Feature requests, huh? PS specific? Well here goes.
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Analog inputs for individual/half-axis directions (yaw right, yaw left etc.). DS4 is already starved for inputs, it is critical to be able to map thrusters or yaw on R2/L2 and retain the analog precision. I really cannot emphasise this enough, the "analog axis vs digital input" in the control settings is a completely unnecessary constraint!
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Input modes. Supercruise operations, scanners and corresponding HUD modes should not be scattered among fire groups and combat priority inputs. Could be interpreted as a generic feature request, but I think for consoles specifically this is a must have for the reason described in the previous point. The input modes should be as clearly distinct (and distinctly, thoroughly configurable) as ship vs SRV.
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Full keyboard support. A no-brainer really and beaten to death so no need to reiterate over the multitude of reasons why this makes sense for a sim(ish) with tons of inputs. I would actually prefer DS4+keyboard over the available PS4 HOTAS options, and it's a real low hanging fruit implementation wise, so it puzzles me to no end why keyboard support isn't simply enabled for PS4.
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Support for high-end HOTAS/dual-stick flight controllers. I didn't get a console because I'm cheap or because I'm a casual gamer, I got one because I've been configuring gaming PC's since 80286 and I've been gaming in general since Commodore PET 3032. Nowadays I just want to fire up the big screen and get in the game without dealing with Windows updates, latest flavour of DDR4 memory chips or the number of cores an i7 should have for a gaming rig. I get enough of that at work.
Now that being said, DS4 doesn't really cut it for full 6DOF flight, HOTAS 4 I have but I'm unsatisfied by it, HORI based on reviews I won't touch. I would gladly get in line and wait up for the next batch of Virpil sticks like our
master race CMDR brethren. I know this one's a beast to implement but at least it's still feasible, unlike (unfortunately) something like VR support. Unlike VR, this is not a perf issue, it's a business issue. I know it's a reach, but I think if there ever was a niche group of players on PS4 who could be in the market for a proper HOTAS/HOSAS setup, E: D players would be it.
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Analog axis calibration, sensitivity, plotting and/or curves. Regardless whether the axis sends [0,1] or [-1,1], the user should be able to map that into the full range of the specific flight control input with some reasonable number of control points and/or curve shapes.
Ok and this might be pushing it, but:
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PSVR cinematic mode headtracking only. I actually tried PSVR in cinematic mode, (roughly) manually matching my head movements with my DS4 yaw+pitch headlook, and it really could be the next best thing from having actual stereoscopic VR rendering. At times I actually managed to forgot (briefly) I wasn't properly headtracked.
Basically this would just be the "DS4 on your head" scenario but using the PSVR built-in tracking with sensor fusion + camera, which is
way more reliable with a reasonable "return-to-zero" compared to PS4 orientation tracking using internal sensors only. I just don't know and honestly can't be bothered to look up if this would be considered a breach of Sony's VR dev policy or not, since it's kind of halfway between full VR and just plain cinematic mode rendering in the headset which is currently just fine for any PS4 content (policy-wise).
I would consider PSVR a must-have but I know it's not realistic (I work in the AR/VR industry so I'm
reasonably confident based on what I have witnessed, that even on PS4 Pro, without some specific optimisations, VR support would be a no-go on the current rendering engine of E: D).
Oh, and a cosmetic cherry on top:
Now that I've made all these nice and polite requests which surely guarantee that sweet HOSAS support in a future update, holo-me should also include options to switch the cockpit setup from HOTAS to HOSAS. Heck, while we're at it, why not model KB+M as an option, too
