Gamepad tips anyone?

[quackinthebush]

I started playing ED on the PS4 last year, and got used to using the Dualshock4 controller. About 3 months ago I built a PC and made the transition, started over from scratch with a new commander. At first I was using a single Logitech 3D pro joystick (with that dinky little throttle on the base). I ended up receiving 2 joysticks by mistake, so I also tried dual sticks. That was fun for a bit, but awkward without a proper desk/gaming chair. I've since gone back to my old trusty gamepad (I ended up ordering a DualShock5 after my old controller stopped holding a charge). Honestly I love the feel of the controller, and since I mostly play in the living room, it's more comfortable to flop on the sofa and play with that (my gaming PC is basically hiding behind the TV and is essentially the living room entertainment center).

Does anyone else play on their PC with a gamepad like the DS4 or DS5? I'd love to hear any tips or favorite configurations folks have. The only downside I've found is that you have to switch to "alternate flight controls" to use lateral thrusters vs yaw, so you don't really have the full 6 axis control. I use one of the stick buttons to activate headlook, and control it with the same stick, which has become almost second nature now. I haven't messed around with FAoff, so I'm not sure how a controller would work with that. I also really enjoy the controls of the SRV with a gamepad vs the joystick. Eventually I'd like to get a VR headset like the HP Reverb G2 to go with the controller, but I'm not sure how the combo works. Any thoughts or tips for ED on a gamepad are welcome.

Cheers!

 

[here_it_comes]

Controllers are flat-out inferior to dual sticks for combat. Also inferior to stick/throttle, or stick/kb, or kb+m. Really just bottom tier option for PC. My advice for controller use in combat is; get used to overly complicated combo buttons for basic functions and crude flight control. There's no way to get around having 2.5 buttons and mini sticks with little range, it is what it is.

Does anyone else play on their PC with a gamepad like the DS4 or DS5?

I use a controller when away from home to run non-combat tasks. It's clunky, but works ok for simple stuff.

I use one of the stick buttons to activate headlook, and control it with the same stick, which has become almost second nature now.

You should look into TrackIR. You'll never go back once used to it, and it will vastly simplify the clunky and complicated natured of flying with a controller.

I also really enjoy the controls of the SRV with a gamepad vs the joystick.

You can use a controller simultaneously with dual sticks or stick/throttle. Many find SRV more comfy with controllers despite using sticks and do this.

o7

 

[CMDR X]

I use HOTAS mainly but sometimes I need a controller. This is what I came up with.
Works pretty good. Whatever is missing from it I make up for with the keyboard.

(L) = Alternate mode, when landing gear is deployed.
SC and Jump buttons need to be pressed simultaneously.

 

[Cageman]

I use an xbox controller with default settings. Works on all my computers and laptops, easy to bring with you on vacation etc.

 

[Beach Cat]

I have always used a wired 360 controller. Most of my time in ED combat wise has been gimballs so the aiming thing with analogue sticks never was an issue., I finally started using fixed weapons on certain ships and got used to aiming with the stick. But obviously this is not as good as Mouse. This is based on ship combat.

 

[Drelthar]

Get a HOTAS.

 

[SilverBack5]

I use HOTAS for flight, and Xbox360 controller for on foot. There's just way too many things to manage on a gamepad for flight - like pips, headlook, targetting, weapons systems landing gear, you name it...Only way you could even come close is with a few different clutch buttons to dual assign buttons, but that limits you even further what you can one touch.
BUT- to each his own. It's all about how you enjoy playing it. I wonder if you could get a foot pedal or small bluetooth number pad to help out with some keybinds.

 

[quackinthebush]

Thanks for the replies. I've never had any issues with NPC combat using the gamepad, up to and including Elite pilots, but I imagine PVP would be a challenge. Not really my thing though, I play in open because I like the danger and seeing other friendly commanders, and usually I'm fast enough on the turn and burn to evade gankers.

I've got things like night vision, landing gear, etc bound to double buttons (like X + dpad left). Its pretty much muscle memory at this point and very fast. Basically I've got something like 38 buttons I can bind. The only time I have to get off my butt is to type something in the galaxy map search or chat.

So far my biggest struggle is using fixed weapons, it was much easier (tho still challenging) with a flight stick. I'm all over the place without gimbals now.

 

[Nerix]

This forum user has put quite a lot of thought into his layouts. It takes a while to get used to, but his layouts are much more efficient. With this setup you don't even have to switch to alternative flight controls and during a fight you nearly never have to take your left thumb from the left stick.

I am using this one, slightly adjusted:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/a-new-ds4-layout-from-sviking.469079/

My adjustments:

https://imgur.com/a/xgef8Pj

Source: http://imgur.com/a/xgef8Pj;
(not the lates adjustments, haven't updated the screens, but that's pretty close to what I'm using currently).

This is his newest iteration, I prefer the previous one though:

A final DS4 controller layout from SViking

Hello CMDRs, Maybe you already have a set of DS4 controller bindings that you're happy with. If not, then try this... you might like it. :) It's a tweaked and darn-near-perfected version of the one I posted here. It works really well for simple flight, like exploration and mining. But in...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[Good Death]

Coupled with voice attack an elite xbox controller is a fine option.https://voiceattack.com/

 

[here_it_comes]

As you already have sticks, if I were you, I'd whip together a simple platform to allow you to use them and a keyboard on your couch. All you'd need is a thin board with something on either end for it to rest on. Sit down and put it over/across lap, profit.

 

[CMDR Junagu]

Steam Controller. M&K with FreePIE script and vJoy for absolute/relative mouse switch.

