‘Invert/Reverse’ Mouse in FPS Games

It looks like [almost everybody from the old days](http://harry.sufehmi.com/archives/2006-06-28-1192/) always uses ‘invert/reverse’ mouse setting when playing [FPS games](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter). On the other hand, new gamers almost certainly use the so called ‘normal’ setting. In ‘invert/reverse’ mode, in order to look upwards we pull our mouse back, and to look downwards we push our mouse forward. The reverse is true in ‘normal’ mode. Somehow, these new players will scoff at ‘invert/reverse’ mode and find it very disorienting, and yet be amazed when ‘invert/reverse’ players regularly beat them :).

Why older gamers love their ‘invert/reverse’ mouse setting so much?

Probably because [flight sims](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_simulator) predate FPS games by a few years, and these people (including me) used to play flight sims before they played their first FPS game. In flight sims, the controls try to mimic the controls used in real aircraft. We pull back the stick to climb and push it forward in order to descend. Most flight sims were designed to use joystick, but some can also accept keyboard and mouse input. A very popular flight sim game, [Star Wars: X-Wing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_X-Wing) and its subsequent games in the series were popularly played using a mouse because it required high precision control that were only present in expensive joysticks.

When an aircraft is going to hit the ground, people on board will scream “PULL BACK! PULL BACK!” Had the control uses the so called ‘normal’ setting, ‘pulling back’ will only make the plane hit the ground much sooner :).

The first FPS game that supports vertical controls, [Duke Nukem 3D](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Nukem_3D), also uses the setting known today as ‘invert/reverse’ as default. In fact, its ‘invert’ feature actually made the control behave like today ‘normal’ mode.

It might be more natural to use ‘invert/reverse’ setting to think of the movements of our heads. In order to see a higher object, we lean our head back. And to see a lower one, we push our heads forward. In this view, it is more natural to use ‘invert/reverse’ setting. And more so if a trackball is used instead of a mouse.

And why these new gamers use ‘normal’ setting? Primarily because almost all FPS games today use the so called ‘normal’ setting by default. And maybe for some people it is actually more natural to use ‘normal’ setting, even in flight sims! I can remember a friends who wondered why his plane won’t take off: because he pushed forward, not pulled back. But eventually all flight sims players get accustomed to the control, simply because there were no option to reverse the setting.

My little brothers (12 and 16 years younger) used to play with ‘invert/reverse’ mouse because they had their turns to play after mine :). And they were too young to know what the ‘proper’ settings should be :). But since they started to play with their friends, they had to get used to ‘normal’ mouse because their friends made the case that their mouse setting somehow always get screwed after my brothers’ turn :).

In [Counter-strike](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike) sessions among office mates, the team I’m a member of regularly beat the opposing team. After an overly long series of shameful defeats, they started to closely observe how I played. One thing that got noticed was that I played with ‘invert/reverse’ mouse. Afterwards they tried playing with ‘invert/reverse’ mouse, but of course it would only make it easier for me to win the game :). They gave up using ‘invert/reverse’ after a while :).

According to several informal surveys ([1](http://myunreal.com/showthread.php?t=74965), [2](http://nokytech.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56960)), only 10-20% of all players use ‘invert/reverse’ mouse.

75 comments

  1. sama…
    lebih suka pake yg ‘invert/reverse’ setting
    kalo di-pikir2 sih emang lebih ‘normal’ dibanding ‘normal’ setting…asal jangan pake keyboard (bukan joystick) aja… ^:)^

  2. play the game will wasted your time….! but I play a lot….hehehehe….:d:d:d:d:d

  3. Kalau naik kendaraan belok kekanan badan cenderung kekiri, kalau game jalurnya mau belok kekanan enaknya sih sambil narik kekiri, nggaktau ah I love RPG.

  4. wah kalo aku lebi suka yg kiri-kiri dan kanan-kanan. bingung euy kalo mouse goyan kiri tapi gambar ngadep kanan.. mungkin ini otak gak sinkron kali ya..

    heheh..

    Fire in the hole!! :-“

  5. iya, setau gue juga gara-gara flight sim dkk itu. karena kontrol pesawat juga gitu kan yah? (cmiiw, ngga pernah nyupirin pesawat)

  6. FIRE IN THE HOLEEE!!! … jedarrr … *gak pernah maen CS, tapi seneng nonton orang2 maen CS*. Kalo di AOE atau DotA gak ada opsi invert/reverse mouse sih.

  7. Wowww.. Exclusive Posting in English neh… tambah mantap aje deh.. :d

    (Sory gak suka CS neh…)
    Main NFS Most Wanted bisa gak yah pake invert gitu ?? yang ada blacklist gak naek2

    abis,
    belok kanan jadi kiri,
    belok kiri jadi kanan,
    NoS jadi zero breaks
    dan Rem jadi NoS :o

    Ancurrr deh mobil..

