Is skyrim easier to play on pc with a ps3 controller?

[theskyrimman]

Just wanted to know what you guys thought of playing skyrim on pc with a ps3 controller? I first started playing skyrim on ps3 and so im sorta used to that. Is it hard or difficult? Is it even possible?

[Sorinade]

I suppose you must be able to play Skyrim with a PS3 controller as it was released on the consoles... but skyrim is a 1st/3rd person game, they're a genre designed to be played on keyboard and mouse. If you play almost exclusively using a controller it might be best for you comfort wise.

 

Personally I use a controller for 2D/arena fighting games and puzzle/platformers only. 1st/3rd person games for me have to be K&M for the superior aiming and camera controls, but thats just my opinion.

[Carabosse]

I pretty much always play Skyrim with a controller now, when I do get to play it (not often). Things I don't like with a controller: Aiming my bow, trying to pick up an apple in a bowl, admiring my character. If you can get the ps3 controller to work on a PC I'd imagine it could be just like playing it on the PS3. Aren't all of the buttons able to be remapped (either in game or out)?

 

[edit] One thing that is definitely better with a controller: picking the correct dialogue option!

[edit2] Another thing I prefer with a controller: having a gradual increase in movement speed, rather than either walk or run. I'm not sure why, I think it just feels a lot more immersive to have that extra control.

[guk]

Playing any kind of first person / shooter game with a gamepad?

I'll do that should i ever want to know what it feels like being 100 years old, when it's gonna take you 3 seconds to turn your body 180° instead of the 0.5 seconds what a healthy mature person can do.

 

Does this sound condescending? Probably, but it's just a fact that gamepads for shooters are "retard-mode". Guess why they have to put in "auto-aim" and "aim-assist" into all the console games.

And Skyrim is a first/third-person shooter with some RPG elements.

 

 

edit: oh and before i forget... many mods won't either work at all, or need workarounds for gamepads.

[theskyrimman]

edit: oh and before i forget... many mods won't either work at all, or need workarounds for gamepads.

 

What sorta mods? If I connect a controller will it stuff up saves or screw my mods up?

[Sorinade]

Yeah, the dialogue aiming in vanilla skyrim with K&M is frequently innacurate... thats why I use the "Better MessageBox Controls" mod, makes the dialogue interfaces much easier to navigate.

 

A gradual increase in movement with a controller? rather than the walk/run of default... that sounds nice. Also like it should be a mod that exists.

[Carabosse]

 

edit: oh and before i forget... many mods won't either work at all, or need workarounds for gamepads.

 

What sorta mods? If I connect a controller will it stuff up saves or screw my mods up?

 

 

No, I guess he means that some mods require extra keys for functionality. Which aren't available on a gamepad. I have this problem when testing mods sometimes. I use a small wireless keyboard to supplement the controls available on the gamepad, but I usually end up using it sparingly. The gamepad will not adversely affect your saves or mods in any way.

[afa]

Vanilla Skyrim works ok gamepad I would presume, the menu before SkyUI is probably easier on gamepad than keyboard and mouse.

Any mod that requires a hotkey might be a little tricky tho.

[theskyrimman]

I have immersive fp installed and for some reason pressing r3 on ps3 controller or f on the keyboard makes my screen spin wildly and i have no control over it. when i was on the keyboard i changed the third person view key to g and that works. Does anyone know a fix for this so that r3 on my ps3 controller will work? Also, is there a way for me to have immersive fp on but still be able to see my weapons and fight like vanilla skyrim? I dont really like not being able to see my weapons while im walking

[gvman3670]

I first played on XBox 360. So I took my Logitec (PS3 clone) and added an emulator to make my computer think I'm using a XB360 controller. Same layout as I was used to, but do have the option to remap if I want to.

[gvman3670]

Oh, hotkeys are still on the keyboard even if you use a controller. So you never really "lose" any mod function.

[Mord Sif]

I play primarily with a 360 controller, using a keyboard for extra keys. It works fine without any special set-up, though you can get mods that enable the 1-8 hotkeys so you don't get stuck with only 1 & 2 (for left and right on the D-pad.) I have used a huge number of mods and never had the slightest problem running any of them fully with controller backed up by keyboard. SexLab, for example, uses the K key for switching which actor to adjust position for, and the L, :; and "' keys for adjusting. They all work perfectly when using a controller too. So does X to toggle iHud. If you want to change a hotkey for a mod in its MCM you need to disconnect your controller long enough to press the keyboard key you want, but then you connect it back up and that keyboard key will work perfectly for what you set it for in gameplay.

 

For the record, I almost never play in 1st person and don't play "shooters." I'm just far more comfortable with a controller. That's how I enjoy playing and I simply can't get used to keyboard and mouse. People have often told me I'm missing out and that I should play the game "properly." If playing the game properly means not enjoying it as much... no thanks. No controller support is why I could never get into Oblivion on PC. Play it how you want to. I don't see why a PS controller won't work as well as a 360 one.

[gvman3670]

Here's the emulator I use for my Logitec and should work equally well with a PS3 controller.

