Why do some gamers invert their controls? Scientists now have answers, but they’re not what you think (www.theguardian.com)
from Frazala1@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 19:34
https://lemmy.world/post/36117591

#games

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Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 19:41 next collapse

I clicked it, so you don’t have to:

After testing random people with various computer programs that asked them to rotate objects, they found that some people were able to complete the tasks with inverted or non inverted controls, despite the fact that they had claimed to prefer the opposite. The researchers claim that some people’s brains are just wired to perform better one way or the other despite how they originally learned.

slazer2au@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 19:46 collapse

Makes sense. Some controls work better when inverted.

I always use inverted when flying but anything ground based is non inverted.

TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org on 18 Sep 20:59 next collapse

As someone who uses scissor lifts a lot, I wish the manufacturers standardized on one way. Some have you push the joystick forward to descend, others will raise the platform when doing the same. I've damn near smashed some things in the ceiling going the wrong way for a second.

Hawke@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 21:07 next collapse

I count myself lucky to have only used a scissor lift from one manufacturer and I still have to check the control panel every time. And even then I screw it up sometimes.

mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca on 20 Sep 12:22 collapse

that seems like an actual safety concern that should have been regulated long ago, wtf

Professorozone@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 22:41 next collapse

Well that’s nice for dynamic people like you, but for dolts like me it will just mess me up trying to switch back and forth.

You people would have an aneurysm if you saw what I did with the rest of the controls to maintain consistency.

slazer2au@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 23:25 collapse

Most games have seperate controls for each transport type and of the ones I have played flying controls come as inverted.

biscuitswalrus@aussie.zone on 18 Sep 23:10 next collapse

100%. Exactly the same.

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 12:48 next collapse

I always use inverted.

I first played flying simulators as a kid, and inverted makes a ton of sense. 3D shooters weren’t really a thing yet, so when they became a thing, I kept using inverted controls and it was comfortable.

I can switch, but it takes some getting used to, and my error rate is higher.

That said, when I use a mouse, I want up (forward) to go up, and down (backward) to go down, so the inverted controls are only for controllers w/ joysticks.

Korhaka@sopuli.xyz on 20 Sep 13:12 collapse

Not even sure what counts as inverted for flying, push the stick forwards = dive, pull it back = climb. Pretty sure that is normal for flight sims though because that is how you fly a plane. Space sims end up going with the same kind of input usually.

capuccino@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 19:45 next collapse

Why do they mean by "inverted controls? I remember that in some SNES games you could literally invert your controls and play with ABXY as if it were your D-Pad, and your D-Pad as yours ABXY buttons.

Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 18 Sep 19:48 next collapse

Usually it refers to joystick directions being reversed (common for flight simulators) or the “Southpaw” control methods on console controllers (designed for lefty users).

Hawke@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 21:12 collapse

I’ve never seen a flight sim with reversed controls. They all work like a real plane joystick from what I’ve seen.

UnpledgedCatnapTipper@piefed.blahaj.zone on 18 Sep 21:20 next collapse

Yeah, that's inverted controls. Push the joystick up to go down, and down to go up.

Hawke@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 21:25 collapse

No… push forward to go down, pull back to go up.

That’s standard joystick operation, nothing inverted about it.

UnpledgedCatnapTipper@piefed.blahaj.zone on 18 Sep 21:31 collapse

For airplanes yes, for literally any other application no, that's inverted.

XeroxCool@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 23:59 collapse

Not a true sim, but Ace Combat 7 novice controls are non-inverted. I feel like Far Cry 5/6 and definitely Fortnite put the non-inverted pitch control on the planes, which were not the focus of the game. I assumed other plane-including games did the same.

FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 01:45 collapse

Il-2 Sturmovich for the Xbox 360 didn’t have the correct controls, I messaged the devs and they said they would work on it. Still waiting…

Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip on 18 Sep 20:44 collapse

In an fps:

Inverted: push thumbstick forward to look down

Non Inverted: push thumbstick forward to look up

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 12:56 collapse

Third person games as well.

Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 19:53 next collapse

Invert Y-axis gang unite!

Make Y-axis INVERTED Default Again

kittenspronkles@lemmy.ml on 18 Sep 20:52 next collapse

I used to play inverted then started gaming on pc. Now when I use a controller its like neither is good for me - my brain will sometimes think inverted and other times non-inverted mid play session

wellbudyweek@lemmy.ml on 18 Sep 21:17 collapse

I find that for me this happens especially often in 3rd person camera control. And I think it has to do with the distance between the camera and the controlled actor.

