9 ms·

When did mouse inversion die?

15 points by sl_ 16y ago

marknutter 16y ago
I have always used the inverted mouse setting, and I can't think of any of my friends that also do. To me, first person shooters feel like flying, so it's only natural to push the mouse forward to look down. People who don't invert are really just pointing and clicking at the part of the screen they want to shoot, or they use the mouse as though the barrel of the gun is resting on the top of it and they are moving it up and down with their mouse. I wonder which setting is actually better, though..
- ars 16y ago
  I always thought of inversion as moving the world, and non-inversion as moving the gun. Either can make sense, it depends on the game.
  - michaelcampbell 16y ago
    Interesting. I don't know that I ever assigned a semantic meaning to the term, other than "turn it the other way from the default way the game was set up" so "inversion" on a typical FPS would be different than on a typical flight sim. I use FPS style controls (down mouse = down gun barrel) on FPS games and yoke style (down mouse = pitch up) on flight sims.
    - LoB 16y ago
      I play inverted, and it would feel "wrong" for me to not play inverted, as I see the mouse movement as moving my head forward or backwards for changinv my view. (forward to look down, backwards to look up)
- pmjordan 16y ago
  I also use invert Y, as does one of my friends. Other friends, the same age, don't. Honestly, I think it's purely conditioning, I don't see any reason why either would objectively be better. You could probably "reprogram" your brain to use the other setting, although it would probably take a while to equal your previous skill. It's probably a combination of the fact that we played 3D games (flight sims, Descent, etc.) before the mouselook FPS was invented, and we grew up on Joysticks before 3D games with mouse control became the norm. Those friends who don't use inverted Y got into games later than us.
- Goronmon 16y ago
  You'd be surprised how easy it is to switch it up. A while back I used to get annoyed when switching controllers with people who didn't use inversion when I did. So I just decided to try natural and it wasn't long before inversion was what felt strange.
jarin 16y ago
I was born in 1980 and I used mouse inversion up until Freelancer came out. Damn you again, Microsoft!
Terretta 16y ago
Not necessarily about flight sims. Put your palm on top of someone's head and make them look around...
- jessriedel 16y ago
  But then left/right would be banking.
- DannoHung 16y ago
  Okay, now pretend to hold a gun in your hand. Point the gun up and point the gun down. Which path does your hand follow? Personally, I use normal for shooting and inverted for flight.
jfr 16y ago
The graph is bugging me. Around 85 people born in 2009 and 35 people born in 2008 do not use mouse inversion... We have 1 and 2 year olds playing first person shooters?
- LoB 16y ago
  The registration form on the ESL website doesn't have any validation for the birth date. If you leave the field blank, it's set to "today" - That's where the 2009/2008 etc people come from.
- sl_ 16y ago
  The site is using you registration date as birthday if you don't change it.
nollidge 16y ago
(Born in '83) I think the only reason I use inverted-mouse is because of hours and hours of playing Goldeneye on N64, which by default has the up and down C-buttons look down and up (respectively). So when switching to Counterstrike (probably the first FPS I played with a mouse), inversion felt more natural.
LoB 16y ago
A little more "science" which initially started the discussion on our team: http://gamepeople.wordpress.com/2006/11/07/down-is-up/ http://gamepeople.wordpress.com/2006/11/07/down-is-up/
83457 16y ago
I invert the Y-axis on everything except the mouse in a first person shooter. When on a console controller for a shooter or any type of flying like game then the controls get inverted.
ddrager 16y ago
Inverted here. I was born in 1980 and just thought most people did it. Then I noticed more and more that I have the change the default settings in games. Now, when I play with my younger cousins, I have to change their settings. Funny how you don't even notice a little thing like mouse inversion, but it is 'impossible' for me to play without it!
pcestrada 16y ago
(Born in '73) Flight Simulator II for the Commodore 64 ingrained 'down is up' for me.
roundsquare 16y ago
I remember on flight sims when I used a joystick, I never thought of "down" and "up." I thought of "pulling towards me" and "pushing away form me." Since the nose of the plane is a bit lower than my head, it works. For FPSs, I'd use "normal" since I think of the gun moving.
callahad 16y ago
If I'm using a mouse and keyboard, I keep a normal mapping and conceive of my motions as moving the reticle around the environment, much like a cursor. If I'm using a game controller with an analog joystick, I use an inverted mapping. In those cases, I view manipulations of the joystick as analogous to manipulating a camera floating in space: pushing forward pitches the camera forward.
astine 16y ago
It died with the joystick. Or rather, I use mouse inversion when using a joystick, but not when using a mouse.

