Anyone playing ED with keyboard and mouse

[ethrom]

Hi there
wondering if anyone is playing ED with keyboard and mouse? I just downloaded the beta and am working my way through the combat missions. Keep re doing the waste disposal to get better at targeting and finding those pesky canisters.

I think the game is great so far! I am loving it

 

[Kernel Kwatz!]

Yup.

I do plan to get a joystick at some point but when I was playing (on a break till Beta 2 comes out) it was with keyboard and mouse using the default key bindings. Though I have heard some people have success with changing lateral thrust (Q and E default) to the horizontal axis of the mouse. I would also recommend trying out VoiceAttack to take away some of the keyboard work.

 

[Lycan_Bravo]

For now but I changed the bindings alot. Swithed the mouse horizontal axxis to yaw instead of roll and A, D as the roll buttons. I also changed my vert thrust controls to thumb buttons on my mouse. Much better for combat.

I also changed shift to be a modfier for forward and backwards thrust (shift+w, shift+s) respectively for better landing and combat control. Complicated but it seems to work for me.

 

[Lemonpie]

I found that making only a few slight adjustments (mainly thanks to a few extra mouse buttons) makes flying with a mouse and keyboard quite a breeze once you get the hang of it. I still plan to invest in a stick setup given time (mostly because the amount of time I've spent playing in a row with a mouse gives me banana fingers), though it certainly doesn't seem mandatory if you ask me.

It's pretty much as you mentioned: Try fiddling around with the controls until they're to your own liking, and get used to them in the combat scenarios. There's an interesting thread on the mouse-joystick dilemma here as well!

 

[-SOVEREIGN-]

I am, and will be the whole time. Mastered it in Battlefield 3+4 and never had a joystick/hotas. Changed 80% of the key setup, but now it fits for me

 

[CmdrKull]

I did at first

I used the kb/mouse combo for the first couple of weeks, and I considered it fine. I played with kb/mouse on my Amiga years ago so it seemed natural. I picked up a MS sidewinder joystick for $10 on a whim, and I won't be going back. The joystick is actually far more precise, especially the throttle. The ships don't handle very well under a mouse, and while I felt like Id gotten pretty good hitting several keys at once to yaw and vert thrust while rotating slightly, I wasn't very good at combat. The joystick made it so much easier to put the ship where I wanted it, to keep crosshairs on target, to match speed and direction with another ship, etc.

I'll probably upgrade to a real HOTAS with more buttons and a full sized throttle, but for now I'm really loving the 90s era ms joystick. I had to cut off the gameport adapter and splice on a usb connector, and that only worked because the precision pro was made to work as usb, but the included adapter was no longer included 20 years later

 

[Windscreen Smudge]

Yep. Having a mouse like this makes it work really well.

18 bindable buttons with 3 profiles switchable by pressing one on the mouse, DPI settings switched with another button (neither counted in the 18).

The 5D button on the side almost... almost makes it feasible to play Elite one handed.

I need a bigger desk before I buy any more peripherals.

 

[Clifford]

for now I'm really loving the 90s era ms joystick. I had to cut off the gameport adapter and splice on a usb connector, and that only worked because the precision pro was made to work as usb, but the included adapter was no longer included 20 years later

Lol, I just found my old "Sidewinder Precision 2" joystick in a closet.
I think Privateer 2 was the last game I played with it. Had a thick layer of dust, just now got it cleaned up and seems to work.
It has twist axis, throttle, a hat and 8 buttons. Hmm... I wonder if I can make it work if I bought a Logitech G13 GamePad to go on my left hand...?

 

[kilvenny]

I am not entirely convinced of keyboard and mouse, it took a lot of setting changes to the defaults to get anything reasonable. I am getting better but I think a HOTAS is the way to go. My main issue is in combat when I am looping I am having to lift up the mouse and move it back on the mat at times

 

[Jack Booted Thug]

I have been using Keyboard+Mouse since the Alpha and it works great.

I got a joystick a few months ago and while it was good I prefer the convenience of Keyboard + Mouse so went back to it.

Keyboard + Mouse in Elite: Dangerous works very well. Like anything it just takes some practice.

 

[CMDR Texas Stu]

I am. Well, I use an orb weaver game pad but it's pretty much just like the left side of my KB plus the hat switch which I use for arrow keys (power systems) and an occasional head look). And my mouse has a bunch of additional buttons.
I do alright with my set up I think?

 

[fireFly1000]

Yep. Having a mouse like this makes it work really well.

