Sea of Thieves supports both Controller and Keyboard and Mouse Inputs as standard and is configured by default to allow you to jump in and begin playing straight away.
For those looking for more configuration options however, we offer a range of in-game options to allow players to configure their preferred control scheme.
Controller ‘Dead Zone’
This setting allows you to change the size of the dead zone on your controller look stick. When you push your look stick with your thumb it will not change your in-game look angle until it has left this 'Dead Zone'.
- Navigate to Back - Settings - Gameplay
- Set Gamepad Look Deadzone to configure the dead zone
The smaller the dead zone the quicker the look stick will respond. If you have a small dead zone you only have to move the look stick with your thumb a tiny amount before you begin to change your look angle in-game! Some players will like this as it allows the look stick to feel more responsive!
The larger the dead zone the slower the look stick will respond. If you have a large dead zone you will notice you have to push the look stick further before you actually begin to look in-game.
Please note; with a small dead zone setting; it possible you may get what's called 'Drift' this means even when not touching the look stick your in-game look angle moves by itself!! This is why video games have a dead zone, to eliminate this from happening! If this does happen increase the dead zone slider until this stops happening.
Controller ‘Response Curve’
This setting allows you to change how your input on the look stick is mapped.
- Navigate to Back - Settings - Gameplay
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Set Gamepad Response Curve to configure the strength of the effect
Linear Mapping
A gamepad response curve of 1 is a linear mapping. A linear mapping (Setting of 1) means your aiming sensitivity will get equally faster the more you push the look stick and is how Sea of Thieves was initially configured. If you want your look stick to act how it has always acted in Sea of Thieves set this value to 1.
With this linear mapping some players find it hard to make small micro aiming adjustments, as having the dexterity to push the look stick a tiny amount while under pressure can be quite difficult to do! These micro-adjustments often manifest when trying to aim at small targets. For example say there is an enemy player you're trying to shoot at in the distance; they are quite small on-screen and you're trying to make small adjustments with your look stick to aim and shoot at them. With a linear mapping the target can be especially tricky to aim at as making micro-adjustments on the right stick is difficult; this often results in constantly overcooking you're aiming to the left or right of their target when trying to make these fine adjustments.
Non-Linear Mapping
A gamepad response curve above 1 is a non-linear mapping. The higher the setting the more extreme this non-linear mapping becomes.
So if I was to increase the game response curve to 2 it is now a non-linear mapping. This will result in your aiming sensitivity around the center of the look stick to be slower and aiming around the edges of the look stick to be faster. This means when trying to make micro-adjustments on the look stick it is not as sensitive; which in turn can make it easier for some players to aim at small targets in the distance as they don't have to have as much dexterity over the amount they move the look stick.
So in the example of an enemy player who is in the far distance and therefore is small on screen; some players will find it easier to aim at that enemy as they can push the look stick a small amount and the sensitivity remains low. You can feel this on the controller if you push the look stick a small amount you will feel it is very slow at aiming. As you continue to push the look stick further toward you will feel the sensitivity begin to accelerate faster until you hit 'full stick' where the stick hits the plastic and you get your full aiming sensitivity.
Do not use the Gamepad Response Curve to counter Drift on your controller. Set your dead zone first to a setting where you have no drift on your look stick and then set your Gamepad Response Curve.
