using the mouse wheel to select things instead. Just feels awkward reaching for those in the middle of an intense PvP battle.
Overall though I liked being able to sit literally wherever with the switch or even the PSP back in the day. I find that benefit to be well worth being uncomfortable with the controller. I think especially for kids that would be awesome.
That's a good point. I want to give e-books a shot because they offer the readability of books with portability of digital documents – something no smartphone or laptop (the types of devices I'm limited to, at the moment) can afford.
Interesting. I prefer number keys. My fingers default to WASD formation anyway, and I regularly use WASD outside FPS/TPS (for example, in Dota 2 I use it to move the camera around if I need to reach for something nearby, just like in any strategy I play). Reaching from that position feels natural to me.
In Call of Duty, I even have the
1number key set to switch between primary and secondary. Wheel is imprecise in my hands: in a tense moment, I either spin it madly, or use it to press the middle button during all the shooting. Easy to overshoot for me this way. Keys don't escape my hands quite so easily.Yeah I am new to PC gaming and really need to break the mouse scroll wheel habit. I have big hands too so it's not even that I can't reach or another. When you press 1 or another number do you lift your fingers off the WASD keys?
I need more practice, cause the mouse wheel thing is a bad habit. The other thing I struggle with is using the ctrl button. That hurts my hand. But yeah I think all this is mostly because I'm new to PC gaming. Practice pratice pratice.
Getting a "gaming mouse" will help with a lot of these kinds of issues. The scroll wheel on a gaming mouse will be rigid and have very clear clicks, making it far easier to use for switching weapons. The gaming mice usually have extra buttons which are nice for things like voice chat or special abilities.
You're correct about practicing; The awkwardness of lifting your hand from WASD or holding ctrl is something that goes away with time. I don't even think about my hands anymore, the muscles just know what to do. Each time you pick up a new game you'll usually have some new awkward movements to get used to.
Edit: Another important mouse tip on PC is to disable "mouse acceleration" in windows. The effect (when enabled) makes it impossible to get an intuitive feel for aiming with your mouse as it constantly adjusts the speed of the cursor.
I lift my ring finger off the A key position and press it. For 2 and 3, I lift the W key finger. For 4, 5, and maybe 6, it's the D key finger. The rest of the number keys require right hand's input.
Ctrl is a bitch to press, I agree. Even with practice it's clunky and awkward.
What I would recommend, if you aren't working with texts often, is to remap your Caps Lock key to Ctrl. That way, Caps Lock will behave as Ctrl in all cases unless you disable the remapping, system-wide, in all applications. Caps Lock is easier to press, and you can do it with your little finger, without interrupting other key work.
I used SharpKeys (GitHub repo with source and an FAQ) back when I needed the remapping functionality, and it worked well when all you needed was to map a single key to another.
I typically remap numbers to keys near WASD if possible. You want stuff that's as close as possible to WASD if movement is important - so Q, E, R, F, G, Z, X, C, V are all good candidates. Get familiar with hitting those keys with different fingers because you might need to be holding W and A at the same time as you hit Q or E... which is why I also use mouse buttons and scroll wheel as appropriate. The goal should be to never have to lift your fingers off the WASD keys when you need to be using them.
Does this seem like something you would be into for Portable Mode with the Switch?
https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Switch-Machina-Ergonomic-Controller-Handheld/dp/B07T5QKKVP
EDIT: Or would you rather just have keyboard/mouse controls when available?
Ooooh, that looks awesome! Thanks for letting me know it exists!