Elite Dangerous with Mouse and Keyboard

Scoob

Scoob
Hey all,

A friend of mine is looking at getting Elite Dangerous - likely just the base game as it's £6 at the moment. However, their only available control method is Keyboard and Mouse, they don't have a gamepad let alone a full HOTAS setup. I've only ever played with HOTAS personally, can't imagine using KBM for this type of game. However, I imagine plenty of people do. Do those who only use KBM get on fine, or are there aspects of the game that are particularly tricky with this control method?

Additionally, as he's getting just the base game and I have Odyssey, I'm not totally sure if we can play together. I've not really played for quite a while now, but will come back to help out a buddy. However, I'd want to do that on my "live" account, not going legacy. We're both on PC, so can I just run "Horizons" still and team up with him with my Live account I'm playing in Odyssey?

Cheers.
 

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
If your friend only gets the base game you can play together when you both play Horizons live. Your friend must not walk into the "Legacy is default" trap of Steam, and you cannot log into Odyssey, Odyssey and Horizons 4.0 don't instance together.
 

Codger

Codger
Scoob said:
Do those who only use KBM get on fine, or are there aspects of the game that are particularly tricky with this control method?
Click to expand...
From what I understand KBM is the preferred control scheme for many PVPers, so I expect it's more than workable.
 

Northpin

Northpin
I played on XB using and XB Elite Controller
On PC i play exclusively Kb/m

They cay play with the XB controller on PC too, just make sure they use a wired connection or the proprietary microsoft wireless dongle

What i likeed playing with the controller?
It's really nice setup (the default context), i've made only slight adjustments to the default settings, really nice flying, but for me at least, really crap precision which kinda ruled out FA Off and fixed weapons. Sure it's doable but i was not an console player when i got ED on XB and i lacked the muscle memory

KB/m - it's sure nice - much better precision, i can actually do some FA Off and i can properly use rails and other fixed weapons (like modshards or modplasma)
Sure, it's will be lacking finesse especially in the throttle department or generally in lateral/vertical thrusters (since compared to XB, the kb setup is using button presses instead of analog sticks)

My binds:
I use WSAD for vertical and lateral thrusters
QE for roll
RF for 50% and 75% throttle
X for zero throttle
Tab boost
Z for FA Off
chaff, heat sinks, SCB as C V B
For mouse i use a mmo mouse with like 20 buttons (EVGA X15)
Mouse axes are used for pitch and yaw (relative mouse)
And since i mostly fly FA-ON i bound Space to pitch up too, so i can use it to pitch in FA-ON and supercruise.
And for diving i use the aviation maneuver of roll into dive (roll then pitch up) or the mouse for less aggressive maneuvers
Mouse wheel for throttle increments
Also lateral mouse binds for forwaerd and reverse thrusters (these are quite mandatory for combat and general maneuvering since i lack a proper throttle bind)
Lateral mouse buttons for PIPSs (as alternates to kb arrows which are the defaults for PIPs), also mouse buttons for subtargeting

Basically i'm quite happy with my kb/m setup which works nicely (for me at least) in both FA ON and FA Off (and both in space or srv/on-foot)
 
Last edited:

Scoob

Scoob
Thanks for the replies all. I didn't want him to be disappointed as he didn't have the same controller set up as me, but it seems like he'll be fine. Cheers.
 

Northpin

Northpin
Scoob said:
Additionally, as he's getting just the base game and I have Odyssey, I'm not totally sure if we can play together
Click to expand...

You cannot play together unless you also start the game in Horizons (Live)
Also, if he's getting only the base game, Steam (and probably Epic too) will offer the legacy to download and play. Apparently Horizons Live is a separate download
So make sure they're starting on Live (really no point to start in legacy since the progress won't transfer over)

As per FDev announcement, U15 will make the Live client the main download and Legacy an optional download - till then, he will need to make the extra bit of effort and download Horizons Live separately
 

Ted Striker

Ted Striker
I only ever play this with mouse and keyboard.

