Lorax74

Well, it had to happen sooner or later and I just wish it had been later. I was cleaning up a bit and found one of my old USB 2.0 hubs that I had lying around. I took it down to my gaming rig and decided I could use it there and move my game pad out of the front USB jacks and onto the hub. Well, I must have grabbed the wrong power supply or something, for when I plugged my beloved baby in, it lit up like a Chrismas tree and then just went away, poof, never to return. For those of you that don't know what my baby is, it's a Belkin Nostromo n52 speedpad (otherwise known as a geek pad to some):



It happened before I had a chance to play even one round of 2142 last night. So, after drying my tears and gently placing my n52 in the junk drawer (throw it away you say, have you no decency?), I decided to play with the good old fashioned keyboard. After all, I have a Logitech g15, it's made for gaming and I know what keys do what so how hard would it really be to get over my loss?

As it turns out, it's really damn hard and I have no idea which keys do what. I think I had a total of one or two weeks into the game before I bought my n52 and I never looked back. For those of you that do play with a n52 or similar, you know how versatile it is and how you truly come to depend on it. I had been using the n52 exclusively for the last year or more and every keystroke was down to muscle memory. All of my weapons that were once easily reachable by my thumb were now quite a stretch away. I couldn't change weapons to save my life - literally. I found I could not simultaneously crouch and pull out my defibs either. Hell, I couldn't even sprint and pull out a grenade at the same time. I was beside myself. Every time I wanted to issue an order or request a medic, I'd open the squad screen instead. If someone died in front of me, I'd have to peak at my keyboard (which is under the lip of my desk) to try and locate the 6 key before I even attempted a revive. I don't think I was able to do much of anything useful last night.

Well, you know what they say when a dog dies, go get another. I guess I'll take that advice and head over to Best Buy on the way home and hope they have my new baby in stock.

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TG-9th Lorax74

Superfast

Nooooooo! I feel your pain man. I too have the awesome N52 and cannot imagine a game without it.

I feel sorry for your loss, and if it's not available to you at a local store, i'll pick it up here and will gladly send it to you because i know the common love we share for this amazing piece of circuitry.

Stay strong and pray that it's still in stock so you might be online tomorrow yet again with the same skilled killing power!

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Anospa

lol, that bites man

I know a few of the 3rd also use these things, Newegg stocks 'em too I'm pretty sure.

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"Brittle?! Dude you just took a localized tactical warhead to the face." -Eroak

Crux

My eyes tear up at the thought of Fred (that's what I call my n52 speedpad) passing into the great electronics store in the sky. I pray that day never comes!

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birdie_in_Texas

hmm...maybe i would not suck as bad if i got one..might even make me want to come play 2142 again..

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Bagheera

Noooo!!!! My N52 mourns the loss of it's brethren.

rage4order

If they only made a version for the 2 people in the world, me being one of them that mouse left handed. Im right handed but have always gamed with mouse left and use the numpad and arrow keys on the right, I know it weird but thats how I roll.

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|TG-8th|RAGE

peardog

My n50..weeps...

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Have a great day! 2008!!!


TG - SOP -- TeamSpeak Server Information - REQUIRED READING

birdie_in_Texas

DUDE..THAT IS WEIRD!

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Grimmfist

Aha knew there was some secret I did not know. I'm sure it won't help me any but I must look into this gamepad. Oh the deaths I could inflict and the lives I could save with one of these pads!

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DaBrit

So, it seems like these things are highly recommended -- how long does it take to move from keyboard to gamepad-thingy? Is anyone willing to share their customization options? What is so great about it anyway?

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TG-9th - By Any Means

Lorax74

Honestly, it took me about a week to become comfortable with it and really start to notice how much easier it was to do what I wanted to do, and then I was hooked. Then a few weeks passed and I started to explore the more advanced features such as shift states and macros. Now, I have all 8 weapons slots at the tip of my thumb, a macro to spot with, and every other key I need within easy reach between two "shift states" (the normal state and a momentary state).

I'll gladly share my configs with whomever asks for it.

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TG-9th Lorax74

Vortex421

See, it's funny - I have never used one before. I'm almost exclusively a keyboard-mouse person (save joystick for flying), and have been on FPSes for years. I may have to look into getting one of those at some point... we'll see.

Sorry to hear about your loss, though! I have to admit, when I first saw the topic I thought it was something far far worse... so, thank goodness it wasn't!

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spiff913

Brit et al -

There's a long thread about it here -

http://www.tacticalgamer.com/battlef...o-loadout.html

I use one and it is da bomb. Took a week or two to adjust, but now I wouldn't play without it. I would simply get in the car and drive to Best Buy to get a replacement, and maybe a spare while I'm at it...

My loadout is simpler than Lorax's - I don't like to use the shift states on the fly. I do have one "sticky" shift state that inverts the rockets and defib. That way they are the same when I am using the Krylov (and now SCAR). Everything else stays the same. Using the thumb pad to change weapons is worth the price of admission alone.

The only thing I don't like about mine is that the spacebar key is really dead - no feel at all. Whenever I try to jump it's a crapshoot whether I actually will or not.

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ThePromQueen

Dude, you used front USB? I NEVER use front USB. They are always wired improperly and cause shorts (as you have seen) and fires (as I have seen at work, in the room we store about 5000 square feet of paper).

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