First impression: Terrible console port

[Amander]

Rockstar can create games which are controlled decently by the typical PC rig. They however absolutely failed on doing so for Bully, the game controls are absolutely awfully terrible with the mouse. Still, the game looks promising, I just have to digg my gamepad out.

[Tigerboy_]

I am hoping for a new patch to fix quit a few things. With bully being recently one of the daily dails on steams christmas sale, I'm hoping it will encourage Rockstar to bring out another patch to fix the Shadow flickering as well as the outside areas looking grayish. Keep your fingers crossed. Far as I know the game was created by Rockstar Vancouver, then ported to the Xbox 360 and PC by Rockstar New England(I hear the Xbox verison has some of the same problems).

[JamieKirby1981]

i agree, terrible controls, after spending about 30mins trying to pick a lock with the mouse, i quit the game and deleted the game from my steam folder.

NOTE TO DEVELOPER: Release the game with a working control system with mouse and keyboard.

[Yeowj]

The controls are awful, but for the price of a xbox 360 controller, you are missing out on a lot of fun.

[Quatrix]

Porting from console to PC doesn't mean making keyboard/mouse control perfect. Many types of games play best with a gamepad. I don't understand why some PC-only gamers are too stubborn to try it.

[spyrochaete]

I finished the game on a modest computer with nothing but keyboard and mouse. Once I got used to the controls (which only took an hour) I had a wonderful time with this game.

Give it a chance and be a little patient. It's a very unique setting and a truly fun game. However, if your computer is poor the performance may be unacceptable. In that case, give the game another try the next time you upgrade your PC.

[Amander]

Porting from console to PC doesn't mean making keyboard/mouse control perfect. Many types of games play best with a gamepad. I don't understand why some PC-only gamers are too stubborn to try it.As soon as there's pointing in the game, a well-done mouse control scheme is way effing better than anything with the gamepad. And Bully contains alot of pointing sequences.

[Sho Minamimoto]

i agree, terrible controls, after spending about 30mins trying to pick a lock with the mouse, i quit the game and deleted the game from my steam folder.

NOTE TO DEVELOPER: Release the game with a working control system with mouse and keyboard.

You have to go up, then left or right. Although confusing, too easy once you learn that.

[Matthew94]

I just used my Xbox 360 controller, the game plays like a dream and is better than the console versions in every way. No more loading times when walking through a door :).

[davez0r1]

I just used my Xbox 360 controller, the game plays like a dream and is better than the console versions in every way. No more loading times when walking through a door :).

this. i also sustain that just because the ontrol scheme isnt set up perfectly doesnt mean its "terrible console port"

that honor is better left for games that are not at all optimized and have buttloads of problems left over from the porting.

[davez0r1]

Porting from console to PC doesn't mean making keyboard/mouse control perfect. Many types of games play best with a gamepad. I don't understand why some PC-only gamers are too stubborn to try it.

truth ++

I cant really remember a time ever since I started gaming on the PC that I didn't own a gamepad or joystick of some kind, and they are pretty cheap these days... used to be a standard back in the day - you wanted more precise control and comfort, you whipped out the pad or the stick. I think shooters and world of warcraft are largely to blame for this somehow... :P

[Nillansan]

I thought the controls were fine, I really didn't have any issues finishing the game with the keyboard + mouse setup. I have since bought some Windows compatible Xbox 360 controllers, I might give the game another spin with controllers, I absolutely love the game, I can't wait for the sequel.

[freibooter]

I thought the controls were fine, I really didn't have any issues finishing the game with the keyboard + mouse setup. I have since bought some Windows compatible Xbox 360 controllers, I might give the game another spin with controllers, I absolutely love the game, I can't wait for the sequel.
How about those minigames that made you "push" "mousewheel up" and "mousewheel down" simultaneously? :rolleyes:

It controls well enough with an Xbox 360 controller but the rest of the port is plain horrible. Crazy memory leaks, frequent crashes, graphic glitches and terrible performance despite very dated visuals etc.

Rule of thumb: do not buy anything created or ported or touched by "Rockstar New England (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockstar_New_England)" formerly known as "Mad Doc Software" and responsible for gems like this:

Empire Earth III (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Earth_III) (directly before they started porting Bully)
"The developer's questionable sense of taste and humor is also on display in the visuals and sound... Empire Earth III has been dumbed down to the point of irrelevance." / "bugs, muddled combat, or weak AI aren't things that strategy fans have to live with."

[NiteHyeway]

The game was a lot of fun and played just fine with keyboard/mouse.

[DeadlyFred]

Porting from console to PC doesn't mean making keyboard/mouse control perfect. Many types of games play best with a gamepad. I don't understand why some PC-only gamers are too stubborn to try it.

Because games like Bully can be done just fine with mouse+keyboard when the developer isn't a slack ♥♥♥ in designing the control scheme, that's why.

[spyrochaete]

Because games like Bully can be done just fine with mouse+keyboard when the developer isn't a slack ♥♥♥ in designing the control scheme, that's why.

Absolutely true. Thankfully, Rockstar is an exceptional developer so the keyboard and mouse controls work perfectly.

[ArecBalrin]

Absolutely true. Thankfully, Rockstar is an exceptional developer so the keyboard and mouse controls work perfectly.

I especially like the mini-game where you are tasked with scrolling the mouse-wheel up and down...simultaneously.

I call troll.

[iSeal]

Porting from console to PC doesn't mean making keyboard/mouse control perfect. Many types of games play best with a gamepad. I don't understand why some PC-only gamers are too stubborn to try it.

