So I've sort-of been trending towards PC gaming, not in the hardcore camp outside a store for a graphics card way, but I bought a little APU-based mini PC that has been surprisingly good late last year.
It's hooked up to my TV (I will not do desk gaming) and I'd like to play some things that are really not controller friendly, like Age of Empires, Deus Ex, Stalker series, maybe some old Sim City etc. Was thinking a trackball would be nice since I can lounge around without needing a flat space to sit it. It's a weird market though, there's different types yet not much to choose from. Seems like maybe stuck with Logitech, which the way I've been not thrilled with their stuff lately I'd be as happy trying out one of the capital letter Chinese brands that won't be much different.
Anyone that's done this for light (or heavy) gaming have any suggestions? I haven't used a trackball since my laptop had one over 25 years ago.
It's pretty amazing how diverse the PC gaming world is. I can't imagine couch gaming, with a TV. Well I can imagine it but it's way out of my experience. Then you have people with all kinds of setups like HOTAS and pedals and head tracking, or those 20 button gaming mice. I don't go that far but the desk with a nice chair is the most comfortable place to game.
Try the Logitech G600 and you will never be able to go back to binding everything right next to WASD. That device was a game changer for how I approach PC gaming control setups. Highly recommend you try it out at some point.
I Just bought one of these 3 hours ago, can't wait.
It'll arrive in a few days, wasn't sure where to begin binding tho.
It allows you to create a separate profile for each game, so you can tailor everything pretty easily. The design is pretty ideal for MMOs with the ability to hold the ring finger button to toggle to a complete second set of inputs to all your keys, so you can have all the thumb buttons map from f1-f12 and then hold the toggle button and then assign another twelve keys/key combinations to the thumb buttons(for example, CTRL+f1-f12).
There's a little bit of a learning curve to getting the muscle memory down, but after a few days you won't want to go back.
My main reason is I sit here all day and I generally just want away from my desk. I went from PC gamer as a teenager when my days were spent at school and working on my feet to console gamer as I got into more of a desk job. Now that I work from home, I really don't want to sit here after the day is over. I'm still definitely a console-style guy, but the direction those are going and things I was wanting to play they are on the decline for me.
The gaming mice with buttons are pretty nice. One issue I had transitioning from controller to keyboard/mouse gaming was control was more balanced between left and right hand with a controller, whereas with a standard mouse you just have the 2/3 buttons, the wheel, and the mouse. Forces you to do more with your left hand.
I'd forgotten trackballs even existed.
Nice thread. I've always been curious to know if someone was still using trackballs for gaming. Some people use them in music production and studio environments I work in. I've tried it a few times but it always felt awkward, and I saw no point in using it (other than it saves space on the mixing console desk).
The best reason to use one is so you can put your mouse anywhere. That way you have more space for documents or anything else you need. I use one at work and it helps alot since my lab hasn't transitioned to electronic notebooks yet.
What is a trackball used for in music production? Genuinely curious.
With a mixing console, keyboard/MIDI controller and possibly peripherals, some people have very little room for their (computer) keyboard and mouse on their studio desks. Specially in small/home studios. And with a trackball you only need a small spot for your mouse. But honestly, I've never thought it was a worth trade-off. I guess it just became part of studio culture here in the late 90s (when computers started getting popular with producers in my neck of the woods) and never went away.
I've used trackballs some, have an older logitech thumb-ball one ( this one ). It works well enough, though I don't use it too often. Don't have experience to recommend or not recommend other brands though.
The one thing I will say - if you do get a trackball mouse, ease yourself into it SLOWLY. The first time I used that one, my thumb and wrist were fouled up for a bit, just because my body was not at all used to the new motions. No permanent damage or anything (got better after a couple days and over time usage produced less and less pain), but don't get it and just immediately jump into a multi-hour gaming session without expecting issues.
I tried one of those way back when I was first looking for a trackball and it was not at all a pleasant experience. I got rid of that one fairly quickly.
Good tip, I don't tend to game long sessions anyway. I get antsy sitting down that long without moving about. Even if I'm gaming an entire weekend away it ends up being hour on-hour off.
Some people grip things so tightly too, I always find kinda funny when I see some controller broken because the player damn near squeezed and smashed it to death. I'm very light touch on everything.
Been using a trackball for day-to-day computer stuff for the past 15 years. Have a bunch of logitech M570s (the ones where the ball is next to your thumb), then before that whatever the wired version of that trackball was. Preferred the wired, but they don't make them anymore.
The switches they use for the mouse buttons are pretty shitty and wear out after a few years' of use. First thing I do when I buy a trackball is replace the switches with some better ones, which isn't hard to do if you have some basic soldering skills. If you do that they basically last forever because the switches are the only thing that wears out.
