The actual problem with aiming (not Aim Assist!)

Games Halo Infinite
1

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There has been a lot of controversy on this forum lately with discussions about aiming in the Halo Infinite game preview. I would like to remind everyone of the following:

  • Many players have reported technical problems related to aiming. - The aiming problems are affecting some (but not all) players. - Both controller and MKB players have reported aiming problems. - This is not just a discussion for or against aim-assist. - As pointed out by Ske7ch (on twitter), there are performance-related issues that can impact aiming. And 343 are monitoring the situation and looking into it.
    On the controller side of things, the following issues impact the feel and performance of aiming:

  • Non-negotiable aim acceleration and lack of linear aim-response curve. - Discrepancy in sensitivity horizontally and vertically - Seemingly inconsistent aim sensitivity. - Low maximum sensitivity to match aim acceleration settings. -Many are asking for higher sensitivity on controller. - General lack of explanation in controller settings. - Suboptimal default values for deadzones. - Potential server-side issues that can impact aiming.
    In addition there is a major problem with controller sensitivity options for zoomed aiming:

  • The game build in the preview had multiple sliders for sensitivities of various zoom levels. - Several of these zoom levels did not exist in the game. For example the Commando scope was nerfed from 3x to 2x but an option to modify 2x zoom was not added. 3x zoom sensitivity remained. - There are multiple Covenant/Forerunner weapons with zoom, for which we don’t even know what the zoom level is. For example, the Skewer and Shock Rifle seem to be somewhere around 3.5x to 4x zoom. These should be explained if you provide separate sensitivity settings for these scopes. - A better system is to have two or three sliders that serve as control points on a bezier curve that determines sensitivity at arbitrary zoom levels. For example at 1.4x, 5x, and 10x. [I am trying to keep this explanation short and concise. Devs will know what I mean].
    I encourage you to share your thoughts about how the aiming works / feels on your end. Both on controller and mouse/keyboard. However, please refrain from making this topic another lobbying campaign for- or against Aim-Assist.

We are trying to provide accurate feedback to the developers of this (potentially good) game. Please don’t make them sift through this abhorrent PC vs. Xbox bickering. If you have a problem with Aim-Assist being too strong or too weak, please remember they are splitting ranked playlists based on input.

We will all benefit from Halo Infinite having a big playerbase and long lifespan. Thank you.

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I use xbone controller on PC. For me I think the aiming issues are primarily because the game just isn’t running well. When I launch the game, it’s feels nice and I can aim well for about 10 minutes of playtime. The game gets more choppy as I play. By the third match I can’t even consistently get kills with an AR and using a precision weapon is hopeless. The game seems on the verge of crashing at that point. My point is, I wonder how many reports of weird and inconsistent aiming are really due to the game just not running well for lots of people? If a player were to be in the middle ground of performance, where the game is a bit choppy but playable, my experience is that the aim is horrible then.

Tldr: I think it’s a game performance issue, not an aiming mechanic issue.

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> 2535468812026872;2:
> I use xbone controller on PC. For me I think the aiming issues are primarily because the game just isn’t running well. When I launch the game, it’s feels nice and I can aim well for about 10 minutes of playtime. The game gets more choppy as I play. By the third match I can’t even consistently get kills with an AR and using a precision weapon is hopeless. The game seems on the verge of crashing at that point. My point is, I wonder how many reports of weird and inconsistent aiming are really due to the game just not running well for lots of people? If a player were to be in the middle ground of performance, where the game is a bit choppy but playable, my experience is that the aim is horrible then.
>
> Tldr: I think it’s a game performance issue, not an aiming mechanic issue.

I agree. +Lots of people playing this on OG Xbox One.

4

I agree with VadersUncle66. There are times when my accuracy is between 44-50% when my game is performing well and the match isn’t lagging or having too much ping.
A handful of my games, I had higher ping and the game just seemed weird and you could feel the aim being off since your inputs are off.

I always play on controller (Xbox Series S and PC) and I am not sure if its because I set my settings up right (I didn’t change much) but overall I never really thought I had bad aiming issues other then lagging.

