Wondering which platform to get this on? Have a 'complication'

Battleborn Battleborn General Discussion
#1

Hi there,

(I am not looking for a flame/console war. I just want to ask owners/the community about some aspects of the game which may help me with my decision.)

So i’m looking to pick up this game but have a few queries for those who have already bought the game. I took part in the PS4 Beta and so know the general setup etc. I’m trying to decide between PC or PS4, below are my main concerns/queries between the two.

-Controls

Essentially I have mild cerebral palsy which affects my left side. Due to the territory, even with ops and a ■■■■ ton of physio/other stuff over the years, my left hand is still slower than the average joes even with practise :P. Therefore, I find that for movement I am faster and generally more comfortable with an analog stick than WASD. I can still WASD to an extent but it’s slower and tiresome plus I struggle with diagonals such as S and A together.

Do you think my slow WASD will be a problem for me and cause me a handicap? If so i’m leaning towards PS4. I mean I could use a controller for my PC but I guess that would hinder me more?

-Performance

I’m a sucker for smooth/high frame rates (60ish) and general PC gaming and this is generally my go to platform as I have a fairly decent rig. When I played the PS4 beta the menus seemed somewhat sluggish and the framerate seemed to go a bit choppy when massive teamfights were going on in pvp (I was playing as Rath). I know it runs at around 30 but is this now consistent/have these aspects been improved? I felt it kind of detracted from the game a bit as everything just seemed slightly off/slow. How does the PC version compare?

-Community and Lasting Audience

It seems that Gearbox are somewhat favoring the PS4 crowd with Battleborn and it seems likely that it is their flagship platform due to the early beta and character access etc. It is also probable that the PS4 will initially have the largest player base, thoughts? If so that is great for matchmaking etc :slight_smile:

That said, which platform do we think will have the longest lasting player base? If this game has moba aspects do the devs expect it to last a long time? If so will the PS4’s lifecycle become a problem? I’m thinking PC will probably last the longest?

Hopefully I’ve conveyed my thoughts/questions fairly sensibly. What are owners/the communities thoughts on my questions and what version would best suit?

Thanks

#2

Easy call (for me anyway). For perfomance reasons alone…PC all the way. I have the PS4 version only because I don’t have a PC to run it on. Definitely feels sluggish. You get used to it and adapt, but it’s noticable.

#3

I don’t really know which would be better for you, WASD or a controller. I think you can play on PC with a controller just fine, but that also depends on how competitive you want to go. I’m also sometimes forced to use a controller due to joint pains. I suck with a controller though, it’s so different compared to a mouse. Wouldn’t go to online PvP matches with it. Mainly because I struggle with the basic looking around thing. PvE is very manageable. I’m planning on getting a Steam Controller, maybe it’ll be a good compromise between ergonomics vs accuracy?

And on PC the game runs at around 110FPS for me, though I only checked once on uncapped, out of combat. But otherwise it sticks at the 62 its capped at, no drops so far, and since my monitor is 60Hz I think it’s just fine.

And btw, PS4 seems like the “flagship” since Sony has paid premium money for the things they’ve gotten, if I’ve understood correctly.

#4

Controls: I haven’t tried gamepad so I can’t recommend for/against it.

Performance: My PC is Windows 10, has a 980GTX, an AMD FX-6300 cpu, 32GB RAM, 144Hz monitor. I get between 50 and 130 frames per second depending on what’s going on. It’s super smooth. I found that switching settings to ‘borderless windowed mode’, ‘uncapped framerate’ and ‘vsync off’ maxes out my performance. (I turn VSync off because I personally cannot see tearing on my 144Hz monitor). I haven’t paid as close attention to my FPS counter during PvP as I do in PvE, but both felt great to me.

The beta used a lot of memory - 7.5GB RAM. I haven’t checked the RAM usage of the final game, but I expect it’s similar. While the amount of RAM a process allocates doesn’t necessarily mean it will have paging performance issues (it may allocate a bunch but only access a small portion frequently), I would suggest having at least 16GB of memory available to completely eliminate the possibility of paging.

I have heard that PCs with AMD video cards are currently suffering from performance problems, so if you are building a new computer or upgrading your video card specifically for this game I would recommend a good Nvidia card.

Community: Too early to tell. This upcoming weekend is probably when we’ll know for sure. I’ve heard some people complain that PvP matches are hard to find. I personally am playing through the private story mode in order to unlock characters - if everyone else is as well this would explain the difficulty to find PvP matches. It’ll get better once people “finish” the story and move on to PvP.

PS4 favoritism: It’s pretty common in the gaming industry for a platform vendor (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) to offer extra money to game developers if they provide some platform-specific bonuses. I work for a company where Microsoft paid us a TON of money to port our game to windows phones. I’m guessing this is what’s up here. I’m on PC only and I don’t feel like there’s any major benefits the PS4 players get for the final launch. It was mostly the beta where they got extra days to play and Toby-exclusivity. As far as I know the only thing PS4 players get as a bonus for the final release is a shift code that will let them insta-unlock one character (this code apparently has not been provided yet).

