General Operation

Assassin 3D and Panther

These A3D products are two-handed game controllers. They are composed of two main pieces. The first piece is the trackball. The trackball is an integral part of your A3D product. The other piece is the joystick. The joystick plugs into the Assassin 3D. Any analog joystick can be used; including the high-end models with special features.

Assassin 3D and Panther Trackball

The trackball controls all looking around. To spin left and right, just spin the trackball left and right. And, to look up and down, just spin the trackball up and down. Plus, the 3 buttons allow you quick access to game features.

Assassin 3D and Panther Joystick

The joystick controls all movement and much of the game button controls. To move forward and backward, just push the joystick handle forward and backward. To strafe, move the joystick handle side to side. Also, depending on the joystick used, up to 14 joystick buttons are supported. These buttons allow you to activate game features such as firing and changing weapons.

PantherXL

The PantherXL is the next step beyond the Assassin 3D and Panther. It combines the Trackball and joystick into one complete unit and has 17 programmable buttons.

A3D Product Maneuvers

Forward/Backward

Move the joystick handle forward and backward to move forward and backward. The farther you push the joystick handle away from center, the faster you will go.

Strafe Left/Strafe Right

Move the joystick handle left and right to strafe left and right. The farther you push the joystick handle away from center, the faster you will go. This maneuver can be combined with the Forward/Backward maneuver to move at a 45 angle (or any desired angle). Just move the joystick handle in the direction you desire to move.

Turning Left/Turning Right

Roll the trackball left and right to turn left and right. Typically, the 3 middle fingers rest on the ball and turning is performed by moving the fingers side-to-side.

Looking Up/Looking Down

Roll the trackball forward and backward to look up and down. Typically, the 3 middle fingers flex and curl in toward the palm to perform all looking up and down. The wrist can rest on the supplied palm-rest and never needs to move.

Circle-Strafing

This is a critical-to-master advanced maneuver. Circle-strafing allows you to stay aiming at your opponent while you are constantly moving. So, you can pummel your opponent and avoid damage at the same time. Both hands are used simultaneously. To circle-strafe clockwise, push the joystick handle to the left and turn the trackball to the right and stay aiming at your opponent. You can also circle-strafe the opposite direction. Practice both ways or you will become predictable during death-matching.

Circle-strafing is particularly deadly to computer opponents. Their typical programming is to fire where you are, not where you are going. This lets their attack always miss you while you are continually firing upon them. The bosses in Duke Nukem 3D, for instance, can be easily beaten without taking any damage yourself by using a continuous circle-strafe maneuver.

Strafing into a Turn

This is another critical-to-master advanced maneuver. This maneuver lets you see around a corner at the absolute earliest moment while you are moving at full speed. This is valuable as it avoids you getting shot in the temple. The simplistic method to rounding a corner is to go full speed forward and as you reach the turn, just turn with the trackball. This method has two downsides. First, you can't see what is around the corner until well into it and, secondly, you can't fire at whatever is around the corner until well around it.

Instead of running straight ahead, perform a subtle circle-strafe as you head into the turn. This has the effect of turning you towards the turn just before you pass the corner. For a brief period you are staring at the wall and moving sideways. Then, as you strafe a bit farther into the turn, you can now see all the way down the hallway. From your opponent's point of view, you just popped out of nowhere already aiming at them.

Imagine that you are rounding a 90 turn to the right. Perform the following actions to complete a strafing-into-a-turn maneuver:

1. Push the joystick handle straight ahead (full speed forward)
2. As you approach the turn, move the joystick handle at a 45 degree angle to the south-west to full-left strafing.
3. Concurrently, turn the trackball to the right to maintain moving along the same path until you have turned 90. At this point you will be moving full-speed left and staring at a swiftly moving wall.
4. Continue until you burst out and are staring down the hallway. Shoot anything that moves - most likely you have surprised it. [If it is more than you can handle at the moment, just flip the joystick handle to the right and strafe back out of harm.]
5. Then, push the joystick handle straight ahead and continue full speed forward.

Running Flip

Note: This maneuver uses the Turn Around (180) button, this feature is not available with Quake.

This is a fun technique that is highly disturbing to your death-match opponents but takes a bit of practice to smoothly execute. Imagine that you are being chased and you are running at full speed; you're either hurt or faking it. At some point just press the Turn Around button and, simultaneously, swiftly pull the joystick handle all the way backward. This will face you toward your opponent while still moving full speed away from them. Continue moving away and fire at will. This maneuver works best when you know terrain coming up. That way you can continue moving at full speed even though you can't see in the direction you are moving.

Storming your Opponent

This maneuver takes advantage of the quick-turning capability of the Assassin 3D. During a death-match battle, run directly at your opponent. Keep firing at them the whole way in. Pass by their shoulder and perform a very quick spin with the trackball. This is accomplished by setting your middle finger along one edge and then quickly moving it to the other edge (basically riding the top of the trackball from left-to-right or vice-versa). Since this maneuver is so quick, it is not uncommon to catch your opponent's backside. This is especially true of opponents that use a joystick, gamepad or keyboard as their controller. These input devices cannot turn quickly at all. Quite often you can even watch them turning while you fill 'em full of lead. Then you get to watch them fall down.

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This page was last updated 06/13/04