I don't like them for gaming where you need speed and accuracy (eg. an FPS). The reason is that at a sensitivity you need to set the trackball for them to be usable you don't get a lot of accuracy making such small movements with your thumb. Even with practice it's not going to be as good as you can do with a mouse. For day-to-day stuff this isn't a big deal, but for gaming it can be.
For stuff like SimCity and Civ they're fine. For things like Hitman I use one of those high DPI mice.
Digikey. I used these. Higher spring force too, which I like.
Switches had trouble on my last Logitech mouse too, after the one prior to that lasting years of everyday use at work no less. Never thought to replace the switches because I hated the keyboard that I had with it anyway.
M570 seems to be the hot pick, but apparently not the M575 they are replacing it with, from reviews it sounds like they Logitech-ed it up some more.
I doubt I really do much FPS with anyway. New stuff offers controller support which I'm totally fine with and I don't really play online anymore.
Check out GOG for deals on older games if there's anything you're missing or even things you wanted to check out back then but never got around to. Better deals than steam, and they are copy protection free, so you can download your own installer to use permanently. Also, they are updated to run (almost) flawlessly on new PCs.
Yeah I've got GOG and Steam installed. Prefer GOG for sure, particularly the ability to download the installers. I might want them later, because historically I have gone back to things I owned from ages ago.
I had a few games on Steam already too. Not a fan of all the games that want even more extra DRM. Like the EA stuff wanting special apps sucks. Or all the Square Enix stuff mentions something called Denuvo I haven't researched yet. At the very least I really only game on that machine, so if they stalk me they aren't going to get much.
I'm curious as well
Last one I used was an old-school Logitech Trackman Marble Wheel, ages ago. I had a desk that didn't really have the space for a mouse, and a trackball was my only option. Given the day and age, if you don't want to use one that's pure Chinesium, your best bet is probably going to be a Logitech unit. Be warned, though, they are not good for playing any sort of first-person games, especially if they're a shooter. They're honestly barely a step above a trackpad on a laptop in that respect. They're fine for other stuff where you don't need twitch reflexes to snap-aim, so RTS and sim games will be fine, but don't go out expecting to 360 noscope anyone.
Haha as if I ever could anyway. I played CoD for years and the only reason I was ever any good was how stupid others were. All I ever did was learn patterns and put myself in a good position. Funny enough seemed to work better on the more skilled players, because they tended to lean on their skills to win fights.
I can't vouch for gaming with a trackball since I just use a proper mouse for gaming, but I use this mouse for casual PC use:
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Trackman-Marble-Four-Button-Programmable/dp/B001F42MKG/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2KG723TKLAS42&keywords=logitech+trackball&qid=1641942450&sprefix=%2Caps%2C325&sr=8-4
A while back I blew out my wrists with Final Fantasy XI and going way too deep on the gear swaps without using Windower and had to change a bunch of my setup and part of what helped was switching over to a trackball for most non-gaming stuff. That one worked pretty well for me.
My keyboard has a trackball built in, its a Compaq (or Cherry officially) MX 11800 made in Germany!
Back on topic; I've used it some times a few years back, but I never got used to the concept. It's like those classic rolling ball mice from the Windows 98 era, and I cannot be the only one who turned those rolling balls upside down and tried to use Windows UI that way, right? Anyone tried doing that?
Speaking of another niche input device, who else uses a trackpoint on a regular basis?
I can't claim regular basis, but I tend to use the trackpoint over the touchpad on my work laptop. Although I'm usually at a desk with a mouse and keyboard, especially with meetings becoming less of a thing. It's an HP and not a very good one though, the bumpy little rubber piece on it moves around too much. I always had Toshibas or ThinkPads and they both had a more rough "eraser" piece and it was a lot easier to be precise on.
I'd take a modern wireless version of that old Compaq keyboard for a TV PC any day. I just switched back mechanical a couple years ago, I swear the cheap keyboards were getting worse. Wish I could get my hands on an old keyboard I used to have. All I remember was it was called a ProTouch and had an AT plug on it. Always typed so fast on that thing, it had a really unique extremely light feel to it. Never even seen one online.
One major drawback for using that Compaq, especially with those new generation motherboards, is the lack of dedicated PS/2 ports. Those el cheapo PS/2 to USB converters have too many reliability issues. Its in my to do list in my next holidays to utilize an Arduino Nano (or equivalent) as a dedicated converter.
About those cheap keyboards, I used to have an old membrane Windows 95 era Microsoft Internet keyboard. That thing was a rock, never let me down and had decent feedback.
I couch game with my pc and it works fine. I use a controller for pretty much everything and just remap it with ReWASD. Using that in combination with a mouse and keyboard and I can play anything, even rts pretty comfortably. I have a trackball mouse as well but I haven’t used it very much.