In order to build a standard config its important to know what each knob does. I will explain how each knob works and at the bottom of the page I will explain how to build a configuration.
Deadzone
A deadzone is an area of around the analog stick where movement does not occur. Since analog sticks wear down over time this is necessary in console games. PC shooters do not have deadzones because the peripheral used is not an analog stick, it’s a mouse. Any movement is picked up by the mouse and translated to ingame movement. Xim2 allows you to adjust the deadzone settings to their appropriate values. Each game has its own unique deadzone size and shape. When building a standard config it’s important to find out this information.
Currently the best method of determining a games deadzone size and shape is through a xim2 application named xim deadzoner. A xim2 is required to run this app. I won’t go over how this works, but you can request your games deadzone size and shape on the forum and then build your config from there.
Once you have discovered the deadzone shape input the value and you can move on to tweaking the deadzone size. You may not want to use the games exact deadzone size, you may want to user a lower or higher value of what is reported for optimal results. This due to user preference, I’ll give you an example below.
Call of Duty uses a deadzones of around 6,700. This is where movement occurs when the stick is moved, and more importantly when you first move your mouse one pixel. If you were to lower this value to around 2,700 then movement would not translate as fast, it might skip the first pixel or so and then continue movement. Setting the deadzone to around 10,700 will make movement accelerate when you first move your mouse. It will seem as if your crosshair has jumped ahead.
These examples are extreme, but gradually adjusting the deadzone from the exact deadzone value could possibly yield better results depending on your preference. The deadzone size and shape is the first value that should be determined when building a standard config.
Translation Exponent
Translation Exponent (TE) is the level of acceleration. Acceleration in a console game is where movement speed increases when a certain velocity is reached and maintained. In layman’s terms it means the longer you move your mouse the faster the look speed will be. This is a great tool for console games, but when using a mouse the majority of gamers dislike acceleration. XIM2 allows you to tweak TE to its optimal level, whether that means it’s nonexistent, partly there, or using a great amount of acceleration. It’s all dependent on user preference.
When TE is set to 1 you are using the games standard acceleration settings. When acceleration increases from 1.0 to 1.1 you are adding acceleration to the game. Most xim users use TE values below 1.0 when building standard configs. The value used varies by the game, because as you know each game uses a different look mechanic. There is no tool to determine the correct acceleration value for a game. There are a number of ways to determine the correct value and one way is to start at 1.0 and gradually go down. You can try values like .10, .20, .30, .40, ect ect. You should never need to use acceleration values beyond .80, in fact most games use acceleration values between .70 and .25. That seems to be the “sweet spot” in console games. To recap, understanding how acceleration works and using trial and error will assist you in finding the correct value for acceleration.
YXRatio
YX Ratio is the ratio between the Y and X axis of your ingame movement. Some console games have faster look speeds when looking left and right (x) versus looking up and down (y). XIM2 allows you to adjust the games YX Ratio. Using a value of 1.0 will give you the games default ratio. Increasing this value will increase the speed of the Y axis and slow down the speed of the X axis. Most games use a ratio between 1.0 and 2.25. Finding the correct value is just a matter of moving your mouse up and down and left and right until the speed is matched on each axis.
Smoothness
Smoothness is not unique to console games. Smoothness does exactly what it sounds like to does, it smoothes your mouse movements. There are very few games that when you find the correct deadzone and acceleration levels you may still have slightly jittery movements. Slight zigzagging of your crosshair is another example of how smoothness can help. Smoothness starts at zero and you gradually increase it until your movements are smoothed out. However you should know that excessive smoothness may cause your config to feel “floaty” and unresponsive as it was before. It’s important to find a good balance when using smoothness. I must reiterate, not all games need smoothness, if you have dialed in your other settings and it still feels slightly “choppy”, “jittery”, or even “zigzagging” this is when you adjust smoothness.
Diagonal Dampen
When console games use deadzone shapes other than a circle such as a square or an oval this is when you will likely adjust diagonal dampen (DD). When the deadzone is a square this may cause diagonal movements to become faster because the diagonal deadzone is further away from zero. DD is a great tool to even out the diagonal movement speed. Using a positive value such as .20 will slow down diagonal movement. To give you another way to look at it, it brings the edges of the square deadzone in more to the zero point so the deadzone shape starts behaving more like a circle. You should never have to use extreme values with dd, using values such as .01 through .35 usually do the trick.
If diagonal movements accelerate too much you can use negative dd values to adjust the diagonal movement speed to your preference.
Sensitivity
It’s important to know that you should always use the max allowed in game sensitivity through your games menu options. This is very important. The XIM2 sensitivity knob allows you to adjust your movement speed. This is pretty straightforward and the value will vary between users. Once you have set up the rest of your config this is when you dial in your sensitivity settings. This may take you some time to find the values you like and then adjust to them.
Building your config
Now that you know what each knob does and the best way to tweak them lets discuss the order in which you will build your config.
First you should input the games exact deadzone size and shape
Next I would recommend that you set acceleration to .5
Now we need to find the correct YX Ratio, move your mouse up and down and left and right. Adjust the YX Ratio as needed. If the Y axis equals the speed of the X axis you can move on.
Coming back to deadzone. While making small movements you need to determine if the deadzone is responding too slow or too fast. If movement is occurring too slowly then increase the deadzone size. If movement seems to be occurring quickly and accelerates shortly after moving your mouse then you need to decrease the deadzone size. Do not worry about sweeping movements at this time, focus on small movements such as 1-15% degree of movement.
Coming back to Translation Exponent. As you have read this is subjective. If at its current value of .50 it feels too fast you can add negative acceleration and make it .55 or .60. If it feels too slow you can add positive acceleration by changing it to .40 or .30. Remember the closer the value is to 1.0 the more acceleration, the closer the value is to .99 the less acceleration there will be.
By now you have the correct deadzone size, shape, acceleration level, and yx ratio. You’re almost done! Are your small movements still a little “jerky”, “choppy”, or “jittery”? Add a touch of smoothness. Start with positive .05 and work your way up in small increments until it feels good to you. Remember, using too much smoothness can make your config feel “floaty” and unresponsive. Less is more!
To determine if your config needs diagonal dampen make a few diagonal movements. Are these movements faster or slower than your X or Y axis? If they are faster, then add positive dd such as .05, .10, .25. If they are slower then add negative acceleration such as -.05, -.10, -.25.
Adjust your primary and secondary sensitivity values as needed.
Thats it. You’ve built your config and you should have a better understanding of how the xim2 knobs work. It’s common for xim users to go back in and tweak various settings to further dial in their config, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t get it to feel right the first time. Remember XIM2 will provide a pc like experience, not all games can feel exactly like pc. This is due to the game developer’s choice of framerate, deadzone size, shape, and acceleration levels. We do what we can with what they gave us, when you have decided on a config it’s time to bunker down and adapt to the games unique feel.
