Novint Falcon Experience Thread
- Thread starter Wintermute{A|R}
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 6,861
cool guys. Wally Higgins, Battlefield 2 comes out with Falcon support next TuesdayOne of the best things about BF2 wrt to realism is all the vehicle control with the Falcon. thx, tomnovint
I can't wait to fly an airplane and helicopter with it
I only tried out a friend's
My opinion: It is very different than a mouse obviously. But it is an incredible device. The ergonomic design makes long gaming sessions easier on my hand, and it helps me focus. I found the ability to control movement a lil better, and I sniped better, along with overall better aim. The easy setup made it easier for me to move it (Im left handed). The legit trigger feel made squeezing off rounds more smooth and natural, so i preserved ammo. Not falling off the mousepad was incredible. That way I didn't have to waste time picking up the mouse. The fluidness (is that a word?) of being able to turn made quick kills as a spy easier too, because if I missed my first stab attempt when they turned around I could pick them off. The only thing I had to get used to was the difference between mouse and falcon, and it took hardly any time.
In conclusion, once I have the money I will definitely pick one up. Tom, you've got a great idea, and I just feel lucky to try it out. It really does make gaming a totally different exerpience-and such a better one!
My opinion: It is very different than a mouse obviously. But it is an incredible device. The ergonomic design makes long gaming sessions easier on my hand, and it helps me focus. I found the ability to control movement a lil better, and I sniped better, along with overall better aim. The easy setup made it easier for me to move it (Im left handed). The legit trigger feel made squeezing off rounds more smooth and natural, so i preserved ammo. Not falling off the mousepad was incredible. That way I didn't have to waste time picking up the mouse. The fluidness (is that a word?) of being able to turn made quick kills as a spy easier too, because if I missed my first stab attempt when they turned around I could pick them off. The only thing I had to get used to was the difference between mouse and falcon, and it took hardly any time.
In conclusion, once I have the money I will definitely pick one up. Tom, you've got a great idea, and I just feel lucky to try it out. It really does make gaming a totally different exerpience-and such a better one!
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2009
- Messages
- 131
this whole entire thing is kind of confusing. i cant wrap my mind around it lol. so is it like a mouse or what? could some one please explain to me what it is? i checked your guys website but im still confused.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 6,201
Mr. Novint,
I have not yet gotten my falcon, but will soon.
Today I emailed customer service concerning my falcon purchase. I had not recieved shipping information and was asking for information on the shipment.
I received an email back maybe 5 minutes later, and not from an automated system. I was very impressed, and got the information I needed nearly immediately.
I cant wait to test out my falcon once I receive it. Keep up the good work!
-Blue Stealth
I have not yet gotten my falcon, but will soon.
Today I emailed customer service concerning my falcon purchase. I had not recieved shipping information and was asking for information on the shipment.
I received an email back maybe 5 minutes later, and not from an automated system. I was very impressed, and got the information I needed nearly immediately.
I cant wait to test out my falcon once I receive it. Keep up the good work!
-Blue Stealth
Hey Deja, you can skin your Falcon, which might be a good solution. I know of some other people who have airbrushed theirs too.
http://www.skinit.com/devices/novint_gaming_device
thx, tomnovint
http://www.skinit.com/devices/novint_gaming_device
thx, tomnovint
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
- Messages
- 5
The Falcon skins on Skinit are surprisingly accurate. On the Novint boards some one posted images of their Skinit falcon skin. It's a bit pricey but the material is good and forgiving, so that is a great route to go. You are able to upload your own images and designs, or use their tools to create your skins. Its very nifty.
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2009
- Messages
- 41
I purchased two falcons using the eGO 50% off deal. I liked that it came with the orange box.
For the first 2 hours I was amazed at the games that came with the falcon. I looked through them and gave them a try. The texture touch concept was awesome...all in all I felt this was a new generation of gaming technology.
Then the hype wore off as this being a tool for the competative gamer.
I gave this thing a fair 30 hours of game play in DoD:source. I tried a varied amount of weapons and settings. From zero recoil and force feedback to having the standard settings. High sensativity, low sensativity.
The immersion was great. I fired a rocket from the bazooka, and felt the weapon reload through the falcon...watched the heavy bazooka go down, the shell being "thumped" into place, and the weapon HOISTED back to my shoulder. Ya, that was awesome. The recoil on the machine gun was so much that I couldn't even hit a target with it. I was truly "spraying" the area.
