Rumble in the Jungle
February 26, 2021 12:28 AM   Subscribe

Do you think controller rumble in video games is stupid? What if you make it way stronger? (Via RPS)
posted by Alex404 (36 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
So that's what they're doing upstairs.
posted by adept256 at 1:49 AM on February 26, 2021 [18 favorites]


Brilliant.
posted by StephenB at 2:00 AM on February 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


also was on r/DIWHY? the other day...

If every desk was sold with this, you wouldn't need recoil in game.
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:31 AM on February 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


The stupid is now way stronger.
posted by bitslayer at 4:55 AM on February 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


In the latest PS5 game Oddworld: Soulstorm, one of the 'exciting new features' that is being trumpeted is that you can feel the characters Anxiety via heartbeat rate delivered through the 'Haptic feedback' on the controller.

THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.

Who thought this would improve gameplay? WHO?

[yes I know the Game Developers, but still..]
posted by Faintdreams at 5:04 AM on February 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


For a lot of games it's pretty useless. For racing games though, it can give helpful feedback.

Maybe not quite as much rumble as demonstrated in the link though.
posted by Foosnark at 5:10 AM on February 26, 2021


Ha! This is awesome. I remember a lot of headlines from the 2000s were about haptic feedback - remember Rez? You could stick two controllers in your lap to get more rumble feedback, I believe.
posted by rebent at 5:11 AM on February 26, 2021


I don't play games (can barely get to 1-2 in SMB) but this made me legit LOL.
posted by notsnot at 5:18 AM on February 26, 2021 [6 favorites]


This is delightful.

I've been playing some (original) Playstation games on Retropie using an Xbox 360 controller, and I don't remember how strong the rumble was then, but I can say unequivocally that there is too much vibration in Gran Turismo 2. Whether it's a function of the emulation or the controller, I don't know, but it's completely out of control.

Now I want to hook this up to it and stick it inside the couch.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:45 AM on February 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


Rez did use the rumble feature of the Dual Shock 2 controller but also (in Japan) was available in a bundle with a special accessory called the “trance vibrator”, a separate USB rumble pack.
posted by aubilenon at 5:53 AM on February 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


you can feel the characters Anxiety via heartbeat rate delivered through the 'Haptic feedback' on the controller.

Little Nightmares 2 does this when you are close to a monster and it's fantastic.
posted by adept256 at 5:57 AM on February 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


I had thought there are plenty of games using controller feedback to good effect, and you aren't noticing it because it doesn't take you out of the game.
posted by ardgedee at 6:34 AM on February 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


As to the video, I suspect that an FPS where the screen and controller are shaking violently would be a lot more realistic presentation of what trying to run-and-gun in real life would be like.
posted by ardgedee at 6:38 AM on February 26, 2021 [7 favorites]


The problem here is attaching the rumble motor to his desk and not his chair, at least for the driving game.

I see the code available on his site does he talk about/show the motor controller side anywhere?
posted by Mitheral at 7:13 AM on February 26, 2021


I like a little rumble here and there, but it can be excessive, especially when I'm wearing my wedding ring while I'm playing. It sounds like a woodpecker trying to drill through aluminum siding.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 7:15 AM on February 26, 2021 [3 favorites]


In general i like rumble in games, especially as a hint that there's something nearby. It's also used a lot in scary games. Recently I was playing little nightmares II, i tink their use of rumble is good.
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:36 AM on February 26, 2021 [3 favorites]


For some reason this reminds me of Galaxy Quest, since during bridge battle scenes they shook the entire set on a giant gimbal (alas I can't find any footage on Youtube)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:56 AM on February 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


Recently I was playing little nightmares II, i tink their use of rumble is good.

There's a part near the end where you have to rotate the left stick to where it rumbles the most. I got past this without realizing there were visual cues as well, I did the whole puzzle just by tactile feel. Good use of the rumble.
posted by adept256 at 9:03 AM on February 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


Galaxy Quest, since during bridge battle scenes they shook the entire set on a giant gimbal (alas I can't find any footage on Youtube)

On Star Trek TNG they it was just acting and constant practice.

Rumble is not necessary for us leaners.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 9:26 AM on February 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


Ha! What fun. Made me think of switching weapons from something light to something really heavy.

Love how the driving surprise ended up yanking the project.
posted by doctornemo at 9:37 AM on February 26, 2021


I just came here to post this, and I am still giggling uncontrollably. The RPS article also notes another older video from the creator, of a mega-rumble mouse.
posted by cortex at 9:44 AM on February 26, 2021 [5 favorites]


Who thought this would improve gameplay? WHO?

Little Nightmares 2 does this when you are close to a monster and it's fantastic.


