Controller v. wheel and conscious v. subconscious thought

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TouringBubble

TouringBubble

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ProjectTuning
I finally used the wheel on GT6 last night and noticed something strange. When playing with the controller I was very aware of the weight of the cars ... the balance ... how fast I could approach and navigate a corner. I could drive two cars back to back and could easily tell you the differences of each.

With the wheel ... I couldn't. I was able to use the same braking points, the same line, manage oversteer and understeer just fine ... but I couldn't easily tell you the difference between a Miata or a GTR in the way I could with the controller.

I was faster and I had more fun with the wheel. I'm used to driving PC sims with a wheel and I'm very comfortable with it.

But I'm now convinced that driving with a wheel uses a completely different part of the brain than using a controller. The controller allows you to easily utilize logical, conscious thought. The wheel leans more on the subconscious things we use daily when driving a real car.

I help teach teen driver courses with the local SCCA chapter and this is something we discuss in the classroom sessions. When you are driving you don't logically process the steps you take ... "Lightly apply the brake to slow my speed as I approach the intersection from 50 yards. At the acceptable speed, remove pressure from the brake pedal. Activate the turn indicator and guide the vehicle in a gentle arc to properly navigate the turn. Apply throttle to resume the posed speed limit."

This thought process doesn't happen. You just ... do it. As an example we throw a ball to a student who (hopefully) catches it ... or at least blocks it. This is a learned, subconscious reaction developed over a lifetime ... just like driving is.

I would also argue that this is a large part of the reason many people don't like using a wheel to play a video game. It's hard to switch between these two methods to accomplish a task. It's also hard to get in the mindset of applying this subconscious thought outside of the situation where it was first learned. I think there is a requirement to consciously make this connection and work on it a bit before you can completely slip in to the subconscious routine.

Maybe I'm overthinking it ... but it was an eye-opening experience for me.
 
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IMO ... GT6 just have hidden driving assist when using a controller.
I play the game at work with a controller and at home with my G27 wheel. I make better times using my wheel and its not only because at home I'm more calm. I can feel the car, the difference of different cars - especially on the Goodwood missions. With the controller ... these missions seemed all the same to me.
Also drifting. I suck at drifting cause I don't like drifting. That's why I use the DS3 for drifting. Because it's easier and I want to get the money and get over with it.
But that's just me.
 
With Controller I am just thinking too much about what I needed to do to keep the car pointed straight. Especially since the fidelity of the analog input on the stick is so much less precise, I am always having a hard time doing it. With wheels you just do it, no thinking. Your input reacts to the visual cue and the force you are feeling...
 
RacingManiac
With wheels you just do it, no thinking. Your input reacts to the visual cue and the force you are feeling...
Click to expand...

That's my thought as well ... and I think it stems from, at least with me, years of experience driving a real car, and developing those subconscious processes.
 
Definitely, I feel like skills are more or less transferrable. Video game version is a bit trickier since you don't have the seat of pants cue and brake pedals(load cell or otherwise, at least my old G25 loadcell setup) still feels off. One thing I like of GT6 is it does work "better" with the technique you use driving a real car. I keep coming back to this since I DD and autoX a GTI, which is a FF car. And in GT6 the car actually reacts to the way they actually do in real life with brake and throttle input, compare to GT5 where plowing is much more exaggerated.
 
I haven't driver any of the cars I normally race in GT6 yet. In GT5 I thought the MKV GTI was okay. It had the proper lift-off oversteer that the GTI has, but it didn't seem to have an much pitch and roll as the real car. That should be better in 6.
 
I was the same way when I first started using a wheel. I was at least 20 seconds off my usual pace around Nurburgring when I first started using a wheel in 2011. Felt like I was 2 minutes off my pace. You start to perceive a car's balance eventually if you use a wheel long enough.
 
I've used a wheel for years ... and can feel the balance of the car just fine. Just noting that my approach and thought process was completely different with the wheel v. the controller.
 
When I look at the license times of friends with a wheel, I notice that they are way faster than mine with a DS3.

But at the other hand, I really think the missions and races are very easy (I'm at ib now so maybe it will change) so I prefer the DS to make the game harder.
 
I think you may be right in some aspects. I guess this is where the talented and less talented separates. The more talented ones are able to train their "autopilot" to a higher level, allowing them to dedicate more brainpower towards optimizing the line etc.
 
508920
When I look at the license times of friends with a wheel, I notice that they are way faster than mine with a DS3.
Click to expand...

My friend and I played some Goodwood events with the wheel last night and the first pass we completed was like 1.8 sec faster than my DS3 time, which was already gold.
 
TouringBubble
Maybe I'm over-thinking it ... but it was an eye-opening experience for me.
Click to expand...

I can understand that. A controller was an eye-opening experience for me. ;)


And of course . . . a wheel usually comes with pedals. A controller doesn't permit the tap-dancing with feet, just fingers - so yes, there are parts of your brain that remain unused when using a controller, and parts that are unused when using a wheel and pedals.

I'm all thumbs with a controller - but useful in Photomode, no doubt.
 

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