DayZ with an Xbox controller

[WrecklessMEDIC 129]

I know I'm probably gonna get flamed for this but I honestly love playing PC games with an Xbox controller. I tried Xpadder on the original DayZ mod and couldn't get a comfortable setup with it so I abandoned it. But I just found this vid on YouTube and thought I might give it another shot.

Posting this for any other players who prefer controllers over keyboard/mouse. :)

[Advent1 126]

I do play some PC games with my 360 controller, but DayZ is -always- going to be better with keyboard/mouse. It's difficult at first if you aren't used to gaming with keyboard/mouse like I was, but now it's second nature.

[colekern 1364]

Good job, you have my beans. I'm not a big fan of controllers but I'll probably hook one up when vehicles get in-game. Thanks man.

[omgwtfbbq (DayZ) 1069]

That's cool; I would try this if I had an Xbox controller. 

 

 

 

 

 

WHOOPS my bad. OMG UR A F4G IF YOU DONT'T USE KEYBORD+MAUS

Edited February 15, 2014 by omgwtfbbq

[stc105 14]

Advent1, I disagree. The DayZ controls felt odd to me. Usually, I play keyboard + mouse, but I just couldn't get the hang of it in this game and it was ruining the fun (though nit as bad as Mechwarrior) .

Spent a few days setuping my gamepad, and now I can't play the game without it. Although OP, you should use JoyToKey to setup up advance keys to the gamepad. The x-input and how it is used natively sucks, and really don't like xpadder.

I can post my gamepad profile if you'd like. I can do almost everything but the 1-9 hotkeys and the F keys.

Honestly when it comes to precision, the gamepad can be tweak to be really close to mouse precision. Although using a professional gaming mouse will always out beat a gamepad.

Edited February 15, 2014 by stc105

[Grimey Rick 3417]

I do play some PC games with my 360 controller, but DayZ is -always- going to be better with keyboard/mouse. It's difficult at first if you aren't used to gaming with keyboard/mouse like I was, but now it's second nature.

 

 

Advent1, I disagree. The DayZ controls felt odd to me. Usually, I play keyboard + mouse, but I just couldn't get the hang of it in this game and it was ruining the fun (though nit as bad as Mechwarrior) .

Spent a few days setuping my gamepad, and now I can't play the game without it. Although OP, you should use JoyToKey to setup up advance keys to the gamepad. The x-input and how it is used natively sucks, and really don't like xpadder.

I can post my gamepad profile if you'd like. I can do almost everything but the 1-9 hotkeys and the F keys.

Honestly when it comes to precision, the gamepad can be tweak to be really close to mouse precision. Although using a professional gaming mouse will always out beat a gamepad.

 

DayZ's controls are the same as 90% of the shooters out there. I don't understand why so many people claim the controls are so hard to master. The newer generation of first-person shooters just added Z, X, C for your body position and Q, E for leaning around corners. The rest is pretty cookie-cutter.

[oregonized 673]

Looks cool but people with a mouse and keyboard will most likely own you 9 out of 10 times.  

[WrecklessMEDIC 129]

Advent1, I disagree. The DayZ controls felt odd to me. Usually, I play keyboard + mouse, but I just couldn't get the hang of it in this game and it was ruining the fun (though nit as bad as Mechwarrior) .

Spent a few days setuping my gamepad, and now I can't play the game without it. Although OP, you should use JoyToKey to setup up advance keys to the gamepad. The x-input and how it is used natively sucks, and really don't like xpadder.

I can post my gamepad profile if you'd like. I can do almost everything but the 1-9 hotkeys and the F keys.

Honestly when it comes to precision, the gamepad can be tweak to be really close to mouse precision. Although using a professional gaming mouse will always out beat a gamepad.

Sounds great. I'll have to try out JoyToKey as well to see what I like better. Thanks for the tip. :)

[soulfirez 901]

Ill admit it for dayz i use an xbox controller....

 

Is it as effective as mouse key board thats subjective with mouse acceleration as bad as it is currently i would say yes actually if that problem was fixed then NO its not but its in the fast twitch style situation that the mouse keyboard is king and seeing in Dayz the style suits more to smart play and patience over twitch shooting then it does alright.

 

With proper use of xpadder i can get almost every control on to a controller ( use of hold press double tap combo of buttons) for me it suits my style as i play on a 65 inch led 3d tv ( ps the inventory looks epic in 3d lol ) so usually i am relaxed on my couch so it works for me ( makes running long distances easier on my hands to.

