This post is meant for CCP devs. Please forward to relevant parties.

I was digging around the internets about mouse lags in Unreal Engine 3, and it seems that Dust 514 doesn't suffer from this problem alone.

Here is a summary of contributing factors to lag, and their fixes:



1. Jumpy framerate - irregular framerates, sudden framerate drops, they all make it harder to aim (because your vision of motions is disrupted).
Solution: A better and more responsive adaptive degradation to compensate framerate drops. Also see 3.

2. Data streaming - it means the game loads data while playing. Evident from the textures and polygons popping up. This loading contributes to performance issues and influences the framerate.
Solution: Turn this off, or limit how much system resources it uses.

3. V-sync - PC FPS players will know this. V-syncs add buffer frames to the output so you are always lagging behind by several frames, usually this must be turned off for competitve gameplay because it is a high contributing factor towards mouse lag.
Solution: Turn v-sync off.

4. Post-processing - Dust 514 definitely utilizes post-processing... look at the edges of polygons, the game definitely has some sort of sharpening filter going on, or maybe something else. Like v-syncs, post-processing adds buffer frames that will contribute to lag.
Solution: Turn it off.

5. Framerate smoothing - turn it off. Wait a minute, didn't you just say you want a smooth framerate? Yes, but the "framerate smoothing" feature adds lag to the game. CCP you will need to achieve a more consistent framerate with other means.
Solution: Turn it off.

6. In Unreal Engine, "[...] mouse is done through the UI (scaleform) and not using a hardware cursor like most games. this makes it FPS-dependant so if the game runs slow the mouse runs slow too." (Source) "Since the crappy unreal engine 3 (yes I went there) doesn't have hardware mouse support, you'll see the response time of the mouse cursor going down with frame rate." (Source) This is disappointing. This means we will never see the day of having raw input. Dust is crippled by the Unreal Engine.
Solution: Maintain a good framerate and eliminate any framerate drops or fluctuations. Personally I think 24 fps is a good compromise - it is not hard to maintain an all-time 24fps (Dust is not far from that level of performance despite the fps drops) and 24fps looks somewhat acceptable to the human eye, although a bit slow and definitely cannot be compared with 60fps gaming.

7. Mouse smoothing - it adds buffers to your input (aka lag) so turn it off.
Solution: Turn it off.

8. Mouse acceleration - it destroys linearity and make movements inconsistent. Turn it off.
Solution: Turn it off.

9. Speed limits - "Jump suits limiting turning speeds" completely destroys smaller twitch movements (usually small adjustments while aiming). Only someone who has never played competitive shooters would suggest such a stupid idea. TURN IT OFF.
Solution: Turn it off. Review your design philosophy, CCP, do you want this little RPG gimmick ruin the FPS gameplay? It is definitely not worth it.

10. "Enter OneFrameThreadLag.... what is this, you say? I'm not sure, but it has something to do with the mouse lag in Unreal 3 games. Go into the BaseEngine.ini file in the config files, find the variable OneFrameThreadLag, and set it to "False"." (Source) This seems highly relevant. Perhaps CCP forgot to turn it off when they release the game.
Solution: Turn it off. (Set it to false.)



TLDR: CCP you have too many things that lag the controls. These are all proven to contribute to lag in other games, and they are all well known to PC gamers who have access to those tweaks. Now that you know what is causing the lags, CCP you will need to simply eliminate them.

Remember, a game is about gameplay before pretty graphics. You game is sheet if it looks pretty but have laggy and jerky controls. Also, don't forget to fix your hitboxes and hit detection.

No response in this thread is sad, but what is even more disappointing is no aiming fix coming with 1.2 and a maybe on 1.3.....


Obviously aiming in an FPS isn't priority to CCP so why even have this thread as a sticky...

I'll ask Wolfman tomorrow to see if he has any updates. I know he was discussing aiming with the CPM earlier today.

Weird aim assist behavior / acceleration / strange nonlinearity is still here.
I tried to aim ahead of enemy but the cursor seems to gravitate away from target.
Also I tried to orbit a teammate standing still, can't even keep my aim on him.
It actually feels like when the aim assist is turned off, it actually applies negative number to prevent you aiming.
(No it's not my aiming skill or my mouse or whatever I can promise you. It's the game.)
Using 1800dpi Razer Salmosa Korean version, PS3 cursor speed setting slow, aim assist off, in-game mouse sensitivity zero.
Non-linearity is the biggest enemy of muscle memory.
But I have probably said it too many times already.
Even DOOM 1 has better aiming.

So... my GIMX parts have arrived. I did a quick test today.

Results are amazing. Basically I've fixed the virtual joystick problem (completely bypassing CCP's virtual joystick and simulate our own DS3 controller) and now it feels like an almost linear input and zero acceleration. The only problem remain is the native speed limit of the DS3 analogue stick (at in-game settings 100%). If you move your mouse too fast you will hit the speed limit which feels awkward. The precision needed some tweaking (deadzone settings etc). Also the framerates can present a challenge to aiming, but in general aiming is much more predictable and there is much less weird magnetic feelings. But without much tweaking it already feels so much better than the native kb/m support. This thing's USB runs at 250hz too! (Compared to the native 100hz)

The keyboard mapping needs some time getting used to since it is now simulating the DS3. The shift key (L3) also toggles sprint which is a bit weird.

Parts. Top right: An ATMEGA32U2 board from Canada (NooElec brand). Bottom left: A bunch of unbranded CP2102 USB to serial boards from China. The seller sent me several by mistake, I just needed one.

Soldering up.

Testing. The instructions were wrong and I had to swap two wires to make it work.

Put on some protective nanites and we are done.

GIMX in action. To the left is my laptop (USB), to the right is mini-usb to PS3 (same cable as DS3 controller).

This is what the settings look like in Windows.

Mouse sensitivites.

What it looks like in-action. All your inputs (keyboard and mouse) will be sent to the PS3 as simulated DS3 controller signals.

Can't say my kd ratio has improved yet but I'm having fun playing with it. I can also dance around corners and toy with enemies with much more accuracy. It's nowhere near perfection, it is only as good as a DS3 controller can get. I need more time tweaking but I think I've already fixed the game to some extent.

After extensive testing, I can confirm that CCP's DS3 aiming is broken.

It is not acceleration, it is not smoothing, it is not aim assist, it is PURE JITTER is being introduced into the aiming.

In the GIMX there is a calibration mode which simulates a set of inputs to test if the game is responding as predicted. It can repeat a series of sweeps of set distances (slowly turn left x amount, quickly turn right x amount) for observation so there is unmistakable that the issue is not in the player or DS3 controller. When I run the test, when in theory moving left X and moving right X (EXACTLY the same amount) should end in the same position, the game will turn the aim either not enough or too much.

This is not related to acceleration, sweeps with different speeds were mixed together and the aim do not solely overshoot/undershoot (which would indicate acceleration) but it jitters back and forth. This is done with aiming assist turned off.

This is not related to hardware issues either because different USB polling rates and simulation modes are all tested.

It means Dust 514's aiming somehow introduces RANDOMNESS into your movement from absolutely nowhere and there is no way to eliminate it.

This is a very bad news. Because this proves that Dust 514's aiming has inherited Unreal Engine 3's poor design - aiming cursor movements depend on frames (framerate). And it means that THIS GAME IS NOT FIXABLE because of the engine it uses. A very sad but undeniable truth which will deny any future potential for Dust to become an e-sport.

There, CCP I've done the work for you. You don't have to mess with your sensitivities anymore, the problem is not there.

Can we has Unreal Engine 4 on PS4 now?