6 votes

The scientists studying why some gamers invert their Y-axis controls

4 comments

  1. [2]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    Anecdotal, but that is definitely the case for me. I grew up playing a ton of inverted y-axis flight games like Comanche, X-Wing v Tie Fighter, Wing Commander, Privateer, Decent, Freespace, etc....

    Was axis inversion just a habit picked up from playing flight simulators ... ?

    Anecdotal, but that is definitely the case for me. I grew up playing a ton of inverted y-axis flight games like Comanche, X-Wing v Tie Fighter, Wing Commander, Privateer, Decent, Freespace, etc. And even in a lot of third-person games I played (e.g. Rune, Die by the sword, etc.), inverted Y-axis by default was the norm as well. I can cope fine in games where I can't invert the y-axis, but it does feel slightly "unnatural" for me, and usually takes my brain a few minutes to get adjusted to it every time I play a game like that.

    11 votes
    1. NaraVara
      Link Parent
      So I picked this up from those games too, but for some reason I only want to do it in games that have driving or flight sim style controls. If the stick is there to control pitch/yaw/roll, as when...

      So I picked this up from those games too, but for some reason I only want to do it in games that have driving or flight sim style controls.

      If the stick is there to control pitch/yaw/roll, as when diving, flying, or piloting a craft then yes. But if the stick is there to control the camera, as in first person or third person adventure games then no.

      3 votes
  2. ohyran
    Link
    Isn't this like the case for natural scrolling on touchpads? Some prefer that, some don't due to how each person visualize the action in comparison with the fictive plane of movement. Are you...

    Isn't this like the case for natural scrolling on touchpads? Some prefer that, some don't due to how each person visualize the action in comparison with the fictive plane of movement. Are you pushing a surface, or a scrollbar?

    9 votes
  3. culturedleftfoot
    Link
    I think I'm an inverter... though I'm not completely sure, because whenever I play a first-person game, I have switch back and forth a few times to find what feels natural, and as it's a pretty...

    I think I'm an inverter... though I'm not completely sure, because whenever I play a first-person game, I have switch back and forth a few times to find what feels natural, and as it's a pretty rare occurrence I don't remember the result. I'd always assumed it was because there wasn't one standard and each game had a different way set to default. I've never played any flight sim games (although I always tried After Burner as a lad whenever I found it in arcades), and Halo was the first FPS I paid any attention to, in my late teens. My first and main dual-stick experiences were with third-person action games, so maybe controlling those cameras shaped my habits. That would have been in my mid-to-late teens as well though, perhaps my expectations were already set by then.

    Interestingly, I don't believe I invert when using a mouse. In thinking trying to think it through now, I have way more experience with a mouse than a controller, but I feel I wouldn't have enough fine dexterity with a mouse to process inverted aiming in the heat of a game. Maybe it'd feel weird because I've been programmed outside of video games that up with a mouse has always meant up.

    4 votes