ARMA Reforger DualSense Implementation

Click. In most shooters, especially realistic first-person ones, that is all the feedback you get from pulling the trigger.

The mouse may be the most convenient way to aim, but it is extremely underwhelming compared to booms and bangs going off on screen.

The tactical shooter gurus at Bohemia Interactive took offense to that, and they used the incredibly underexplored DualSense controller on the PlayStation 5 to fix that.

Despite the controller’s capabilities, very few studios have put in the effort required to integrate the DualSense into their games. The most notable franchise to do so is Astro Bot, which is a Sony title.

As part of a developer blog on new controls, the ARMA Reforger team detailed how it leveraged the capabilities of the Sony DualSense to give the most realistic shooting feedback seen in recent years, if not ever.

Triggers Never Felt So Good

The adaptive triggers adjust their tension based on different vehicles and weapons.

If your weapon is empty (either after firing or before chambering a round), the trigger will be loose with no tension.

Once you engage the safety on your weapon, the trigger uses the maximum resistance to replicate it being locked from moving. You can still overcome that on the controller, but it takes considerable force.

There are two notable exceptions here that show the level of detail Bohemia aimed for.

The GP-25 under-barrel grenade launcher for Kalashnikov assault rifles has a double-action trigger that stays tensioned even when the tube is empty.

If you engage the safety on the Czechoslovak vz. 58 assault rifle, it physically disconnects the trigger from the firing mechanism, resulting in a loose trigger.

After chambering a round, the trigger behavior follows a four-step cycle: wall, creep, break, and slap.

The wall is the base tension of the trigger. Creep is the force required to make a stronger pull. As the weapon fires, you reach the break, with the trigger loose and fully depressed. After each shot, the trigger slaps back slightly.

If you are not using a fully automatic weapon, you need to reset the trigger before firing again. This means releasing it until you pass the wall again.

Poetry In Motion

The DualSense offers more than just triggers, and ARMA Reforger capitalized on that. A game with plenty of explosions and vehicles is perfect for exploiting the capabilities of the controller.

If you take cover by a wall and the enemy is a rude meanie that is showering it with bullets, you will feel that. An explosion shockwave? You will feel that. Riding on a tracked vehicle? Yup, that too.

ARMA Reforger also tries to make use of the motion sensors for aiming, though this is optional.

Some players report that you can get pretty good at it with some practice, but it will be hard to convince those who have years of analog stick experience to make the change.

Another way to use the motion sensor is for the free-look function, which allows you to look around without needing to hold down a specific button.

It is disappointing that a tactical shooter and a platformer are two of the only games that explore the capabilities of the DualSense controller to the fullest, but there is hope that this will inspire other developers to follow suit.