Newcomer / Intro New to spaceship games - does it get any better?

[kislany]

Yep, I"m using the keybindings from that tutorial as well. In fact that tutorial is really great for me, for docking it taught me a lot. Now I've also made the travel tutorial and after 2-3 failed tried, I'm getting more confident. Still not ready to log onto the real game, but every time I play, I notice something else that is important and failed to see before - like that small compass where you can see your target - just today I've realized how much easier is to see my allocated spot when docking - just follow that and my number is much easier to see...

Still only second day in, but already having lots of fun (and i'm only in tutorials so far).

Regarding the joystick - I will start using it at some point as well, but right now I literally don't know how to use it, and don't want to learn until I've got a basic grip of the game and the main commands.

So, loving it so far

Thanks everyone for the kind answers, I'm reading all of them (I wish there were a 'like' system like in Planetside 2 forums, so I can rep you all for helping me out. I'll keep reading this thread, learning from it a lot as well - lots!

 

[technion]

I use these keybindings and it made piloting SO MUCH EASIER. Still an exercise of finger dexterity sometimes, but it's better than default. My hotas needs to come in the mail already...

I'm left handed and the default bindings for every game ever are terrible. I've got the mouse in my left hand, and my right naturally sits over the arrow keys. But instead, control buttons are usually wasd on the far side of the keyboard.

 

[Halo Moon]

--> windows xbox type controller<--

 

[theEmohawk]

If you have a stick there no reason you shouldn't plug it in and use it. Not only are joysticks much easier to navigate with, they're also a ton more fun. Because none of the controls transfer between mouse and joystick you're not doing anything but hampering yourself and delaying the inevitable. I highly suggest you plug that bad boy in and start learning!

^^^^^^ What he said.

The joysticks were designed for flying things in 3 dimensions , a mouse was designed for moving a cursor around a 2D surface.

Your joystick is actually one of the better non-HOTAS sticks. I'd suggest that if you have one available then plug it in and stop beating yourself up trying to learn to fly with a mouse. Sure, some people play kb+mouse very successfully but if you're 3h into the game and still struggling to dock and undock I'd suggest that sticking with the mouse is going to hamper your enjoyment.

The way I had my stick setup (a different model to yours) was with the regular axis for x, y and twist, and the vertical and side thrusters on a hat switch. Worked wonderfully, I docked and undocked first time in the tutorials and I've not flown a flight sim game for the last 5 years.

Plug in the joystick. Go into the tutorials (start with the first one where you are collecting canisters, ignore the canisters and just fly around the asteroids to get used to the controls, then go to the docking tutorial). Other than the flight axis, for docking all you really need is the button to drop your landing gear, which you can keep bound to the kb.

Also, if you are right-handed and using joystick and kb, what I found helped was mapping the important keys to the number pad and right side of the kb. With the stick sat immediately to the right of the keyboard it kept everything in easy reach for me when I had my left hand on the tiny throttle on the base of my stick.

Once I decided that I was enjoying the game enough I splashed out on an X52 Pro, so no kb for me now except typing in chat or galaxy map.

 

[theEmohawk]

Regarding the joystick - I will start using it at some point as well, but right now I literally don't know how to use it, and don't want to learn until I've got a basic grip of the game and the main commands.

I'd really encourage you to reconsider. You don't want to wore up your brain to one control method and then have to learn another.
When I switched from joystick and keyboard to using a joystick and throttle it took me a weekend to relearn the controls. You will find learning the other stuff easier if you don't have to worry about flight controls.

Joystick = simple.
Push forward your nose goes down. Pull back your nose goes up.
Move it left and you bank left. Move right and you bank right.
Twist left and you yaw left. Twist right and you yaw right.

Even if you just use it for the flight controls and ignore all the joystick buttons start using it and you'll see a big difference in docking.

 

[cmdr lowest]

Thanks everyone for the kind answers, I'm reading all of them (I wish there were a 'like' system like in Planetside 2 forums, so I can rep you all for helping me out. I'll keep reading this thread, learning from it a lot as well - lots!

There's a little "* Rep" button at the bottom-left of each post which you can use to give other users rep if you feel they have been helpful...

Glad to hear you are enjoying yourself. There's a bit of a learning curve when starting out but you'll get there soon. If you plan on trying out the joystick you might want to consider giving it a try sooner rather than later. Remember that all the learning you are putting in to the controls right now, you'll have to do that all again when you try out the joystick.

If you have any questions feel free to ask here in the newcomers forum. Plenty of helpful people here.

Fly safe commander.

