Considering key bind for gravity gun - feedback welcome!

For a long time I used the thumb button on my mouse for "use weapon_physcannon". When I recognized the need for having crouch somewhere else than on ctrl (for advanced movements) I eventually put it on the thumb button instead, only to be faced with the problem of where to put my gg.

A former clan mate suggested MWHEELUP, a tip which he allegedly got from some "pro" player. I've been using that for some time now, but I'm not sure about it being ok for those twitch grabs - and especially about twitch pushes since scrolling up with my right index finger makes it akward to press MOUSE1 the next instant.

I briefly tried using the default G for gg but it's a pain when you're not used to it and I want to be convinced it's the right choice if I decide to go this way.

I realized I could put +attack on MOUSE3 (scroll wheel click) as well, making it possible to quickly switch to gg and push.

Anyone has any thoughts about this?

If I go with G I also realized I have the option of using "phys_swap" instead of "use weapon_physcannon". On scroll up it would just be too tricky. I think phys_swap has some advantages but it comes at the cost of having to be aware of wether or not your gg is active or not at all times. Any input on this is also most welcome.

This is a tough one. I have gravity gun on G, my movement is ESDF though. I am so used to it I cant imagine changing it now, although I do lose a few upclose fights if my opponent is scrolling gravity gun and resetting the timer faster than me, I wouldnt call it a match breaking advantage. I scroll up for ar2 and down for smg. Those are my fallback weapons when I have my opponent hurt and he is running for health.

Only problem with scrolling gravity gun to reset timer is that you are binding attack twice and if you ever have to play in a competition with GUI only you wont be able to do that (yeah I know unlikely, but who knows).

I use F with wsad, but then again my C is my crouch (I have an awkward config, lol)

Walking Target wrote:Only problem with scrolling gravity gun to reset timer is that you are binding attack twice and if you ever have to play in a competition with GUI only you wont be able to do that (yeah I know unlikely, but who knows).

Hm, well, I might be able to use the scroll wheel click for all +attack if that ever would be the case
I use ESDF too, so G seems natural to me, but now I'm so used to scroll up - and it lets me do it completely independent of movement.

Seagull wrote:I use F with wsad, but then again my C is my crouch (I have an awkward config, lol)

Yeah, and you also have an insanely low sens, so I don't know about taking your advice on anything

Thanks for your input guys.

I use G, with WSAD movement, F is lastweapon. It was kind of awkward at first, but it grew on me

You all use "use weapon_physcannon" rather than "phys_swap"?

Ive had gravgun on Q since i started, with WASD movement, and its always been quick and reliable. That said, ill eventually switch it to a foot pedal along with a few other commands.

Lately ive liked scrolling ggun less and less. While its still useful, its not nearly as reliable as a well-setup manual reset would be and it eats alot of buttons (middle mouse for extra attack, wheel up and wheel down for lastinv).

Generally, use weapon_physcannon is far more reliable than phys_swap. You dont run the risk of ending up on the wrong weapon when resetting the gravguns timer, and phys_swap isnt a repeatable instant switch like the use weapon_physcannon / lastinv combo is.

I have the gravity gun on F, and movement keys are default WASD.

I do lose a few upclose fights if my opponent is scrolling gravity gun and resetting the timer faster than me

This is a technique I haven't developed yet. Is it really useful? If it is, how do u exactly do it?

I use "F" as g-gun and "E" as nades, and "Q" as smg and ar2. Works great for me, using this setup for about 2 years now.

Ko-Tao wrote:Lately ive liked scrolling ggun less and less. While its still useful, its not nearly as reliable as a well-setup manual reset would be and it eats alot of buttons (middle mouse for extra attack, wheel up and wheel down for lastinv).

Generally, use weapon_physcannon is far more reliable than phys_swap. You dont run the risk of ending up on the wrong weapon when resetting the gravguns timer, and phys_swap isnt a repeatable instant switch like the use weapon_physcannon / lastinv combo is.

Do you really have to use lastinv to reset the gravgun? Wouldn't, say, the pistol do the job equally good? It's not like you're ever going to run out of pistol ammo on lockdown

Oh, and another question. Can someone please tell me exactly how that quick grab technique is carried out? You know, the one ppl use to quickly get things from under the stairs on lockdown. I've had it explained to me, but at the time I wasn't really listening since I didn't have the right key setup to be able to perform it.

Cynips wrote: Oh, and another question. Can someone please tell me exactly how that quick grab technique is carried out? You know, the one ppl use to quickly get things from under the stairs on lockdown. I've had it explained to me, but at the time I wasn't really listening since I didn't have the right key setup to be able to perform it.

Basically you switch back and forth between a weapon so it resets the grab timer, grabbing it before you switch weapons again.

Seagull wrote:Basically you switch back and forth between a weapon so it resets the grab timer, grabbing it before you switch weapons again.