18 bindable buttons with 3 profiles switchable by pressing one on the mouse, DPI settings switched with another button (neither counted in the 18).

The 5D button on the side almost... almost makes it feasible to play Elite one handed.

I need a bigger desk before I buy any more peripherals.

What is the life expectancy of that beast?
How long have you been using it?

 

[Windscreen Smudge]

What is the life expectancy of that beast?
How long have you been using it?

To be honest I had to turn the first one in on warranty because the cord went bad, but that was a year ago and the second one is working great with no signs of the same problem happening again.

This is a good question though, Mad Katz can have issues with product durability. When they're good they're good and when they're bad they're really bad. It's almost something you have to get your hands on before you purchase to see which batch that particular one came from (next to impossible in the world of Fort Knox style packaging we have now.

 

[Rashkam]

I have been using Keyboard+Mouse since the Alpha and it works great.

I got a joystick a few months ago and while it was good I prefer the convenience of Keyboard + Mouse so went back to it.

Keyboard + Mouse in Elite: Dangerous works very well. Like anything it just takes some practice.

I'm with you. I've been using a mouse and keyboard setup since my Amiga days and I've comfortable and quite proficient using it. I see so many people saying to get a HOTAS or XBOX controller. I settled for a cheep $20 Xbox controller, spent quite a lot of time setting it up and didn't like the feel of it. I find the mouse more accurate and easier to control the ship. I also use Voice Attack so many of the keys that are not as easy to reach in the middle of combat can be actioned from a single spoken command.

As I keep my left hand controlling;

QWE
ASD
ZXC

And my right hand on the mouse controlling roll/pitch and fire control I've never had any issues taking out NPCs

 

[lysan]

Been using KB\MS since PB, and I must say that it work just fine. I do have a JS and I will use it later but for now I wont

 

[th3_fr4gil3]

for about 5 minutes then dug out my t-flight HOTAS (that i bought to use with mechwarrior online and ended up using mouse+kb instead as it was better).

 

[Harvester]

Lol, I just found my old "Sidewinder Precision 2" joystick in a closet.
I think Privateer 2 was the last game I played with it. Had a thick layer of dust, just now got it cleaned up and seems to work.
It has twist axis, throttle, a hat and 8 buttons. Hmm... I wonder if I can make it work if I bought a Logitech G13 GamePad to go on my left hand...?

OMG! Seeing this made me remember I also had one of these stored away in the attic. A few minutes of rummaging around in the attic and a little soup and water and I'm now using this as well. To be honest, I was surprised windows actually recognized it....but all seems to be working just fine.

BTW, I also had a old Saitek HOTAS packed away....can't remember the model number, but it's the blue metal model that had the rudder rocker on the throttle. Maybe I'll use that one later but I have the same problem now as before with it.....it's takes too much room to set up. I wonder if they still make drivers for it....

 

[Clifford]

OMG! Seeing this made me remember I also had one of these stored away in the attic.

We'll mine just died. I took off the base-plate to clean it up and see if I could tighten-up some of the Slack in the deadzone (you cannot). And for some reason when I put it back together, it no longer is recognized when I plug-in the USB Port. For some reason it just died when the case was opened.
I'm Getting a Thrustmaster 3d joystick to replace it.

Edit to answer Harvester's question, Below:
Yeah I tried all that, rebooted, tried different ports, etc. something happened and the joystic's electronics just died during the disassembly / reassembly process; even though I was really careful and didn't cause / notice any damage.

 

[Harvester]

We'll mine just died. I took off the base-plate to clean it up and see if I could tighten-up some of the Slack in the deadzone (you cannot). And for some reason when I put it back together, it no longer is recognized when I plug-in the USB Port. For some reason it just died when the case was opened.
I'm Getting a Thrustmaster 3d joystick to replace it.

Not sure if this will help or not.....but plugging mine in with the computer on resulted in it not being recognized.

Maybe uninstall/remove it from Device Manager and turn the computer off. Then plug it in and turn the computer back on. Hopefully that will help.

 

[Studders86]

Keyboard Pilot

I read all the time about what people are using to control their ships in elite. I myself use just the trusty keyboard and mouse, im quite adept at it as i have used it for many flying/space/sim games throughout the years.

Just wanted to know if anybody else uses this setup and how they feel about it or what layout they have it set to?

I always use my mouse to look around when flying and my left hand controls the pitch/yaw/rotate. When in combat or landing i have the num pad setup for my strafe/thruster movements and i have VA to do lots of these for me. I have even set up attack patterns using VA so i can just say what maneuver i want and VA does it for me.

Any keyboard pilots out there??