Because similar games (every single PC third person shooter out there) have managed to not screw up controls this bad. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be better than the absolute ♥♥♥♥ that this is.

[Masterclown]

Because games like Bully can be done just fine with mouse+keyboard when the developer isn't a slack ♥♥♥ in designing the control scheme, that's why.


I've set up my K/M controls as best I can, and while it's still rather obtuse to control, the game is a blast.

[Donners]

I had to laugh at the lockpicking control. A mouse is not really designed for that sort of thing (not a wired mouse, anyway!).

Not nearly as annoying as the sound, though. All those comments as you walk drive me insane.

[Masterclown]

I had to laugh at the lockpicking control. A mouse is not really designed for that sort of thing (not a wired mouse, anyway!).

For me, this is the second game in a row that required rotating the mouse to activate an object - I just finished Amnesia and then got into Bully. Pure coincidence, but picking the lock ended up not being so odd to me because of it.

I'd bet that we'll more actions like this in future titles thanks to devs trying to keep things consistent between consoles and PCs.

[KiDroboto]

I agree in feeling that the control scheme for keyboard and mouse leaves a lot to be desired. It fights you a bit if you are used to being able to customize your controls and thus can make the game very frustrating if you stick to keyboard and mouse. I figured I'd try a 360 controller and found it works beautifully, plays like a completely different game. Found the same to be true for Fable and Gears of War for the PC, they just don't play very hot in terms of keyboard and mouse but on the controller it plays wonderfully.

If you are completely opposed to using a controller on a PC then you'll have to read up carefully on control schemes before you pick up a game. But as someone previously brought up many older PC titles utilized controllers so blaming controller optimization on consoles is pretty inaccurate (coming from someone who grew up on DOS and older Windows games). Granted I prefer mouse and keyboard when I can get it and I don't entirely agree that I used joysticks and game pads for precision though, just for games in which they worked better for the gameplay.

[jdenm8]

Not a bad port IMO (I have played much worse (*cough* *Saints Row 2* *cough*) I'm playing KB/M with the default controls) except for the mission 'Game Day' where I've had the game go black with only the Health Bar and Trouble Meter visible multiple times while throwing the rigged footballs back at the Jocks.
I then have to kill the process to get back to Windows and reboot the game. Very annoying.

Playing with the controls was one thing I learnt not to do, even though having the sprint button directly underneath the movement buttons wasn't a good idea.

Biology plays excellently with the Mouse and Keyboard, a well optimised minigame there, while I found Music with its both-alts-at-once garbage (which my keyboard can't send) frustrating. Circling the mouse isn't perfect either. I got what I had to do the first time I did it, but finding the correct speed and radius of circle to draw is tedious, especially if you play over a wide range of surfaces (many a shop class was failed because of this, I think the radius of the circle you have to draw is different). I've yet to come across this both scrollwheel directions simultaneously minigame yet though...
As a whole, the new minigames are mostly good (Geography with its picky sensitivity is an exception) while half the ones carried over from the PS2 version were somewhat lacking in the control department (English, Chemistry, Shop and Photography) with either sluggish or plain bad (English and Shop must be singled out here) controls.

Oh, and a comment on the XB controller discussion, I'm not forking out AU$65.00 for a controller to use with an AU$14.00 game.

Also, I must mention that I have completed Canis Canem Edit (The AU PS2 version) previously. Load screens were a welcome omission from this port.

[KaptainKoala]

Horrible controls ruined this game for me.

EDIT: ie: English class is impossible to finish. The mouse sometimes just sticks to the "Alt Enter" button, while the clock is ticking away happily. What the??

[PereKermann]

I especially like the mini-game where you are tasked with scrolling the mouse-wheel up and down...simultaneously.

I call troll.

Then change your control settings... It's not that hard. I never encountered that particular problem. I don't think I had to use the mouse wheel for any mini-games. Maybe using it as the middle button, but never the wheel as a wheel.

I had some minor problems with the controls in the beginning (lockpicking was the one I practised on) but once I got the hang of it, everything just fell into place.

It's a really fun game, though not without it's little troubles. Graphics, mostly.

[Pugnax]

I picked up the game during the sale, and played it for about half an hour the other day. It looks to be really fun, but I've stopped playing and don't plan to start again until I can get a decent controller to use with my laptop.

I've played a few PC games recently that felt like they were designed more for a controller than keyboard and mouse (The Witcher 2, Alpha Protocol, etc), but this is the first time I've played a PC game that I judged unplayable with keyboard and mouse. Sure, I could change the weird-as-hell default keymappings, but the feel of the camera controls and the movement with the mouse and directional keys is just awful, so why bother?

The funny thing is that I have an Xbox, Xbox 360, and Wii, and I could have easily picked this game up for any of those. It was nice to save a few dollars with the Steam sale, but now I've got to buy a damn controller to enjoy the game... guess I should have checked the forums before making a whim purchase. :/

[spyrochaete]

I've stopped playing and don't plan to start again until I can get a decent controller to use with my laptop.

Well first, give it another 30 minutes and see if you can't wrap your head around the controls. They are a little different than other similar games but once you're familiar with them it'll be a non-issue.

Second, if you do decide to buy a controller it's not like this is the only game that will support it. Laptop keyboards tend to be awful so a controller might be a good investment if this is your only gaming machine.

Many people including myself have completed the game just fine with mouse and keyboard, though. I've never played Bully with a controller and I have no compulsion to do so.