New user here and possible subscriber here.

I am looking into different joysticks. I am not looking for oppinions or reccommendations at the momment I just have some questions.

Firstly I need to know the number of Primary Secondary and Tertiary button functions there are in the game.

Primary: Buttons on the stick.

Secondary: Functions assigned to the hat swhich or shifted on the stick.

Tertiary: Buttons on the keyboard.

Secondly how important is the throttle? Is a fully digital thottle acceptable IE the one on the keyboard? If not is a semi analogue throttle IE "The throttle has 5 positions and clicking the plus button raises the throttle to the next position (indicated by 4 green LED's above the throttle), or you can hold it down to increase the throttle at a slower (though constant) rate" or is a fuly analogue throttle nessairy?

Thanks for your help. I look orward to fighting against or with you sometim soon.

the saitek evo ist bad... but i want to upgrade to the X52 myself.

Hey doak, catch me sometime if you want my old X52 - I just upgraded to Dual Saitek Cyborg EVOs. lol.

LittleEd, in spite of the wording of your inquiry, allow me to make some reccommendations: Go with a stick that has plenty of buttons, 3 axis of rotation (twist), and above all, advanced programming and configuration software. If the stick has enough buttons, it's possible to program all the game's functions into it by assigning keypresses to different buttons. (By the way, an easily-accessable 'shift' switch or lever on the stick is a big plus, since it lets you double the number of commands you can perform with the same number of buttons - that's the one feature I miss from my Saitek X52)

Now the throttle is a tricky thing... you see, a positional analog throttle only works in flight-assist mode, and you'll find that FA is less and less useful as you get used to the game and improve your combat technique. I'd go as far as to say that a throttle such as the Saitek X52's is unecessary (although it can be a fun way to fly your moth) What you're really going to want is a way to control six different directions of thrust for movement reliably. Hat switches won't work for that. The Keyboard will, and I've used it very effectively for my thrust and throttle for over a year. I just recently switched to a dual-joystick setup so I can control those axes of movement more fluidly - it works well, but it takes a lot of getting used to, so it might not be great for someone who isn't already used to using one joystick in VO.

As for the number of functions.... I have all of them excepting +shoot1 and +shoot2 set to keypresses, which my joysticks simulate with their buttons. I still have to use my keyboard for a lot of 'peace-time' or unecessary-in-combat functions, but for the most part those are all user-created. That's one of the nice things about VO: You can write your own commands (known as 'aliases', and 'bind' them to keys of your choice in the game). As a result, the number of functions that need to be called vary from player to player. Here are all the functions I control:

bind "X" wepswitch
bind "G" say_guild
bind ";" MLookToggle
bind F1 Help
bind "i" +zoom
bind PageUp scrollback
bind PageDown scrollforward
bind "}" LocalRadarNext
bind "{" LocalRadarPrev
bind Escape Quit
bind "D" dc
bind "R" hail_repair
bind "A" da
bind "H" hc
bind "J" gj
bind "L" gl
bind "I" gi
bind "1" groupFormUp
bind "3" groupBreak
bind "4" groupEAW
bind "5" groupEvade
bind "6" groupCMS
bind "7" groupAMT
bind "0" war
bind ")" war2
bind "2" groupDNE
bind "#" groupBreakTarget
bind "$" sectorTallyHo
bind "^" groupAssist
bind "&" groupMultHostile
bind "%" groupEvade2
bind "8" groupOOA
bind "*" groupDamage
bind "9" groupGJ
bind "(" groupRTB
bind "-" groupNeg
bind "_" groupDisengage
bind "=" groupAff
bind "+" groupOMW
bind LeftArrow +TurnLeft
bind RightArrow +TurnRight
bind DownArrow +TurnUp
bind UpArrow +TurnDown
bind "a" +StrafeLeft
bind "d" +StrafeRight
bind "r" +StrafeUp
bind "f" +StrafeDown
bind "q" +RotateCW
bind "e" +RotateCCW
bind "w" +Accelerate
bind "s" +Decelerate
bind Tab +Turbo
bind Space +Brakes
bind LMBUTTON +Shoot2
bind "c" +Shoot1
bind RMBUTTON +Shoot1
bind "v" +Shoot3
bind MMBUTTON +Shoot3
bind "]" RadarNext
bind "[" RadarPrev
bind "b" RadarNextFront
bind "z" RadarNextFrontEnemy
bind "x" RadarNextNearestEnemy
bind "y" RadarHitBy
bind "u" +TopList
bind "`" ConsoleToggle
bind F9 ViewToggle
bind F10 CameraToggle
bind F4 allhudtoggle
bind Enter Activate
bind "'" FlyModeToggle
bind "j" Jettison
bind "o" toggleinventory
bind "m" missionchat
bind "t" say_channel
bind "g" say_group
bind "T" say_sector
bind "p" identifyUIT
bind "P" identifyItani
bind "V" explode
bind F12 dump
bind "!" tab1
bind "@" tab2
bind F2 togglechattab
bind "n" nav
bind "k" CharInfo
bind ":" toggleautoaim
bind F5 hudscale
bind "h" hail
bind MOUSEX +LookX
bind MOUSEY +LookY

You can see what all you're set up to use (and modify it if you wish) in your wgaf.cfg file in the vendetta folder.