 

[Haileene]

Then welcome to the game

followed the same path as you with eve, and I like this one too.
As with everyone said before, if you have a stick, better use it now, because :

1° all the time you learn to control your ship is lost game time learning to control your ship with the stick (yes it's easyer, but still a lot to learn)

2° I never tried to play the game with K&M, but I bet you will find yourself in a lot more troubles trying to dock with K&M than with joystick, and then you will want to try the docking computer wich takes ages to land + get many players to get killed by stations while using it

3° It's tons of fun playing with the stick, and as I understand how you react to difficulty, once you are using the stick, you will soon discover about fighting without *flight assists on*, and go for the big fun

4° If you need to learn everything, why not begin with all the good tools at your disposal ? Imagine someone wanting to learn carpentry and defining his learning path with starting only with stone tools, until he as done enough learning before moving on electrical tools ??? Or a secretary wanting to learn only on a typewriter before using a PC ? as you see it's not totally useless to do it the hard way, but there is no reasons to choose it

Have fun in the game, but also remember that for now, the game is still in early game release mode, so yes eve is far easyer to fly as it is click game, but for now the depth of gameplay for ED is far beyond the depth of gameplay in eve (I know I will be flamed for that... but yes it's what I really think even if I love all the good stuf this game has in now...), so beyond flying, the rest is very simple to learn

Fly safe

 

[Zylark]

I'm left handed and the default bindings for every game ever are terrible. I've got the mouse in my left hand, and my right naturally sits over the arrow keys. But instead, control buttons are usually wasd on the far side of the keyboard.

I'm a leftie too, so out of old habit, the first thing I do in a new game, is visit the options menu and remap a host of keys. In FPS shooters it is easy enough, as I got a 'standard' set-up that I use across a host of games. In ED some thought had to go into the remapping process. Though luckily I got a stick (Saitek Cyborg Evo) that is perfect for us south-paws, so most the important parts is controlled from there. Using a joystick in this game is really helpful, can't imagine playing with mouse and keyboard.

Even so, after about a day of playing, getting the hang of the game and what does what, I re-visited the key-mapping screen again a few times and optimized my set-up.

Oh, and a pro-tip if you got a furry feline or two, remove the binding for eject cargo...

 

[the100thmonkey]

I'm very left-dominant, but use a joystick and mouse in my right hand.

The strongest argument I have against using the kb/m is that it occupies both hands on controls. You'll need to take your hands off a and d at some point to rebalance shields or put power to weapons, which is less than ideal because you won't be fully in control of your ship.

 

[cmdr lowest]

I'm very left-dominant, but use a joystick and mouse in my right hand.

The strongest argument I have against using the kb/m is that it occupies both hands on controls. You'll need to take your hands off a and d at some point to rebalance shields or put power to weapons, which is less than ideal because you won't be fully in control of your ship.

Actually, good time to bring up Voice Attack software.

Download the free trial and give it a go too. You can map non-essential functions to voice commands. It works far better than it should.

I use mine for mainly engaging throttle at different percentages (landing speeds, fuel scooping, just plain "full throttle" or "all stop"). I use it to balance power between systems and even have a command (attack positions) which puts all power to weapons and deploys hardpoints.

You can use it to never have to touch the keyboard...

 

[YoBuck]

Actually, good time to bring up Voice Attack software.

Download the free trial and give it a go too. You can map non-essential functions to voice commands. It works far better than it should.

I use mine for mainly engaging throttle at different percentages (landing speeds, fuel scooping, just plain "full throttle" or "all stop"). I use it to balance power between systems and even have a command (attack positions) which puts all power to weapons and deploys hardpoints.

You can use it to never have to touch the keyboard...

Fully approve of this post. Voice attack is a great addition. And nice red dwarf sig CMDR lowest

 

[HarlequiNQB]

I'm going to jump on the 'Try the joystick' bandwagon. I started with KB+M since I didn't have a stick (well I did, but it's so old my PC has no compatible ports), and I thought mouse would probably be fine until the one I ordered arrived.

I couldn't make it through the tutorials, thought this must be the most difficult game ever.

Once I got the stick (since I'd ordered one) I tried them again. One try and I waltzed through the first 4 combat missions and landed on the first try - the amount it helped was surprising.

So give it a go. You have the stick, won't do any harm to try it, and if it doesn't work out you can go back to the mouse.

Two caveats:
1) Some people are better on KB+M than I'll ever be with a joystick. Some folks are just wired that way. You may be one of them, but you'll never know if you don't try both.
2) Some people can't get used to pulling back on the stick to move the nose up, or using left and right to roll. Fortunately all that can be configured. Don't forget you can also twist most sticks for yaw, or roll if you'd rather yaw by leaning the stick.

Welcome aboard, and best of luck.

 

[the100thmonkey]

Actually, good time to bring up Voice Attack software.

Download the free trial and give it a go too. You can map non-essential functions to voice commands. It works far better than it should.

I use mine for mainly engaging throttle at different percentages (landing speeds, fuel scooping, just plain "full throttle" or "all stop"). I use it to balance power between systems and even have a command (attack positions) which puts all power to weapons and deploys hardpoints.

You can use it to never have to touch the keyboard...

I have an X52 Pro. I never have to touch the keyboard except for chat.

However, it seems an excellent way to cut down on navigating menus. The only sticking point for me is that it costs money (albeit a trifling amount) when there is a free alternative available - GlovePIE has voice recognition capabilities these days. I guess the tradeoff is that you have to program it yourself.