 

The one play the controller beats key board and mouse and i defy any one to dispute this is in vehicle control try flying a heli key board and mouse can it be done yes of course now try it with a controller there worlds apart precise control i can do things with a controller in a vehicle like that , that will have you stumped with keyboard and mouse...

[Solopopo 330]

DayZ's controls are the same as 90% of the shooters out there. I don't understand why so many people claim the controls are so hard to master. The newer generation of first-person shooters just added Z, X, C for your body position and Q, E for leaning around corners. The rest is pretty cookie-cutter.

They're hard to master because they don't work half the time. Something as simple as taking your weapon out when you need it is difficult. 

Edited February 15, 2014 by Solopopo

[soulfirez 901]

Looks cool but people with a mouse and keyboard will most likely own you 9 out of 10 times.  

Challenge accepted do you play on a hardcore server... ( you may beat me more if we do CQB but thats not usually the case first to spot react wins the little i lose on control ( and again with bad mouse acel in this game i dont loose anything) i gain by using a huge screen and a higher than 100% render resolution..

 

I spot the player and then use wits rather than super fast reactions to try TRY and beat them ...

 

EDIT  if we were playing counter strike i would never dream of using xbox controller there is NO DOUBT in that and its like of other twitch shooters KEYBOARD AND MOUSE IS KING...

 

I use keyboard and mouse when i play BF4 for that very reason...

Edited February 15, 2014 by SoulFirez

[colekern 1364]

Advent1, I disagree. The DayZ controls felt odd to me. Usually, I play keyboard + mouse, but I just couldn't get the hang of it in this game and it was ruining the fun (though nit as bad as Mechwarrior) .

Spent a few days setuping my gamepad, and now I can't play the game without it. Although OP, you should use JoyToKey to setup up advance keys to the gamepad. The x-input and how it is used natively sucks, and really don't like xpadder.

I can post my gamepad profile if you'd like. I can do almost everything but the 1-9 hotkeys and the F keys.

Honestly when it comes to precision, the gamepad can be tweak to be really close to mouse precision. Although using a professional gaming mouse will always out beat a gamepad.

 

 

Have you tried turning off mouse smoothing in the controls menu?

[Grimey Rick 3417]

They're hard to master because they don't work half the time. Something as simple as taking your weapon out when you need it is difficult. 

 

Using a controller isn't going to help input lag. No amount of mastery is going to supersede the lag gods.

[Karmaterror 982]

I can see why some would prefer the pad. I use mine more for games like skyrim or driving sims. One thing I will give arma is that they do well on heli controls considering m+k is a bit crap for vehicles. Having pitch and roll on the mouse is really nice for hugging the terrain. Cars are always a pain in the ass on keyboard though lol

 

But I wouldnt blame the accel, that has virtually no effect once your used to it, easy enough to 360 in under a second in SA. And thats where pads get my blood boiling on shooters. When I hit that max turn speed I get so frustrated lol

[Valadain 270]

They're hard to master because they don't work half the time. Something as simple as taking your weapon out when you need it is difficult. 

 

I'm not positive, but it seems like if I stop moving, my weapon responds quickly. If I am moving, I have to keep clicking till it takes. I'm wondering if there is some ghosting issue in the server communication. I know it isn't hardware as my keyboard handles more simultaneous buttons than I can possibly hit and I'm not even using my keyboard, but my mouse, to pull weapons (and it is the only button I'm hitting on my mouse).

[monolith1985 109]

Looks cool but people with a mouse and keyboard will most likely own you 9 out of 10 times.  

i played the mod on a pvp server tonight and managed 6 kills (plus assists) before dying, with an ak and m9sd  most were at close combat too. its not hard once you are used to it if you prefer a controller

 

for xpadder id recommend setting your bumper buttons as set selectors, what they do is when you hold that button you can have your controller buttons do a different key, for me on standalone i hold left bumper and then press the 4 d-pad buttons, back and start, and a,b,x,y for my 1 - 10 hotkeys.

but id say set your movement keys up in dayz, so when you move the analog stick slightly you can move slower

Edited February 15, 2014 by monolith1985

[soulfirez 901]

I can see why some would prefer the pad. I use mine more for games like skyrim or driving sims. One thing I will give arma is that they do well on heli controls considering m+k is a bit crap for vehicles. Having pitch and roll on the mouse is really nice for hugging the terrain. Cars are always a pain in the ass on keyboard though lol

