Why Do We Invert The Y?

Submitted by James Munn on January 29, 2007 – 3:00 pm35 Comments

Why Do We Invert the Y? If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve got a gaming habit. I’ve got a gaming habit as well and sickeningly enough, it even has habits of it’s own! For example: In a FPS, if given the ability, I save around almost every corner. It’s not always necessary but for some reason I do it anyway, that’s why I call it a habit.

I think this sort of thing rings true for everyone in some way. Even though our individual genre interests might vary greatly, there are still habits that we carry across each and every game. Many of these tendencies simply cannot be shaken, no matter how hard we try.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret and I’m a little ashamed to say it. After reading this, I hope that you don’t view me in a negative light. I’m the average gamer just like you but for some reason, this particularly horrid trait has been infused into my psyche. No, I’m not a FPS jumper or the guy who sings into your headset….it’s much, much worse than that. This is very difficult for me to admit, I’m working through it…..okay here it is. Do you mind if I whisper it?

I invert the Y.

That’s right, you heard me. I “invert the Y” and according to the default settings of every single first and third person game released, I’m in the minority. I don’t quite understand how generations of gamers could be divided between players who believe down is really…down and those who believe down is actually “up”? Does it run deeper than just what we’ve been accustomed to over the years?

First off, what is this whole y-axis anyway? The standard description is simply the vertical of a two-dimentional plane. The idea of inverting Y refers to reversing the “look” controls into what many refer to as, “Flight Controls.” Pulling back on the flight stick of an aircraft causes it to rise, pushing forward causes it to descend. How these controls transferred over to an analog stick-controlled, first or third person shooter is pretty baffling, or is it?

Understanding a Yinverter

Breaking down the thought process behind a, “Normal” and “Inverted” y-axis might actually be easy. The individual who prefers a “normal” y-axis believes simply that pushing down should lower the line of sight or aim and pushing up, obviously, would raise it.

Someone who believes that the y-axis needs to be inverted believes in controlling the mechanism behind what makes that line of sight increase or decrease and not just the actual line of sight itself. Possibly unknowingly believing that they’re controlling a flying camera that hovers behind the player.

Does this “flying camera” theory imply that Yinverters view a 3D world in a different light or what could be considered as, “outside the box?” I asked a Yinverter recently about the idea of NOT inverting the Y. Here’s what he had to say,

“That’s just stupid,” and then went into a rant about flight controls and how down is up and up is down, blah blah. Well, that answer still has no bearing on why flight controls would be used in a 3rd or 1st Person, non-flight, video game. My “flying camera” idea does plug a very small piece of the hole.

What About Me?

Could it be that I just learned how to play my first 1st Person shooter with inverted controls and could never get used to anything else? That’s the simple answer, however it’s flawed when I take into consideration all the other gaming habits I’ve changed over the years. An inverted y-axis is definitely not one of them, it’s a mandatory gameplay feature for me. I’m confident that if inverting the y-axis was removed entirely from the industry, I’d probably have to take up knitting instead. If you thought this blog post was boring…

So in the end, which is correct? Is an inverted y-axis incorrect simply because it’s not the default setup in every first or third person game? Should an inverted setup only be used in flight simulations? Do gamers who invert the y-axis possibly think, “outside the box?” More importantly,

Do you invert the Y?

(Disclaimer: No analog sticks were injured in the writing of this post.)

Bill

Yes I invert it and I think it just comes down to preference. Seems easier for me to control with Y inverted. I played a ton of flight simulators growing up so maybe that has something to do with it.
Jim

I don’t invert the Y. I never play flight sims but it would make more sense to me in a flight sim. Come to think of it that’s kinda weird that in a flight sim that would be OK and in an FPS that wouldn’t. Oh well.
Subnet6

Your analysis is very good and explains something that you didn’t mention.

The issue is even more complex. Most people don’t hold their controllers vertically, such that you would move the analog stick “up”. Most people hold the controllers closer to horizontal such that you would actually be moving the analog stick “forward”.

So, that being said, who decided that forward = up?
No one. It was really up to designers. Most of probably “learned” this habit on our first major first person game. If that game was inverted, so too is our understanding.

I too invert the Y and it’s partially because I played a lot of Top Gun on the NES and that burned the inverted Y into my brain.

Secondly, for a rational standpoint if I move forward, I expect objects above me to move up and over my head. If I move backwards I expect obects outside my view, over my head to come into view. Thats why I expect “forward” to = “down”. But that’s just me.
Dave

I’ve always inverted the Y. I remember being pissed off playing Sewer Sharks on Sega CD because you couldn’t invert the Y axis. The other way just doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve tried to do it, but I can’t. It just feels all kinds of wrong.
Robert

On a PC, I am so use to moving the crosshair as a pointer. So inverting the Y-axis just doesn’t click. However, on a video game console, the Y-axis absolutely must be inverted. Not only that, but I have to use the SouthPaw stick scheme. So the control setup I use on the PC is completely opposite from what I use on a console (as far as FPS’s and 3PS’s). To make it even worse, I must play flight games inverted, and an FPS that doesn’t allow a specific setup for normal walking and flight makes it hard. I guess it comes down to my hobby of making things as complicated a possible.
Chad

