Newcomer / Intro Total Beginner seeking advice

[TiberiuS]

This game is awesome! I was able to get my keyboard and mouse to a playable level thanks to the guy on here that told me exactly what to do! Thanks so much!!

You're welcome.

So far, I've just logged into solo and I did a few cargo runs. Then I accepted a run, and didn't realize the system was outside my jump range. I tried to get to a closer system to refuel, thinking that it was just a fuel issue, but nope, it was still outside the range. I had to abandon it, then I realized I had 4 scrap that was labeled as "stolen"! So I dumped them on the black market. Hated to do that, but I honestly didn't know what to do lol.

Yes, that's one thing you have to learn in this game. Before taking a mission, check if you can actually fulfill it. And never take a mission when you don't know exactely what you have to do and what the consequences can be. (assassination missions, mercenary/combat missions --> they can lead to bad reputation or a bounty on your head straight forward). So better read something about those missions before you attempt to do them.

I can't wait to get my stick, so I can start doing some fighting though. No way I'm going to attempt that with the mouse lol. The tutorial stuff was mixed. Sometimes it was easy, and other times it took me over 10 minutes to finally take the AI guy out.

If you're used to it you don't really have a disadvantage when fighting with mouse+kb. The feel with a flightstick is better, though.
The training missions are a good point to test and improve your combat skills. As you have expierenced they start from a ship that has printed 'shoot me' on it to some really tough combat missions.

I've noticed a lot of the missions seem to be "bring us (random resource) and be rewarded" types. So far, I've found no way to figure out where to go to find these things. I suppose you could just hope to get lucky when landing at a port, and they have it for sale. But those are kindof confusing. Missions that I can actually do as a complete n00b seem to be kindof rare.

When you have flown around a bit you have access to trade data and you can show them in your galaxy map. Sometimes you can see a trade route of the goods you need to bring in the mission and know where you have to go to buy them.

 

[MetalMicky]

Hi CMDR Vhayne. If its any help you can mostly start out on the bulletin board taking on the small cargo deliveries, and messenger jobs. They are the ones which THEY provide the cargo lol. Then when you go onto the galaxy map you will see a delivery symbol of some kind at the planet in question. If not, type it in the find: box and target it then. Missions that involve getting goods for you to bring back. And this is BEFORE you accept the mission!!! There are loads of info on here on how to narrow your search down to find the planet and product on the galaxy map. OR, do what I do and use SLOPEYS trade tool, and pick the product you want to buy. Put that in the product purchase box or trade in slot. You should have your planet and station in the current location box( This is done automatic by Slopeys trade tool). Type "ANY" in the destination box. DONT forget to limit your search parameters in the distance Light Years box!!!!. Press search.... By rights it should come up with a list of the product and more importantly the closest location to buy it. With this info, find the planet and station on the galaxy map. Do a quick search to make sure the product you want is NOT illegal in both planet systems, ha ha (yep, I got caught with that one). Then, and only then go and accept the mission. Please, take note if the mission has a time limit on it or fine for not completing within said time. Most, are ok. but some are with stations that are a looooooong way from the main star jump. Any hoo, enjoy..... thanks for reading.

 

[InMemoriamSirocco]

Mouse and KB works fine. You just have to change the yaw/roll axis and set the mouse to 'relative mouse movement' and a low reset rate.

I must advise you not to follow this advice. It will most likely lead to you being killed in game, and to much frustration trying to steer your vessel.

 

[TiberiuS]

I must advise you not to follow this advice. It will most likely lead to you being killed in game, and to much frustration trying to steer your vessel.

And that is why? And what exactly do you refer to? I fly like this since the beginning.
Having the Yaw axis on your mouse feels much more natural. (Of course on a flightstick you'll want the roll axis.)

Acutally the standard config gets you frustrated and killed imo

Edit: Actually not one of the mouse/kb players I recommended the control sceme up to now didn't like it. They were all quite happy with it.

 

[who?]

Anyway, I purchased the game yesterday, and tried to play it (just the tutorials now -- shooting barrels) with mouse/keyboard, as well as a ps4 controller. Neither one worked very well for me, so I decided to just jump right in, and I just purchased the Saitek x52 Pro Hotas setup, as well as TrackIR5. They will arrive tomorrow! Super excited!

Here is where the questions come up.

I haven't used a joystick on any of my PC's since the old days of the Wing Commander games. Since then, I've used all types of programmable mice, keyboards, gamepads, and other device types like the razer orbweaver. I remember how they can sometimes be a pain to get setup just the way you want them, and of course, each program is different.

Can anyone give me a quick run-down of the sequence I need to proceed in order to get all of this setup as easy as possible? I'm not sure if the Saitek will come with profiles specifically for Elite Dangerous or not. Do I need to re=configure the controls in the Saitek software? Or do I do it ingame, just changing things?

Oh, you're going to love it. Bought a HOTAS (TM Warthog) and TrackIR just for this game. I think if I was just flying around in circles picking up cargo, I'd still love doing it with a setup like that.

You're probably going to end up tweaking the profile a lot to suit your tastes. Roll/pitch/throttle are obvious enough. If you don't have "rudder" pedals then you'll need to map yaw to something (and bear in mind you'll need to do this in combat where both hands will be busy). Thrust up/down/left/right essential for take-off & landings in particular. Diverting power between Systems, Engines and Weapons is useful to change in-combat, so I'd also have that mapped somewhere on the HOTAS. And the ability to switch between targets. Pretty soon you're running out of buttons, fingers and talent! The TrackIR is fantastic though, the ability to switch to the side-screens, and target enemies off-axis with a twist of the head.

