Joystick or Mouse/Keyboard
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Joystick for the immersion. Having said that, you can still use mouse at the same time.
Started off with the basic Thrustmaster set, moved to the Flight set with rudder pedals, just recently signed myself into poverty by upgrading to a full desk mounted Virpil set. For me the switch to HOTAS made all the difference and would highly recommend you giving it a try at a starter level to see what you think.
not sure why that is, I found it far more controllable and accurate after swapping to the T16000. Particularly as now Im comfortably able to play FA off all the time. That has drastically improved my accuracy and allowed me to use more fixed than gimballed weapons. The mouse always seemed far to difficult if not impossible to avoid over correction.
but again its the throttle that is the largest improvement and on my laptop I find myself using throttle and mouse.
Not sure why you would use a joystick on foot. I swap to my mouse for that. Though I can't imagine a controller would be an issue for on foot. The radial menus I imagine would actually be functional on a controller.
For most people…and my preference.
yes joystick without question, VKB NXT joystick > Thrustmaster t.16000
If you’re going to do it, you have to start with a VKB quality joystick, not this brand exactly.
Virpil likely costs too much for lost and Winwing costs a lot too.
The lower costing Thrustmaster stuff just doesn’t last but it’s how I started.
i actually don’t use a mouse and keyboard at all.
Joystick, throttle, and game pad (joystick has dual function with a mouse function.
Not sure where you heard this. One of the major points of the 16000 is its durability.
I've used a flight stick and a keyboard and mouse. The game plays fine with both. It comes down to preference. I have currently returned to using keyboard and mouse because I got tired of hooking up my flight stick everytime I wanted to play.
I use for a Thrustmaster flight X since day 0 and for cheap item like this, it does handle about 3,5 years of playing elite then it will broke. First one broke, some buttons fell off, and its axis become so worn out, that my ship could spin on its own, while stick was resting. I think I trew it out of my window at some point. Then I played a bit with K&M, and while it was very nice in PVP, felt too much OP for ralis, but it also felt much more diffrent to fly my ships how I used to fly when used hotas. I guess its down to preference, but it didnt felt that I can preform some advanced manuvers well as it was easy on hotas. It felt harder to rapidly control my throttle as well. But I found that I kinda miss hotas, more and more so I ended up buyed second (yep same Thrustmaster flight X) despite its problems with micro-accuracy, but it does feel so much more better for control of ships and really it does deliver much more immershun for feeling that you use same type of controls for your ship, wich is something any cmdr will see if they look at thier hands. Second one still holds just fine.
Thought Im preety sure that higher end hotas surely would solve some accuracy issues, wich unfortunetly it this model of hotas does have... it lacks being precise enough for micro-movements, wich is very important while flying FA off and trying score from some random cmdrs, thier drives, fsd's or plants... and thier rebuis sometimes too, with my rails.
But if youre not into such fancy hobbies, it should be fine to doing regular PVE as well, and its quite good for any begginer, with this model, long as it dont break. I would rate it like 6/10, mostly due of sympathy.
No idea about console pads, never used those in this game, but I think if pad is not worn out, it should be able to work preety well both in controls and accuracy. In end, quite of cmdrs playing on thier consoles with it, and only issue I would have with it, its huge amout of button combinations required to navigate and use all those control functions within game.
What I know for sure is:
Hotas with throttle, gives superior control over ships thrusters and thier acceleration than K&M, while in other end, K&M with relative setting with decent mouse does gives superior accuracy using fixed weapons, especially railguns, than Hotas setups. In other words, both have thier cons and pros. Pads are somewhere between.
Pick yours, have fun dangerously.
Thought Im preety sure that higher end hotas surely would solve some accuracy issues, wich unfortunetly it this model of hotas does have... it lacks being precise enough for micro-movements, wich is very important while flying FA off and trying score from some random cmdrs, thier drives, fsd's or plants... and thier rebuis sometimes too, with my rails.
But if youre not into such fancy hobbies, it should be fine to doing regular PVE as well, and its quite good for any begginer, with this model, long as it dont break. I would rate it like 6/10, mostly due of sympathy.
No idea about console pads, never used those in this game, but I think if pad is not worn out, it should be able to work preety well both in controls and accuracy. In end, quite of cmdrs playing on thier consoles with it, and only issue I would have with it, its huge amout of button combinations required to navigate and use all those control functions within game.
What I know for sure is:
Hotas with throttle, gives superior control over ships thrusters and thier acceleration than K&M, while in other end, K&M with relative setting with decent mouse does gives superior accuracy using fixed weapons, especially railguns, than Hotas setups. In other words, both have thier cons and pros. Pads are somewhere between.
Pick yours, have fun dangerously.
For the most part, it depends on what you grew up with. The latest generations have much more experience with console controllers or mice and keyboards.
For me, it's always been a joystick and keyboard, then when HOTAS's came out, did not need the keyboard for most buttons.
Been through them all. For almost twenty years I used Thrustmaster.
My favorite is still the Saitek X-52, but now I use Saitek X-56, only because I cannot justify the money for the military crafted sticks and throttles.
It comes down to what you are comfortable with.
Kind of hard to use a VR HMD with a mouse and keyboard unless you grew up with them.
For me, it's always been a joystick and keyboard, then when HOTAS's came out, did not need the keyboard for most buttons.
Been through them all. For almost twenty years I used Thrustmaster.