What I quickly realalized around hour 10 was this articles reminder to me.
http://robertsinclaire.com/2009/04/11/fps-console-vs-pc/
I referrence the mouse vs. console controller. While the falcon is much much more then that, the basic premise of joystick rotation and programs built for the mouse but adapted to the falcon make the tool something that is a less then optimal tool for competative FPS.
That being said...I will keep the falcon, and because I now own one I will purchase Left 4 Dead, and try it with that on the single player mode. I feel I am still less then mouse proficient with the falcon, but better then noob.
To be noted is the fact that I despise single player games...I do not enjoy killing computer code over and over again. The falcon however is more of an experience and hopefully will add to any story I feel from here on out.
In the next 3 or 4 months I may sell it used on craigslist, but I like the concept and applaud you for the creation of this item. The single player market is wide and varied, and much larger then the few truly competative nerds like me.
How could this item be better for me? Collision detection would be great. I would like the option to set in a feedback bump when I run into a wall (like through a smoke screen) or other immovable object that stops my forward momentum.
A toggle to turn off the falcon and swtich between mouse and falcon. As it currently stands I cannot "unplug" the falcon while that game is running...I have to exit and re-enter. I may not know the trick to do it, as I am sure it is there, but making it easier to find/access would help from a new user perspective.
For the first 2 hours I was amazed at the games that came with the falcon. I looked through them and gave them a try. The texture touch concept was awesome...all in all I felt this was a new generation of gaming technology.
Then the hype wore off as this being a tool for the competative gamer.
I gave this thing a fair 30 hours of game play in DoD:source. I tried a varied amount of weapons and settings. From zero recoil and force feedback to having the standard settings. High sensativity, low sensativity.
The immersion was great. I fired a rocket from the bazooka, and felt the weapon reload through the falcon...watched the heavy bazooka go down, the shell being "thumped" into place, and the weapon HOISTED back to my shoulder. Ya, that was awesome. The recoil on the machine gun was so much that I couldn't even hit a target with it. I was truly "spraying" the area.
What I quickly realalized around hour 10 was this articles reminder to me.
http://robertsinclaire.com/2009/04/11/fps-console-vs-pc/
I referrence the mouse vs. console controller. While the falcon is much much more then that, the basic premise of joystick rotation and programs built for the mouse but adapted to the falcon make the tool something that is a less then optimal tool for competative FPS.
That being said...I will keep the falcon, and because I now own one I will purchase Left 4 Dead, and try it with that on the single player mode. I feel I am still less then mouse proficient with the falcon, but better then noob.
To be noted is the fact that I despise single player games...I do not enjoy killing computer code over and over again. The falcon however is more of an experience and hopefully will add to any story I feel from here on out.
In the next 3 or 4 months I may sell it used on craigslist, but I like the concept and applaud you for the creation of this item. The single player market is wide and varied, and much larger then the few truly competative nerds like me.
How could this item be better for me? Collision detection would be great. I would like the option to set in a feedback bump when I run into a wall (like through a smoke screen) or other immovable object that stops my forward momentum.
A toggle to turn off the falcon and swtich between mouse and falcon. As it currently stands I cannot "unplug" the falcon while that game is running...I have to exit and re-enter. I may not know the trick to do it, as I am sure it is there, but making it easier to find/access would help from a new user perspective.
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2008
- Messages
- 92
What up Tomnovint I went over to my friends house today to try out the Falcon, I used to play real competitive in cal-o and different scrim teams and I found the Falcon to be a very pleasant experience, It was hard to get some kills at first but after about an hour of playing with it I fell in love with it. If I could afford one I would definitely buy one. Let me know if your having any giveaways or contests for Falcon's that would be ballin if I could play with one full time.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 6,201
I recently received my falcon. I must say I am impressed with it. After i impressed my entire dorm with the NVent simulator I tried some of my fps games.
I had a blast with it, in short. It was extremely hard to get used to, and will take much more time. But I could get kills. I found however that in order to get kills and keep my ratio up, I had to sadly disable as much force feedback as possible.
I play DoDS competetively and will say I do not see myself using the falcon for that. The feel just does not fit the gameplay. Perhaps in months to come I will get used to it enough for it to be practical for that type of gameplay. But not now.
But when I tried CSS I had a different experience. Even though I do not currently actively play the game I did three full years prior to my joining of eGO 1 year ago. I usually can get to the top of the team in terms of kills or kd ratio when using a mouse. I found with the falcon the experience was much more comfortable. I still ended up holding over a 1:1 ratio and was on top of the team. And this was the first day!
