configuring a mouse

Configuring a Mouse for Computer Gaming

by Scrounger from Phoenix Guard on FeathermoonApril 20, 2009


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For high leveling computer gaming, the importance of the user interface cannot be overstated.It is one of the foundations of successful gaming, the others being: - Computer hardware / system and connection (for networked games) - Gaming skill which can be more accurately referred to as competency with respect to game mechanics

(e.g. movement and control, game knowledge, tactics, strategies, decision making, etc). - Situational awareness

This presentation focuses on how toconfigure a gaming mouse. The mouseis a key element of the user interface,which includes display hardware, audiosystems, keyboard and other inputdevices, and configurable graphics (e.g.tool bars, virtual buttons) as well as theiroverall integration. It is written with thenew gamer in mind, though experiencedgamers may also learn a trick or two.

A specific gaming mouse, the Logitech© G5, was chosen for demonstration purposes primarilybecause of its reputation for comfort, ease of use, number of buttons, and its well designed layout.Implementation examples are based on the hugely popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft©.

South Park - World of Warcraft Episode


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The goal when using a gaming mouse is to translate player desired actions quickly and withouterror into recognizable inputs to the computer / gaming software system. Inputs should be madewith fingers while arm and hand movements are minimized. Therefore, the hands should beplaced in an optimal location and remain there. Movement away from this rooted position whilegaming increases the chance of input error and is therefore to be avoided.

It’s assumed that the player’s right hand is on the mouse and the left hand is on the keyboard atthe w, a, s, d spot - corresponding to the typical movement keys. This position provides accesswith varying difficulty to the Shift key, Control (CTL) key, and surrounding keys including theletters q, e, r, f, tab key, space bar (thumb), ALT key, and the numbers 1 - 5 .

The G5 mouse is shown below on the left with a corresponding functional graphic on the right.

G5 Mouse: Functional Overview

LeftClick

RightClick

SideButtons

Back

Front

FrontWheel

BackSmall

Buttons

Logitech© G5 Mouse


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SideButtons

Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

1 The wheel can also be pushed down, but this is too difficult to do while gaming, so it is not included in the discussion.2 Older G5 mice only have 1 side button.

Your mouse configurationsoftware can assign keys tothe buttons (e.g. left wheelclick can be assigned to thekeyboard sequence ALT-L).Avoid using often used keys,since these are typicallyused for in-game functions.

The G5© mouse has the standard left and right click mouse buttons, a wheel1 that can be clicked tothe left and right, two small buttons below the wheel, and two side buttons2 on the left hand side ofthe mouse. This provides the gamer with six different buttons to push, in addition to the standard leftand right click buttons.


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Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

Can be clicked very quickly.Back button is natural restposition for thumb, so Frontbutton takes more time toclick. Ability to repeat clickdepends upon player. Assignemergency abilities here.

Can be clicked very quickly.Easy to repeat click. Assignoften used abilities here.

Left & Right Click Mouse ButtonsReserved for normal game functions such as selecting (targeting) and (camera/player) movement

Not all mouse buttons are created the same. It’s worth looking at the location and type of eachbutton to see what type abilities make sense to assign there.

SideButtons

Can be clicked very quickly.Easy to repeat click. Assignoften used abilities here.

Requires player to move finger tothe small buttons, which means ittakes more time than other buttons.Easy to repeat click, once finger isresting on the button. Assign lessfrequently used abilities here.


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Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

Special AbilitiesAbilities frequently used, but areconditional, require some time toimplement (cast time), or are notalways available (i.e. cooldowns)

Utility AbilitiesAbilities generally available butused infrequently and in specialsituations (i.e. removing debuffs,dumping aggro)

Emergency AbilitiesAbilities used primarily in anemergency (e.g. big heals,special attacks / buffs) andtypically are limited inavailability (long cooldowns)

Standard AbilitiesAbilities you use all the time andtake very little time to implement(i.e. instant attacks / casts)

The next step is to come up with a conceptual approach as to how each button can best be utilized.An example is provide here.

SideButtons

Mouse buttons should beused for abilities thatrequire very quick reactiontime, typically for combat.Less time critical abilitiescan be assigned to keys onthe keyboard or clicks viathe graphical interface.


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Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

Time Cast Heal Alt-R

Remove Debuff Alt-X

Emergency AbilityAlt-F

Instant HealAlt-L

SideButtons

Once a concept has been developed, it needs to be implemented. For example, a Healer wants to setup the following abilities (shown in green) to be activated by the corresponding button clicks.However, the gamer needs to first map the control input to a key sequence (shown in orange)

Emergency HealAlt-B Special Buff Alt-Y

The key sequence is how the computer links the button click to the in-game ability.


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The table below shows an example of mapping the control (mouse) input to the key sequence andthen the key sequence to the in-game ability.

