Mouse optimisation Basics pt.1

[[DtK] [V] Benje]

Mouse Optimisation Guide

NOTE: i have noticed that there are a lot of threads in the forum about the best mouse settings so i have decided to post this. unlike the rest of my guides this is not my work, while i have written small parts of it the large majority of parts are by others with much more experience then me, most notably an engineer from logitech. because of the large size of the guide i will have to split it into sections.

TO CLEAR CONFUSION: all i did was compile some information that a friend and i found from a couple reputable sources, this was then modified occassionally to keep parts of it up to date. due to the age of this guide i cannot give you a list of sources or authors.

basics
1.1 - Disable mouse acceleration.
1.2 - Adjust Windows mouse properties.
1.3 - Adjust driver specific control panels.

The Basics

There seems to be a fair amount of misunderstanding about mouse related concepts like resolution, in game sensitivity, acceleration, USB report rates and Windows settings.

this guide gives comprehensive information on about how to make whatever mouse you currently have, provide the best response, control and smoothness in Counter-Strike: Source.

Now about the tweaking, whenever you make a major change (such as turning off acceleration for the first time) you will probably play worse before adjusting to it. It is no different than anything. Just stick with it for a few days and practice to see if you improve. You will.

Last but not least, make a system restore point so you have a way to restore your computer back to previous settings if any tweak causes trouble.

1.1 - Disable mouse acceleration.

It is absolutely vital to disable all mouse acceleration when playing Counter-Strike. With acceleration on, you will not be able to play consistently. For example, you might move the mouse 6 inches to turn 180 degrees, then you move the mouse 6 inches another time, and depending on how fast you move the mouse you might turn 100 degrees, you might turn 270. This uncertainty in mouse response inevitably limits everyone's potential.

The first thing you should do is to uncheck “enhance Pointer Precision. After doing this, some residual acceleration may remain, as Windows gives no way to completely eliminate all cursor acceleration from the control panel. This is where the CPL mousefix comes in. To use the CPL mousefix simply unzip the folder and click on the .reg file and say yes to anything that comes up. All it does is change two lines in your system registry to completely stop all mouse acceleration. Remember if you have used Mouse Acceleration for sometime, and have gotten used to it, this is one of the hardest settings changes to get used to. It is completely worth it to adapt to playing without acceleration, so stick with it and you will slowly notice the improvement.

note: cpl mouse fix is only for windows XP

Links:
here: http://www.hardcoreware.net/files/mouse_fix.reg
here: http://www.gotfrag.com/portal/files/82/
and
here: http://www.fpsbanana.com/tools/717


1.2 - Adjust Windows mouse properties.

When I see people list their mouse settings, many players are putting themselves at a big disadvantage. Windows has a slider for setting pointer speed, but that doesn't mean gamers should use it. The reason is that changing a setting here can in no way make up for the dpi a mouse has or doesn't have. Increasing the pointer speed even one notch, will make your cursor skip pixels. Losing pixel accuracy is not worth it when sensitivity is adjustable in-game. Lowering the setting here, throws away dpi from the mouse forcing you to use a use a higher, less precise sensitivity in-game.

At the highest setting, the cursor goes two pixels for each count. If you open up MS Paint, use the pencil tool, swing the mouse around to make circle patterns and notice how terribly notchy the edges are. This is not normal aliasing if you have the wrong settings in mouse properties it will make easily visible notches, not jaggies, it will look like teeth from a saw blade or something else bad. This is not the same as the normal stair steps on the edges of non antialiased graphics.

On the other hand, if you reduce the pointer speed setting, even by one notch, you get two different mouse sensitivities and your cursor will move, slowly to the right, and faster to the left. This is probably even worse than raising it, so KEEP THIS ON DEFAULT!! The default setting is the 6th notch in the middle and it wont interpolate or filter your mouse inputs, so you get the dpi your mouse is advertised. This may take some getting used to but it's worth it.

1.3 - Adjust driver specific control panels.

If you've not installed or have uninstalled your mouse drivers you can skip to Section 1.4!

First make sure any mouse acceleration settings are turned off completely, and if there is an option so you can have acceleration on the desktop but not in games, I recommend you turn it off as you need to be used to no acceleration all the time.

The same problems of section 1.2 will apply to all mice and drivers. The cold truth of the matter is that raising your pointer speed in a control panel or driver, does not and can not make up for the true physical dpi limitations of your mouse. If you do try increasing your pointer speed and still have precise pixel targeting, you are getting the faster response through some sort of mouse acceleration where the mouse does it's native speed until a certain unknown point where it speeds up and becomes non linear. With Logitech Setpoint, the mouse shows acceleration even if you increase pointer speed one notch and even have acceleration turned off, including within the driver.

So I advise you to put this on the middle setting or the mouse defaults. I have checked in SetPoint, Mouseware and IntelliMouse and it sometimes is possible to get the ideal pure raw input from the mouse without it being accelerated, interpolated sped up or slowed down. If you wish to decrease the mouse speed, I advise against this. Especially for people who play CS:S at higher screen resolutions or faster sensitivities. Lowering the pointer speed in the driver is basically throwing away valuable mouse inputs, which will hurt you in the end if you want smooth as possible aiming with a wide range of sensitivities in the game. You will also get the issue with different speeds in different directions problem from 1.2 although it will be very much unnoticeable for the most part.

[kezz]

Not a bad guide, but I don't think you needed to start 6 threads :/. Maybe 6 posts in one thread, but not 6 threads. That's my opinion anyway.

[[DtK] [M] girodata]

This is very useful.

I need a new mouse.

"hey, so-and-so, what mouse do you use?"
- random response
"Ya I use the logitech 500, I'm still getting used to it, that's why I suck"

AHHAHA shout out! but to who? a special someONE

[[DtK] [Jedi] Bento]

Wow......I can't believe you typed that much! Good guide by the way.

[kezz]

Wow......I can't believe you typed that much! Good guide by the way.

After a quick Google Search, I'm not sure he did write it. If you're going to post up a guide that you read elsewhere, make sure you credit and link to the original article.

[[DtK] [V] Benje]

After a quick Google Search, I'm not sure he did write it. If you're going to post up a guide that you read elsewhere, make sure you credit and link to the original article.

you will notice in the top there is a note stating: unlike the rest of my guides this is not my work, while i have written parts of it large parts are by others with much more experience then me.

unfortunately this is from guide is from back in 2006 when i posted this in my old team forums and as such i do not have any links to the original articles or names of authors from which the information was taken.

i apoligise if you missunderstood it that i wrote this myself but i thought it was clearly stated at the top that was not my work, so now to clear any confusion that may exist i will state the extent of my work on this guide. all i did was compile some information that a friend and i found from a couple reputable sources, this was then modified occassionally to keep parts of it up to date. i will now also edit the original post to make sure this is clear.

unfortunately i cannot give you a list of sources of this post for 2 reasons 1: the original version of this is 5 years old. as such i do not have any recollection or records on where the information is from.
2: this version of the guide was sent back to me a couple of days ago after i requested a copy from my friend after a unexpected format of my comuter as such i do not know how old or where the edits are in this version guide.

[kezz]

Okay no worries. I did see the note up the top, but I didn't know you'd lost your sources. Keep up the work mate