Purple Gryphon

Cyber Bioengineer
Beast Keeper
Vampire Scholar
Players Playing Bloodbath Demo
Immemorial
Cat Adopter
Ageless
Malleus Monday
OG 2020
Dog Adopter
Grim Scribe
Eternal Champion
Vampire Scholar
Old World
Harbinger
Feb 24, 2018
98
137
138
I finally played with a controller and I did not like it. It definitely did not feel as good as using a mouse and keyboard. It is not that the mouse and keyboard are more accurate as this is not a shooter and you have auto-lock, it was the button command choices.

I understand why the choices were made the way they were as X/square is usually the light attack and Y/triangle is the heavy attack, but that is better for side scrollers or isometric games.

The philosophy that underpins my recommendations is that any actions that you might want to do while looking around (aiming) should be on the triggers and bumpers and not the face buttons. This will allow you to move the rights stick and still pull off the action. So, any attack commands should be on the triggers and bumpers and not the face buttons.

I imagine that when the full game is released, we can assign our tarot cards to the buttons that we want, but for the demo, I would like you to test this layout.

Movement – Left stick

Look – Right stick

Target lock - Right stick click – It should work like the mouse scroll wheel click. Currently, the right trigger is used for target-lock feels clunky and does not seem to auto-aim at all. At least 50% of the time I will release the trigger and no target is selected. Also feels slower as you try to aim at the target.

Danse Macabre – Right trigger

Rend – Left trigger or Right bumper – I would probably prefer the left trigger as those should be your main actions but could see the left bumper to keep attacks on one side of the controller.

The idea behind my preferences on telekinesis and exsanguinate below are to either keep the skills together on the left side of the controller or keep skills as a bumper action which can make it easy to keep track when you change tarot cards. You will always know your attacks are on the triggers or right side and your skills are on the bumpers or left side. Keeping the skills on the bumpers seems to make the most sense. Also, you do need to do at least a little bit of aiming with these skills so you should also keep them off of the face buttons.

Telekinesis – Preference right bumper as this is a direct attack command, but could also be the left trigger or left bumper.

Exsanguinate – Preference left bumper, but could also be right bumper or left trigger.

Mist form/dodge – B/circle button – This is the button usually assigned for dodging, rolling, etc. You also don’t need the look command for dodging you just need the movement stick.
 
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This seems like some very useful design input and I found it very informative :)
I finally played with a controller and I did not like it. It definitely did not feel as good as using a mouse and keyboard.

I was very tempted to write a comment just after reading this line, something like " That's kinda the point or it never could be " etc :p lucky I didn't.
 
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I was very tempted to write a comment just after reading this line, something like " That's kinda the point or it never could be " etc :p lucky I didn't.

I am glad my pre-emptive comment worked as intended. :D

I am more comfortable with a controller but taking my finger off of the right stick to enter all commands made the game feel much clunkier, especially the lock-on mechanic versus the scroll wheel click.
 
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I have found the controller more comfortable than keyboard and mouse, and I'm a keyboard and mouse preference player. (Say that 10 times fast) but it feels more comfortable to tap the X button than it does to click the Left mouse button. Left trigger right trigger i have always felt were more ranged or FPS type skill slots exangunate or telekinesis. I am sure down the line there will be custom configuration.
 
Thanks for the comments @Varik Keldun

I agree the controller is more comfortable to use but I did not find it as much fun/engaging as the mouse and keyboard ("MNK"). It felt like I was fighting the controller more than it working with me. It was really disappointing because I was expecting it to feel better for me as I am usually a controller player and forced myself to use the MNK first to at least experience it.

I could not move from one target to the next with as much ease to do the slide attack and keep the pressure on. The combat just felt more stilted or staccato.

Also, the lock-on was just awful. I really just gave up on it after using it a lot with the MNK.

I understand why you feel better using the face buttons and in melee games that is generally the norm. But with you having to look around the combat arena to find the enemies, I don't think it works as well as the triggers and bumpers should. I might also be biased as I play A LOT of racing games so I like using the triggers and it feels natural.
 
