So, Can You Play Elite Dangerous With A Competition Pro Joystick?
It is a question we all ... OK, most ... OK some ... OK nobody has wanted an answer to, but I thought I'd have a go, considering I have a modern version of the following joystick
So, can you play Elite Dangerous with a Competition Pro joystick?
It's a joystick from the 80's, at about the same time the original Elite was released. I remember using it to throw a javelin in the clasic game Summer Games and with the auto-fire I threw my javelin over a 100 feet. That was funny for 13 year old me.
I used the joystick on other classic games like Paperboy and Gauntlet. I never used it on Elite though, probably because the game didn't support joysticks (if it did, I didn't know).
I saw the modern version for sale in Maplin's and managed to get one of the last available in my area as my local store had to get it sent to them, that cost me an extra £10, but it was worth it for a joystick from childhood.
Fast forward to the Alpha of Elite Dangerous, 30 years later and I wondered if I could play Elite Dangerous on it. There are some limitations, sure, only 4 buttons instead of the possible 22 on my F.L.Y. 5, no twist stick and no throttle. I plugged it in and fired up Elite Dangerous.
The game obviously doesn't recognise the joystick, so there are no default settings for it, and my settings for my F.L.Y.5 stayed unchanged. Holding the Competition Pro with the stick between me and the buttons, button 1 is the left round button and button 2 is the right round button, with 3 and 4 being the left and right triangle buttons respectively.
First thing is, the joystick actually worked. Forward and back pitched and left and right rolled. OK, not a big deal considering that's how the original Elite worked. I tried the first single player scenario where you shoot the cannisters. I set the weapons to one side primary and the other secondary, and it just so happened my left button fired the gun on the left and the right button the gun on the right (buttons 1 & 2). I used the keyboard for speed and soon had all the cannisters shot down.
Next up was the kill the sidewinder mission. Now it has to be said, this mission, the first where you make a kill (that's why it's called "First Kill") is not a hard mission. It was hard though trying to keep a slow flying Sidewinder in my gunsights, but eventually I hit him and he turned red. I knew I'd never keep him in my sights this way, and using the keyboard, started flying backwards.
HAHA ... I killed him, and won the scenario.
SO, can you play Elite Dangerous with a Competition Pro joystick? Well, you could, but the thing is so hard and stiff and with only four buttons, you'd be better off using mouse & keyboard.
