Correct mouse and keyboard configuration for PC racing games?

[Paul Natsch]

So I'm using the QuadStick with a Mac to play games. I'm mainly using it just as a mouse but it has worked well to play certain kinds of games as well. I purchased the most recent racing-orientated Humble Bundle to try my hand at some racing games. I've always wanted to play games like this but couldn't before. With the QuadStick I know it's possible to play these games, and play them well, but I just can't seem to get the custom profile I've created for this purpose to work well enough. The main problem is a sensitivity issue when steering left or right. I'm finding it impossible to keep my vehicle on the road. It just jerks left and right too quickly.

I've created a profile, using the default as a base. I don't use any game controller modes because none of them seem to work with a Mac so I am approaching this as if I am a PC gamer that uses a keyboard and mouse to play games. I also try to keep things pretty simple so I don't have to remember loads of different sip and puff combinations and so forth.

 The racing game in question is GRID 2. Most racing games use similar controls so I'm thinking if I can perfect a profile for this game it should work well with most other racing games either out-of-the-box or with some minor changes.

 First the key bindings for GRID 2.

 And now for the "Drive" mode portion of the profile I made.

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I'm guessing I have to do something different with the "Function" portion of the profile for steering left and right. I might have to add some specific preferences for that mode as well?

 Any help would be greatly appreciated. The Quad Stick has already made such a big difference for me.

Paul

 

[Kasey Christensen]

I've had the same problem when trying to play rocket league. I think my problem with rocket league is partly that I've had a problem setting up the controller aspects using x360ce, where I end up having with a game as the quadstick simulating the mouse and keyboard. The reason racing games work so well with joysticks and controllers with analog sticks is that you can control the degree that wheels turn and that after you put the input left or right the stick returns to center. This is difficult with keyboard and mouse control because like you said the input is real jerky and it's hard to make those subtle adjustments to stay on the road. I hope someone can help us out.

[Fred Davison]

I'll download the Grid 2 demo and Rocket League on Steam and see if I can figure out a good configuration profile for them

[Paul Natsch]

Thank you so much Fred. Much appreciated as usual!

[Kerm Dizzle]

I really think even if you don't use consoles it's still worth getting a Cronusmax for situations like you just described. I played a lot of Towerfall and I felt it was a bit smoother when I switched from keyboard to a PS3 config. 

[Fred Davison]

Dale is right, a CronusMax can be used to emulate an XBox 360 controller to a PC.  You just can't use the mouse mode because the QuadStick will be plugged into the CronusMax input instead of the PC.

I put together a configuration file for Rocket League and wrote up a blog post on using x360ce with it.  This set up lets you continue to use the quadstick mouse mode with the PC.

[Paul Natsch]

I'm not sure this helps me with driving games since I'm using a Mac?

[Fred Davison]

I was able to run Grid 2 Demo on my PC using x360ce with the QuadStick, but trying to run it with a keyboard, like you would have to do on the mac, did not work out.  I could not steer or control the car at all.  I tried variations on the Half Life driving mode, but the car was all over the road.  I did see a suggestion to use a "grip" car with a keyboard instead of a "drift" car, but the Demo only has a drift car.

Searching around, I've seen the Dual Shock 3 listed as a supported controller in a couple of Grid games. (It is not supported in the Grid 2 Demo)  You could try copying the Dual Shock 3 configuration file (ds3.csv) into your quadstick and loading it prior to launching the game.  Since the DS3 mode does not have a mouse function, you will have to launch using something besides the quadstick.  See if the game recognizes the controller at all in the Options/Controller.  If it does, then we can work with that and create a profile for driving.  This test is just to see if the game recognizes the controller.

If you are running in Steam on the Mac, the Big Picture Mode has controller support.  You can try setting up the quadstick in that and launching games from there, but ultimately it is up the game publisher what controllers they support.

[Paul Natsch]

I tried the ds3.csv and didn't really get that far with the GRID 2 full game. This includes both in Steam Big Picture Mode and outside of that mode. In Steam Big Picture Mode The QuadStick is recognized as a PlayStation 3 controller but it still doesn't do anything when I launch the game from within that mode.

I did notice that whenever I switch to the ds3.csv profile the QuadStick disk image on my desktop disappears and I get the "a disk has been ejected improperly" warning. Switching back to any of the other profiles I use brings the disk image back and everything works as before.

There's always a chance that I'm missing something though. Bare in mind I've never even used in modern controller, or really been around them. When I was injured back in 1985 I had an Atari 2600 which used that simple joystick with a single red button. Obviously game controllers have become quite a bit more sophisticated since then. I really didn't even know what a "D-pad" was before this. So even if this worked "plug-and-play" right out of the box as a Duel Shock 3, or whatever, it would have taken me a while to figure it out. So once again, there's always a chance I'm missing something.

And of course this could simply be a Macintosh thing. People obviously use controllers to play games on the Mac, as evident in that link you sent me from Feral Interactive's (a Mac game porting studio) GRID 2 support page, but there still might be something different which makes the QuadStick controller profiles not function.

Perhaps there's some third-party workaround. I think you and I already discussed this when I initially got my QuadStick;  I will take another look at this now that I actually have a genre of games (racing games) I would need to figure this out in order to play. 

But even if this can't be solved I don't want you to lose sleep over it or anything. There's plenty of other types of games that I can play with the QuadStick, some of which I couldn't play before with my Headmaster Plus, so I will live with it. Plus if I really want to so badly I could always just simply purchase the PlayStation 3 or 4. The perils of gaming on a Mac.  :-)

I'll keep you posted if I discover anything useful. As usual thanks for your help. :-)