The "How" question: How do you create a control system on console FPS that compensates for the lack of precision on console controllers but still gives the player a sense of control and doesn''t make a game too easy? Wondering what you guys thought of some of the past approaches to this problem. I know everyone will mention Halo, the Holy Grail of console FPS control. But it seems like some design aspects of the game were catered specifically towards solving this problem. For example, the assault rifle sprays a large area, decreasing the need for precision. The needler and alien pistol fire projectiles which seek out enemies. Two of the non-automatic weapons have zoom functions, which allow more precision in aiming. I thought Medal of Honor: Frontline for PS2 was a bit tough to control. There was no autoaim and using that single-fire rifle on faraway enemies was a bit frustrating. Bond: Agent Under Fire had an autoaim system which made the game way too easy. It seemed like the player had very little control and the game played itself for you. What do you guys think?

call me old-fashioned, but I think that FPS and consoles don´t mix. well, rarely.

The only good example I can think of was the Bond game for the N64, which was challenging enough while avoiding the pitfalls of imprecise control (either via sniperscope or, in most instances good leveldesign).
Matching the level design to the amount of control a player has isn´t that hard - close distances work fairly well with a stick, and long distance shooting is very tough in real life, players with accurate and sensitive thumbs can do it, others have to get closer. If the level design accommodates this there´s no problem.


btw: I hated Halo - that kind of huge outdoors areas just aren´t suited for console control....

Golden Eye on the N64 also had a little bit of auto aim.

I agree. I also generally dislike playing FPS games on consoles.

But even with good level design which promotes mid to close range combat, what do you do with the problem of the lack of quick turning? In close range battles, you often need to move your crosshair over large angles to aim. With a mouse, it''s just a quick flick, but with a controller, your turning speed has to remain relatively low. So what can you do to allow quick turning? It doesn''t seem like developers have tried anything new to solve this issue.

The only idea I''ve come up with is to allow a button that, when held down, increases turning sensitivity of the analog stick. But it doesn''t look like anyone is ever going to try it.

How about the way Time Splitters does it?

You have your standard aim control on the analog, then you have fine aim when you (I think) click the R1 button. The fine aim almost acts like a mouse cursor, allowing you to move the crosshair while the view remains fixed. When the crosshair moves toward the edges of the screen, the view moves as normal. It takes a minute to get used to, but after using it for a bit you can become very effective.

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Just waiting for the mothership...

I generaly don''t play FPS...but how about binding the analog stick "mouse look" senseitivity to the button used for running?

when "walking" around the sensitivity is "normal"...but when "running" the sensitivity increases.

Another thought is to use the analog stick to "scale" the movement moreso then it usually will...then keep a internal "map" of previous game update stick locations...this way when the most recent update shows the stick all the way to the right, but previous updates it was mostly to the left...the game engine can turn the player more or less in that direction...or if the stick remains fully to the right for a number of updates, the engine can briefly increase the turn rate.

Another way could be a "auto turn" feature...if the player hears some noise to the left, and moves the stick in that direction...the engine could in effect help the player turn in that direction faster then normaly directly through the control stick turn rate.

Umm, guys(/gals?), everybody''s noticed that the thumbsticks on controllers are analog (rather than the keyboard binary)? If you''re having trouble with precision, you turn the sensitivity way up and practice finer motions.
Once you get the hang of small movements, console FPSes work nicely. I''d argue that you get more control with consoles than with KB/mouse combos.

Just tried Timesplitters 2. That control scheme feels pretty good and I could get some precise aiming down with it. It doesn''t address the issue of fast turning though. Allowing a run button to increase turning sensitivity sounds promising.

Sta7ic, the controllers are analog but they are tough to use precisely. The range of motion of each analog stick is fairly small and the higher sensitivity is, the harder it is to move in tiny increments. Also, all analog sticks have a "deadzone", or a small circular range of motion where the stick defaults to and doesn''t respond to motion. This deadzone makes it even tougher to move in tiny increments.