Thank you for the encouragement, but I don't think this is just about muscle memory. I've already practiced for a while now, and I feel that something else is missing that's keeping me from being competent again.
As I've said before, I've heard the combat AI recently got updated to be more challenging, and if that's the case then I feel part of the problem is that the practices I acquired using mouse and keypad don't work as well anymore (I took a break from this game for a while and am trying to come back into it). If that's what's happening to me, I think I may just have to relearn how to fight enemies in general, and not just translate my previous skill with mouse and keypad to the HOTAS. If you're able to sit through the video, maybe you can figure out what it is I need to do or do better to beat the training mission more quickly.
Wow viper you weren't kidding about the scenario taking a long time, - OK I played the whole thing, (had my eyes off it now and then and no sound, so I hope i didn't miss anything) and I second yomamas assertion about muscle memory, - a lot of what I see in that video is simply that you have an unfamiliar device in both of your hands and are now asking your feet to work in tandem with them and its simply taking a bit too much thought at this point.
I think in the end you're going to have to stop trying to nail the training scenario and get out there in a variety of settings in the full game from docking to scooping and just learn on the job. Now there are some specifics I noticed that I can mention that may help in the triumph dogfight, and hopefully in others.
First off your throttle management is completely static, which makes me wonder what you're doing with the throttle axis? I've never played mouse and keyboard, but I assume you're used to keeping throttle in the blue and using keyboard keys to either strafe forward or back depending on whether or not the situation demands acceleration or deceleration. I saw you blip the throttle up at some points which I guess you were doing with the reassigned toe brakes. But you have a full analog throttle now, and can freely move from the blue zone for turns, to full throttle when distance opens up to reverse if it looks like you can avoid an overshoot - so I'd advise moving the throttle around a lot more in response to what your opponent is doing.
Also your rolls are very delayed and that's understandable given the unfamiliarity of the pedals. Now you can't keep up with every rotation of an evading opponent, but when it looks like a turn is incoming due to a fly by you need to preemptively roll before your target leaves line of sight so you can immediately start to pitch in pursuit. Now I bet you were doing that more fluidly with the keyboard and mouse, so that's may just be a question of getting used to your new peripherals.
Your full analog set up will also make Flight Assist Off more manageable than it may have been on mouse and keyboard. I noticed you never flipped it off in this fight, and while it won't magically make your maneuvering thrusters work better, it will let you slide your ship's rear around the outside of a turn, functionally helping you keep you nose on target in a tight turning battle. There were many points where Crimson Triumph zoomed out of your sight and even in the blue zone it took you ages to reacquire. A flight assist off turn with the addition of boost can really get him back in your sight fast, as well as opening some distance where you can better asses his trajectory and settle into a nice smooth firing solution.
Lastly its clear you're having trouble aiming with the stick that's something you just have to get used to, but you are both over correcting and lagging behind the Triumph's movements. You may benefit from flattening the curve of the X and Y axes of your stick a bit in CH Control Manager, this will make the little correcting movements slightly subtler and less responsive than the wider throws you'll use when turning. You may like the way it feels, if not, you can always put the curve back to default. Remember to re-download the profile after changing the curve.
As for keeping up, that's something I'm sure you could do with the mouse so that should translate to the stick pretty soon.
Its a bit hard to judge your use of laterals, but I recommended you put the verts on the ministick for ease of access because vertical thrusting is a great assist in keeping a foe in sight or breaking a turning fight. Assuming the opponent is moving 'up' relative to the top of your 'pit strong ventral thrust can help keep him from leaving your sights. And when you're turning to reacquire some dorsal thrust can help push you down into a more oblong turn thus breaking the endless loop of two evenly matched ships trying to turn into each other and getting him back in your sights faster. You probably have your own opinions and usage for laterals from the mouse and keyboard days, but your new kit gives you full analog control over those babies, which means you can really tailor the power to the amount of relative movement between you in your target, which is awesome.
Anyway I made a vid of my own vs Crimson, notice the preemptive rolling when I think he's going to pass, the use of FA Off and boost, and reverse to keep him in my sights. I wouldn't consider this a quick kill btw but I'm a bit rusty myself as I haven't seen another ship since February as I've been on a slow exploration cruise!
[video=youtube_share;5NbJilbhoKM]https://youtu.be/5NbJilbhoKM[/video]
As for the modified AI, - booting up this training scenario didn't seem much different from my last combat encounters, have you tried playing the mission with mouse and keyboard and seeing if the evasive patterns seem substantially different from what you remember?