 

But I wouldnt blame the accel, that has virtually no effect once your used to it, easy enough to 360 in under a second in SA. And thats where pads get my blood boiling on shooters. When I hit that max turn speed I get so frustrated lol

yeah when your taken by surprise and need that speed turn mouse wins.. but then if they get the jump on you like that usually it means your dead either way .... i prefer mouse key board for twitch shooters i dont class this as a twitch shooter i may give myself a disadvantage but if i have i have adapted my play style to counter it .. Again in counter strike or BF ( i play both ) i would never dream of using a controller lol ....

[Zeromi 4]

 

 

With proper use of xpadder i can get almost every control on to a controller ( use of hold press double tap combo of buttons) for me it suits my style as i play on a 65 inch led 3d tv ( ps the inventory looks epic in 3d lol ) so usually i am relaxed on my couch so it works for me ( makes running long distances easier on my hands to.

 

 

any advice on how to set up the bumpers with double tap and hold? I currently use the bumpers to lean left/right but i think im going to invest in a USB 3 switch controller for lean left/crouch/lean right and have the bumpers freed up. 

 

I dont know the advanced settings in xpadder yet. just set the basics so far. 

[Zeromi 4]

okay - to save anyone new to dayz and xpadder some of the stress i went through, please read the following short guide on xpadder and some suggested dayz control setup. 

I used my xbox 360 controller but this can obviously be easily adapted for PS3 or other pads.

 

using the toggle and "hold zone" functions I've managed to get a pretty smooth control setup. Using one button for two or three functions has freed up many of my buttons and I'm playing the game without the need for different "sets" of buttons (so far but i think that may change when i get to vehicles. Luckily, with the setup I have now i actually have 3 buttons left unused which could later be used as set selectors)

 

ignoring the movement of the sticks (as if you can't figure that out then give up now), here's my layout:

(I'll explain how to setup button holds and toggles below)

 

X - Tap to jump/vault     (Hold to reload)

Y - (so far unassigned)

A - open doors/pick up items

B - Tap to go prone - (Hold for half a second to crouch) - (Hold for one second to stand)

Start - raise weapon

Back - inventory (Hold for map)

D-pad up - hands up (friendly signal) - (hold to kneel)

D-pad left - hot bar left

D-pad right - hot bar right

D-pad down (so far unassigned)

LB - toggle lean left

RB - toggle lean right

Left thumb stick click - free look

Right thumb stick click - (so far unassigned)

Left trigger - aim

right trigger - shoot

 

 

to enable the "hold" and "toggle" function - left click the button you want to add multiple functions to - go to advanced (bottom left) 

there are tabs for toggle/set selector/assignments etc, assignments is to assign button holds.

 

press the first key (EG Z for prone) then click add hold zone

press the next key you want to add to the same button (eg X for crouch"  then add hold zone again

press the final key (eg C to stand) 

 

I added 50ms to each hold function but that's personal preference 

(it should show as 0.50s)

 

I'm trying to learn how to add 'double tap' to a botton so i can add further functionality to one button but i' having too much fun exploring just now

 

I'm also looking into adding multiple button presses to one key. (so holding left trigger to aim would change the up and down D pad to zeroing while aiming)

 

Make sure you go into the devices and deactivate the control pad in the in-game menu. highlight the pad then click disable. As xpadder will be handling the instructions, the in game emulation would conflict and you'll end up with all kinds of weird things happening 

 

I hope this is of some help to some of you

 

please no "you're wasting your time, M&KB are superior". save it

I'll remind you of rule three of the forum which i'm sure you're familiar with (pfff)

 

Mods, if this is too long, let me know and I'll add spoiler tabs.

 

Thanks

Z

[real meatshield 424]

I have an xbox controller for my pc but would never dream of using it in an FPS. However, one of my guys at work wants to use one for his dayz, so you get my beans because i am passing this on to him.

[Windex 13]

Honestly when it comes to precision, the gamepad can be tweak to be really close to mouse precision. Although using a professional gaming mouse will always out beat a gamepad.

 

The issue isn't precision, it's the 1:1 relation of input speed to desired in-game movement speed.   No analog stick will ever match a mouse; it's inherently impossible.

 

Something like Valve's new controller would work just fine, though.   It has the ability to basically simulate a trackball instead of an analog stick.