I have a different HOTAS setup, but I'd assume it's the same, you configure the controls via the Elite Options > Control screen. Just be aware you might see things like Landing Gear being mapped to "Joy 29", then you'll have to find your Saitek manual to figure out which button/switch "Joy 29" is!

 

[Vhayne]

So far you guys never cease to amaze me in your detailed replies and advice! Thanks for that. If only other game communities could deliver like you all, just imagine how nice that would be.

I just woke up and found that my TrackIR and x52 Pro on the porch! Man I can't wait to open them up and set it all up. I'm tempted to do the Track IR first actually. But anyway, I'll update you guys as soon as I get it all up and running. Woot! Fun times ahead! haha

 

[MrDoe]

I found this thread really helpful, when i got my x52.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?p=622335

Although changed the pinky switch back to defaults to double my buttons.

Have fun!

 

[who?]

Oh, and I forgot another one you might need - switching weapon groups. I find it handy to have one weapon group with lasers (to bring down a target's shields), then a second group with lasers and multi-cannons when their shields are down. That way you're not wasting cannon ammo on shields which they're not ideal for. After a while, you'll get a feel for which things you need to change a lot "on the go" depending on your play-style, and which you rarely need so can just be mapped to keyboard buttons.

 

[Vhayne]

I just finished setting up the track IR and testing it. Wow, very sweet! I only did the 2nd tutorial mission so far, but it was so much easier to keep track of my enemy. And flying under asteroids and looking up is awesome!

I also finished unpacking the hotas (my wife likes it when I call it "hotass", "Are you playing with your hotass honey?") rofl. So far, all looks good. Going to finish up and get to testing! This might take a while because we really need to do lunch.

 

[AstroZak]

I have an X55 and an Ed tracker. So your experience shouldn't be too far removed from mine.
firstly, take your time. Setting things up right for you will really pay dividends in the long term.

ED does have profiles for some HOTAS systems, the x52 is one of them (so is the x55) so, if you set your controls to their default x52 profile, you should have a fairly good starting point.
Personally, I spent the time going through and assigning my own complete set of bindings. This is always an option, and there's nothing stopping you from going back later and reassigning stuff and tweaking your settings for your comfort.
There is software for the x52 for programming profiles - for the most part you shouldn't need it. The only control that I've had to program is a slider switch on my throttle which doesn't act like a joystick button - that one control also means that I need to load the profile before loading ED, which is a complete pain in the backside (I forget to do it, then wonder why I can't set reverse gear - I wish Saitek would improve the software some more)

As for the Track IR, install the hardware and software. Then you might need to assign a few head look controls, which is easy done in game. Once you have that done it should just work. Again, there are times when the whole thing goes nuts (yes, I know someone with a Track IR) but a simple reset of the track IR stuff and it'll be all working again.

 

[Vhayne]

Yeah I had a bit of issues with the Track IR at first. I use a 46"1080p TV on my desk (about 3 feet from me - for immersion lol), so I at first put the receiver on the desk at the bottom of the tv. That didn't work because when I tilted my head down, the lid of my hat (which is what the reflectors are attached to) got in the way of my own vision lol. Also, when tilting my head up to look up, the camera lost the sight of the reflectors, then everything goes nuts.

Once I repositioned it on the top of my tv (way up there lol), it's worked perfect!

Late for lunch, but I was able to setup the hotas. I just installed the software off the site (I know the included disc would probably be out of date), and downloaded Saitek's ED profile. Then changed my control scheme in the ED menus to Saitek x52 Pro, and it seems to be working great! It's a bit difficult to get directly on target when dogfighting (just doing the tutorials), but hopefully I'll get used to it. Been a LONG time since I've done any simulation flying stuff lol.

The gimbaled lasers on the advanced combat tutorial are gonna spoil me though! haha

 

[who?]

Are the side-screens working ok for you with the TrackIR? (i.e. are they stable when you turn your head to look at them?)

I had an issue where the Elite TrackIR profile (which I think I downloaded from this site) wasn't being selected when launching the game, it was just using a generic profile. It worked ok, but it was very difficult to select anything from the side-screens since they were moving so much. When I paired the Elite profile with the game in the TrackIR app, it all starting working really really well. There's a tiny downside with that profile - you really need to turn your head a lot in order to look past 90 degrees, but you don't have to do it that often anyway.

 

[Vhayne]

Are the side-screens working ok for you with the TrackIR? (i.e. are they stable when you turn your head to look at them?)

I had an issue where the Elite TrackIR profile (which I think I downloaded from this site) wasn't being selected when launching the game, it was just using a generic profile. It worked ok, but it was very difficult to select anything from the side-screens since they were moving so much. When I paired the Elite profile with the game in the TrackIR app, it all starting working really really well. There's a tiny downside with that profile - you really need to turn your head a lot in order to look past 90 degrees, but you don't have to do it that often anyway.

I honestly haven't had a change to really try out the side-screens. I had planned on jumping in and doing the take-off, landing, and travel tutorials in a little bit though which would give me a chance to try out a few other controls on the sticks (like thrusters). But I can't yet. Busy with RL stuff at the moment. Trying to get a pool installed before summer gets here for our kids, so been on the phone all afternoon lol.

But as soon as I have a chance, I'll absolutely relay that info and experience to this thread.