Thanks, so no special tricks really. Seems pressing a key for lastinv twice might be quicker than scrolling first down and then up. Unless maybe then if you have lastinv on scroll down and scroll exactly two 'clicks'... is that what some people do?

Lastinv wont work if your previous weapon has run out of ammo, which is a major drawback. The best method would likely be to switch to melee and back to reset the gravgun timer, since of course youll always spawn with a bar or stick and they cant be used up.

I use a wolfclaw V2 keyboard, google, i guarantee u will find it interesting

Pernicious wrote:I use a wolfclaw V2 keyboard, google, i guarantee u will find it interesting

Agree, that looks interesting. Thanks for the tip. And it reminds me of what I heard in a server a couple of weeks ago. On the topic of bunny hopping the guy said that the reliability of the space bar (assuming you jump with space) could make or break your timing. This, he claimed, was a reason many 'pro' jumpers go with the G15. I take it you don't have any problems with the quality of the wolfclaw space bar?

Can anyone comment on this? Is the difference between decent quality keyboards that big, and do you presonally find the timing of the jumps that difficult? I would've said that the quality of my Logitech Ultra-Flat is good enough that it's up to me (and the server) wether or not I can time my jumps, not the keyboard.

I use a Saitek Eclipse keyboard, and the spacebar doesnt seem to limit me... I have started to wear out the paint on it though

Zman42 wrote:I use a Saitek Eclipse keyboard, and the spacebar doesnt seem to limit me... I have started to wear out the paint on it though

On the space bar??!!?

Cynips wrote:

Zman42 wrote:I use a Saitek Eclipse keyboard, and the spacebar doesnt seem to limit me... I have started to wear out the paint on it though

On the space bar??!!?

Yep my thumb hits the same place on it everytime i bounce...a little spot is wearing out lol. maybe i bhop too much?

i didnt quite read all these posts, cause i something about scrolling and laughed and just went to the post reply. f is a great key for ggun. i switch f and g around not too long after i started getting into hl2dm. it just works. as for lastinv, i dont even have that key binded, i prefer to know what weapon im going to pull out next, and just using your binded keys is much faster. scrolling might be good if you cant manually yoyo orbs or something, but i prefer to just switch to another weapon then hit ggun and grab the object again. for example what i usually do is best done when i have a mag because my mag key is q. so when i want to yoyo an object, i fire it, press q then f and hold my right mouse click. sounds complicated, but can be done in about a half of a second if not faster. it can be done however you like, but i always prefer manual everything.

If you are scrolling? You need the key bound to phys_swap not use weapon_physcannon. More people need to define which they are using. If you scroll with phys_swap you should not have any problems. The problem you do have stems from your use of your hand. Your index finger is apparently scrolling and pressing mouse 1. My index finger is on mouse 1, middle finger on the tilt/wheel/mouse3, ring finger on mouse 2, and thumb on mouse4 and 5. only my pinky finger is not used as it stabilizes the mouse. This way I can scroll and shoot or grab all at the same time if needed. Apparently this is rare amoung gamers but you can expect as the future progresses if consoles do not kill us people will begin teaching this hand method as a basic skill, like using laces instead of toes to kick a soccer ball, so I think it wont hurt to make the investment of learning to use all fingers efficiently.

You can also switch any other way but I can't say any will be better the way ninjins does it assumes he always has a mag which most people are not going to be able to say especially since grav gun battles are so important when you just spawned so unless you are playing aim arena or these other maps with hundreds of mags laying around you could have trouble. If you want to do it what way make your switch to something you should always have like pistol or crowbar/stunstick.

in the event of not actually having a mag, i probably would just press my ggun key twice instead.

but honestly, scrolling is cheap imo. i use my mwheelup for xbow and mwheeldown for smg, while mouse3 is my nade. so i use my mouse to its full extent with mouse4 being use and 5 being jump.

ninjins wrote:but honestly, scrolling is cheap imo.

Just curious, why do you think that?

Very good point about the use of fingers Fearsome. It's so obvious it makes me baffled as to why I never thought of that. Now, I just have to find the right moment to start getting used to it. Might as well do it in everyday computer use too.
But are you sure you mean phys_swap? Scrolling a specific number of clicks seems too difficult to me in the heat of battle. Could you explain the reasoning behind this?

Because the gravity gun has a cooldown, meaning you have to wait between pulses. Just try pressing fire as fast as you can and you will get a feel for the rate it can be used at.

The way around this is to swap weapons out and back to the gravity gun as fast as you can, resetting the cooldown and allowing you to have a much faster gravity gun than joe average player. If you use scrolling you can achieve this at a faster than human rate from switching weapons manually, but you must use phys_swap to do it. If you use physcannon the swap wont take place and the gravity gun will just fire at its usual rof.

Some think scrolling to reset is cheap and for the advanced technique to be legitimate you should reset it manually (ninjins^), but for the most part it is accepted as reasonable as you are not doing something that cant be achieved manually anyway.