15 points by sl_ 16y ago

I have always used the inverted mouse setting, and I can't think of any of my friends that also do. To me, first person shooters feel like flying, so it's only natural to push the mouse forward to look down. People who don't invert are really just pointing and clicking at the part of the screen they want to shoot, or they use the mouse as though the barrel of the gun is resting on the top of it and they are moving it up and down with their mouse. I wonder which setting is actually better, though..

ars 16y ago
I always thought of inversion as moving the world, and non-inversion as moving the gun. Either can make sense, it depends on the game.
- michaelcampbell 16y ago
  Interesting. I don't know that I ever assigned a semantic meaning to the term, other than "turn it the other way from the default way the game was set up" so "inversion" on a typical FPS would be different than on a typical flight sim. I use FPS style controls (down mouse = down gun barrel) on FPS games and yoke style (down mouse = pitch up) on flight sims.
  - LoB 16y ago
    I play inverted, and it would feel "wrong" for me to not play inverted, as I see the mouse movement as moving my head forward or backwards for changinv my view. (forward to look down, backwards to look up)
pmjordan 16y ago
I also use invert Y, as does one of my friends. Other friends, the same age, don't. Honestly, I think it's purely conditioning, I don't see any reason why either would objectively be better. You could probably "reprogram" your brain to use the other setting, although it would probably take a while to equal your previous skill. It's probably a combination of the fact that we played 3D games (flight sims, Descent, etc.) before the mouselook FPS was invented, and we grew up on Joysticks before 3D games with mouse control became the norm. Those friends who don't use inverted Y got into games later than us.
Goronmon 16y ago
You'd be surprised how easy it is to switch it up. A while back I used to get annoyed when switching controllers with people who didn't use inversion when I did. So I just decided to try natural and it wasn't long before inversion was what felt strange.

jarin 16y ago

I was born in 1980 and I used mouse inversion up until Freelancer came out. Damn you again, Microsoft!

Terretta 16y ago

Not necessarily about flight sims. Put your palm on top of someone's head and make them look around...

jessriedel 16y ago
But then left/right would be banking.
DannoHung 16y ago
Okay, now pretend to hold a gun in your hand. Point the gun up and point the gun down. Which path does your hand follow? Personally, I use normal for shooting and inverted for flight.

jfr 16y ago

The graph is bugging me. Around 85 people born in 2009 and 35 people born in 2008 do not use mouse inversion... We have 1 and 2 year olds playing first person shooters?

LoB 16y ago
The registration form on the ESL website doesn't have any validation for the birth date. If you leave the field blank, it's set to "today" - That's where the 2009/2008 etc people come from.
sl_ 16y ago
The site is using you registration date as birthday if you don't change it.

nollidge 16y ago

(Born in '83) I think the only reason I use inverted-mouse is because of hours and hours of playing Goldeneye on N64, which by default has the up and down C-buttons look down and up (respectively). So when switching to Counterstrike (probably the first FPS I played with a mouse), inversion felt more natural.

LoB 16y ago

A little more "science" which initially started the discussion on our team: http://gamepeople.wordpress.com/2006/11/07/down-is-up/ http://gamepeople.wordpress.com/2006/11/07/down-is-up/

83457 16y ago

I invert the Y-axis on everything except the mouse in a first person shooter. When on a console controller for a shooter or any type of flying like game then the controls get inverted.

ddrager 16y ago

Inverted here. I was born in 1980 and just thought most people did it. Then I noticed more and more that I have the change the default settings in games. Now, when I play with my younger cousins, I have to change their settings. Funny how you don't even notice a little thing like mouse inversion, but it is 'impossible' for me to play without it!

pcestrada 16y ago

(Born in '73) Flight Simulator II for the Commodore 64 ingrained 'down is up' for me.

roundsquare 16y ago

I remember on flight sims when I used a joystick, I never thought of "down" and "up." I thought of "pulling towards me" and "pushing away form me." Since the nose of the plane is a bit lower than my head, it works. For FPSs, I'd use "normal" since I think of the gun moving.

callahad 16y ago

If I'm using a mouse and keyboard, I keep a normal mapping and conceive of my motions as moving the reticle around the environment, much like a cursor. If I'm using a game controller with an analog joystick, I use an inverted mapping. In those cases, I view manipulations of the joystick as analogous to manipulating a camera floating in space: pushing forward pitches the camera forward.

astine 16y ago

It died with the joystick. Or rather, I use mouse inversion when using a joystick, but not when using a mouse.