The headache is from setting up the controls and keybinds. Soooo many controls and keybinds....
 

Scoob

Scoob
Northpin said:
You cannot play together unless you also start the game in Horizons (Live)
Also, if he's getting only the base game, Steam (and probably Epic too) will offer the legacy to download and play. Apparently Horizons Live is a separate download
So make sure they're starting on Live (really no point to start in legacy since the progress won't transfer over)

As per FDev announcement, U15 will make the Live client the main download and Legacy an optional download - till then, he will need to make the extra bit of effort and download Horizons Live separately
Click to expand...

So, when you buy the base game, by default it installs the Legacy version? That's daft, and likely explains why there's confusion over compatibility other have reported. It was this apparent confusion that lead me to ask the question.

So, basically, Live versions of Horizons can play together - I assume it's the Live Horizons version that's installed next to Odyssey currently on my system. I still use the regular FDev installer. However, if my friend downloads the base game (Horizons) it may well actually be installing the Legacy version. That's really really daft if true.

Ted Striker said:
I only ever play this with mouse and keyboard.

The headache is from setting up the controls and keybinds. Soooo many controls and keybinds....
Click to expand...

At least a keyboard has enough buttons for things. My HOTAS simply does not, so I still use the Keyboard for some things that don't have to be immediately to hand in a fight.
 

Scoob

Scoob
Looks like it did indeed download the Legacy version for him by default, he's getting the proper version now.

Edit: Btw, I'm using the FDev launcher and already have "Horizons" as an option. It does not say Live or Legacy next to it, can I assume it's the Live version?
 
Last edited:

Ian Doncaster

Ian Doncaster
Scoob said:
Edit: Btw, I'm using the FDev launcher and already have "Horizons" as an option. It does not say Live or Legacy next to it, can I assume it's the Live version?
Click to expand...
From memory the order from the top is "Odyssey", "Horizons", "Legacy Horizons", "Legacy Elite Dangerous" - try it as it'll be very obvious very quickly if it's the legacy version
 

Scoob

Scoob
Silly question, my friend is in the starting systems, but they no longer show for me on the Galaxy Map. I know I cannot visit them myself of course, but I at least expected them to be shown and to see the usual "your friend is here" marker. I've not run the game - outside of just letting it update and checking it still launches - for months now, so I'm a bit rusty. Plus, the filter options seem to have changed from what I had them set to.
 

Imo

Imo
Scoob said:
Hey all,

A friend of mine is looking at getting Elite Dangerous - likely just the base game as it's £6 at the moment. However, their only available control method is Keyboard and Mouse, they don't have a gamepad let alone a full HOTAS setup. I've only ever played with HOTAS personally, can't imagine using KBM for this type of game. However, I imagine plenty of people do. Do those who only use KBM get on fine, or are there aspects of the game that are particularly tricky with this control method?

Additionally, as he's getting just the base game and I have Odyssey, I'm not totally sure if we can play together. I've not really played for quite a while now, but will come back to help out a buddy. However, I'd want to do that on my "live" account, not going legacy. We're both on PC, so can I just run "Horizons" still and team up with him with my Live account I'm playing in Odyssey?

Cheers.
Click to expand...
I play with keyboard and mouse since 2014 and I am totally fine with it. I fly my ships with keyboard only, the mouse is only used for station menus at times. :)
 

Scoob

Scoob
He's getting the hang of it. Lots to learn for a new player especially as he's not played a game quite like this before. Died once already when he accidentally shot something he shouldn't while trying to change modes. Said he had to take out a loan (couldn't do that when I started) to cover the cost of the cargo he lost. Harsh lesson, but it should stick lol.
 

Scoob

Scoob
Thanks @Rat Catcher, oddly that option is enabled for me (first thing I checked) but they're still not showing. I'll toggle it off and on again to see if it fixes things. Offline now though, so it'll be later.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom