So you've now had a bit of time to play E : D and I want to know what control interfaces do people recommend.
I've got the game on pre-order and want to be ready to enjoy the experience to it's fullest extent without any frustrations associated with control problems.
I remember with fondness trying to dock my Cobra using the dead flesh keyboard on the Spectrum and then the revelation when I got a Kempston Joystick.
I'd rather get it right at the start of the game this time.
So is keyboard and mouse acceptable or should I get a joystick or should I get a HOTAS setup?
I don't want to spend stupid amounts of money as I've got three snowboarding trips booked this season.
As I'm a southpaw this might be totally irrelevant to you but I'm using something Star Citizen calls HOMAS - hand on mouse and stick.
I use a Thrustmaster T16000M in left-handed configuration with my right hand on the mouse. Keyboard is in its normal position between the two.
I don't use any of the buttons on the base of the joystick so my left hand never needs to leave it. I map all the essential stuff to mouse buttons/wheel. The keyboard covers the rest.
Whether right or left handed a joystick is, IMHO, better than mouse & keyboard.
Mouse works in a way where the further you move the mouse from the centre of the screen the faster the ship responds. So it's like a mouse trying to be a joystick without the feel of analogue.
OB is probably onto a good thing with the Joystick and Mouse Combo for Star Citizen as they have a mouse aim option for shooting but Elite doesn't have that because it's pure 1st person cockpit view. You need the mouse in the station menus (not exactly true, if you have enough joystick buttons you don't) for easier trade purchases and outfitting. The mouse isn't even used at all when undocked unless you combine movement and aiming in the mouse.
The advantage to a throttle device is that the speed control is better I would say and also you need a few more buttons than a joystick provides to properly feel like you're able to control all the important movements of the ship. I find Elite far less complex to control than SC.
I have a 12 year old X45 Saitek. It works perfectly fine for Elite and I just keep the mouse near to hand for menus in the station services.
£45 for this is a good deal as he says it's hardly used: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saitek-X45-Flight-Control-J24C-Joysticks-/181578352135?pt=UK_Controllers_Attachments&hash=item2a46e9c607
Likewise a southpaw, but after trying a friend's X52 pro HOTAS setup I was an immediate convert and got my own. For what it's worth, I held off getting a HOTAS for ages because I couldn't find a 'left handed' version, and then one of my friends who is a pilot pointed out - you don't get left and right handed cars (within a single country, I realise it differs between countries), or left and right handed models of the same plane. If real pilots don't have differing setups, why do you need one? And he was right. I don't have the speed, precision and accuracy to ever mouse in an FPS or similar with my right hand, but after a week or so of getting used to it i'm just as good with the joystick in that hand as I ever was before with my single left handed joystick.
Anyway, I can heartly recommend some kind of HOTAS setup. Personally I ummed and aahed about the X55, but decided I actually liked the look of the X52 more despite it being a 'lower end' stick. A number of people about the place have complained that the Saitek sticks have quality control issues and tend to break easily, but I don't *personally* know anyone who's had problems and the 5 people I know in the real world who have HOTAS sticks all have Saiteks. People have said good things about the CH flightstick and throttle being cheaper, but more solid and reliable, but I just think they look really plasticky on the outside and sadly that counts for a fair bit for me.
Whatever you go with, the most important thing for me was never having to move my hands significantly, so never taking my eyes off the screen. I've done some custom binding with the X52, had to play around with the software, edit the profiles etc tog et it doing what I wanted, but I now have every single in-game command I need on the stick and throttle. I might have to move my hand down off the stick to touch a button on the base, but then I can find the stick again very easily. Given I plan to get a Rift when the first consumer version releases, and I can't touch type when i'm thinking about it (I can do whole sentences without looking at the keyboard, then as soon as I realise what i'm doing it all goes sideways), that was important for me.
I was using Mouse + Keyboard, then dusted off a 1990-something Logitech Wingman Extreme with serial to USB adaptor (it's that old) and that worked pretty well.
But after playing with the X52 Pro at EGX in September, I had to have one, so got a set for my birthday last month. They are the dogs doo-dahs!
Quote from: albert;390515I have a 12 year old X45 Saitek. It works perfectly fine for Elite and I just keep the mouse near to hand for menus in the station services.
£45 for this is a good deal as he says it's hardly used: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saitek-X45-Flight-Control-J24C-Joysticks-/181578352135?pt=UK_Controllers_Attachments&hash=item2a46e9c607
Thanks Mr A. I am now £45 less well off. :D
i have a x52pro and can say with certainty that's its the best joystick i've ever had and well worth the money.
You can get as much fun out of a reasonably priced joystick as you can from one costing £00s http://www.flightstore.co.uk/flight-simulation-c499/flight-sticks-and-joysticks-c506 The T16K M is well respected. Or as I said before the second hand market is full of good deals.
