Game pad recommendations?

I opened up a thread a few days ago asking what open-world RPG I should try and the overwhelming majority of you guys suggested Gothic and Risen. I went ahead and ordered Gothic universe but Gorath also suggested that since I am coming from consoles and am new to PC games I might want to try mapping the controls to a game pad. Anybody have any recommendations on which one I should order with the game?

Also I know it may be a little early to ask this but how exactly do you map the buttons? I seem to recall playing a game at a friends house where we used a game pad and we had to go into the options and had to press "left" on the D-Pad to make the character turn left in the control screen. Is it anything like that?

Any info would be great. I don't want to buy a game -pad blindly and I figured that you guys, being both Gothic fans for the most part and veteran PC gamers, might be able to help.

Thanks

I generally use my XBox360 controller (bought a wireless adapter for PC for it) as my controller as its a good controller though I've heard you can connect it with usb wire somehow as well but not sure how that would work. The PS3 controller can also be connected to PC via USB cable if you have one of those. I think there are open source drivers out there somewhere for windows.

I use Pinnacle Game Profiler for keyboard mapping for games that do not directly support gamepads or the xbox360 since it doesn't show up as a normal controller for most games. You can demo Pinnacle for I think 30 days before purchasing. I like it the best of what I've used since you can map any keyboard combination to it in a reasonably straightforward way. Not exactly cheap for what it does though and there is probably open source software that does the job if you look hard enough. Back in the day, Gravis controllers used to have similar software free as part of the driver install.

You can't go wrong with one of the Logitech Dual-Action gamepads. They're very comfortable and easy to use, plus fully customizable. There will be instructions on how to map the buttons if you need to.

Or, if you prefer, you can also use your Xbox 360 gamepad with PC games.

Personally, I would never use a gamepad for RPGs like Gothic or Risen. I think you can react much faster using keyboard+mouselook once you get used to it. Do what is the most comfortable for you though.

I like the Logitech. It looks very comfortable.

Personally, although I have done the majority of my gaming on Microsoft consoles for the better part of a decade, I have to admit their controllers are terrible. They feel comfortable and are solid enough but the D-Pad and shoulder buttons are a real pain to use.

figment said:

I generally use my XBox360 controller (bought a wireless adapter for PC for it) as my controller as its a good controller though I've heard you can connect it with usb wire somehow as well but not sure how that would work.

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I think you're thinking of the charging cable, and that does not allow for the transfer of data; it's to charge it only. You'll still need the wireless adapter, and I think the nature of the PC means the wired controller is a better (Not to mention cheaper) purchase.

I'd even argue having two controllers rather than one is a good idea

I was going to recommend a wireless XBox360 controller but if you're really sick of them Logitech's Rumblepad 2 has served me well. I'd pick the 360 controller as it's more durable and most new games support it.

I hate wired controllers.

The Rumblepad 2 is good, but DirectInput only. If you want to play modern games that come with 360 gamepad support, particularly ones that suck at remapping controls or don't allow you to use non-360 gamepads, you should get a XInput capable controller. Logitech's F710 is wireless and supports both DI and XInput. It's $10 more, but I'd say it's worth it for the added versatility.

darkling said:

The Rumblepad 2 is good, but DirectInput only. If you want to play modern games that come with 360 gamepad support, particularly ones that suck at remapping controls or don't allow you to use non-360 gamepads, you should get a XInput capable controller. Logitech's F710 is wireless and supports both DI and XInput. It's $10 more, but I'd say it's worth it for the added versatility.

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It looks like the F310 has the same features minus wireless and rumble support, and it's for half the price. I like the D-Pad of this series too.