1 Like
#5

As far as community goes, my gut says it is probably going to be pretty comparable across platforms. If I had to choose one side, I’d probably lean towards consoles since PCs have more options of the game types that make up Battleborn and inevitably some players will leave to play the ones they prefer more. However the difference will most likely be negligible, so I wouldn’t feel compelled to base my purchase off it. (FYI, I play on PS4 vs. my PC, mostly just because that’s the kick I’m on right now)

#6

It’s a tough call. I don’t have your medical issues but I too struggle with anything other than the standard wasd keys on the keyboard.

I ended up going with the PS4 so I could have something to play on the couch while relaxing and man I my aim was terrible with the the controller. Especially when compared to how I perform with the mouse on PC shooters.

This made me reconsider my decision. I had a post about this in the beta and several people suggested some one handed gaming keyboards that might be useful.

#7

So I was doing a web search for a list of Battleborn’s default controls, and found this thread. Sorry I’m a bit late to the party, but I might have a third alternative.

I don’t have a disability, but I do get some wrist pain due to many years of irresponsible keyboard/mouse and gamepad use. So the issues you talk about are rather familiar to me, from different angles–mine, pain mitigation, yours, accessibility. A few years ago, when I transitioned from Xbox 360 to PC, I went on a search for alternative PC FPS control schemes that provide freedom of movement and comfort, while still allowing me to hold my own against high-DPI KB/M users.

This led me to an extremely comfortable hybrid controller/trackball setup I’ve used successfully for a ton of shooters, from Team Fortress 2 to Borderlands to the Battleborn beta. I’m just about to implement it in Battleborn retail this evening with a few tweaks, provided nothing has changed since launch. The controller that I use might be the answer you’re looking for, to solve your slow WASD while still maintaining right hand mouse precision. It also provides the added benefit of analog movement, which can provide all sorts of advantages, from fine-tuned combat dodges to a secondary form of aiming via subtle strafing (something I picked up from my time on console).

If this interests you at all, read on.

First, try and get your hands on one of these, the Playstation Move Navigation Controller. I see them at used game shops all the time, gathering dust, for about 10USD. Most feature minimal wear due to the PS Move’s unpopularity. You’ll also need a cheap USB Bluetooth adapter with good reviews from your favorite shopping site. This will be dedicated entirely to the controller connection, so don’t expect to use it for any other Bluetooth device. If you’re using Windows 7, install the “Xbox 360 Controller for Windows” driver.

Next, install this software, the XInput wrapper for Dual Shock controllers, or this, which is a continuation of the original version. I’ve been using the old version without issue over long sessions, but the new should function the same. Follow the instructions in the thread to install, but be warned, they can be confusing. If the special driver is compatible with your Bluetooth dongle, it should become a dedicated Dual Shock radio. On my system, there was one pitfall–the controller had to be plugged in via USB first to be memorized by the driver, but wouldn’t connect wirelessly until a system reboot. Once everything is in place, your Windows OS, and by association, Battleborn, should interpret your controller signals as if they were originating from an Xbox 360 controller.

Now, the PS Nav Controller doesn’t have every button an Xbox controller does, so you’ll need to plug a full-size Xbox controller into Battleborn first to create a custom controller preset. The available buttons are LB, LT, LS Click, A, B, and the D-Pad. You’ll probably want a mouse with a lot of extra buttons, a Tartarus, a G13, or some other cluster of buttons to pick up the slack.

If you want to remap buttons on the controller before they reach the game (i.e. change the LS Click so it sends the X Button instead), it can be done, but it’s a bit more involved. Search for a program called “Durazno”, but be warned–it involves a slight alteration to the game directory in a manner identical to x360ce, plus only certain earlier versions seem to work with Gearbox titles. Like x360ce, it can be interpreted as a mild form of tampering, but harmlessly altering controller functionality to mitigate the effects of your disability is an ironclad defense. Information on configuring Durazno belongs in a separate post or PM, so want to go that far, let me know, and I’ll share additional advice in the manner you prefer.

The biggest downside to a hybrid controller/mouse setup involves the in-game UI. Every time you switch inputs, the on-screen prompts are going to flip-flop between the keyboard and controller bindings. It’s especially annoying in the Command menu, where most of the gamepad functions have nothing to do with your controller preset, much like Borderlands 2.

I’ve been preparing a rather-winded post about my own adventures in hybrid controller/trackball input, in which I was going to ask (or perhaps beg) the dev team for some additional features to improve the experience–at the very least, a way to lock the on-screen prompts to one format. I decided to spend some time playing to make sure my thoughts were still on point, but it’s still planned.