To assign the mouse buttons to a specific key sequence (i.e. column 1 to 2), use the mouse vendor’sprovided software. This is generally a very straightforward exercise, wherein you select the buttonand then the desired key sequence. It is best to avoid often used key sequences (e.g. B), since theseare generally used in in-game functions (e.g. opening your character’s bags).

In order to map the key sequence to the in-game ability (column 2 to 3), you need to use in-gameoptions, which is discussed in more detail on the next slide.

Key Sequence In-Game Ability

Wheel Click, Left Alt-L Instant HealWheel Click, Right Alt-R Time Cast HealSide Button, Front Alt-F Emergency AbilitySide Button, Back Alt-B Emergency HealSmall Button, Front Alt-X Remove DebuffSmall Button, Back Alt-Y Special Buff

Control InputM A P P I N G


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In World of Warcraft, the final mapping is a two step process. Step 1 uses the Key Bindingoption, wherein the key sequence is assigned to a specific location on the Action Bar.

Bottom Action Bar - Found at the bottom of the screen, the bottom row corresponds to the number keys at the top of a standard keyboard

Found at the right handside of the screen, it’san additional place toplace spells and otherclickable abilities. Only4 buttons are shown,there are normally 10.

Right Action Bar

ALT-X

ALT-Y

ALT-L ALT-R ALT-B ALT-F

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =





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The second step is to assign the in-game ability to the corresponding location on the Action Bar,which is accomplished by simply dragging the in-game ability3 to the position of each virtual button.

Instant

Heal

Time

Cast Heal

Emer-

gency

Heal

Special

Ability

Bottom Action Bar

Right Action Bar

Debuff

Special

Buff

3 In World of Warcraft, ability icon’s are used, so the player will see icons on the tool bars instead of text.





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SideButtons

Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

Standard Abilities [] Standard Ability 1 Shift-[] Standard Ability 2 CTL-[] Standard Ability 3

Where life gets interesting is factoring in the Shift and Control (CTL) keyboard functions.Pressing these while clicking triples the number of available inputs4 and therefore clickable abilities:

regular Click or [] Shift-click or Shift-[] CTL-click or CTL-[]

Create a mapping schemethat makes sense to you, soyour brain / fingers can easilymemorize it. Variables toconsider include: self, target,group; instant, cast, channel; nocooldown (CD), short CD, longCD; pet; standard ops/rotation,special/situational, emergency;buff, debuff; defensive, escape.

Emergency Abilities [] Emergency Ability 1 Shift-[] Emergency Ability 2 CTL-[] Emergency Ability 3

Special Abilities [] Special Ability 1 Shift-[] Special Ability 2 CTL-[] Special Ability 3

Special Emergency Abilities [] SE Ability 1 Shift-[] SE Ability 2 CTL-[] SE Ability 3

Utility Abilities [] Utility Ability 1 Shift-[] Utility Ability 2 CTL-[] Utility Ability 3

[] Utility Ability 4 Shift-[] Utility Ability 5 CTL-[] Utility Ability 6

4 Don’t forget to assign keyboard keys to all of your mouse button combinations, including Shift and CTL


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SideButtons

Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

Instant Heals [] Instant Heal 1 Shift-[] Instant Heal 2 CTL-[] Instant Party Heal

Emergency Heals [] Instant Big Heal 1 Shift-[] Instant Big Heal 2 CTL-[] Big Party Heal

Time Cast Heals [] Cast Heal 1 Shift-[] Cast Heal 2 CTL-[] Cast Party Heal

Special Emergency Abilities [] Battle Resurrection Shift-[] Hide / Stealth CTL-[] - not used -

Debuff Removal [] Debuff Removal 1 Shift-[] Debuff Removal 2 CTL-[] - not used -

Buff Abilities [] Buff 1 Shift-[] - not used -CTL-[] - not used -

Approach is to only mapthose abilities that youreally need to haveassigned to buttons.Simplicity is goodness!

Example: Generic Healer

An example of how a generic healer might configure the mouse is provided. Note that not all of theavailable button options are used.


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The cradle to grave process - from clicking the mouse button to executing an in-game ability -is shown here for our Generic Healer example.

Front (+)

Back (–)

SmallButtons

KeySequence

ControlInput

Shift

Small Button

Front

Shift

Small Button

Back

Small

Button

Front

Small

Button

Back

In-GameAbility

+

RightAction Bar

Display

Abolish

Poison

Decurse

Cure

Poison

Underlying Mapping Process

User Clicks

AbilityExecuted

Abolish

Poison

Decurse

Cure

Poison

Shift-

ALT-X

Shift-

ALT-Y

ALT-X

ALT-Y


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The Bottom Action Bar mappings for the Generic Healer example are shown below.C

