First Person Shooters: To Invert or Not to Invert

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-Saigo-

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#1 -Saigo-
Member since 2006 • 301 Posts

Now I can't recall exactly if first person shooters started with an inverted y-axis originally or if it was just me, but I've been playing inverted (Up is down and down is up) since I can remember. However, I've recently begun to wonder if I could change, and by doing so, if naturally my reflex's would be faster without going through the extra brain activity to adjust to an inverted world?

So I've decided to ask you guys if anyone else has made the switch, if it was difficult, and above all was it worth it?

Also, how many of you still play inverted?

As always, any advice or suggestions are always appreciated. Thanks again.

~Saigo~

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crsx

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#2 crsx
Member since 2005 • 252 Posts
I always play inverted. Tried playing where up is up and down is down. It was a horrible. I probably died more times than I killed. But my friends always pick on me for playing inverted. They always go, "what are you trying to do flying an airplane?"
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muthsera666

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#3 muthsera666
Member since 2005 • 13271 Posts
I used to play inverted for shooters when I first started gaming on my Xbox, coming from an N64. Then I started playing more action games, and I gradually moved to the place where inverted is extremely uncomfortable now.
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Ubiquitous_1

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#4 Ubiquitous_1
Member since 2009 • 170 Posts

I play inverted although alot of my friends make funofme forit but i dont care........ too much work to try and change to non-inverted anyway

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-SPECTER-MIKE

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#5 -SPECTER-MIKE
Member since 2008 • 576 Posts

Now I can't recall exactly if first person shooters started with an inverted y-axis originally or if it was just me, but I've been playing inverted (Up is down and down is up) since I can remember. However, I've recently begun to wonder if I could change, and by doing so, if naturally my reflex's would be faster without going through the extra brain activity to adjust to an inverted world?

So I've decided to ask you guys if anyone else has made the switch, if it was difficult, and above all was it worth it?

Also, how many of you still play inverted?

As always, any advice or suggestions are always appreciated. Thanks again.

~Saigo~

-Saigo-
You probably would not become faster, because your brain is geared towards inverted. You do not take any extra time to think about it.
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stubby17

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#6 stubby17
Member since 2009 • 37 Posts

For as long as I can remember (I started gaming on a C64 that loaded from tapes!!) inverted has always seemed more natural to me. Tried to play the other way a few times but instead of nailing head shots on goldeneye I'd find myself aiming at their midsection and trying to adjust quickly just made me aim at the floor

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KittyHeart

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#7 KittyHeart
Member since 2009 • 1340 Posts

i dont play inverted... and i never understood people who play inverted.

do you guys like to push up to move down? or down to move up?

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Twin-Blade

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#8 Twin-Blade
Member since 2005 • 6806 Posts

Unless you're a pilot that is used to it, I don't see th point. Non-inverted for me, or as I call it, normal.

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Deadly_Fatalis

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#9 Deadly_Fatalis
Member since 2006 • 1756 Posts
I play inverted. It just... feels... right.
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Canvas_Of_Flesh

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#10 Canvas_Of_Flesh
Member since 2007 • 4052 Posts
I usually acclimate fairly well to the default controls, so I don't usually change the default options.
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warmaster670

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#11 warmaster670
Member since 2004 • 4699 Posts

i dont play inverted... and i never understood people who play inverted.

do you guys like to push up to move down? or down to move up?

KittyHeart

They dont, they push up to look down and down to look up because it makes more sense.

you pull teh thumbstick back and the other end of it moves up, push it forward and the other end moves down.

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HellsAngel2c

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#12 HellsAngel2c
Member since 2004 • 5540 Posts
I never play inverted unless its a flying game! It's so confusing.
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CD-i_ownz

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#13 CD-i_ownz
Member since 2009 • 494 Posts

I tend to switch back and forth. for trudging "floating gun" kind of games I invert for more headshots and sniper performance and for action shooters I play normal. Killing someone in a trudging fps is generally a matter of drifting a reticle over their body for a few seconds and action shooters are more about sneak attacks and better weapons, so it works both ways. I'm fine with both ways. When I play inverted, aim and position are always top priority in strategically eliminating opponents. When I play normal I usually run around the map looking for weapons and blasting unaware enemies. If you have to choose, choose whichof these playing styles suits you most.:)

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rjxtian

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#14 rjxtian
Member since 2005 • 2638 Posts

I play inverted. When I push the stick forward to look down, to me it is like i am moving my head forward and down. Pushing the stick back to look up, is like moving my head back and up.

Inverted seems more natural to me.

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Wasdie

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#15 Wasdie  Moderator
Member since 2003 • 53622 Posts

Invert!