  8. tergantung ama kebiasaan, misal, pas pertama maen, default settingnya memang sudah reverse dan sudah dibiasakan*karena nggak tahu nyettingnya* ada enaknya juga, jadi seolah-olah monitor ini adalah jendela, kalo kita miring/bergeser ke kiri seperti mau ngintip arah kanan di dalam monitor. tapi yang paling sulit pas harus atas bawah, serig keliru.

    hihi cuma sekali maen CS, sejam, selesai maen muntah2 karena pusing/oyong, sampe sekarang kapok.

  9. bukannya invert cocoknya hanya untuk vertical doang? :-?
    Skr sih saya mainnya di console. dan lebih susah ngatur sensitivitynya. Tapi lebih enak, krn controllernya bisa digoyang2 ke sana kemari. ndak kayak keyboard & mouse :d

  10. @24: Sama tuh, saya juga kalau main CS dan sebangsanya paling lama kuat 1 jam. Soalnya pusing dan mual, gak tau kenapa. Tapi kalau main Flight Simulator dan NFS (dan semua game balapan) sama sekali nggak pusing.

  11. secara saya tidak paham maksudnya, ini mas pri lagi ngomongin Virtual Cop bukan? Ato malah lagi ngomongin Bomberman?

    Ah.. sudoku emang gem yg heibat!

  12. #31 : Karena pergerakan tiga dimensi dari game. Saya saja pernah ampir muntah dulu waktu maen Donkey Kong Super Nintendo selama 3 jam-an. Karena memang belum terbiasa akan gerakan layar yang naik turun dengan cepat. Maklum, dulunya maniak game strategy, bukan arcade.

    Apalagi game2 FPS yang 3 dimensi. Karena kita melihat pada pandangan orang pertama, tapi kepala kita tetap menatap ke layar, sehingga tidak ada gerakan real dari kepala kita ketika menatap ke atas/bawah/kiri/kanan. Jadi kepala kita seperti di obok2 seperti kalau terkena guncangan gempa atau guncangan di pesawat. Hal ini mengakibatkan perasaan mual dan ingin muntah. Apalagi main dalam jangka waktu yang lama. CMIIW.

    Tapi kalau sudah terbiasa, lama kelamaan perasaan mual itu akan hilang.

  13. hehe… masalah invert controlling ini…
    aku bener2 pusing waktu mainin BLACK di PS2..
    waktu mode biasa… yang lari2… aku lebih nyaman pake mode invert…
    tapi pas mode sniping… yang bisa zoom extreem… aku malah lebih nyaman pakai mode normal…

    untung saja di konfigurasi tombolnya memang diberi tombol untuk mengganti kendali ini…

    btw, aku main BLACK murni gara2 kemakan iklan di TV…. :)

  14. #32: Saya main Microsoft Flight Simulator dan Freelancer sama sekali nggak mual, padahal game itu bergerak 3 dimensi kan?

    Tapi kalo main CS atau Doom, jangankan ikut maen, nontonin permainan orang juga udah mual. Saya dulu pernah juga mencoba membiasakan, tapi tetap nggak berhasil dan tetap mual.

  15. gak komen, cuman mo nyoba opera baru, ternyata gag kluar jg no. urutnya, klo mau kluar di save page halaman html ini, klo online gag bisa, hiks!

  16. #34: sebenarnya, yang nonton jauh lebih gampang mual2 daripada yang main, karena yang nonton gak punya koordinasi antara input dan output.

  17. #34 Mungkin toleransi Anda terhadap gerakan 3 dimensi lebih tinggi daripada orang lain, atau gerakan 3 dimensi dari game Microsoft Flight Simulator tidak se-intense game2 FPS. CMIIW.

  18. Mas Pri, temen kantornya yang maen CS ada berapa orang? Mau coba “clanwar”? Kita punya sekitar 20 player aktif (3 guys using reverse mouse) dan 1 dedicated HL server online (sementara masih private, versi 1.6). Seru kali ya kalo bisa ngadain kompetisi CS di cafe-cafe. :d

    We call them “Gays” for players using “shield/tameng” ;))

  19. Errr….

    “In Counter-strike sessions among office mates, the team I’m a member of regularly beat the opposing team.”

    *asistenpulisienglish* :P

  20. Yes, John Carmack dan Quake III dong.

    Kalau main game FPS ya pake ‘normal setting’, tapi kalau main game pesawat ya ‘reverse’.

    Tapi kalau udah main 1-2 jam biasanya udah terbiasa kok.

    Uh, QUAKE III RULES!

