Overly Sensitive Controls?

[Kepheren]

So I only recently bought the Battletech game on steam but am having a bear of a time to get it to run right. It's a little slow and glitchy, probably because I don't have the best of computers, but for the life of me I can't seem to pilot the mech properly. In the opening mission with Mastif to check out my mech I would put the cursor over the place I wanted to go and then it would veer off in some other direction. Seems like the controls are alternately overly sensitive and go way off course at any touch or totally non responsive and I have to click on something multiple times to get it to respond.

I've not had that problem on other games so wondered if it was something that was discussed here previously? Or could it have something to do with my settings? I'm an old fan of Battletech from way back with the table top version and hope to figure this out but it's awfully frustrating. Took me fifteen (yes, I counted them) tries to sprint to the area I needed to in order to advance past that training scenario. My poor mech was wandering all over the board while I tried to get it inside that big amber hex and it had me swearing up a blue streak.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

[stjobe]

That sounds weird.

You move the map with WASD (Q or E to rotate), or by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen. This can sometimes be a bit wonky until you get the hang of it.

You move your 'Mech by left-clicking once on a point on the map to select that point, and then left-click again to have the 'Mech actually move there. If you want to change your mind between the first and the second left-click, just hit escape. After the first click (selecting a point to move to) you can also decide which facing your 'Mech will have after its move, it will be shown by a gray triangle showing the firing arc which can be rotated until you click the second time (and the 'Mech actually moves).

Which part is it that's causing you issues?

 

[Kepheren]

Hmmm? I was trying to move with the mouse by clicking on where I wanted to go. Thing was it didn't seem to stick and I would be running all over the board. Will try to use the keyboard then when I boot it back up. Thanks.

 

[stjobe]

I was trying to move with the mouse by clicking on where I wanted to go.

You have to click twice - once to select the point to go to, and once to actually go there. In between those two you can rotate your firing arc (or hit escape to select another point to go to).

After your first click, you can also mouse-over targets to see your hit chances from that location (as well as which enemies can see you at that location). If you don't like what you see, hit escape and select another position. You won't actually move until you click a second time - you should use this feature to check the optimal position to move to before confirming the move with the second click.

Will try to use the keyboard then when I boot it back up.

I find a combination of mouse and keyboard works best; I'll use WASD+QE to move the map, TAB to select a 'Mech, mouse to move it, number keys to select an action (move, sprint, jump, fire, multi-target, precision shot etc) and TAB to cycle through targets. Then of course there's also the spacebar, which speeds up movement animations. That gets a lot of use on escort missions

 

[Kepheren]

That all helped some. I got dizzy from the screen spinning off in different directions though. *doh!* That probably just means I need to practice some more with it. Managed to get through the next mission and make it to the drop ship before I had to stop for awhile because my head was spinning.

I really like the Battletech universe and the table top game. Am just not that hot at shooters and manipulating the stuff on the screen. Would love a game that was more picking contracts, role playing and story telling and less the hard nuts and bolts of piloting.

 

[stjobe]

That all helped some.

That's good to hear

I got dizzy from the screen spinning off in different directions though. *doh!* That probably just means I need to practice some more with it.

Yeah, it shouldn't be spinning fast at all - especially the mouse-at-the-edge-of-the-screen should be noticably slower than using WASD.

You might want to look into your mouse sensitivity settings - on Windows 10 that's in Control Panel - Mouse Settings - Mouse Properties - Pointer Options tab.

Would love a game that was more picking contracts, role playing and story telling and less the hard nuts and bolts of piloting.

Oh, you'll get to pick your contracts, train your pilots, repair your 'Mechs, worry about your cash flow and cash reserves, and live through some nice story as well, don't worry

 

[Ken-Sw]

Do you have a controller of some sort attached ? If so try disconnecting it.

 

[Kepheren]

No controllers set up and I've no clue about the mouse settings. Will probably wait till my engineer son comes to visit this weekend....lol. Yes, I am an old dude trying to master computer controls and it's not going well. But I changed the settings to be easier and have been practicing with it so it's not going a little better.

Thanks for the help!

 

[K1600Mike]

I run the whole game with just the mouse not touching the keyboard except to hit the escape key to skip movie sequences. It's working fine.

 

[stewpidbear]

I’m an older gamer, found it (like the above) easier to just use the mouse. Put hours into the game, great, great fun!

 

[Thorqemada]

I had camera Control issues when another Controller was attached but since i removed that Joystick it works like a charm.
The only other thing was when my Mouse gave up and it randomly did clicks and movement, it was more than 10yrs in use that time.
And sometimes i tilted it a little without getting aware of it and that makes the Mouse also drift away if it is sensitive for that.

Aside of that Battletech is a great game (and beyond great with Mods) that gives you all the time you want which is why i like turn based strategy and tactic as it is as relaxed or tense as you want to have it and allows you to enjoy it the fullest without time contraints (but turn constraints in some cases).

Have fun and stay safe!