I Seriously Need Some Advise Concerning the Controls

[Wyrdhare]

Dear Development Team,

As I said, I need some serious advice concerning the controls available in this game.  While they are...fine...ish, I would seriously like to know why there is such a disparagement between the keyboard and gamepad configurations, and the way they each "enforce" you to play the game.  I have been playing this game (with Reign of Giants) for a little while now, and in all honesty, I find myself playing Wigfrid more often than not; however, I have found myself unable to play her effectively while using the keyboard, as I do not believe that the "passive-aggressive" attack controls for the keyboard are suited for her playstyle.

Using the keyboard goes with the traditional "real-time strategy", or the "click-to-move, click-to-act", control type; this mode is certainly suited to a laxed gamestyle that is not in serious need for quick decisions.  A player, comparative to the gamepad controls, has freedom to "command", is able to execute orders which are then obeyed, often automated, and has significant range in which to do so.  BUT... Automation has dragged me into bad places before in this game, particularly in melee combat.  I have read post of people claiming that they are satisfied with the combat controls as is, but I find myself asking whether that is because they play passively.  Wigfrid does not have that option, as her playstyle, unlike most, is essentially aggressive.  If you are fighting aggressive monsters that focus in on you, it's well and good, but if you are attempting to hit a mob that kites, or just plain runs away, notably pigs and rabbits respectively, it is way too inefficient.  With the controller, you at least had free control of their "attack" command, instead of waiting for the game to do it for you.  In the image I uploaded, it shows Wigfrid at the end of her attack animation, while chasing a rabbit whom makes it a significant distance while the attack animation plays; using this as an example, I would guess that the attack timer for the automated trigger is too early or too slow.  Being forced to play using this control "hijacking" is making it very unsatisfying.  Now, you might say to just use the controller. However...

Using the gamepad is more skillshot-based, or a "full-action" control type, which is perfectly respectible for melee combat, given that there are only about five ranged weapons in the game.  You can attack whenever you need to, regardless of whether a mob is there, enemy or not.  HOWEVER, I am not the first to say that it is an annoyance when you have an allied mob (such as Chester, Abigail or befriended mobs) immediately become your attack target. This is particularly annoying, because you have no button allocation for target switching or "rotation".  I understand that it is being designed for an input device that has very limited inputs, but when you have unallocated buttons in your configuration by default, you would think there would be something "useful" you could do with it.  It would be so easy to say to just play on my keyboard, but...

If you cared to notice, you have straight-jacketed the controls in this game to work with one or the other at any given time; there is no support for both.  If I wanted to use the controller for combat (whenever that is the best option) or use keyboard (pretty much best for everything else but melee combat), then I have to pause the game and manually enable or disable the controller, respectively.  Having to rely on the community to make mods to fix such quizzical mistakes is just... lazy.

So, I emplore you to do something; nothing big: teach the game to detect which controls are being used (based on movement contols used or something), fix the interface's inability to update when switching control types while backpacks are equipped (really annoying), and give the keyboard a flat-out attack button without any mechanical aids (just hack-and-slash).  I really don't understand why they wouldn't have been there in the first place, or if they were, why they would have been replaced by this quirky, robotic gameplay system, rather than leaving it as a real-time, tactical, sometimes hack-and-slash (when necessary) survival experience I expect that it once was, or should (or could) have been.

Signed,

[K5dV]

Just bind a key to force attack in the controls. It will auto attack anything desire with the click of a key. Just be sure your close to your target before you start swinging. 

[Wyrdhare]

Ugh, you didn't read the post...

First, I asked for serious advise, not short-handed comments.

Second, the problem is that with keyboard controls, whether using Do Attack or Force Attack + Do Attack, you are not in control.  Your input tells the game to auto-target, follow, then auto-attack, rather than attacking on the spot; this is not at all useful when attacking a mob that is faster than you and is specifically attempting to avoid being hit by you.  To do this effectively, you need FULL control of your movement AND commands.  We talk about "kiting", and I am aware that this is the point of kiting, but a knowlegeable player can still hit a kiting mob with enough persistence, just not while they do not have full control of their avatar.

[Soto8969]

You don't have to make the attack command far away from your target, lets take a butterfly as a example. when you try to attack it and you let your character run automatically to it, you will miss the attack, instead you go to where the butterfly is, then you atack.

[K5dV]

9 hours ago, Wyrdhare said:

Ugh, you didn't read the post...

First, I asked for serious advise, not short-handed comments.

Second, the problem is that with keyboard controls, whether using Do Attack or Force Attack + Do Attack, you are not in control.  Your input tells the game to auto-target, follow, then auto-attack, rather than attacking on the spot; this is not at all useful when attacking a mob that is faster than you and is specifically attempting to avoid being hit by you.  To do this effectively, you need FULL control of your movement AND commands.  We talk about "kiting", and I am aware that this is the point of kiting, but a knowlegeable player can still hit a kiting mob with enough persistence, just not while they do not have full control of their avatar.

You can stop force attacking by letting go of the bind and moving in a different direction. I highly recommend boomerangs if you have difficulty with mobs that kite or run away. Swinging at rabbits is nigh impossible with a regular spear anyway. 

[Wyrdhare]

On 3/30/2016 at 9:43 PM, MiniKeeper said:

I highly recommend boomerangs if you have difficulty with mobs that kite or run away. Swinging at rabbits is nigh impossible with a regular spear anyway. 

Hahaha, how cute! Y'think it's nigh impossible to kill rabbits with a spear? I seriously have no trouble doing so when using a gamepad.

 

On 3/30/2016 at 1:08 PM, Soto8969 said:

...when you try to attack it and you let your character run automatically to it, you will miss the attack, instead you go to where the butterfly is, then you atack.

Again, y'miss my point, which is that if using a gamepad doesn't require you to auto-attack, why on the keyboard can you not do the same?

But anyway, enough said, I'm just gonna wait it out, use gamepad... **** it, never cared much for keyboard anyway.

Besides, SW just hit GOG and I'm eager to try it.

[oCrapaCreeper]

10 hours ago, Wyrdhare said:

Hahaha, how cute! Y'think it's nigh impossible to kill rabbits with a spear? I seriously have no trouble doing so when using a gamepad.

I use a gamepad and it's nigh impossible. The rabbits run fast enough to get out of range during the attack delay, and unless you hit it as it turns or chase it to the world border, you spear will miss most of the time. It's tedious and impractical. 

[NoQuitting]

That is why I changed force attack to my shift key and the attack button to the button on the left side of my mouse.