Input Device

The most common input devices used in Fullspeed are keyboard and gamepad/controller. What you use typically does not matter. There are top players that use both keyboard and gamepad, who are all very consistent and can drive very fast times.

When chosing an input device for fullspeed, you should go with the one you feel the most comfortable with.

While the differences between keyboard and gamepad are neglectible in practice, there are a few differences that are worth knowing about.

Differences between keyboard and gamepad/controller in Fullspeed

Obviously, the most noticable difference is the fact that gamepad gives you control over the entire steering movement while keyboard is either fullsteering or no steering.

This means, for example when speed drifting, you can hold the desired overlap the entire way at the exact point with gamepad. While on keyboard, you wil have to find a certain tapping rythm that gives an approximate of the desired overlap.

This may sound like gamepad is much better for speed drifting. But in practice, it turns out that keyboard is more consistent. The reason for this is that it is much easier to find a tapping rythm and keep it. When tapping you are also more consistently going out and in of the perfect overlap. On gamepad, it is practically impossible to keep the perfect overlap the entire way, it’s usually almost perfect, very rarely perfect.

So on keyboard you are going between almost perfect and perfect in a consistent rythm, while on gamepad you are almost perfect the entire way. You can then imagine that it is generally easier to be consistent with speed drifting on keyboard. However, just because you use a gamepad doesn’t mean you need to hold the SD. This inconsistency with gamepad can also be solved by doing a tapping rythm with the stick, essentially creating the same effect as on keyboard.

Another difference between the analog and binary input is that the more you steer, the more forward momentum you lose. This is more prominent in the start of maps or in lower speeds. Therefore, smooth steering around turns actually gives you a tiny bit more acceleration. You can also get around this issue by using action keys on keyboard.

Because you have more control over the steering on gamepad, it is also generally easier to drive precise parts on the maps. You can also be very precise on keyboard, but this requires more practice in general. However, it is typically easier to control the car on keyboard as the input is much more instant.