Why I use a mouse rather than a joystick

[SlickReed]

2. Elite Dangerous's flight model was (seemingly) mostly designed & tested with joypads (Xbox 360 Controllers) in mind, and in particular yawing left/right has been heavily nerfed. This makes it tricky to get used to, because mouse players naturally want to yaw left/right, when they should be rolling left/right. But with practice you can learn not to.

Not true. For a controller to work well yaw has to be significantly increased for the analog controller to work well.

I believe you mean that OTHER games flight model design. Which is horrible.

All the dev interviews I have seen, seems to all say the same thing. Joystick is the best way to go.

Although a lot of players use the KBM, which I found to work just fine.

 

[Lasse B.]

http://youtu.be/kkSFIWzi7aA?t=1s

That's why.

 

[sWi7zLe]

How did you get the mouse so it centers, and doesn't move all around. I couldent even make the ship stop moving? I must be missing something.

Errr... the Mouse Sensitivity Slider? Maybe you had Flight Assist off?

I have been a pc user since my Dad bought an Amstrad 8086 (8Mhz, 640kb Ram and a 20mb HDD), I think that's what used to play Elite.

I have always struggled with joysticks and I think I have only ever owned two, one for my 48k Speccy and one for a pc at some point, although I may have borrowed the pc one thinking about it.

Since Elite, the only game I found that came anywhere close to it was Freelancer, which I have played for a ridiculous number of hours and all with a mouse and keyboard.

Since purchasing Elite Dangerous I have been looking for a joystick but have no yet been able to decide on one. I would like the Thrustmaster Hotas but I think I should get a cheap one to try first.

Saying that, I have been playing ED since the premium beta with mouse and keyboard and have no problems with it... well except maybe for the lack of yaw, but if you know what you're doing you don't really need it.
Yes it would come in handy for lining up to the entrance of the station at times but if I'm slightly wonky I can strafe slightly whilst going through.

So is it playable with a mouse and keyboard? Yes, very! Manoeuvring is no problem, combat is fun - I would like to try this with a joystick though.

Last night whilst exploring in my Anaconda I was finally interdicted by another Anaconda, instead of all the other ships which as soon as you engage them, they just leg it... the battle was thoroughly enjoyable and I kicked its butt! I only wish I had recorded it

Great game and very playable with mouse and keyboard

 

[SlickReed]

FD can buff the heck out of KBM all day long.

Just please don't nerf the flight stick control. They are absolutely PERFECT.

I have played game like IL2, war thunder, and many other flight games and ED is hands down the best in flight stick controls.

Made me want to upgrade my HOTAS asap.

 

[Kerr Avon]

FD can buff the heck out of KBM all day long.

Just please don't nerf the flight stick control. They are absolutely PERFECT.

I have played game like IL2, war thunder, and many other flight games and ED is hands down the best in flight stick controls.

Made me want to upgrade my HOTAS asap.

I saw a piece the other night where some guy had a theory that the space genre declined because new entries had focussed upon mkb support to the detriment of joysticks. Joysticks make a major assist to game immersion.
I bought my first new joystick in 10 years specifically for Elite. I want that level of immersion.

 

[Innocence]

All the dev interviews I have seen, seems to all say the same thing. Joystick is the best way to go.

For the majority perhaps. Not for everyone.

I have been a pc user since my Dad bought an Amstrad 8086 (8Mhz, 640kb Ram and a 20mb HDD), I think that's what used to play Elite.

You probably mean Amstrad 464 - build-in cassette tapeplayer, Elite took almost half an hour loading, even using the screen RAM in the process

I have been playing ED since the premium beta with mouse and keyboard and have no problems with it... well except maybe for the lack of yaw

Try what I did and use MOUSE1 and MOUSE2 buttons for yaw - works really well.

Just please don't nerf the flight stick control

Certainly not - nobody's asking for anything to be nerfed to make other controller setups look artificially better.

I just joined standard beta, and I bet this thread was started at a time where using mouse control was hard. As it stands now I see no reason to add further options for mouse control, just for a more optimal factory preset to make it easier for new players.

I wish there was a way to prove Elite with mouse control is just as strong as using a stick. However all you'll prove is who is the better pilot, not which controller is stronger.

In all honesty I somehow doubt inter-stellar spaceships will ever exist in the way we think they will, as much as flying to the moon is not possible in a balloon.

No a balloon would be silly. Now a huge cannon on the other hand... that would likely work...

 

[Satanski]

Is there some video showing difficulties people have with mouse and keyboard controlls? Im playing this way and dont have any big problems with it.

 

[radiomean]

I think this is bit pointless...

I started with KB and mouse, then borrowed an xbox 360 controller - which worked fine, and cost £5 for the wireless adaptor, and finally I have moved to a thrustmaster 16000 joystick for £35. No where near £100 ...

I am not sure of the xbox or the joystick suits me better - I am fine with either. So the premise that a need for a £100 joystick is wrong.

 

[FrogsFriend]

....
I wish there was a way to prove Elite with mouse control is just as strong as using a stick. However all you'll prove is who is the better pilot, not which controller is stronger.
....

We just need a volunteer for the cloning process.