on

tro

lIn

pu

tK

ey

Seq

uen

ceIn

-Gam

eA

bil

ity

Instant

Heal 2

Time Cast

Heal 2

Emergency

Heal 2

Hide /

Stealth

Instant

Party Heal

Instant

Heal 1

Time Cast

Party Heal

Time Cast

Heal 1

Emergency

Party Heal

Emergency

Heal 1Battle Rez

Shift-

ALT-L

Shift-

ALT-R

Shift-

ALT-B

Shift-

ALT-F

CTL-

ALT-LALT-L

CTL-

ALT-RALT-R

CTL-

ALT-BALT-B

CTL-

ALT-FALT-F

SHIFT

Wheel

Click Left

SHIFT

Wheel

Click Right

SHIFT

Side Button

Back

SHIFT

Side Button

Front

CTL

Wheel

Click Left

Wheel

Click Left

CTL

Wheel

Click Right

Wheel

Click Right

CTL

Side Button

Back

Side Button

Back

CTL

Side Button

Front

Side Button

Front


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SideButtons

Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

Instant Heals5

[] Rejuvenation Shift-[] Lifebloom CTL-[] Wildgrowth

Emergency Heals [] Swiftmend Shift-[] NS/HT macro CTL-[] Tranquility

Time Cast Heals [] Nourish Shift-[] Regrowth

Battle Rez / Hide [] Rebirth Shift-[] Shadowmeld

Decurse6

[] Decurse

5 Trinkets should be macroed to Rejuvenation, Lifebloom, and Wildgrowth

Example: Restoration Druid

Remove Poison6

[] Cure Poison Shift-[] Abolish Poison- 6 Note that the Debuff Removal

configuration was chosen so that itcorresponded directly to the GridAddon display of Curse and Poisonwith Curse on top (in red) andPoison right below it (in green).

This example maps quite nicely, with the instant heals on the wheel click left and time cast heals onthe wheel click right. With the other emergency heals (and shadowmeld) fitting nicely on the sidebuttons, there was plenty of room to split up decurse and remove poison on the small buttons.


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SideButtons

Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

Basic Attack [] Basic Attack 1 Shift-[] Basic Attack 2 CTL-[] Opening Attack

Killing Blow / Aggro Control [] Kill 1Shift-[] Kill 2 CTL-[] Aggro control

Special / Situational Attack [] Special Attack 1 Shift-[] Special Attack 2 CTL-[] Group Attack

Defensive Abilities

Utility Abilities I

Utility Abilities II

Example: Generic DPS

There are many ways to configure your mouse to suit your character. Factors that can influence thedesign of the set up include: self, single target, group target; standard abilities/rotation, special /situational abilities, emergency abilities; instant cast, time cast, channeled; no cooldown (CD), short CD,long CD; pet abilities; aggro control; escape, defensive abilities; debuffs, debuff removal, in-combat buffs


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SideButtons

Back

Front

LeftClick

RightClick

SmallButtons

Back

Front

Wheel

Wheelleft click

Wheelright click

Basic Shots / Initial Attack [] Steady Shot7 Shift-[] Explosive Shot CTL-[] Hunter’s Mark /

Pet Attack macro

Kill Shot / Aggro Control [] Kill Shot Shift-[] Misdirection CTL-[] Scattered Shot

Stings / Special Shots [] Serpent Sting7

Shift-[] Black Arrow CTL-[] Freezing Arrow

Escape Abilities [] Disengage macro8

Shift-[] Feign Death CTL-[] Shadowmeld

Pet Heal / Battle Rez [] Mend Pet Shift-[] Lick Your Wounds CTL-[] Heart of the Phoenix

Buff / Group Attack [] Rapid Fire9 macro Shift-[] Volley CTL-[] Multi-shot

7 Kill Command and trinkets are macroed to bothSteady Shot and Serpent Sting

8 Standard hunter macro, adds Wing Clip 9 Macro adds the Call of the Wild pet ability (shares same 5 min cooldown)

Example: Survival Hunter

Survival hunters have a complicated shot rotation that is based on prioritization and procs. Given theirnumerous other utility and pet related abilities, they can use all of the available mouse button sequences.Fitting everything in with a logical mapping is difficult (e.g. note that aspects and traps are missing!).


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Clearly there are many different ways to configure your gaming mouse. If a clever playerspends some time thinking through the issues, she is likely to come up with improvements overthe provided examples.

Now that you have analyzed your character and mapped all of the appropriate abilities to yourmouse buttons, you need to investigate and implement any and all appropriate addons needed toincrease your situational awareness, so that you can take advantage of your now very fast andpowerful input device.

However, that’s beyond the scope of this tutorial . . .


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In Summary, your objective is to design an interface so that you can do everything you need todo to be successful during combat without moving your hand position (only your fingers).

Get a high quality, multi-button mouse

Map the mouse buttons to specifically assigned keys(don’t forget the Shift and CTL combinations)

Decide which abilities require instant action and therefore deserve to beassigned to a mouse key sequence

Organize these abilities into a logical scheme / groupings

Map your key sequences to these abilities

Research and implement appropriate Addons

Practice your new, amazing interface

Pwn

configuring a mouse

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