So all in all I have fun using the falcon in CSS, and not so much in DoDS. This is again probably because I take DoDS so seriously, but I just could not play DoDS with the falcon. But I have a feeling DoDS' situation is special and other games such as BF2 and HL2 will be much more enjoyable.
Other than gameplay experience I have two small complaints/concerns.
The first being the fact that its unrealistic to think that you will be playing any FPS without the pistol grip, yet it is sold seperately. This bothers me because in my mind, FPS is the first type of game I would expect people to try to integrate into their gaming routine with the falcon.
The second concern of mine was regarding the pistol grip itself. The buttons on the side are too easily pressed. If I had a dime for every time I was about to shoot an opponent in the head, just to find I had pulled out a grenade because of the button right below the secondary fire button. This is a design flaw. The button should imo be placed slightly further down or should stick out slightly more, making it harder to accidentally activate.
Also while its on my mind it would not have hurt to weigh the falcon down a bit more.
OH almost forgot! My main problem was that if I wanted to change from falcon to mouse while in game, I had to shut down the game, and often disconnect the falcon. I found that highly time-consuming and annoying. Just a thought. If there IS a way to do this without restarting the game, please tell.
Thanks tom for this wonderful experience. I have heard a lot of people without falcons with the typical, "im not wasting my money on that", etc. But in my mind I think I have made a sound investment. The technology is solid, the falcon itself is durable and of quality, and the support is fantastic.
Thanks again,
Blue Stealth
I had a blast with it, in short. It was extremely hard to get used to, and will take much more time. But I could get kills. I found however that in order to get kills and keep my ratio up, I had to sadly disable as much force feedback as possible.
I play DoDS competetively and will say I do not see myself using the falcon for that. The feel just does not fit the gameplay. Perhaps in months to come I will get used to it enough for it to be practical for that type of gameplay. But not now.
But when I tried CSS I had a different experience. Even though I do not currently actively play the game I did three full years prior to my joining of eGO 1 year ago. I usually can get to the top of the team in terms of kills or kd ratio when using a mouse. I found with the falcon the experience was much more comfortable. I still ended up holding over a 1:1 ratio and was on top of the team. And this was the first day!
So all in all I have fun using the falcon in CSS, and not so much in DoDS. This is again probably because I take DoDS so seriously, but I just could not play DoDS with the falcon. But I have a feeling DoDS' situation is special and other games such as BF2 and HL2 will be much more enjoyable.
Other than gameplay experience I have two small complaints/concerns.
The first being the fact that its unrealistic to think that you will be playing any FPS without the pistol grip, yet it is sold seperately. This bothers me because in my mind, FPS is the first type of game I would expect people to try to integrate into their gaming routine with the falcon.
The second concern of mine was regarding the pistol grip itself. The buttons on the side are too easily pressed. If I had a dime for every time I was about to shoot an opponent in the head, just to find I had pulled out a grenade because of the button right below the secondary fire button. This is a design flaw. The button should imo be placed slightly further down or should stick out slightly more, making it harder to accidentally activate.
Also while its on my mind it would not have hurt to weigh the falcon down a bit more.
OH almost forgot! My main problem was that if I wanted to change from falcon to mouse while in game, I had to shut down the game, and often disconnect the falcon. I found that highly time-consuming and annoying. Just a thought. If there IS a way to do this without restarting the game, please tell.
Thanks tom for this wonderful experience. I have heard a lot of people without falcons with the typical, "im not wasting my money on that", etc. But in my mind I think I have made a sound investment. The technology is solid, the falcon itself is durable and of quality, and the support is fantastic.
Thanks again,
Blue Stealth
Hey Six String Samurai, thanks for taking the time to write this up. I appreciate it.
I have two main comments after reading your post, and they go hand in hand. First you said that you tweaked from high sensitivity to low sensitivity. Second is you compared the Falcon to a joystick controller and joystick rotation.
