I couldnt wait to get my Saitec controller...so I picked up a "game-elements recoil" game pad. so I plug it in and get ready to go get blasted to pieces. I undock and my ship is stuck flying in circles!

has anyone here used this type of controller? if so...how the hell did you get it to work?

I tried an XBox controller with a USB hub once. Failed to work with VO as well. I am most likely wrong, but at the time, I think the reason was specific support for some hardware. Some basic controllers and most joysticks were fine, though.

Saitek = own. I say wait for it :P

I had a saitek joystick once. COMPLETE CRAP. I had a saitek gamepad once. COMPLETE CRAP. Now while I bought and still use my original logitech attack 3(cheap) it performs well above than my saitek stuff. Simple and easy to use, Cheap, effective and durable. I've been using it for over 2 years and it gives me no problems with the game. Was cheaper than the other saitek junk and performed 10x better.

I use my Logitech Wingman 3D with no problems.

Any standard USB joystick should work. You might have to tweak things in the controller settings area of the game (which, I know, is a confusing nightmare). The flying-in-circles thing just sounds like a uncalibrated stick.. which I don't think really needs to be done anymore, for many sticks, but you might give that a try.

The Saitek joystick we have isn't calibrated by default. You will need to go through the calibration process. If you're on Mac OS X, then moving the joystick back and forth all the way in both axes (all four directions) should help.
If in Windows, then use the joystick calibration utility.
If in Linux, good luck.

I'm in linux and had no problems with my Saitek Cyborg Evo, I love the Saitek stick as much as I would my child (if I had one). Had a Logitech Extreme 3D before, and it worked fine in linux too, but the hat switch on it gave out after about 2 months of VO =( Not that it mattered, since the axis were getting too loose to play anyway. VO is a very demanding game on any Joystick!

I would recommend a Saitek over a Logitech anyday; though I guess it all depends on the user ;) I will say that the axis on the Saitek took me a while to get use too, especially after using the Logitech. Just feels different, not a bad thing ;)

Damn Drazed, I've had a Logitech Extreme 3d for pretty much my whole time playing VO and I haven't killed it yet.

If in Linux, use jscal

Right on, Martin. I've used this logitech my whole time playing vo wich is like two and a half years, maybe a little more. It works fine for me, may be a little dusty and worn looking but that just builds character:)

I'd guess that Ryan's gamepad has an analog trigger or slider of some type on it. VO might have configured that to roll or turn by default, but since those controls generally are not "centered" when you aren't touching it, the game interprets it as full left turn or roll all the time.

Check what each of the pad controls are set to in the Options, and that the game has a sensible range of motion mapped to each one (Joysticks tab under Controls).