 

[Kaocraft]

Yeah I like ps4 controller just fine. I also have a T16000M + throttle and it’s absolutely awful for driving the SRV especially aiming the turret. So I have to always have a gamepad plugged in just for that. And now with Odyssey I need to have room on the desk for comfortable M+K use, and it gets to be too much clutter and monopolization of USB ports (did I mention I run my games off an external drive?) to have the hotas set up anymore.

I started with the basic default gamepad configuration and then started adding additional button combo keybinds for additional functions that I like to use.

The only bad thing about the gamepad, besides the “alternate flight controls” for strafing conundrum, is that ship throttle is bound to the bumper buttons and there doesnt seem to be any way to use the analogue triggers for throttle. Which is annoying and weird: annoying, because it would allow for much faster more nuanced control of the ship; and weird, because they do allow you to bind the SRV throttle to the analogue triggers (and it works great).

 

[orange_apecs]

Used to use a HOTAS and occasionally a wired Xbox controller for SRV.
Then when I got a VR setup, went full controller (there is no coming back from full controller ).
Since Odyssey stuck with controller only. Had to switch between Hotas and Controller for on foot gameplay so in the end gave up.

The only thing I did was switch the yaw and pitch controls around but the rest is pretty much default settings.

 

[Sensei Jacksama]

I started playing ED on the PS4 last year, and got used to using the Dualshock4 controller. About 3 months ago I built a PC and made the transition, started over from scratch with a new commander. At first I was using a single Logitech 3D pro joystick (with that dinky little throttle on the base). I ended up receiving 2 joysticks by mistake, so I also tried dual sticks. That was fun for a bit, but awkward without a proper desk/gaming chair. I've since gone back to my old trusty gamepad (I ended up ordering a DualShock5 after my old controller stopped holding a charge). Honestly I love the feel of the controller, and since I mostly play in the living room, it's more comfortable to flop on the sofa and play with that (my gaming PC is basically hiding behind the TV and is essentially the living room entertainment center).

Does anyone else play on their PC with a gamepad like the DS4 or DS5? I'd love to hear any tips or favorite configurations folks have. The only downside I've found is that you have to switch to "alternate flight controls" to use lateral thrusters vs yaw, so you don't really have the full 6 axis control. I use one of the stick buttons to activate headlook, and control it with the same stick, which has become almost second nature now. I haven't messed around with FAoff, so I'm not sure how a controller would work with that. I also really enjoy the controls of the SRV with a gamepad vs the joystick. Eventually I'd like to get a VR headset like the HP Reverb G2 to go with the controller, but I'm not sure how the combo works. Any thoughts or tips for ED on a gamepad are welcome.

Cheers!

I use an elite xbox controller. The elite version 2 can bind one of the paddles as the shift key opening up additional modifiers. Idk how the binding works with PCs though. To be completely frank the primary reason why most (xbox users anyway) dont use a hotas is because Microsoft has limited us to only using a single model which happens to be complete dog sh*t. So please as one console player to another go spend a couple hundred dollars for a high end flight stick because you can.

 

[quackinthebush]

This forum user has put quite a lot of thought into his layouts. It takes a while to get used to, but his layouts are much more efficient. With this setup you don't even have to switch to alternative flight controls and during a fight you nearly never have to take your left thumb from the left stick.

I am using this one, slightly adjusted:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/a-new-ds4-layout-from-sviking.469079/

My adjustments:

https://imgur.com/a/xgef8Pj

Source: http://imgur.com/a/xgef8Pj;
(not the lates adjustments, haven't updated the screens, but that's pretty close to what I'm using currently).

This is his newest iteration, I prefer the previous one though:

A final DS4 controller layout from SViking

Hello CMDRs, Maybe you already have a set of DS4 controller bindings that you're happy with. If not, then try this... you might like it. :) It's a tweaked and darn-near-perfected version of the one I posted here. It works really well for simple flight, like exploration and mining. But in...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Wow thanks Nerix, I'll give some of these a try. It'll be hard to retrain my muscle memory but probably worth it to get that kind of control.

Yeah I like ps4 controller just fine. I also have a T16000M + throttle and it’s absolutely awful for driving the SRV especially aiming the turret. So I have to always have a gamepad plugged in just for that. And now with Odyssey I need to have room on the desk for comfortable M+K use, and it gets to be too much clutter and monopolization of USB ports (did I mention I run my games off an external drive?) to have the hotas set up anymore.

I started with the basic default gamepad configuration and then started adding additional button combo keybinds for additional functions that I like to use.

The only bad thing about the gamepad, besides the “alternate flight controls” for strafing conundrum, is that ship throttle is bound to the bumper buttons and there doesnt seem to be any way to use the analogue triggers for throttle. Which is annoying and weird: annoying, because it would allow for much faster more nuanced control of the ship; and weird, because they do allow you to bind the SRV throttle to the analogue triggers (and it works great).

I've gotten used to using R1/L1 for throttle at 12.5% increments. Simplified my use of throttle since I never needed finer control. Again, I'm always FAon so there's that. I'm excited to try this setup Nerix mentioned and give FAoff another shot on the gamepad.

As you already have sticks, if I were you, I'd whip together a simple platform to allow you to use them and a keyboard on your couch. All you'd need is a thin board with something on either end for it to rest on. Sit down and put it over/across lap, profit.

I might give this a try too, it was a lot of fun dogfighting with 2 sticks, or even deep core mining. Not ready to retire them yet.

 

[here_it_comes]

I might give this a try too, it was a lot of fun dogfighting with 2 sticks, or even deep core mining.

You won't regret going dual stick. Nothing offers better flight control. Not even close.