A short time ago, at a computer terminal far, far, away, Russell A Howard wrote:
> Just picked up MW2:Mercs yesterday and am having a blast with it. >There is one thing I wish Activision would add as a customization >option for controllers that I've been wanting since the origional >MW2. I wish we could select whether the targeting cursor mirrored the >joystick's y axis position exactly (which the game currently does) or if >it stayed at the same position vertically when the joystick was >centered... [...] >I find it extremely >difficult to aim at a target above or below the center position of >my joystick because with turning etc, I have a hard time keeping the >vertical position steady.
Yes, I can't stand the forced-centering either. IMHO, this forced-centering is unnatural and unrealistic. In almost every other simulation-style game on the market, be it jet or helicoptor or whatnot, the vehicle doesn't immediately re-center or level-off when you let up on the stick. Usually, this is left to the "arcade" mode of the simulation, or in completely separate "arcade-style" products. In Mech2 and Mercs, it gives the game a distinct and unfortunate arcade feel as well, in addition to making precise targetting unnecessarily painful.
I've made NUMEROUS posts on the subject, as well, dating from back when Mechwarrior II first came out, and conversed on the topic with Tim Morten. I never received a very hopeful answer, though, to the possibility of making the forced-centering optional. Tim said they might look at it after GBL came out, but I guess that never made it very far with the programmers. I'm very disappointed it didn't receive more attention, especially considering mine and many other gamer's requests for the option.
Actually, I would argue that virtually EVERYONE dislikes the forced-centering.
Some _realize_ what the problem is, perhaps after playing similar games that do _not_ force-center, such as VWE Btech or Earthsiege. I've played these, and even then it took me a few games to figure out what was bothering me about the game controls.
Most players, though, notice only that joystick targetting is very difficult. How many times have you heard someone say, "I don't use the joystick." or "I use the mouse for for targetting. It's much more precise." IS THERE REALLY ANY WONDER WHY???
Just try and find a Mech2 or Merc player that admits to using the joystick for targetting. Virtually no one does - it's too hard - because of the forced-centering!!
DUH?!
*sigh* Pardon the rant; this is a rather sore spot for me.
P.S. How do I get around it? Well, I'm too stubborn and proud to replace my $200 Thrustmaster with a $30 mouse and lose 20+ keys of control. Instead, I mapped one of the thrustmaster's hats to the keyboard keys for torso movement/targetting. I still end up wasting an entire axis on my joystick, though. That is, joystick vertical is mapped to NOTHING, as otherwise it would be constantly re-centering my carefully acquired torso targetting.
It's a real shame, that.
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Will Day