  21. kenapa ga ikut wcg aja sekalian.. kan lumayan dapet kaos tuh..:d
    ehm.. wcg di indonesia tahun ini ga ada warcraft yah..:((

  22. ah.. that explains it, yes I’ve been playing flight simulators well before I played FPS, starting with Microsoft Flight Simulator version 4, I think.
    I even made a presentation based on it and present it to a panel of Merpati experts.

    Yes, playing (the right) games can landed you to good jobs :)
    (too bad I was a bit too naive at that moment)

    Nowadays, for a quick adrenaline shot, I still play Quake I (15 minutes, with Sepultura as the background music – it’s as good as a 4 hours sleep). But my preference is team-based FPS – like Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
    I don’t like CS because it feels too lonely (in an Internet game anyway) and it wastes too much time (no respawn until next game, etc). Just a matter of preference.

    Anyway, too bad that these new games has begun to exclude “invert mouse” settings. More reason to stick to the (simple, adrenaline-inducing) oldies.

  23. Bukannya control reverse enaknya buat maenan simulator?
    dan lebih nikmat pakai Joystick vibrator. \:d/

    Tapi…. :(( dah lama ga maenin game apalagi FPS..
    terlalu berat mengikuti spesifikasi hardwarenya.

  24. @31
    jadi teringat pas maen gem Silent Hill & Resident Evil di PS. Dua orang yg nonton mual2 dan hampir muntah, sedangkan pemainnya malah biasa2 aja.

  25. #60 setuju, biasanya gim2 yg adiktif dan bertahan lama itu memang yg lawannya orang apalagi temen sendiri.. kalo bisa bunuh temen itu rasa bangganya gemanaa getooo:d bisa sampe ketawa2..:)) makanya game center2 pada laku ya karena itu.. giliran pas dimainin pake bot/ai rasanya mbosenin gt deh..:-&

    tapi CS itu masa lalu gw.. bagi gw sekarang lagi musimnya DotA menn!! wakakakak:))

  26. gak tau yang lagi di bahas, soalnya bahasa inggris semua jadinya gak ngerti..tapi intinya gue tau tentang mouse buat game kan

  27. permisi… baru kali ini aku ikutan reply, biasanya nonton doank.

    wah.. dah lama ga maen game fps, lagi demen dota hehehe

  28. FYI, just in, saya tampilkan Rooney red card, dorong2-an, bisik2-an, dan kedip2an :D

    Well? what do you think?
    Kalau saya, I’t good idea kalau benar ia berencana ke Real madrid ;)

  29. buat gue, nggak hebat2 amat pake setting inverted. mungkin kelihatan hebat bagi yang nggak biasa, tapi inverted mouse itu adalah second to nature buat movement. hal pertama kali kalau mau FPS itu adalah cek key binding dan ini pake inverted Y axis atau tidak. main FPS juga udah masuk second to nature buat gue, pernah main dari jam 6 sore sampai jam 6 pagi, mual2 karena telat makan, bukan karena main game. tapi anehnya main yang 3rd person view tapi 3D macem the simpsons: hit & run, baru sejam – dua jam udah puyeng kepala. just not my kind of game.

    sekarang game yang dimainkan itu far cry dengan realistic difficulty (lagi nganggur gara2 oblivion), lalu oblivion dengan kelas karakter thief, race khajiit. dan pasti, inverted mouse.

  30. inverted ato nggak bagi gw sih tergantung jenis gamenya.. soalnya ada beberapa yang memang enak pake inverted.. gt deh..

    game yg gw mainkan skrg:
    – Warcraft III – DotA Allstars
    – RAN Online
    – Heroes V Might of Magic
    – Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

    wah banyak ya..:o

    #70 wah gw obliv pake job tanker (custom), ras nord :D
    pokoknya full defence..\:d/

  31. Emang kalo kebiasaaan maen F-15, F-19 (Microprose), jdnya keseringan pake invert/reverse.
    Sayang skrg kayaknya ga ada Flight Sim kayak tahun 90-an lagi eg: Falcon 4.0, SU-27 Flanker, Red Baron de el el.

  32. Wah ada postingan FPS ternyata :), dan sudah 1 tahun pula [Telat deh]. Emang maen CS tuh paling wuenak. Saya udah maen 5 Tahun juga ga bosen – bosen . My Fave Weapon -> knife. Begitu ada yg Saya piso terus abis itu ketik “say Yuessshhh !!!”. Pasti ada aja sumpah serapah yang aneh bin ajaib :d.
    Btw ada server cs enak nih pake sistem death-match: 202.129.190.13:27015. Sumprit enak banget, ampe hafal di luar jidat ip-nya [Tiap masuk warnet maen cs ketik ip itu trus sih :)] Lha kok jadi promosi ? Biarlah…. Oh ya nick Saya “Rabbit-X”, kalo ketemu di server ntu jgn lupa di sapa yah [Sekalian jadi incer-an piso-ku ;)].

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