 

[pipski1]

Like Gamecat I also use both

Thrustmaster T16000 (~50 bucks)
For when I'm exploring - buttons set up for 25,50,75,100% speed, target, jump and d-scanner
Or if im going into a warzone or taking on a conda kill mission


Mouse and keyboard for everything else
trading and regular missions etc

I find the only mouse set up that works well for me is a gigabyte m6800 cause you can lift it slightly at the front and its doesn't spazz out
and I use the thumb button for yaw into roll if I want to roll quickly when docking


each to their own I guess!

 

[Remiel]

I like how Lucasarts solved this problem back when they made Alliance.

Unless you've got a joystick plugged in, you can't even play. Game would get to through the logos then a message would pop up saying, 'no joystick detected' and kick you out. FD should do this too.

 

[Lord_Itchybum]

I like how Lucasarts solved this problem back when they made Alliance.

Unless you've got a joystick plugged in, you can't even play. Game would get to through the logos then a message would pop up saying, 'no joystick detected' and kick you out. FD should do this too.

Well that would be a smart move. NOT. I am perfectly happy playing with keyboard and mouse and find myself able to make much finer control adjustments then with a joystick. It take s a bit of practice and I believe I can play just as well as anyone with a joystick. The only major difference comes with immersion. A good HOTAS setup feels more real. Banning the use of Keyboard/mouse would be an idiotic move.

 

[Iskariot]

Why I use a joystick rather than a mouse

Not because of anything that has to do with anything the op argued, but simply because it is incomparably more immersive than fiddling around with a mouse.
ED is about flying spaceships. It is a simulator of sorts.
A game like that comes to full bloom when played with a joystick.
For me even the most simple, cheap joystick is an infinitely better experience than playing it with a mouse.
For me it is as simple as that.

To each his own.

 

[Remiel]

Well that would be a smart move. NOT. I am perfectly happy playing with keyboard and mouse and find myself able to make much finer control adjustments then with a joystick. It take s a bit of practice and I believe I can play just as well as anyone with a joystick. The only major difference comes with immersion. A good HOTAS setup feels more real. Banning the use of Keyboard/mouse would be an idiotic move.

It was a very smart move, actually. The game was incredibly popular, and Thrustmaster sold lots of joysticks for it. I don't care if you fly with mouse and keyboard, but you do limit yourself as a result and I know from experience, having had my joystick malfunction when I first got the beta for this and had to wait a week, playing with mouse and keyboard myself, for a new one. As far as I'm concerned though, if a player wants to disadvantage themselves, that's their prerogative. But saying Elite is equally playable with anything other than a joystick is like pretending racing games aren't best played with a wheel and pedals.

 

[Lord_Itchybum]

It was a very smart move, actually. The game was incredibly popular, and Thrustmaster sold lots of joysticks for it. I don't care if you fly with mouse and keyboard, but you do limit yourself as a result and I know from experience, having had my joystick malfunction when I first got the beta for this and had to wait a week, playing with mouse and keyboard myself, for a new one. As far as I'm concerned though, if a player wants to disadvantage themselves, that's their prerogative. But saying Elite is equally playable with anything other than a joystick is like pretending racing games aren't best played with a wheel and pedals.

Do you speak for ALL ED players or are you simply stating your own personal opinion?

 

[Cawcanbawlz]

Reasons why I am using a mouse

1. I have a mouse

 

[Iori]

I've tried with a PS3 Controller and it is not for me, not enough buttons, and while the flight feels better, I can't aim with it. The mouse is much more effective for aiming when configured properly, and the Keyboard allows to painlessly map every useful function.

 

[SCADVID]

I like how Lucasarts solved this problem back when they made Alliance.

Unless you've got a joystick plugged in, you can't even play. Game would get to through the logos then a message would pop up saying, 'no joystick detected' and kick you out. FD should do this too.

So that's how SWTOR failed against WoW.

Sneaky Blizzard sneaky.

 

[Remiel]

Do you speak for ALL ED players or are you simply stating your own personal opinion?

How about 20 years of experience on flight combat sims and within the communities that play them? It's very disingenuous to expect anything other than opinion, educated or not, when you haven't got any definitive studies yourself to back up your own contradiction of my points. And make no mistake, this mouse vs joystick thing is no new phenomenon, a LAN group I used to play with used to argue about it playing team deathmatch games in an old F-22 Raptor flight sim from the early 2000s. We even decided to do a test ourselves - one team with joysticks vs one team with mice. While a mouse user would on occasion score a kill, it was the joystick team winning 100% of the time. Aircraft with the controls like those ED's ships are modelled after were DESIGNED from the outset with a stick in mind, not a mouse. A joystick, throttle, and pedal set would provide a pilot with full roll, pitch, yaw and attitude control 100% of the time, making him far more formidable than someone who can only turn when dragging their mouse to one side. Especially if they have flight assist on toggle and can bump it on and off as needed. I, for example, can throw any given ship into a Crazy Ivan spiral with full control over all attitudes, and if I'm being shot at by a mouse user, he's gonna have a really hard time hitting me let alone keeping track of me in his boresights. So in my educated, experienced, and demonstrated opinion, even a novice pilot (defined as someone who understands basic flight controls and basic combat manoeuvres) using a joystick has a better chance of winning a fight against any given mouse user every time.

 

[Iskariot]

Reasons why I am using a mouse

1. I have a mouse

LOL... but only after you bought one.
The same is true of a joystick.

Reason why I use a joystick

1. I have a joystick