I have a decent HOTAS setup in my home, but unfortunately I'm living away from home in an apartment for an extended period of time and don't have access to it.
Instead, I've gotten an old DualShock 3 gamepad up and running. After some experimentation, I've ended up with a setup that's quite bit different from the default gamepad config, so I wanted to share it with you all and explain what I believe to be the benefits of this approach.
The biggest changes:
With this config, I don't have to take my hands off the gamepad for most flights. It felt a bit weird at first to have my left-stick-click modify the right stick, and vice versa, but in practice it works quite well. The major benefits are:
In practice, it feels like a mini-HOTAS. It's not nearly as precise of course - I have to use gimballed everything or I'm a sitting duck. But still - I'm able to play Elite on the go, which is the most important thing.
Instead, I've gotten an old DualShock 3 gamepad up and running. After some experimentation, I've ended up with a setup that's quite bit different from the default gamepad config, so I wanted to share it with you all and explain what I believe to be the benefits of this approach.
The biggest changes:
- Yaw-to-roll is DISABLED
- Flightstick (pitch/roll) moved from L-Stick to R-Stick
- Lateral/Vertical thrust moved from R-Stick to L-Stick
- Yaw enabled on R-Stick by clicking L-Stick and holding
- Headlook enabled on L-Stick by clicking R-Stick and holding
- Click both sticks for FSD
- Click both throttle up/down for landing gear
With this config, I don't have to take my hands off the gamepad for most flights. It felt a bit weird at first to have my left-stick-click modify the right stick, and vice versa, but in practice it works quite well. The major benefits are:
- Yaw is always at the ready - and the muscle pressure from clicking L doesn't affect precise thumb movement on R
- You can reallocate power without taking your thumb off the flightstick
- You can move headlook up your windscreen in a dogfight without taking your thumb off the flightstick (by pressing R-stick as you are dogfighting, and adding some L-stick movement to peek your head up. You do lose vert/lat thrusters during this, but feels like a good tradeoff)
In practice, it feels like a mini-HOTAS. It's not nearly as precise of course - I have to use gimballed everything or I'm a sitting duck. But still - I'm able to play Elite on the go, which is the most important thing.
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