That being said, I'd like to share a story, that is a highlight of my experiences with the Falcon and with Novint as a whole (truly). I had a person give almost the same review as you did a few months back, and say that he just couldn't become competitive with the Falcon. He said that he actually played 50 hours, and he also mentioned that he often tweaked the controls. It was frustrating for me to read, because here is someone who clearly put in the time to give it a fair shake, seemed that he wanted it to be good, but it just wasn't for him. He finished it with "I think I've come to the conclusion to give up on the Falcon". I spoke with him on the boards (a big part of why I get on the boards, and why I'm writing this now) to try and get an understanding of the problem, and found that he had tweaked the controls to a point that was not a good control scheme, more towards a joystick type of control. I suggested that he start over, with the controls at the defaults. I asked that he give it 10 hours at the default settings, which he did. He ended up writing back a couple weeks later that he now loved the Falcon, and couldn't live without it. It is a highlight of my career at Novint. It was such a good experience for me, because it created such a strong supporter who had nearly given up on the Falcon, and one who was at a central issue to the Falcon. It was a confirmation of all the time I spend on the boards, and it was a very strong insight into the use of the Falcon that I didn't know before I started talking to him. It's fun even writing about it and telling the story.
Six String Samurai, I don't know that you're experience is the same, but if you did change the control settings, I would propose that you also give it another try at the default settings for at least 10 hours. The Falcon isn't really like a joystick (the main reason for my belief that your experience can also be salvaged) - it is more like a mouse overall. The majority of aiming occurs with direct position control. I'm absolutely very much in the mouse is better than the joystick camp (I don't like joystick controllers) which is why we made the Falcon control the way we did. The joystick part of the control, to me, is just for the large movements, and in that case it isn't a disadvantage. The other thing is we don't have as much experience with DOD:s. There might be some differences there as well, but my overall guess is that it is a settings issue.
For your other questions, a number of other games have a better sense of collision detection. When you bump into an invisible spy in TF2, for example, you feel it (which I love - nothing more satisfying than feeling bumping into an invisible spy when you're a pyro - you can just hear muahahaha in your ears when it happens lol)
appreciate the feedback on turning the Falcon off on the fly.
thx, tomnovint
Last edited:
right on gLiDeR.pRo - good to hear from you man. We're having a contest right now to try and win one
EGO TF2 discussion thread
http://www.edgegamers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98346
EGO TF2 entry thread
http://www.edgegamers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=101380
Thanks Blue Stealth, for your review. Appreciate it. Interesting that you also didn't like DOD:S as much. I don't have as much feedback from it in general, so perhaps it needs some tweaking. It likely would also become better for you in time as well. On your FPS comment, I agree - since our shooters came out, we've only sold the Falcon as a bundle with the pistol grip. There are people who use it for games other than shooters, but we're definitely pushing fps experiences right now. Thanks for the feedback on the pistol grip, weight, and ability to switch on the fly, as well. Good points.
thx, tomnovint
EGO TF2 discussion thread
http://www.edgegamers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98346
EGO TF2 entry thread
http://www.edgegamers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=101380
Thanks Blue Stealth, for your review. Appreciate it. Interesting that you also didn't like DOD:S as much. I don't have as much feedback from it in general, so perhaps it needs some tweaking. It likely would also become better for you in time as well. On your FPS comment, I agree - since our shooters came out, we've only sold the Falcon as a bundle with the pistol grip. There are people who use it for games other than shooters, but we're definitely pushing fps experiences right now. Thanks for the feedback on the pistol grip, weight, and ability to switch on the fly, as well. Good points.
thx, tomnovint
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2008
- Messages
- 329
My post may not provide much help for the Novint people with respect to ways they could possibly improve it, but from experience I have playing on the eGO Falcon server, some of the people who are more accustomed to the Falcon have impeccable (and annoying) aim.
Not to name any names, but Wintermute is very good with the scout because he is one of those who is very good at aiming. From playing a little less than 300 hours as spy (don't judge me) I have noticed that when you get really close to a scout and circle them while pelting a few revolver shots into them, their aim begins to suck. Wintermute can probably explain this better than me, but he seems to be able to keep up with my strafing because he doesn't have to pick up his mouse every 90 degrees or so. Because of this, I have to revert to distanced revolver fighting against him, but he's able to aim better than I so I end up dying. Almost makes me want to get your product, but funds are lacking.
Not to name any names, but Wintermute is very good with the scout because he is one of those who is very good at aiming. From playing a little less than 300 hours as spy (don't judge me) I have noticed that when you get really close to a scout and circle them while pelting a few revolver shots into them, their aim begins to suck. Wintermute can probably explain this better than me, but he seems to be able to keep up with my strafing because he doesn't have to pick up his mouse every 90 degrees or so. Because of this, I have to revert to distanced revolver fighting against him, but he's able to aim better than I so I end up dying. Almost makes me want to get your product, but funds are lacking.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2008
- Messages
- 329
Not for me! xD