My favorite is still the Saitek X-52, but now I use Saitek X-56, only because I cannot justify the money for the military crafted sticks and throttles.
It comes down to what you are comfortable with.
Kind of hard to use a VR HMD with a mouse and keyboard unless you grew up with them.
From actual experience, its not something I heard. Multiple repair and replacements in 2 years especially on the twist axis. The throttle sticks to the point where we are ordering and replacing the internals with aftermarket fixes and work arounds..
The POV hat hurts your thumb as its too sharp, same with the hat on the throttle. I literally have trimmed bandaids covering each, which is rediculous.
The only Thrustmaster HOTAS that is durable is the metal warthog which has its limitations for a space sim and costs too much for something that isn't sure this is what they want.
Fpr the cost you are better off ordering the VKB nxt initially and if someone is really needing a throttle they can pick up one seperately but I would not recommend to anyone buying any Thrustmaster HOTAS for this game. Not for PC or Xbox which are my experiences having one of their products for each and having to replace, fix and do work arounds for all.
The VKB nxt just works and comes with replacements parts, in extreme cases you will get a part to fix some minor issue as its fully modular.
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pretty sure I have had mine for 3 years now, haven't had any issue with the throttle and I hardly ever use the twist axis so that could be the case. I have also never had an issue with the hat.
looking up what you said I have found a handful of people who had a problem with the twist axis(after a couple years), one video about the throttle sticking and nothing about the hat.
I use a Thrustmaster, gamepad & keyboard.
Thrustmaster for Ship flying, missile/weapons selection & firing.
Game pad for the SRV's & on foot stuff
Keyboard for all other commands including Ship's throttle - only have number pad keys set for 0, 25, 50, 75, 100% throttle plus boost & +/- keys for increase/decease in throttle.
Works well for me, but as Paul said above, it's what you've grown up with & how comfortable you are at the control settings you've bound when playing Elite.
I added a game pad when Odyssey dropped for the footy stuff, found it worked well how I'd set it up, then added the SRV onto it as a trial & that was better than using the keyboard & thrustmaster.....but can't see how I'd like to use it for flying my Ship.
Personal choice really!
Thrustmaster for Ship flying, missile/weapons selection & firing.
Game pad for the SRV's & on foot stuff
Keyboard for all other commands including Ship's throttle - only have number pad keys set for 0, 25, 50, 75, 100% throttle plus boost & +/- keys for increase/decease in throttle.
Works well for me, but as Paul said above, it's what you've grown up with & how comfortable you are at the control settings you've bound when playing Elite.
I added a game pad when Odyssey dropped for the footy stuff, found it worked well how I'd set it up, then added the SRV onto it as a trial & that was better than using the keyboard & thrustmaster.....but can't see how I'd like to use it for flying my Ship.
Personal choice really!
JS is that way to go if you love the flying part, however MS-KB if the main gameplay is FPS on foot related.
MK. Because it works for all scenarios with no drawbacks, no concessions and no loss of accuracy. It costs the lowest value too.
Owning a multi button mouse helps. I use this one:
I do own a controller, which I got for driving and fighting games and I did try that in Elite and my word I have no idea how anyone can manage with it long term. Not without constantly needing to reach for the keyboard as well. The advantages of analogue in this game are so minimal.
The only thing you "consistently" lose if you use MK is the immersion of using a stick. Which I'm unconviced really matters when you're sat in a room looking at a PC screen
I can still use all 6 degrees of movement and the only minor concession there is strafe left/right isn't super easy to access, so I use it only when maneuvering for landing/taking off. You don't really need it for 95% of scenarios anyway. Pitch, yaw and roll are enough for almost anything and you can use those very easily with the mouse if you set up the relative axis and dead zones right.
The only thing FD still need to fix for this is the ability to swap relative axis depending on flight assist on or off. If they added that in, you'd even be able to perform xeno orbitals whilst still retaining standard flight ability without altering the setup. And that's the only bit where I think a stick is better. Using mouse when flight assist is off demands that relative axis be turned on (otherwise it's a floppy mess). But turning both axis on for relative mouse renders normal and super cruise flight a slog. If you could switch between modes when toggling flight assist on or off then it'd be perfect.
Owning a multi button mouse helps. I use this one:
I do own a controller, which I got for driving and fighting games and I did try that in Elite and my word I have no idea how anyone can manage with it long term. Not without constantly needing to reach for the keyboard as well. The advantages of analogue in this game are so minimal.
The only thing you "consistently" lose if you use MK is the immersion of using a stick. Which I'm unconviced really matters when you're sat in a room looking at a PC screen
I can still use all 6 degrees of movement and the only minor concession there is strafe left/right isn't super easy to access, so I use it only when maneuvering for landing/taking off. You don't really need it for 95% of scenarios anyway. Pitch, yaw and roll are enough for almost anything and you can use those very easily with the mouse if you set up the relative axis and dead zones right.
The only thing FD still need to fix for this is the ability to swap relative axis depending on flight assist on or off. If they added that in, you'd even be able to perform xeno orbitals whilst still retaining standard flight ability without altering the setup. And that's the only bit where I think a stick is better. Using mouse when flight assist is off demands that relative axis be turned on (otherwise it's a floppy mess). But turning both axis on for relative mouse renders normal and super cruise flight a slog. If you could switch between modes when toggling flight assist on or off then it'd be perfect.
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