Want to buy Arma but in wheelchair and not sure if can play with controller

[TankPunk 1]

ARma 2 is on sale on steam for about 20 more minutes. I really like simulation type war games, unfortunately I can note use a keyboard and mouse. Does anyone know if it will still be worth it to get this game and will I be able to play for the most part with a controller? Thank you for any speedy replies before the sale goes off!

[Gunter Severloh 4070]

Hi TankPunk Welcome to BIS forums!

I dont know about any other controllers tbh, as the Arma series games have alot of controls and keyboard and mouse is the way

to go ideally but I dont think thats the only way, possibly a gamepad could work too.

I know some folks use trakIR.

If you do figure it out, or someone does reply with an idea of what you can do, i suggest getting Arma2 Combined Ops, not just Arma2.

[pathetic_berserker 4]

Well there are folks about who do play the game for the most part via a controler though still not entirely without keyboard, the controls are completely mapable and will accept double tapping etc so it is possible to control the basic FPS component of the game particularly ifyour controller is also quite good, though I imagine there will be issues with the higher command stuff, for only 17.99 it might be worth the risk. Though You could also grab the free version, try it out, and maybe wait for the next sale.

[TankPunk 1]

Thanks for the reply guys, downloading the free demo now and may end up purchasing no matter the price if I like it enough and can play it ^-^. Thanks again.

[boneboys 0]

People have been asking about this on another forum which shall remain unmentioned.

I used the Search funtion to find this Thread :http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?122607-xbox-controller-support/page2&highlight=xbox+controler

ArmAII is mentioned and a controller seems to work.

[liquidpinky 11]

I use a controller and mouse, controller only shouldn't be too much of a problem as all the controls in game are configurable.

You may not be able to do 100% of tasks asked of you but the majority of things should be possible.

[EDcase 87]

A controller can be used for moving vehicles, aircraft and infantry but there are many other commands so I don't it can controller can do them all.

[domokun 515]

I you have a controller with enough buttons then you can definitely "play for the most part".

Shame you missed the sale...

[Phantom Six 25]

I use to play with a controller before i got a trackball. Due to my wrist i cant use a mouse much. Controller works out fine as long as you use the keyboard sometimes to hit a few backup commands. Xbox 360 controller was what i use. I still even use it but only for controlling vehicles. The only problem with controller to me is close quarter combats but long range engagement should be fine.

[Alpha-Kilo 36]

Tank Punk,

I am not sure if this helps, but there is a voice control software which you might want to use. Just check "www.dwvac.com" for details. The price is 18 USD after a trial period. "http://glovepie.org/glovepie_download.php" is a free alternative. Most people use voice control to order their AI around, but you can also use it to control your character, if your controller does not have enough keys. There have been some discussions about this subject on this forum, please search for "voice recognition".

[paragraphic l 2]

You can do almost everything but controlling other units with a xbox 360 controller. You just need to take the time to map it to your own preferences.

I have 2 profiles, 1 for FPS and 1 for vehicle movement. This is 90% of what you can do in arma. The game allows you to set these controls individual for movement, driving, flying and other stuff so lot's of ways to get it work how you want to.

One thing that isn't that easy to do, or I haven't found out yet is to control the Gear dialog. Don't think voice recognition sofware can do that either.

Voice controls do allow you to control units and other advanced stuff, so combination of controller and voice controls will allow for like 99% of game controls.

Maybe BIS knows how to add the gears menu controls for other input than mouse.

[Alpha-Kilo 36]

One thing that isn't that easy to do, or I haven't found out yet is to control the Gear dialog. Don't think voice recognition sofware can do that either.

Voice controls do allow you to control units and other advanced stuff, so combination of controller and voice controls will allow for like 99% of game controls.

The gear menu will be difficult, because it is operated by the mouse. Voice recognition just emulates keystrokes ans mouse clicks, but not mouse movement. I have not considered this, sorry.

[liquidpinky 11]

The gear menu will be difficult, because it is operated by the mouse. Voice recognition just emulates keystrokes ans mouse clicks, but not mouse movement. I have not considered this, sorry.

You can use xpadder or pinnacle to assign one of the sticks as a mouse and a joypad button as mouse button.

Someone also pointed out to me in another thread about the text message addon (Chatpad) for an xbox controller, so there is the possibilty of using that for all the other commands. Actually considering one myself.

[jblackrupert 14]

I've seen sites in the past dedicated to helping people play videogames with various disibilites if you look around theres even a controller with a mini keyboard on it.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=xbox%20controller%20keypad&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Axbox%20controller%20keypad&page=1

[Heartborne 12]

Just some more input.

Don't forget to check Xpadder ( search it on google, 1st hit ), I'd say you can do EVERYTHING with a controller/gamepad; you just need a lot of patience to create specific profiles, hotkeys and key bindings. As an example, Xpadder allows you to control your cursor/aim just like a mouse would.

Welcome and have fun :)

[nodunit 397]

I don't know much about controllers or voice command..or anything of that sort, but if you want to try Arma before purchasing you can do so with Arma Free, the quality of visuals is less but you can still get the feel of everything.

[MissileMoose 10]

If you have the money it may be worth looking into a gameboard. Such as the G13 if you have the money. You could use the controller and gameboard together.

[iceman77 19]

Yes you can use a controller to play Arma2, if you absolutely have to. There will be some misc. binds that wont fit on a controller, but nothing to important.You will be able to fit all of the must have binds on an xbox 360 controller for example.You will be able to move around, fire your weapon, get in and out of vehicles, access ammo / weapon crates, change Rate of fire for your weapon(s), change weapons, change your stance and look at your map. There are more binds such as saluting, sitting down etc. but I wouldn't worry to much about those types of binds.

[TankPunk 1]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, appreciate it ^-^

[doveman 7]

As others have suggested, what I use is Xpadder with my Xbox360 controller and VAC for AI commanding, showing compass, GPS, map, etc. In Xpadder I have the sticks as sticks (mapped to movement, driving, flying, looking in Arma) but when I hold a modifier (in my case right bumper) it changes the left stick to WSAD and the right stick to mouse. The latter allows me to navigate the gear menu and the former I think I found useful for some helo mods but I'm not sure I need it. With the modifier held, I also have the Dpad mapped to Mouse Wheel Up, Mouse Wheel Down, Backspace and MMB, which allows me to use the Action Menu (with right trigger(LMB) to select an Action).

Apart from the sticks, none of the controller is mapped in Arma as I assign keyboard keys to the controls with Xpadder, so left trigger is RMB (for zoom/optics), right trigger is LMB (for fire), clicking the right stick is Num* (for freelook). Some buttons do dual (or even triple) function using Xpadder's Release Zones, so for example button B=F (change weapon/fire mode) if pressed quickly but if held for 0.30s or longer it's G (open gear) and similarly button A is used for crouch/prone.