I always have inverted my controls. I'm weird.

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Greyfeld

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#16 Greyfeld
Member since 2008 • 3007 Posts

i dont play inverted... and i never understood people who play inverted.

do you guys like to push up to move down? or down to move up?

KittyHeart

Well for me, I never played an FPS until I got my hands on Goldeneye 007 for the N64. But before then, I'd played a LOT of Starfox 64. And anybody who's played ANY flight sim game will tell you, down for up, and up for down. When you're so used to the crosshairs responding to inverted controls, you tend to take that with you to other games. So when I started playing any FPS games, I HAD to go inverted. Trying to switch to normal just kept getting me killed.

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DJ_Lae

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#17 DJ_Lae
Member since 2002 • 42748 Posts
Never. I wonder if there's a higher number of people who play inverted that didn't play FPS games originally on a PC, as inverted mouse controls for shooters are just bizarre. It makes a little more sense on a controller as conceptually I can grasp that people who play inverted are treating it like moving the character's head from above. I can't do it, though - way too awkward for me.
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BuryMe

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#18 BuryMe
Member since 2004 • 22017 Posts

I've never understood inverted controls. They're so counter-intuitive.

When I press up, i want to see up.

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BuryMe

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#19 BuryMe
Member since 2004 • 22017 Posts

[QUOTE="KittyHeart"]

i dont play inverted... and i never understood people who play inverted.

do you guys like to push up to move down? or down to move up?

Greyfeld

Well for me, I never played an FPS until I got my hands on Goldeneye 007 for the N64. But before then, I'd played a LOT of Starfox 64. And anybody who's played ANY flight sim game will tell you, down for up, and up for down. When you're so used to the crosshairs responding to inverted controls, you tend to take that with you to other games. So when I started playing any FPS games, I HAD to go inverted. Trying to switch to normal just kept getting me killed.

Even on fligt sims, i fing inverted controls absolutely horrible

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Greyfeld

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#20 Greyfeld
Member since 2008 • 3007 Posts

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"]

[QUOTE="KittyHeart"]

i dont play inverted... and i never understood people who play inverted.

do you guys like to push up to move down? or down to move up?

BuryMe

Well for me, I never played an FPS until I got my hands on Goldeneye 007 for the N64. But before then, I'd played a LOT of Starfox 64. And anybody who's played ANY flight sim game will tell you, down for up, and up for down. When you're so used to the crosshairs responding to inverted controls, you tend to take that with you to other games. So when I started playing any FPS games, I HAD to go inverted. Trying to switch to normal just kept getting me killed.

Even on fligt sims, i fing inverted controls absolutely horrible

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that most likely, you played FPS games before flight sims.
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BuryMe

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#21 BuryMe
Member since 2004 • 22017 Posts

[QUOTE="BuryMe"]

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"]

Well for me, I never played an FPS until I got my hands on Goldeneye 007 for the N64. But before then, I'd played a LOT of Starfox 64. And anybody who's played ANY flight sim game will tell you, down for up, and up for down. When you're so used to the crosshairs responding to inverted controls, you tend to take that with you to other games. So when I started playing any FPS games, I HAD to go inverted. Trying to switch to normal just kept getting me killed.

Greyfeld

Even on fligt sims, i fing inverted controls absolutely horrible

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that most likely, you played FPS games before flight sims.

Nope. Flight sims and Star Fox deffinately came first for me.

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muthsera666

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#22 muthsera666
Member since 2005 • 13271 Posts
[QUOTE="KittyHeart"]

i dont play inverted... and i never understood people who play inverted.

do you guys like to push up to move down? or down to move up?

It's not so much choosing as just playin in the manner of play that is the most comfortable. I guess for me, it was the idea that pushing the control stick forward was like leaning forward and pulling back was like leaning back. It just felt right for a long time.
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randino84

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#23 randino84
Member since 2009 • 457 Posts
if your used to it and your comfortable playing inverted i think you should stick with what you know. it could possibly get more difficult for you to play if you try to change your ways now
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Paladin_King

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#24 Paladin_King
Member since 2008 • 11832 Posts
It's been a long time since Goldeneye. I've long since gotten over inverted for fps games. It just doesn't make logical sense to me. That said, I always have and always play inverted on flight games.
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quijeros

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#25 quijeros
Member since 2008 • 1728 Posts

For me, first-person shooters started with neither. In Wolfenstein 3D, the enemies were always on the same horizontal plane as you, and in Doom, firing the gun in the direction of the enemy automatically adjusted the rounds' vertical trajectory towards the enemy.

