Gaming with a Trackball

I'm considering getting a trackball mouse to see how it works with strategy games and such, anyone have experience with them? Are they shit or /comfy/?

Also alternate peripherals thread

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amazon.com/Logitech-Trackman-Wheel-Optical-Silver/dp/B00005NIMJ/
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It works surprisingly well for arena shooters, even better than mouse once you get used to "throwing" the cursor.
There's definitely an unlearning curve though.

Comfy. I used a Trackman Marble, though.

How long about was it to get used to it? Were you using one like in the OP or like pic related?

They're obviously fine for strategy (if you don't mean real time). Anything requiring very fast real time mouse actions isn't really so great. Whereas with a large mouse mat you can move a regular mouse anywhere on the screen with one sweeping movement, trackballs generally require several thumb sweeps to cover larger areas of your screen.

I tended to play a lot of Halo:CE when I was a kid, and during a 6-month period where I was using a trackball mouse my performance dipped a fair bit.

I used to have that exact one
It felt like shit, I ended up just taking the ball out of it out of boredom and throwing it at an old glass pane from an old coffee table we were throwing out.

trackball mouse is great for one purpose
space
otherwise its one advantage the ball has some gay texture that makes the mouse just werk

never could get used to a trackball for gaming
they were invented to solve the problem with mouseballs getting gunked up, but with laser mice that's no longer a problem

It'll take 3 months I suppose, I used a MS thumb trackball, but the logitech ones are much better.
The thumb trackballs are better than the regular ones since you still get the buttons, and it feels more natural.

Any other strange mouse designs that are usable for gaming? I'm looking for a change of feel, also I'm on my bed a lot with a pillowed top that fucks up my mouse inputs at times.

flightsticks are comfy

use a drawing tablet

Track Balls constantly get gunked up as well though. I used to have an old Logitec Trackball on my 386, and about once a week you had to take off the ring that secures the ball and clean off the axis rods. Depending on how clean your workstation is compared to how greasy/sweaty your hands get - you'd probably end up cleaning the trackball more often than you would your mouse.

Pic related is the best Trackball I ever used. Super ergonomical and comfy, plenty of buttons, decent response and accuracy.

Name a single person that won a major tournament in any arena shooter with a trackball.

This. I used to use this trackball for shooters and never had an issue. Plus it came in handy when using photoshop or illustrator.

It's great for missile command

I used one for playing for a number of years and got damn good and did so until it finally died. No dragging a mouse around and getting the flick down perfectly will get faggots thinking you cheat. It's also a lot more comfortable to just do standard computer shit with too.

They do get real boogery, there is that. Also never get a wireless one, especially the logitech variety as they are hot fucking hobo trash and usually last about a week at best.

Anyone here ever use one of those 360/PS3 controllers modded for a trackball? I was always curious about how they preformed, but never had the balls to front the cash without a proper review - and since I don't think any major third party manufacturer ever made their own variant, I just kind of assumed they were shit.

W-What's that?

The steam controller originally had a trackball in its design, and was reported to be almost as good as a mouse.
It got changed to touchscreen controls to make it friendlier to steamOS though.

thumbnail looked like a shiny beldum in the catalog

Stupid.
Fuck off gook.

Worst part is I never had a chance to go back to that room and filch it.

It's exceptional for turn based games and general use, otherwise I keep a mouse plugged in for RTS and shooters.

Dafuq, a Logitech Trackman Marble costs $30 now. Been using one for a few years. Can't go back to a regular mouse, this is too comfy to ever give up.

BEHOLD
amazon.com/Logitech-Trackman-Wheel-Optical-Silver/dp/B00005NIMJ/
I think it was due to patent fuckery or some shit, really makes me angry.

user here who has been using a Logitech M570, i. e. the wireless kind, for several months now.

Can't confirm.

Theoretically I could browse the Internet laying on my bed. But my toaster's screen is too small.


Lower the mouse sensitivity at the beginning and increase it gradually until you feel confident and comfortable with it. That's what I did at least.

This exactly one was my mouse for more than a decade, in fact I never had a normal mouse till 2012.

It wasn't bad for shooters, sometimes I miss not needing to move the hand/arm.

That mouse is shit. I've had two, and each time the bluetooth dongle just stopped fucking working intermittently and became unreliable. I'm having to use a marble like 's pic related. Which is fucking horrible too, but it's wired, so at least it's reliable.