>you are right that im probably so used to it i dont even see it.
What helped me was watching someone play from farther back, squinting. Sounds silly, but helps get perspective on just how much the screen is moving around. In Frauki I started out with a bunch of camera systems I thought were smart, leading your velocity and such. I kept tamping them down based on feedback until I nearly removed most of them. Smooth movement is just more important than cleverness when it comes to the camera, imo.
>gamepads should work
If it's working for others, it's probably the USB ports on my computer. They're really finnicky.
>Could you expand on the hitting head thing?
Yeah. So, in a few instances there were two platforms. One was higher than the other, an offset to the side. I would "grab" onto the side of the lower platform to save myself, and then try to jump up onto the lower platform. In the process, I would hit my head on the higher platform and fall back down. Not a major thing, but it feels clunky when that happens.