I am a Y inverter, which is a constant source of amusement when switching controllers playing multiplayer games with my friends. To me, the up/forward = look up, down/back = look down is contrary to human physiology. Imagine a handle on the top of your head that lets someone control where you look. In order to make you look down, they would push the handle away from them in the up/forward direction. To make you look up they would pull the handle in the down/back direction. This is one reason that flight controls were designed the way they were, it better matched how our physiology works. That being said, I started out gaming playing flight simulators so maybe had a preference for an inverted y when first/third person games started coming out. The only caveat is mouse look games, which I always direct control.
Evil D

I also invert the Y. Moving the “camera” in a 3D world feels like flying to me. If you’re flying then the Y must invert.
D

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t invert the Y.
http://9ma.dk Nima

I agree with subnet6′s second reason. I yinvert ’cause I consider the stick as my body and expect it to pull back when I pull it back and bend over (lol) when I push it forward. Makes perfect sense to me
Subnet6

Chad’s got a great description that echoes my thoughts. His wording is probably more clear than mine but that’s what I was trying to say.
Kyle

I Invert my Y axis, and I’m better than most of my friends at video games.

Its not like I ever did it on purpose, I just used to play a lot of flight games, so it carried over.
http://www.aeropause.com James

Hello all my fellow, Yinverters. Nice to finally meet you all!

Great thoughts from everyone, I think Subnet and Chad’s theories echo my own: The Inverted Y gravitates towards the idea that you are controlling something other than just the line of sight.

I proposed possibly a “flying camera” as an example but controlling the head of your player instead of simply the eyes would be a great example as well.

If I had the resources, I’d love to study the relationship between a gamer’s special visualization skills and their controller configuration habits.
http://www.russprince.com Russ

I always invert the y. ALWAYS… I also like flight sims so maybe my opinion is based on that because i was playing flight sims way before fps games, but it always felt right for pulling back on the mouse to be looking up.

You can also think of it in the way you rotate your head. You pull back your head to look up. The top of your head would be going down if you were viewed from above. Thusly you push your head forward to look down. It all pretty much makes more sense that way (to me anyways), and is probably why that design was set with airplane controls over 100 years ago…
Onyx

Invert the X ???? Who would be that Cruel?
Awnser: Final Fantasy XII

I always look the wrong way first

-An old Quake Y Inverter…
Kommisar

I invert the Y when I play flight sims, first person shooters, and any kind of situation where the mouse controls the camera movement.

I also know exactly why I do it: I grew up on flight sims. To my reflexes, pulling back on the stick = up. It’s that simple. There is no deeper “I’m thinking about the machine behind the machine” stuff… it’s just the way I started out gaming, and cerebral momentum keeps me doing it in any game I play.
Pete

I’ve always had similar opinion to Chad on this – inverted players think like they’re moving a head back and forth, non-inverted are moving eyes up and down.

Something not mentioned yet – Quake by default was inverted, something a lot of us older players started on. “+mlook” !
Jonah

I describe my Y inverting to people as follows. When playing a FPS, you are in the persons head. You push your head down in real life to look down, and pull it up to look up. It’s the only way that makes any sense.
Gabriel

Thank goodness for Y-inverting. I practically stopped playing FFXII because I don’t know why the hell they would have such an unnatural x-axis orientation.
http://www.asdf.com Gabriel

I’m a Y-inverter but funny thing is when I’m in zoom/scope mode, I need it reverted! But it makes sense for me, because I want to knock out whatever I point at in mouse-mode. I find only have a few games that have this option. I think it was a James Bond: Everything or Nothing.
Mike

Inverting the Y is the only way to play a FPS.

Maybe games should come like this as default, and possibly even unchangeable, so people can learn the correct way of the ‘look’ function… Just kidding.

Great analysis!
cg

I always invert the Y axis and cannot cope if I have not got that option but i never invert the X axis. Strangely I do not invert the Y axis in Capcoms “lost Planet” only. I really wonder why the default setting on most games is to have the Y not inverted it just feels wrong- I hate it when you are not given the option to change that drives me crazy.
Down is up and up is down- thats the way it is.(except for lost planet which i have to play the other way for some strange reason. LONG LIVE OPTIONS -and CHOICE I am pro-choice.
http://javascript:void(0); Name:

Y-invert annoys the piss out of me. Good to see that majority uses non-invert.
tnt

Invert-Y is the only way to fly..

Actually most japanese games and also most of Nintendo’s games use Invert-Y as default, which it should be, as it makes most sense when moving around in a 3D environment…
http://spyder.wordpress.com Andrew Herron

I’m a couple weeks behind on reading this post, but I have an interesting point of view. I’ve inverted the Y since Quake 1 days, probably because like many of us a flight sim was one of the first games (with a Y axis) that I ever played.

Recently however I’ve been participating in the Fury alpha, and the invert mouse control is currently broken so I’m forced to play without it.

Much to my horror, after a day or two of this (servers are only up for a few hours a day) I find myself having difficulty controlling the inverted camera in WoW – usually goes away after about 10 minutes, but it’s still disturbing
OTetano

Actually, the mouse look command (+mlook) in quake 1 was inverted by default. I like to think that