The Joystick/Controller discussion thread
This, the X-55 has plenty of buttons to bind everything you need.
Random Logitech keyboard I found in my closet + Kensington Expert Trackball. =P Mouse is ball. Ball is life.
Open question, actually, to those who go Joystick - has anyone tried out dual sticks? I've recently remembered I have a couple (one has Z-twist, the other doesn't) and I feel like Elite would be hecka fun with a setup like that.
While I would not split out joystick from HOTAS since you'd have to go pretty cheap to have a joystick that didn't contain some form of throttle lever built in, playing a flight sim (space or not) with anything other than a stick is sacrilege. You should feel ashamed and probably just stop playing until you purchase one.
Using the keyboard and a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro and feel fully in control. 
I'll probably end up buying a HOTAS one day though.
I'll probably end up buying a HOTAS one day though.
I do not, and I probably should, and I will not. =P Mouse is ball, ball is life.
That's just the thing though - I don't want my ship to go forward or backward all the time. Sometimes I want to be going up, down, left, right or some odd angle that's not entirely any direction. A throttle constantly has the engine pushing my ship in forward or reverse. I could slow to 0, but that would kill my momentum and make me an easy target.
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X52 for me. I prefer to play any space/flight sim with a stick. Though when I was between sticks for a few days I did play kbd/mouse which was fine, and very easy to escape interdiction. I deliberately avoided combat though! My landings were more precise too!
Keyboard + Joystick (Warthog)!
I just find the HOTAS does not work for me for all the different thrusters.
For a short time, I was using a MS Strategic Commander (see https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18432) for left hand, and though it was great for all the different thrust axes in combat, it was not precise enough for landing, so after a while I ended up going back to the keyboard.
The next thing I'm going to try is to mod a joystick into a left hand controller, I think... when I find the time...
I just find the HOTAS does not work for me for all the different thrusters.
For a short time, I was using a MS Strategic Commander (see https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18432) for left hand, and though it was great for all the different thrust axes in combat, it was not precise enough for landing, so after a while I ended up going back to the keyboard.
The next thing I'm going to try is to mod a joystick into a left hand controller, I think... when I find the time...
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I can still control my lateral thrust. the x55 Rhino has two thumb hats, one of which I use for up/down/left/right thrust. So I can toggle reverse(a button on the back of throttle) while adjusting throttle speed, while thrusting downward(thumb hat), while disabling flight assist(toggled with stick's pinky switch 1) while aiming and shooting. I still have a spare finger to pop my SCB at the same time if I wanted to as well as switch fire groups or retract hard points mid turn. You just need a throttle with a lot of buttons, and the dexterity to train your muscles for that movement. I play guitar with that hand, so finger stretching and finger precise finger movement is like second nature to me.
That is just how it works for me though.
A second stick may work for you then. If you have pedals (which most Warthog users do) then your pedals would control forward and reverse throttle, your left stick would control up/down/left/right thrust, and you would have a 2nd trigger button and 2nd secondary trigger button. You would then need to bind yaw to something, if you use it, usually twist, maybe on the 2nd stick? This setup would take a day or so to get fully acquainted with, but a few Star Citizen pilots prefer dual sticks. If I get an ambidextrous stick I like with pedals, I may try this out myself.
Another option is to build a Delta Throttle, which takes the 2nd stick concept but streamlines it. You lose a few buttons, but controlling the lattice of your ship requires a smaller learning curve. And you would have to build it yourself, or pay someone to build it for you.
Here is a link in case you haven't seen this yet. http://www.deltathrottle.com/
yeah i'm mouse + kb, read a few times ppl saying 'omg the mouse and keyboard controls are horrible' well, they are nearly identical to x3 for me, the only difference is that you need to click to give control to the mouse in x, where as its just always enabled for elite. the roll gets a little touchy only have to tap the mouse to put you into a roll but its completely manageable, i still can't boost into and out of the station without fear of clipping the letterbox but, i can cruise into a station at 200m/s nps.