Personally I dont even reset grav gun, which costs me about one death in every one hundred vs someone who does. One day Ill get around to it.

I know about the cooldown, although like you I don't use it in game (yet at least). My idea was to have gravgun on scroll up and, say, pistol on scroll down, then do a quick scroll down and back up to reset. I can see how just scrolling two notches with phys_swap would be quicker but I thought it would be too tricky to get it right at exactly two. I wouldn't want to end up with the pistol as defense against a cabinet. Can anyone who uses this comment on how tricky they think it is?

Hm, maybe I could bind use weapon_physcannon on MWHEELUP and phys_swap on MWHEELDOWN... There's always another place for the pistol. Or I just keep it that way it currently is.

well then i might as well start scrolling jump and lastinv on the same wheel. since its ok to do. i figure shit, might as well take the easy way out since that seems to be the way games should be played. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Well, basically yes! Why not? Mice with scroll wheels are available to anyone, so binding like this is also available to anyone. Even if you have some philosophical reason for not using it, I fail to see how that will refrain other people from doing something you can do with the in-game options menu, not even having to enable the console or fiddle around with config files.

I mean, there has to be some other reason besides making it easier, or am I missing something here?

It's another of those things that is a matter of opinion. Up to the individual to decide. If you listened to everyone that told you something is cheap you wouldnt be able to use half the weapons, bunnyhop, cook nades, fast orb, mag snipe, camp, use superchargers, slam in certain locations, spawn kill...

Yeah, everyone should read Playing to Win. <- clickable link

To clarify, i have attack on mouse 3 (wheel button) lastinv on mwheelup and mwheeldown and weapon_physcannon on Q. To scroll, i depress the mwheel and roll up (for yoyoing orbs or prop battles) or spam up/down (to clear an area of props or to reset a nade or claim a live orb) then press Q again to ensure that im back on gravgun after scrolling.

Pressing phys_swap after rapidfire lastinv is only a 50% chance of actually bringing the gravgun up, because when spinning the wheel, theres no way to be sure that im actually on gravgun when its time to mess up someone cooking a nade, catch / pickup a prop or yoyo an orb- i could just as easily be on whatever weapon im madly lastinving to/from. Pressing weapon_physcannon is a 100% guarantee to switch to gravgun no matter what.

Regarding mention of "cheap"- theres no such thing. Either youre within the limitations of the game or youre not. Theres no inbetween here, since the difference between some ingame technique and a hack / dll edit / file swap is crystal clear. Players whining about rpg-vent speecrawling, crouch spamming, [insert technique here] etc, are just causing themselves grief over something they should instead be learning to combat, and do themselves.

As for the mousewheel... its been in gaming for over a decade now, and isnt leaving anytime soon. Might as well put it to good use!

I have weapon_physcannon bound on my keyboard, if I want to switch the physcannon I do so with the keyboard, if I need to scroll I do it with the mouse wheel.

Is it cheap yeah, maybe it is but who cares so is killing spawners, or using the rocket. I personally back in the day attempted to have scrolling removed from the game the entire exploit but valve did not see it my way. So I say whatever they implemented in the current code is how they meant for the game to be played. They specifically took extra time to code the game to make sure that fast orbs and various other physics cannon exploits where left in when with a single line of code they could have taken it out. I personally think the cheapest tactic in the game is fast balls. So basically if valve left it in the game and as you say it can be done in the gui and without any modifications I can't see any reason why not to use it. If you start messing around in the console or bringing in modified files then the lines start getting blurry. But anything you can do with a commonly acceptable mouse and keyboard is fair game unless a league or server makes a rule against it.

Fearsome* wrote:But anything you can do with a commonly acceptable mouse and keyboard is fair game unless a league or server makes a rule against it.

Yeah, personally I avoid doing things which would commonly be against the rules in leagues. According to Valve scripting is fine, but I don't use mag zoom or catch scripts, e.g. Just like a try to avoid brightskins even if some tournaments allow them...

well, here is where a mouse with 2 thumb buttons would be helpful. I didn't put crouch on my mouse but instead added sprint. I just recently moved my grav gun from "F" to my other thumb button (MB4 close to the tip of my thumb) and put "use" in it's place, at F. I tried putting grav gun on scroll but found myself scrolling 2 clicks and changing back to another weapon... blah! Overall scroll just didn't feel right to me for that so I opted not to do it. So if you were to do that I'd suggest not using the grav gun bind that switches back to another weapon... but that's a whole nother issue.

I put the gravgun on the right tilt of my G5. Left tilt is pistol/357

Ko-Tao wrote:..., crouch spamming,...

what does that mean?

Largest bump?

badinfluence wrote:Largest bump?

envy? D:

yang wrote:

Ko-Tao wrote:..., crouch spamming,...

what does that mean?

Well, I think it's simply how you can abuse crouch by hitting it repeatedly in order to achieve a few things...

yang wrote:

badinfluence wrote:Largest bump?

envy? D:

Yes.