I’ve mostly done joy sticks.
Factorio
I only really use them with the keyboard, desktop mode or any game that uses mouse emulation.
Age of empires II, I’ve cleared a few campaigns with it! Left pad as mouse region on bottom left icons, right pad as mouse.
Can you respond well with the pad and no keyboard?
I did the original Deus Ex on mostly pads, worked pretty well!
I like to use pads as a substitute for a mouse. Games like peggle, zuma, and mini metro are great with the pads. I also like to use the pads with gyro to aim in first person games. Portal is a good game to ease into that.
star trek: starfleet academy
it’s an old game but setting up the pads to be an action menu. makes that game fun to play in handheld mode. I would say I’m faster with the trackpads than with a keyboard
Anything that’s an FPS, like Deep Rock Galactic or Borderlands, or any game that requires a mouse, like Little Inferno or Machinarium. Usually it’s a combo of left stick and R pad + gyro.
I also use a combination of stick and L pad for Helldivers, with the pad being set up as a Dpad.
Interesting. Had not thought of it for FPS
It becomes your mouse. Making quick turns or precise aims is a lot easier with the pad and gyro.
I bought a Steam Controller years ago for that same purpose, and it makes a world of difference.
Will give it a shot next time I do halo or l4d2
It has a little learning curve, so don’t give up if it feels a little wonky at first. I also recommend adjusting the vertical friction (I turn mine all the way up) to make turning around a lot easier.
I do imagine it would be super wonky to start. I’m so engrained with a controller
Civ VI and Inscryption required me to use the pads. Basically everything else is sticks.
There’s a community profile for Monster Hunter rise that maps the quick access wheel to the right touch pad really well. I wish I could do whatever that guy did but for world as well. It’s really useful.
I use the right pad instead of the right stick for any game that could use it for pointing/aiming. Really, the only ones I wouldn’t use it for are games that use the right stick for other stuff, like Skater XL or Session maybe
Ixion seems to require them. It’s playable on Steam Deck, but probably much easier on PC with a mouse.
I’m curious how people use the 4 buttons on the back. My ring and pinkie fingers can just barely press them.
My fingers naturally rest on the back buttons, and I find them really easy to use. I usually have them set to mirror the face buttons for shooters (so I don’t have to take my finger off of the right stick to jump/reload/etc). In some other games I have them set as dpad buttons (Elden ring for example) to swap gear and use items.
Finally I don’t like button mashing, so in games where you have to mash a button I will often set the back buttons to be turbo buttons, where I can hold to spam a key.
I like using the left pad in 3ds emulation, to quickly save, fast forward, freeze, etc.
the right one is reserved for mouse input and click
Epic Game Launcher … OwO
Only as mouse or shooter games
Factorio - but I tend to flip between both pads and sticks