Think driving a car, and the camera moving up close to the car when you’re under something like a bridge which would otherwise clip the camera. At that point my preference for camera controll switches from ‘orbit object’ mode to ‘aim’ mode so to say.

Does that make sense?

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 12:54 collapse

Yeah, that screws me up too. For first person games, joystick forward to look down makes intuitive sense to me, because I’m controlling the axis of the head (comes from airplane sims). For third person games, now I’m controlling the camera, and it’s not so clear.

Jax@sh.itjust.works on 18 Sep 21:41 next collapse

Ah, so make things worse — just like MAGA

muhyb@programming.dev on 18 Sep 22:42 next collapse

Also hate “natural” scroll on PC.

MaggiWuerze@feddit.org on 19 Sep 07:12 collapse

With a mouse, yes. With a trackpad? No

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 12:52 collapse

Nope. Down to go down, up to go up. Always.

The explanation I’ve heard for your trackpad argument is that the trackpad is “grabbing” the page or whatever, but I’ve never made that connection. Trackpad gestures to me are equivalent to the scrollwheel, they’re just a different way of interfacing with it. The only thing that “grabs” the page is my finger when it’s on a touch screen.

MaggiWuerze@feddit.org on 20 Sep 14:31 collapse

Yeah and trackpads are basically remote touchscreens

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 15:02 collapse

They’re not though. A trackpad processes relative inputs, while a touchscreen processes absolute inputs. If I touch the corner of my trackpad, it doesn’t produce a click on the corresponding corner of the screen like a touchscreen would. Likewise a touch and slide doesn’t drag stuff, it moves the cursor relative to where it was.

It’s much more similar to a mouse. In fact, if you just imagine your finger is a mouse, you’ve just described all of the functions of a touchpad except gestures, and gestures are just replacements for the buttons (two tap for right click, two finger slide for scroll wheel, etc).

pm_me_your_puppies@infosec.pub on 19 Sep 00:38 next collapse

Invert Y-axis gang!

There’s fewer and fewer people who use inverted controls, I’ve found. Makes sense, I’m old and it just became muscle memory for me after playing Goldeneye til my thumbs bled back in the day. It’s more of a pain in the ass now, since non-inverted seems to be the norm and I always have to hunt to change it any time I fire up a game with camera controls.

FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.works on 19 Sep 01:43 next collapse

For me it’s from flying remote control airplanes and it has a name - Mode 2.

lazynooblet@lazysoci.al on 19 Sep 06:48 next collapse

I wish Genshin Impact supported invert :(

moobythegoldensock@infosec.pub on 20 Sep 11:58 collapse

Seriously, on older games pushing up to look forward was the default. It was only later that they decided to call it inverted.

I just don’t get why anyone would use non-inverted. Why would I tilt my head forward to look up?

aliceblossom@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 12:19 collapse

I think the core of this dispute is the intuition of each person of what exactly they’re moving and how they’re moving it.

Like I have never once considered, until just now by reading your comment, that the stick could controlling my characters head. I’ve always intuitively thought that I’m controlling “the point in space that my character is looking at.”

Changing this makes one way make more sense than the other. Like, despite my preference for non inversion, I would fully concede that if I were to imagine the stick controlling the head directly that inversion makes plenty of sense.

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 12:50 collapse

Yup. I started w/ flight sims, so the controller controlling the airplane made sense. When I transitioned to FPS games, the controller controlling the head made logical sense. I’m not the character, I’m controlling the character, so why shouldn’t the character work like a plane?

harmbugler@piefed.social on 21 Sep 04:02 collapse

Well, put your hand on your head like you would a mouse. If you push forward what happens? You look down. There’s no “correct” way here.

Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de on 18 Sep 19:57 collapse

Fascinating read.
I liked learning about the “Simon effect”, only knew about similar, non-spatial ones (colours)…
And I might give non-inverted controls a try, although being a die-hard inverter.
At least it will be some brain stimulus to keep me from cognitive aging too fast. Like changing the mouse hand from right to left and back again once in a while.
And at best I will become the unbeatable Über-Player, because in truth I am a hidden non-inverter! ;-)