 

http://code.google.com/p/x360ce/

[gvman3670]

No controller support is why I could never get into Oblivion on PC. Play it how you want to. I don't see why a PS controller won't work as well as a 360 one.

Skyrim on PC is automatically set up for a 360 controller. Even then you need a wired XB controller, not just a play and charge cable (that doesn't work unfortunately). But you'll need an emulator for any other controller.

 

I found a decent emulator and a way to set up my Logitec controller to very, very closely mimic the controls of Oblivion on XB.

[Mord Sif]

 

No controller support is why I could never get into Oblivion on PC. Play it how you want to. I don't see why a PS controller won't work as well as a 360 one.

Skyrim on PC is automatically set up for a 360 controller. Even then you need a wired XB controller, not just a play and charge cable (that doesn't work unfortunately). But you'll need an emulator for any other controller.

 

I found a decent emulator and a way to set up my Logitec controller to very, very closely mimic the controls of Oblivion on XB.

 

 

Thanks. It's something I might look into again at some point. I played Oblivion on Xbox when it first came out. I didn't have a gaming PC until last year and after seeing how much better Skyrim was with mods I grabbed Oblivion in a Steam sale to try it again. It was just really tough to get into it without a controller. It doesn't help that my PC was set up in the living room, so I didn't have a desk, just my knee and a sofa cushion

 

For now I'm having too much fun with Skyrim to want to play much else.

[FauxFurry]

I play Skyrim on PC using an Xbox 360 controller and for me,it does make the game quite a bit easier in no small part thanks to how easy it is to sneak more efficiently with an analog stick than it is to do so with WASD and a mouse even with low Sneak skill.

Hand-to-hand tends to work better on a controller,as well, but anyone primarily playing as a caster or archer would likely have more luck sticking to the mouse-and-keyboard set-up.

 

I can't say how well the PS3 Six-Axis would serve,though. Well,at the very least,it will itself be better served in a version of Skyrim that runs better than the PS3 version does.

[gvman3670]

I play Skyrim on PC using an Xbox 360 controller and for me,it does make the game quite a bit easier in no small part thanks to how easy it is to sneak more efficiently with an analog stick than it is to do so with WASD and a mouse....

 

I was going to mention just this, but figured I spammed this thread enough.

 

[Coopervane]

It's very subjective.

 

 

We can point to a few objective facts like the mouse beeing flat out better for aiming, or the controllers allowing analog control over movement beeing an obvious advantage there, but for the most part, it will come down to one very simple question: What did you grow up with?

 

 

I grew up with the Commodore-64 and then went on to PC's, i've hardly ever played on Consoles, which means that PC controls are second nature to me, but give me a controller and i'll have to glance down at the thing to find the buttons when given prompts, and i am horrible at controlling the camera with the analog stick, it's a skill i've just never learned and thus, trying to play Skyrim with a controller would make the game ten times harder for me (i can use a controller just fine for racing games or 2D platformers, but any kind of 1'st or 3'rd person action game.. ohh boy, that's never good for me without a mouse).

 

But if you grew up with Consoles, you might very well find yourself in the exact opposite situation.

 

 

But yeah, using a PS3 controller would require emulation. Sadly, the 360 controller has dominated all PC-controller support for quite some time now, since that has been the easiest thing to support when porting the game to PC.

[theskyrimman]

Yer Ive only started playing on my pc in the last 6 months or so and so a ps3 controller feelsmuch more normal

[guk]

I have an X-Box 360 controller, and i hate it Can't remember when i last used it, but it's definitely not made for the hands of tall male adults.

 

BTW for sneaking, you can also hold the "walk" key while sneaking for maximum effect.

Although i have kind of "guitar player hands" so i have massive advantages for anything that requires complex keyboard combinations.

[andrea fin]

ok there is a wired xbox 360 controller which plugs into usb port. i came from xbox 360 skyrim to pc. i prefer controller; skyrim works well with it, and also you can analog sneak - you less you move the stick when sneaking the slower you sneak and thus lower risk to detect. i am used to using a controller, i think that is why people say they hate using it; they arent used to it so they respond slower (at first) because they have to think first rather than just do what is needed with the sticks or buttons. i was exactly the same with the keyboard and mouse. i bought a controller ASAP. i prefer xbox controller to ps one - it seems to fit my hands better and less strain on my fingers. of course with pc version i still need keyboard for mod controls and so on, and console.

[theskyrimman]

It seems that alot of mods need Sky UI to work. Is there a way I can have it installed but keep the original inventory screen? Its easier that way with a controller.

[andrea fin]

It seems that alot of mods need Sky UI to work. Is there a way I can have it installed but keep the original inventory screen? Its easier that way with a controller.

i think there is a mod sky ui away http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/29440/?

i dont think you can get rid of all of sky ui - you need the MCM or mods wont work at all i guess.

 

i use sky ui with controller though. but its what you feel comfortable with that counts.

[mobius48]

been playing Skyrim with XBox360 Controller since I have the game. Only thing that bothers me is that you can only quick select 2 of your favourites indstead of 8 by default.

[Shizuka]

I prefer keyboard, mainly because of the keys I need for some mods and for quicksave + quickload.