So my wife bought me the X52 this xmas, after I've played ED since release with kb/m. Holy crap it's hard. Has anyone that's been in this situation have any tips for getting used to the new controls? I'm at the point where I can just about dogfight, but with nowhere near the fluidity or instinct, I suppose, that I used to have. Maneuvering and docking is still scary though as I still have to think about every move I make. Don't even get me started on driving the SRV. I know people are going to say, practice, practice, practice, and I'm doing that, what I'm looking for is more along the lines of, well A, B or C helped me with D. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Thanks for reading.
Getting used to HOTAS...or not
- Thread starter UOcUKAkira
- Start date
Dude. Yeah, it's just practice. For me, it was easy - most of my 30+ years of gaming has been with a real joystick (except for FPS, I used a mouse for that). I never could - and still haven't - been able to fly things nor drive things with a mouse, or a gamepad.
But once mastered, a HOTAS is miles beyond the control a KB/mouse gives you. Keep at it.
Hehe, I really can't imagine how HOTAS is harder than something else like keyboard, but then again I have used HOTAS years, anyway want to congratulate you for X-52, it is great joystick, at least I love mine.
I know where you're coming from, I haven't really used a joystick for anything since Gunship 2000 on the Amiga. Obviously, gamepads and the like on consoles, but nothing with this complexity.
I can't help with your main problem, I went seamlessly from K&M to HOTAS but then I only used K&M for a few days.
But as to driving your SRV - don't use a HOTAS for this. I'm 100% comfortable with my HOTAS for ship flight and I abandoned my HOTAS for my XBOX 360 controller for my SRV very quickly after my first landing. If you don't have a controller then K&M will still be better than a HOTAS for SRVs.
Jeez I'm a dumbass. I was using an xbox controller to drive the SRV before I got the x52. Why not just carry on using it? D'oh. Guess I was just excited to put the kb/m and controller away, but there's no reason to abandon the controller just for planetside. Nice one.
I can't remember a time when I coudn't use HOTAS. I bought my first one during the days of Jane's.
Docking takes no conscious thought for me because I spent so much time on flight sims over the years. Back in 1984, Elite on BBC Micro with analog joystick - docking was slow and difficult. Now it's a subconscious instinct.
If you've been raised on those
-awful eggbox controls then I urge you to forget about them and stick with Hotas. Make sure you take deadzone down to a minimum in game for the joystick.- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -
HOTAS works very well for SRV. Especially given u spend some of the time in the air with the vehicle via vertical boost. Note that your virtual self in the SRV is using HOTAS and not an eggbox controller.
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I can't remember a time when I coudn't use HOTAS. I bought my first one during the days of Jane's.
Docking takes no conscious thought for me because I spent so much time on flight sims over the years. Back in 1984, Elite on BBC Micro with analog joystick - docking was slow and difficult. Now it's a subconscious instinct.
If you've been raised on those
I'm definitely sticking with it, and have all my deadzones set to minimum. Might put a little bit on the throttle though, the X52 could do with a detent in the centre of the throttle axis.
For those who use a mouse and keyboard, don't worry, its not a bad thing, I prefer mouse and keyboard for ED, I use a joystick for flight sims thats about it, I found using voice commands to do everything apart from go up,down left & right and shoot works a treat. (wife thinks im barmy spending my time on the computer talking to it)
Bought myself a tidy joystick for ED but only used it a bit, I prefer M & K. If you set up your play area right and get a mouse pad with a gel support for your wrist; and some kind of elbow support ie a desk on the right/left its great.
Bought myself a tidy joystick for ED but only used it a bit, I prefer M & K. If you set up your play area right and get a mouse pad with a gel support for your wrist; and some kind of elbow support ie a desk on the right/left its great.
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Yeah, just stick with it. It was a bit awkward for me at first, too, when I first switched from KB+M to HOTAS after playing that way for a few months. The stick part wasn't so bad, it was mostly getting used to using the throttle fluidly in conjunction with the stick. It took a week or two to get used to it, but after a while it became second nature like driving a car. I don't even think about it anymore, and I couldn't possibly imagine going back. Hang in there, and congrats on your new toy!
I've kind of done that in reverse, bought flight sims to try to get used to HOTAS without the immediacy of ED. Tried out voice commands, but didn't really take to it. I often play after my wife has gone to bed, and seeing as my PC is in the bedroom, well, you can imagine how that went.
Thanks man. You're right, the throttle is absolutely the hardest aspect of the setup.
Elite is a flight sim dude.
He has HOTAS so it makes no sense for him to give up and use mouse+keys. Destroys the realism and actually he'd be making things even harder for himself. HOTAS will seem intimidating because of all the controls and the size but once he gets used to it there is nothing better. It's the correct control for a flight sim. It's the wrong control for GTA V as is the eggbox controller.
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I really recommend opening up the throttle controller, and removing the little plastic block that causes the throttle to have those detents. It's safe and easy to do, and there are great YouTube tutorials that will walk you through it. This makes a huge difference in being able to smoothly adjust the throttle, and makes it feel a lot better when you have both forward and reverse mapped to the throttle at once. And, yes, a reasonable dead zone to separate forward/reverse is a big help there.
Elite is the first game I've played with joystick/HOTAS. Felt very natural to me. But then I didn't try to play it. With m+k first. But that's how I played the old Elite games. Well, mostly keyboard.
OMG how annoying are those resistances at the end of the throw? I've got my resistance dialled right out and still it tips the base before I can push through it to full throttle or reverse. (I can't attach them permanently and my desk has a matte finish)
Yes. You have to get used to it. Specially if you played with m/kb before.
I'm with you and can feel the pain.
Got a warthog HOTAS for Xmas as my previous JS kept failing (yaw function). Was using left hand for JS and right for KB commands - now swapped to right hand JS and left throttle. I feel like I don't deserve my ranking and should reset my game.
Saying that though, a week in and it's starting to get easier but not instinctive.