I don't know which one I really began using, but I can honestly say that I don't care. I use regular because I'm most used to it now. I'm sure if I put in enough time playing on inverted, it'll eventually feel natural and regular will become awkward.

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Vari3ty

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#26 Vari3ty
Member since 2009 • 11111 Posts

I can't stand inverted controls.

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supernator13

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#27 supernator13
Member since 2011 • 41 Posts

I play inverted. When I push the stick forward to look down, to me it is like i am moving my head forward and down. Pushing the stick back to look up, is like moving my head back and up.

Inverted seems more natural to me.

rjxtian

EXACTLY! Thank you! It's not up and down. It's forward and backward.

You don't hold you're controller perpendicular to the floor... you pretty much hold it parallel with the floor. So you push the analog (or mouse) forward and backward.

i dont play inverted... and i never understood people who play inverted.

do you guys like to push up to move down? or down to move up?

KittyHeart

You are controlling head-tilt (or camera tilt). You don't tilt up and down. You tilt forward and backward. Forward to look downward and backward to look upward.

Place your controller flat on a table and tell me exactly how it is you move the analog stick "up", or with a mouse? Do you lift the mouse into the air? No.

Thats how all FPS's worked when head rotation was added to the genre. Then FPS became super popular and the mass of noobs and console gamers who couldn't break free from the "up down left right" mind-set caused the genre to change the configuration... and now they call the classic control-scheme "inverted".

It's preposterous! :shock:

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Cataclism

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#28 Cataclism
Member since 2007 • 1537 Posts

I've never understood inverted controls. They're so counter-intuitive.

When I press up, i want to see up.

BuryMe

A million times this. I never understood why games even come with an inverted option, it just seems so strange.

But holy cow! Lots of people prefer inverted!

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UprootedDreamer

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#29 UprootedDreamer
Member since 2011 • 2036 Posts
Not to invert for me, inverted just feels weird.
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SaltyMeatballs

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#30 SaltyMeatballs
Member since 2009 • 25165 Posts
On N64 it was inverted, but these days I don't invert, just leave it normal. It comes from joysticks I'm guessing, aeroplane games would do this and developers thought it would be smart to use this in a first person game...
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SciFiCat

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#31 SciFiCat
Member since 2006 • 1750 Posts
It is funny because I'm experimenting that same phase, I've played FPS on consoles always with inverted y-axis but now I changed it since it seems to ONLY invert y-axis something strange, why not invert x-axis as well (are there people who play inverted x-axis only?) Anyway, the name itself implies that it is "inverted" I've experimented with normal y-axis controls and found to adapt to it after a few sessions, it really not that hard once you wrap your mind around it. As for flight games, that is a different story since inverted y-axis mirrors the behavior of real flight stick controls.
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supernator13

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#32 supernator13
Member since 2011 • 41 Posts
On N64 it was inverted, but these days I don't invert, just leave it normal. It comes from joysticks I'm guessing, aeroplane games would do this and developers thought it would be smart to use this in a first person game...SaltyMeatballs
Everyone assumes it just transferred over from flight controls, but the developers are working with 3D programs. If you use Maya, or 3D Studio, or Blender, then you have the mind set that to tilt the camera without moving the camera, you hold down a certain quick-key and move the mouse forward to look down and backward to look up. I'm sure it came from this and that's why the first fully 3d FPS's all controlled that way. But gamers who never used 3D software, and were not used to PC FPS controls thought more in terms of "Up, Down" and they changed the default configuration to cater to the masses. [QUOTE="SciFiCat"]It is funny because I'm experimenting that same phase, I've played FPS on consoles always with inverted y-axis but now I changed it since it seems to ONLY invert y-axis something strange, why not invert x-axis as well (are there people who play inverted x-axis only?) Anyway, the name itself implies that it is "inverted" I've experimented with normal y-axis controls and found to adapt to it after a few sessions, it really not that hard once you wrap your mind around it. As for flight games, that is a different story since inverted y-axis mirrors the behavior of real flight stick controls.

Inverting X-axis is definitely strange in FPS. In third person action inverted x makes sense in that you rotate the camera to the around the character. As the camera always points toward the character, moving the camera to the right side will have you looking at what is on the characters left side. The problem is with games that are third person action but go to over the shoulder or first person for aiming. I used to prefer x-inverted for 3rd person but now so many games switch from 3rd to first or over the shoulder that I just do non-inverted X because switching back and forth in the action is to hard.
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DecadesOfGaming

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#34 DecadesOfGaming
Member since 2007 • 3100 Posts

If I look up, I expect the camera to look up, n vise versa, just makes sense.. If you lifted your head, you wouldn't expect to look down!