I received my CH Products Figherstick and Pro Throttle this week:
http://www.chproducts.com/13-28464-Home.php
I decided to buy these after looking at a lot of reviews and deciding I couldn't justify another newer alternative to my X45 but I would go for something different.
So here are a few highlights:
1) Retro - These are nothing to look at, they are quite frankly 80s throwback.
2) Easy on the hands - they move around with minimal effort and the movement range is a bit less than the Saitak or Thrustmaster particularly the Throttle = is is very comfortable to use especially on my arm rest mount plates.
3) Buttons - shed loads of 'em, I have 3 8 way hats not even mapped and I have all my Elite mapping that I had on my X45 already covered. The buttons are very solid and easy to use.
4) Throttle: It slides forward and back, it doesn't arch like a Saitek so the motion is very smooth and requires little effort. Downside is you have ot know where centre is with your eyes off the device.
5) Joystick - It's smooth as butter to use, very easy to move around and centres perfectly. It has 2 calibration dials if it ever does get dead zones.
6) Both are WAY more responsive in game than the Saitek X45. So by that I mean very little lag between move the stick and see the result on screen. The Saiteks I've used and that is X45, 52 pro and X65 seem slow responding to me but maybe that's because I only used daisy chained systems. The CH has a USB separate for each device.
I really recommend this system if you want minimal hand stress and very intricate control of your ship with great responsiveness. You don't care about looks. You can get it from someone visiting the US $200 total as oppoed to 300 Euro here in NL.
I can also recommend this setup. I use the same with the Pro pedals. The little joystick on the throttle is a gem and very useable compared to my X52 pro.
One thing to note about the pedals is that if you want you can make one axis out of the toe pedals (via software) so you can use them for instance as a thruster axis.
I have the pedals as YAW and the toes/brakes as one axis for left/right thrust (strafe). I use the mini joystick on the throttle for up/dn - fwd/aft strafing.
Hey Verner, so you'd recommend the CH pedals? I recently ordered a USB foot pedal to use for TeamSpeak but I was worried if I buy foot pedals for the flight system I'd have to use my joystick again for TS which is just taking up a button.
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Quote from: albert;390827Hey Verner, so you'd recommend the CH pedals? I recently ordered a USB foot pedal to use for TeamSpeak but I was worried if I buy foot pedals for the flight system I'd have to use my joystick again for TS which is just taking up a button.
I like my CH pedals better than my Saitek Pro pedals, mostly because of the added useability with the toe axis.
On the Saitek I havent found a way to use the toe pedals for other than maybe as a digital switch.
I haven't found anything wrong with them other that the actual pedals may seem to close together for some.
I suspect that the USB switch would work seperately to the CH setup.
Remember the CH setup can be configured as one or several joysticks, in Elite I keep them seperate since Elite has a great control system. I have also tried to join them together as one joystick in older games and earlier SC that does not support several joysticks.
Also another great CH tip. There is a forum; CH Hangar http://www.ch-hangar.com/forum/index.php?
with all kinds of resourses for CH equipment.
Having a good and cheap HOTAS, sometimes I covet the more button equipped and more expensive rivals.
Saying that, my TFlight-X does everything I need thus far without having to remove my hands during flight.
What would pedals do for me in this regard? Or rather, what do the pedal owners use them for?
Always an option for added positional comfort:
http://imgur.com/a/fdrqo
Couple of plastic pipes, metal clasps and velcro :norty:
I am thinking of buying the thrustmaster flight hotas x.
Or the logitech extreme 3d pro.
I have purchased but not played with a x-55 sneaky has a x-52 pro and that's a nice setup feels solid.
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Quote from: ShadowFax75;392470I am thinking of buying the thrustmaster flight hotas x.
I have this stick. For an entry level stick it's pretty good!
Quote from: Twisted;392481I have this stick. For an entry level stick it's pretty good!
I bought it too. Tried it on some tutorials in elite, and it plays good.
What's it like with a 360 gamepad?
It what I am using the only issue I have come across and might be able to do something about but havent. Is that I can only have rota so turn ship nose left/right or lose left and right thursters for landing. Apart from that it is fine using it.
Another suggestion is to use a XBox gamepad as your non-yoke controller. So because Elite can take up to 4 separate interface devices, a cheap but comfortable joystick could be used and a controller with it's 3 analogue sticks could be added as a thruster interface. I'm going to try this over christmas because I won't be taking my main joystick to the UK as it's too bulky.
If anyone has a recommendation for a small, USB stick, let me know please.
Edit: actually I just found this: http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/02/16/madcatz-arcade-gamestick-360-review picked one up on eBay for £15. Better taking this in a suitcase than an expensive one, and the number of buttons on this thing is unbelievable.
Well I unpacked my x-55 and just to warn you it is not small. Not plugged it in but is rather on the large scale but very impressive none the less.
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Man you've got a tidy desk.