I have b,y,x,z (radar & targeting functions, shift for more targeting functions and for my custom Normal/Assault FiringMode toggle) assigned to my right hat switch, primary, secondary and tertiary fire to my right stick, as well as i,h,ENTER (zoom, hail, activate) with ',:,;,0,p,d [toggles for flightassist, autoaim, mouselook, sectorHail(custom command), sectorIFFhail(custom command) and rightStrafe(or duelChallenge with shift, another custom command)] on the base. I have j,u,k,n (Jettison, sectorlist, charinfo, navmap) on my left hat switch, secondary and tertiary fire on the left stick (I roll like John Woo), as well as i,SPACE,TAB (zoom, brake, turbo) with j,a, toggles on the base (useful for a quick Jett-All). My joysticks control pitch, roll, yaw on the right, and strafe up-down, left-right and forward-backward on the left. I almost never use the throttles, though they do work in FA mode.

My group aliases are all custom 'say_group' commands and called from the keyboard.

I hope that answers any questions you have about interface configuration.

mm.. what we really need is someone to come out with an integrated two-stick/one-peripheral solution.. imagine turning to the left by pushing forward on the right stick and back on the left.. *sigh*

..till then I guess I'm "stuck" with my handy-dandy keyboard :/

Like This? :p

erm... maaaybe; but the price seems excessive and the support would be hack-y... can you even buy just the controller at retail?

thurisaz, do you mean so that when you push both foward you go forward or you nose up or down?

personally i still find mouse and joystic to be fun for combat mouse for aiming and the stick for strafe left/right and up/down then i use the index finger and thumb triggers for foward/backwards with a pair of sewing machine pedals for rolling left or right. it's harder to use now that i have a chair that swivels and rocks i think a carseat or a recliner would be ideal.

thurisaz, I was joking. And no, it only sells with Steel Battalion and only works on XBox with the game.

LNH: I'd like some rudder pedals, but you make a good point about the chair... besides, I can't find a good pair of analog rudder pedals that aren't conjoined, and I'd need to put them on either side of my subwoofer.

Twist-grip joystick works fine.

I sorta figured you were joking, Cunjo, but google can find people who made that beast work on a PC...

basically, I'd loove to move to a 'stick setup, but traditional joysticks are only three-axis.. what we *really* need is an eight-axis controller you can tug up/down and left/right on

...anyhow, sorry for veering offtopic, LittleEd :C

http://www.ideo.com/portfolio/re.asp?x=12318

Wish I still had mine.

That looks swet, Whistler... I don't know how great it would work in practice, but sweet nonetheless.

Personally I find my dual EVO setup more than sufficient. Including the throttles, it totals 8 axes, and you can use the six main axes very effectively without needing to adjust your two-handed grip.

Oh, and Thurisaz, I never doubted that people could or would hack it for PC, but it wasn't made for it, so performance would probably be more than sketchy in an app like VO... not to mention the joys only have four exes of movement and *gasp* six buttons where you can reach them in a pinch... not the best for dogfighting in 3D space.

(re: Whistler)

...*drools*

edit: and it works in linux :D any definative word on whether I'd be able to map all the axes in VO?

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/5/8320

Lots of info here, including my old dual stick setup, which has a list of most of the buttons I used and needed while flying.

Asp was trying out the 3Dconnexion http://www.3dconnexion.com/ SpaceNavigator, but he found it wasn't compatible with Vendetta (hint, hint). But for only $60, you get a controller that can translate and rotate on all three axes in a small package. While the SpaceExplorer would probably be better for Vendetta because you can use your arm to support the controller, it also costs $240 more :/

But in terms of joysticks, don't forget that you should always try out the joystick in a store or something, because you never want a joystick that doesn't fit your hand.

Martin! Where you been?

Get your ass back in game! I need to take away your duel rating =P

Cunjo, next time there is a computer show in your area get any cheep usb controller that has atleast one analog stick take the screws apart and snap a digital photo of it. I can guide you though the process of making a set of rudder peddles fairley easily.