Which Joystick do you currently own/plan on getting?

  • Black Widow

    Votes: 47 1.5%
  • Saitek AV8R-03

    Votes: 8 0.2%
  • Saitek F.L.Y. 5

    Votes: 93 2.9%
  • Saitek X52

    Votes: 381 11.9%
  • Saitek X52 Pro

    Votes: 653 20.4%
  • Saitek X55

    Votes: 455 14.2%
  • Saitek X65

    Votes: 45 1.4%
  • Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas X

    Votes: 654 20.4%
  • Thrustmaster Warthog

    Votes: 364 11.4%
  • Logitech G940

    Votes: 52 1.6%
  • Other ... (Leave details on the comments)

    Votes: 690 21.5%

  • Total voters
    3,205
  • Poll closed .
Was just going to suggest the XBox controller as well. I use the XOne controller (bit more expensive than the 360) and it works very well for this game. I have all my buttons mapped out and I don't need to use the keyboard or mouse.
Do you use standard Control Pad with Yaw or have you got a custom config? If custom, do you mind sharing it?
 
Wifey just bought me a Warthog stick to replace my dying Extreme 3D. And without waiting for Xmas.

I'm in love all over again.

Sweet, smooth, firm, sexy exciting and with lots of interesting things to push and squeeze.

Not missing the twist - rudder is now on the CH Pro throttle thumbstick and lateral thrust on two of the buttons on the throttle front and mirrored to the trim hat on the Whog along with forward/back for landing pad positioning



Wifey is also much appreciated...
 
I use a CH pro throttle, CH Fighter stick, and Saitek pedals.

I've got the CH FighterStick and CH Pro Throttle. I also have the pedals, but haven't brought them out for ED because I wasn't sure they would be as useful as they are for flight sims. My desk area is a bit crowded, so I'll only break out the pedals if I don't think having yaw control on one of the stick hats is effective (so far it seems OK).

I also have a TrackIR 3 Pro, which I haven't used in few years. I'm looking around to get the latest SW for it so I can hook it up.

I've only just pre-ordered Dangerous, so I am still trying to get my kit set up.
 
It's custom. Left stick controls pitch and yaw. If I hold the A button, left stick becomes pitch and roll. I think the default was to press left stick to toggle that, but I found that annoying as I'm not fond of pressing the stick to often. Yaw-into-roll is off as I want full control over my manoeuvres. Right stick is for thrusters, or RS button to toggle view mode (I believe that's default behaviour). Playing with a Rift however is just so much better, but when it's off this serves its purpose. All deadzones are to the far left. FD defaults the deadzones to something like 15%, which is way to much. You get this jerky feeling of going from nothing to almost fast turn rate with just a slight nudge on the stick. Makes combat extremely difficult. Other than that, lots of multi button bindings to perform functions. A, B, and Y buttons all have multiple purposes. For example, A+Down triggers landing gear, A+Up triggers ship lights, A+Left triggers left turn signal (lol, j/k), A+RT triggers the frame shift drive, which may hyperjump if I have a remote star system targeted, etc.
 
I know it's not a joystick, but you could consider an Xbox 360 controller. It took a bit of getting used to but it's reasonable. £30-ish on Amazon.

Was just going to suggest the XBox controller as well. I use the XOne controller (bit more expensive than the 360) and it works very well for this game. I have all my buttons mapped out and I don't need to use the keyboard or mouse. Well, except in the recent patch since they broke gamepad input in a couple areas in the user interface. It's very comfortable and I can play while relaxing on my sofa, or while using the Oculus Rift. If this game supports controller vibration in the future, it will only augment the experience even more (though most joysticks nowadays support this as well). The nice thing about a gamepad too is you can use it for other games, so you get more value for your dollar. But it all comes down to what you want. There's more immersion to be had with a HOTAS.

It's custom. Left stick controls pitch and yaw. If I hold the A button, left stick becomes pitch and roll. I think the default was to press left stick to toggle that, but I found that annoying as I'm not fond of pressing the stick to often. Yaw-into-roll is off as I want full control over my manoeuvres. Right stick is for thrusters, or RS button to toggle view mode (I believe that's default behaviour). Playing with a Rift however is just so much better, but when it's off this serves its purpose. All deadzones are to the far left. FD defaults the deadzones to something like 15%, which is way to much. You get this jerky feeling of going from nothing to almost fast turn rate with just a slight nudge on the stick. Makes combat extremely difficult. Other than that, lots of multi button bindings to perform functions. A, B, and Y buttons all have multiple purposes. For example, A+Down triggers landing gear, A+Up triggers ship lights, A+Left triggers left turn signal (lol, j/k), A+RT triggers the frame shift drive, which may hyperjump if I have a remote star system targeted, etc.


tried the 360 controller, couldnt get used to it and it didnt feel natural if you know what i mean, i think im going to get the Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X ive read around a bit more and alot of people on reddit etc have said that its a really good stick, thanks for for all of your guys help! see you all on tuesday :D
 
This. Buy one. Don't look back.