I finally played with a controller and I did not like it. It definitely did not feel as good as using a mouse and keyboard. It is not that the mouse and keyboard are more accurate as this is not a shooter and you have auto-lock, it was the button command choices.

I understand why the choices were made the way they were as X/square is usually the light attack and Y/triangle is the heavy attack, but that is better for side scrollers or isometric games.

The philosophy that underpins my recommendations is that any actions that you might want to do while looking around (aiming) should be on the triggers and bumpers and not the face buttons. This will allow you to move the rights stick and still pull off the action. So, any attack commands should be on the triggers and bumpers and not the face buttons.

I imagine that when the full game is released, we can assign our tarot cards to the buttons that we want, but for the demo, I would like you to test this layout.

Movement – Left stick

Look – Right stick

Target lock - Right stick click – It should work like the mouse scroll wheel click. Currently, the right trigger is used for target-lock feels clunky and does not seem to auto-aim at all. At least 50% of the time I will release the trigger and no target is selected. Also feels slower as you try to aim at the target.

Danse Macabre – Right trigger

Rend – Left trigger or Right bumper – I would probably prefer the left trigger as those should be your main actions but could see the left bumper to keep attacks on one side of the controller.

The idea behind my preferences on telekinesis and exsanguinate below are to either keep the skills together on the left side of the controller or keep skills as a bumper action which can make it easy to keep track when you change tarot cards. You will always know your attacks are on the triggers or right side and your skills are on the bumpers or left side. Keeping the skills on the bumpers seems to make the most sense. Also, you do need to do at least a little bit of aiming with these skills so you should also keep them off of the face buttons.

Telekinesis – Preference left bumper as this is a direct attack command, but could also be the right trigger or right bumper.

Exsanguinate – Preference right bumper, but could also be left bumper or right trigger.

Mist form/dodge – B/circle button – This is the button usually assigned for dodging, rolling, etc. You also don’t need the look command for dodging you just need the movement stick.
to be honest as someone who primarily plays controller with games whether they have controller support or not (via a remap application) this input is definitely a lot better than most i come across. this is definitely a good post and should be taken into consideration! :)
 
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to be honest as someone who primarily plays controller with games whether they have controller support or not (via a remap application) this input is definitely a lot better than most i come across. this is definitely a good post and should be taken into consideration! :)

Thanks for the kind comments.

I have played a bit more with the controller it feels better but still not as good as I think it would with this alternate set-up.

Lock-on targetting is better but not as smooth as with the mouse.

Switching targets in a fight is also difficult as you can't look and do an attack combo. Really slows down the fighting. I do like the controller better for moving around and setting up the enemies for another attack.
 
Thanks for the kind comments.

I have played a bit more with the controller it feels better but still not as good as I think it would with this alternate set-up.

Lock-on targetting is better but not as smooth as with the mouse.

Switching targets in a fight is also difficult as you can't look and do an attack combo. Really slows down the fighting. I do like the controller better for moving around and setting up the enemies for another attack.
This is on our queue @Purple Gryphon - we will try to get to it soon!
 
This is on our queue @Purple Gryphon - we will try to get to it soon!

Thanks for the update @Denis Dyack That will be an update I will really be looking forward to.

Can definitely feel the game improving and it is cool to be so intimate with the process. With most games, you get a demo/beta and you only get minor changes from the demo to release. Even when you are a part of a forum for a game pre-release you just feel like you are talking into the either and wonder if the devs are actually listening. As someone (like a lot of people in this community) who really thinks a lot about the games they play, it is awesome to be part of this endeavor.
 
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I just remembered an action game that went from face buttons to attack to the triggers/bumpers. God of War 4

At first, I did not like it because it was new and I was used to God of War using the face buttons for attacking. But GoW4 went to an over the shoulder 3rd person view and it made sense as you played the game. Using the Leviathan ax is more like a shooter than a brawler. Another problem is PS related. For shooters and racing games they default to the bumpers and not the triggers. I prefer the triggers so most shooter and racing games I play on Xbox.

Here are two videos that talk about the control scheme of GoW4.

The first just goes through the options for the buttons.



This video might be more helpful as it talks about how the controls actually work in a little detail.