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Also the default setting (for controller) doesn’t help. It’s really waaayy to off coming from someone using default setting on MCC. Those deadzone settings are one of the key.
Bet lot of players just tweaking acceleration only and yet still got no improve.

6

I want to second the OP on the lack of aim control customization for controller (PC and Xbox).

Having a Linear response curve setting is a must!!!
Also horizontal and vertical sensitivitys should be alined (currently if they are set to the same, vertical is slower than horizontal.
The “accleration” feature when the stick is at max input should be able to be turned off completely.
Sensitivity should be able to go higher for both horizontal and vertical (i.e up to 20 or something)
The range for deadzones and max input zones should be more adjustable/increased. Currently, a 0 deadzone = ~5% deadzone and the max stick input option at 15 = ~90%. Where it should be that a 0 deadzone = a true 0 deadzone and a max stick input (currently 15) should = 98-99%.

While the above would be an amazing start, even better would be something like Apex Legends “Advanced Look Controls”. There is many customization options with fine tunable values (like 50 steps as opposed to 15)

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This is my take on controller aiming:
The devs forgot to test OTHER shooters, and compare honestly. It’s like someone made controller aim as their pet-project, and not once compared to other games, or worse, compared and still thought this mess is okay. It’s absolutely -Yoinking!- awful.

The default settings for controller aim sucks.

After WAY to much fiddling, I finally got aim to a point where I could actually aim somewhat properly, where the aim-mechanic started to feel like Halo 1-4 and actually usable.
The changes I needed to do was drop look acceleration to 1, adjust deadzones to mitigate drift but not more and then change FOV from 72 → 108 (108 is Destiny 2 max FOV, and I’ve been playing that for a while so I figured I’d try that).

That’s absolutely bonkers. I went from not even able to look around comfortably, to being able to actually play the game.
FOV change made it so guns seem more stable than they are, for instance Commando went from hot garbage to actually a reliable long range weapon.

The change that really mattered for me was dropping the acceleration. PLEASE LET ME PUT THAT TO 0!!
I really don’t like the randomness it introduces in the aim. It’s impossible to be consistent with it. (I’ve tried maxing it, and it makes the aim feel like absolute garbage for me)

I highly doubt new people will try out changing ALL those things. All they’ll feel is janky -Yoink- aim that is the default and wonder why anyone would actually play this, and go play something else where it doesn’t fee like you’re fighting your controls more than any enemy. In Halo 1-4 all I ever needed to change for the aim to feel comfortable was sensitivity, and then the aim felt smooth as butter without being janky. Halo 5 and Infinite defaults are both absolute GARBAGE. Halo 5 and Infinite, even after tuning still feels like I’m fighting my controls more than my enemies.

Literally just copy-paste the controller aim-mechanics from halo 3 or 4 in MCC, and all of this is a non-issue.

P.S. I play on Xbox Series X.
Also, no lack of Aim-assist is NOT the real issue with the controller aim. Don’t make that the strawman. I did WAY better after getting it tuned, but the aim-mechanic is still janky.

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> 2535446745236801;7:
> Literally just copy-paste the controller aim-mechanics from halo 3 or 4 in MCC, and all of this is a non-issue.

I appreciate your opinion and I completely agree. But I don’t think they can simply “copy-paste” the code from previous titles into a new game-engine. I assume they have to make the camera move smoothly in conjunction with animations and player movement, for example the subtle nuance of the head moving as the spartan walks/runs.

This is why we have to be very speciffic about how and why the current aiming functions are bad. To first of all make sure they know this isn’t ok, and secondly to help in any way we can, to fix this before launch (And yes, I think that’s possible).

I low-key suspect part of the problem to be related to 343’s new anti-cheat software running in the background and creating a “bottleneck” for the aiming input (But I have no idea what I’m talking about).

From a news update on waypoint:

> Michael VanKuipers: (…) Our anti-cheat philosophy is to make cheating more difficult in ways that don’t involve kernel drivers or background services. We’ve done a lot of work securing the Slipspace engine and developing novel ways to protect and change the game to slow down cheat development. When people do cheat, we’re focused on catching them through their behavior and not from data that we’ve harvested from their machines. Combating cheaters is an ever-evolving arms race, but we’re making the tech investments needed today to continue the fight for years to come.