Then get a CH products Pro USB throttle when you save up a bit more cash...

Z...
whenever i search for that it comes up with the Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X in the search, is it the same make just different look ?


Edit:....now im back at square one haha was looking at the 16000m a little more before i purchased and https://forums.robertsspaceindustri...tmaster-t-16000m-vs-t-flight-hotas-x-resolved people are saying the 16000 has better precision but its just the stick isnt it ? so its more keyboard and joystick, is that harder with keyboard + joystick or is it easier
 
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how is the keyboard joystick setup(how well does it play)? i dont plan on getting another stick till probably sometime next year.
 
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Joystick essential? Or gamepad enough?

Is a joystick essential to really play this game? How does a gamepad compare (Xbox)? And mouse & keyboard does not allow enough control, correct?
 
From my reading of what people have posted. Its entirely personal preference.

A joystick and throttle combo seems to be the majority preference but it doesn't make it right for everyone. If you are used to using another controller for something else you might just find it more natural to use that controller. If you've already got a gamepad, its probably worth trying it with that first.
 
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mouse and keyboard, with a bit of tweaking of the keyboard stuff, works just fine, especially if you're used to it in other games as a preferred input method.
 
once upon a time, i was using joysticks(top gun etc) i remember i was good with them. But then i moved into competitive FPS gaming and i became very good with a mouse.
When i tried using a joystick in other games my precision was worse than using a mouse. Other gamers can use a joystick and be very very good with it. practice ofc makes everything easier.

In ED things are different compared to other (easier)sim games. the way a ship is handled makes controling it with a mouse hard. If we compared it with arcade mode of Warthunder,(or freelancer) ED is like 10times harder.
As it was said, it's more of a personal preference.
I'd say that gamepad should be used as a secondary(supportive role) if used at all.(like use the sticks for translational thrusters or yaw)
gamepad has low accuracy so it will be hard to pinpoint targets. of course that's my opinion. you can totally control your ship with it, but you'll have trouble hitting targets.

If you are really good with a mouse, you can compete but it's very hard to master aswell. Using a joystick would be much easier to master.

For joystick, search something that has good centering and good accuracy near the center.anything else comes second(in my opinion)
I believe the average player is better off playing with a joystick or HOTAS setup.

I play with mouse+keyboard but that's a compromise i did. I found i could play with a mouse, and since i don't have a good joystick now :)

my advice is: If you don't have a joystick but have a joypad test it in combat training. then test mouse aswell. You can't do it? then get a joystick or hotas. If you don't have the money, use whatever suits you better from what you have :)
 
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To each their own I say, but IMO a HOTAS makes a lot of difference (but then again I have been using then for over a decade). Currently using an X55 and it is great, others use the Warthog or CH all of which would be more than enough for ED. Depending on budget if you want a cheap HOTAS for ED the Thrustmaster T.Flight X HOTAS works very well (I use this for older games that do not support multi joystick input), It's cheap, cheerful and has enough buttons to map the most essential functions in ED. Combine it with Voice Attack and you have a great setup. Of course this is just my opinion and many others are perfectly happy with gamepad or keyboard & mouse.
 
I started off with keyboard & mouse, and got very good with that particular combo. Once you have tailored the controls to the way you like them most of the functions become second nature and you can do them without really looking.

Very recently I received a HOTAS through a time warp, for Chrimbo. I spent a few days getting used to things and rebinding some controls and now I've got it set up the way I like it. It was like learning to walk again but once the feedback loops between eyes/brain/hands were configured correctly, it became a lot of fun! Still have to dock much slower than previously but I expect that to improve over time.

In essence then, KB & mouse is more than sufficient to play the game, and play it well. HOTAS joystick is more fun as it feels more 'spacey' (pew pew!), and looks better. Can't offer an opinion on gamepad other than there may not be enough buttons to bind all the controls you'd like to.

[EDIT] As mentioned above, try VoiceAttack - once you've mastered the art of setting up the commands correctly you'll improve your experience even further, and it only costs about a flim.

Whichever way you choose to go, remember to have fun :)
 
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I'd have to say that using a joystick is my favorite input method for games with 'flyable' vehicles. I haven't tried using my gamepad yet, and I didn't even bother with m+kb because of past experiences with War Thunder and IL-2.

Although keep in mind what Eldan Cross said,
For joystick, search something that has good centering and good accuracy near the center.anything else comes second(in my opinion)
I believe the average player is better off playing with a joystick or HOTAS setup.
I'm using a cheap Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, which was about 30$ and the center accuracy is pretty bad. But you can always work around this with the deadzone options for whatever axis is inaccurate or sticky.
 
Plays fine for me. I have a K70 so I can have only the keys I use backlit which helps a bit. I put all custom bindings in to make it easier for myself.
 
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