What's wrong with sticks?
Many 3rd person shooters, including the Splatoon series, use the right stick of a standard controller with two sticks to rotate the camera and aim attacks aligned with a cursor out from the middle of the screen.
The immediate disadvantage of using only the right stick to control the camera is the limitation in maximum range. Even on maximum stick sensitivity settings, the camera will never rotate as quickly as 360 degrees per second, and there are no other inputs than can be combined to improve the maximum range of speed.
The only way to look any faster is with frequent resets of the camera. See What does the Y button do?".
On the other end, control sticks are prone to gradual wear that causes small, precise movements to be lost. Combined with the previous issue about maximum range being too low, this results in camera control that is both too large at small speeds for precise aiming and too slow for quick turns. In the end, the player's perspective is signficantly restricted by choosing this input type.
Someone has done much more research on stick versus gyro aiming, and it can be found here.
But I have to use sticks.
There are several legitimate reasons to insist on using sticks without motion support.
- The controller does not have support for motion controls.
- Playing games with motion controls is not physically possible, either from motion sickness or disability.
- This game is not played often, and the player wants to be comfortable in their small play sessions.
In these cases, the below argument does not apply to you, reader. The informaion in this blog may still be interesting...
But I want to use sticks. I can beat the pros, I swear---
No.
But I tried motion and it sucks. I lose matches ever since I turned them on. I gave them a chance, I'm going back to---
no, you didn't try. Take a break, change your settings in the section about someone learning motion controls, and practice for several days.
Stick aiming has been a stable in video games for 20 years, and it's likely still supported for longer. This is a new way to aim, and it takes time to relearn.
Motion controls are enabled, but how do they work?
How do I turn around?
How do I look up or down? I'm used to using the right stick to do that. With motion enabled, I can't do that anymore.
Unlike looking left or right, the view looking up and down is clamped; it's impossible to look past the ceiling or the floor.
Imagine if you could...
How should I hold the controller?
There are three main positions to consider:
- Controller flat.
- Controller angled.
- Controller upright.
This is a crucial answer to consider: Hold the controller however the player best feel comfortable, but always consider resetting to a slight angle.
What are the best settings I should use?
Anyone can use any settings they want, and their preferences will likely change. There is no best setting for motion controls.
Rather, it's more important to know what the settings do with respect to how one holds and moves the controller.
About the motion sensitivity slider
Consider lowering motion sensitivity if...
- A precise weapon is used. i.e., Charger, H3-Nozzlenose, Sloshing Machine...
- Consistently, aim feels too fast, going past targets.
Consider increasing motion sensitivity if...
- A melee-ish weapon is used. i.e., Splat Roller, Octobrush, Splatana Wiper...
- Aim is consistently too slow, unable to catch up to targets.
Hybrid weapons like Ballpoint Splatling, Squeezer and the Dualies are up to the player's preference, but they should be able to both look around quickly and aim precisely.
What does the Y button do?
Press the Y button to reset the camera behind the player. Note that this simply resets, NOT calibrates; see What is calibration?.
The camera is spun horizontally until it is looking behind the player, and the pitch angle of the camera is set neutral, such that the camera is looking straight across, as if resting on a flat surface. This angle corresponds to the current pitch angle of the controller; it tells the game, "how I am holding the controller now, this is a neutral pitch angle."
What is calibration?
Splatoon 3 automatically calibrates the stability of the gyroscope when the controller is motionless for a few seconds. The ideal method to manually calibrate is to place the controller on a flat surface during the introduction cutscene before the match begins and as soon as the player is splatted. Pull up the map with the X button and notice the change in the passive drag of the cursor.
What setting should someone learning motion controls use?
Immediately set the motion sensitivity to the lowest value. The majority of camera movement can still be used with the right stick except for looking up and down. Motion input will not overinfluence the camera, but minimal motion movement is enough to see the value in having a supplement to the missing precision.
References
A majority of technical explanation is not mentioned in this blog for the sake of being friendlier for a Splatoon player to read. For anyone curious about the exact implementation of gyro used, check our the blog by JibbSmart, inventor of the recent , and a talented programmer who has spent much more resources documenting the marvelous implementation of gyro aiming in video games.
The best comparison between Splatoon's implementation and Jibb's research is what he describes as 'World Orientation', such that the game reacts to the gyroscope in the perspective of the world, in contrast to a local space or the player's orientation.