Sign me up, this actually sounds to me like it would improve gameplay.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:17 AM on February 26, 2021


I am intrigued, and have asked qDot about building Buttplug.io integration...
posted by straw at 10:28 AM on February 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


Yeah, Rez did that. I remember wiring up two external bullet vibes to a spare controller...

Ace Combat 7 is excessive. When you get blowed up, it feels like the Stuxnet virus got into your controller and is trying to murder the rumble motors.
posted by sixswitch at 10:38 AM on February 26, 2021


Yes, notsnot, as another not a game player, this made me laugh immediately. I actually read a lot of the game threads on The Blue (tm) because most of the time they are really funny. It's a whole other world of crazy stuff that's a nice change from that other world of crazy stuff, Washington DC.
posted by njohnson23 at 11:55 AM on February 26, 2021


It sounds like a woodpecker trying to drill through aluminum siding.

But that sounds like a good thing if you happen to be playing woodpecker trying to drill through aluminum siding simulator 2021.
posted by 7segment at 12:15 PM on February 26, 2021 [5 favorites]


Reminds me of being a scrawny 10 year old firing a 12 gauge shotgun for the first time. Oh, and being 21 and firing a full auto AK-47 in Las Vegas.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:32 PM on February 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


I believe this is the default article on Rez and the vibration add-in.
posted by now i'm piste at 1:22 PM on February 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


This broom, it vibrates?
posted by Foosnark at 1:38 PM on February 26, 2021 [5 favorites]


That thing is one upholstery project away from being a teledildonic Symbian.

Tangenting - in my admittedly out of date experience FPS shooters are notoriously bad about simulating things like muzzle rise and what actually happens when pull a trigger on almost any gun. Even small handguns - or perhaps especially small hand guns - how much muzzle rise and kick you get out of them with each shot and how hard it really is to put shots on target with a short barrel, much less something going full auto and emptying a 30 round magazine out of a rifle.

The fact that FPS games have people easily doing head or body mass shots with semi-auto pistols is, frankly, stupid and ridiculously unrealistic. Without practice most people have a hard time hitting a 4x8' piece of plywood at as little as 10 yards/meters.

The last time I went shooting was about a year ago on private rural property with a couple of pretty basic and small bore semiauto handguns (9mm and .40 ACP) and I was the only person putting 2-3 foot groups on the plywood targets we set up, and I was shooting from the farthest safe position at around 25 yards. Apparently it surprised and kind of freaked out my friends that my nerdy queer ass was the only one who seemed to really know how to shoot a handgun even though I was surrounded by a bunch of rural country boys.

That's something I don't talk about much but I'm a natural sharpshooter. I remember the very first time I went shooting as a very young 12-ish year old Boy Scout and we were doing skeet/trap shooting with shotguns and I pulled 9/10 pigeons my very first time ever shooting a shotgun at all and I didn't even mind the kick one bit. It all made perfect sense to me to keep that buttstock tight against my shoulder with my body mass behind it and use my whole upper body to track to track the pigeons and lead my shots. I still remember the adults going "Daaaamn wtf!?" and looking at me weird and I was like "What? Did I do it wrong? I missed one."

It's probably a really good thing I'm a pacifist. The thought of actually shooting someone even in defense or a living creature for food rightfully makes me want to throw up.

I want to live in a world where gun violence isn't an acceptable thing in reality or video games and I can't even play FPS games at all any more, and I used to absolutely wreck servers on Counterstrike.
posted by loquacious at 1:39 PM on February 26, 2021 [3 favorites]


I want to live in a world where gun violence isn't an acceptable thing in reality or video games and I can't even play FPS games at all any more, and I used to absolutely wreck servers on Counterstrike.

As a pacifist who plays a lot of violent video games I understand the sentiment. I think what I want is a world where guns are like swords and pirates (of the "arrggh" variety), i.e. so far from our experience that they're essentially fantasy.
posted by Alex404 at 2:37 PM on February 26, 2021


This broom, it vibrates?

Deep cut, my friend.
posted by cortex at 4:20 PM on February 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


Hooray!!!!
posted by TheCoug at 6:16 PM on February 26, 2021


This really resonates with me.
posted by srboisvert at 8:21 AM on February 27, 2021


For about two or three seconds I was thinking about how the rumble was adding a ton of recoil to the act of shooting, and that weirdly it would be more realistic to turn recoil off completely in the game and let the natural recoil effects of the desk rumble take care of everything.

Then the rumble got so bad that it literally kicked the player out of the game and into Google and I giggled like a toddler.
posted by chrominance at 8:29 AM on February 27, 2021


My mouse (an m720) has a fourth "button" that is actuated by flexing the very bottom of the thumb grip. Turns out when things get intense in a game I can squeeze the case hard enough to initiate a mis-click of that button which by default pulls up Win10's Timeline View. An action which is never helpful at those times.
posted by Mitheral at 9:32 AM on February 27, 2021


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