Hey all. After years of watching this game, I finally decided to sign up for a month a check it out. Been playing for a little under a week now - loads of fun. Its even spawned some interest in other similar games like Descent (remember that!?), Free Space, etc...

Anyhow, I was wondering if any of you fine folks have some relatively cheap joystick reccomendations (must have linux drivers). I was also wondering exactly how your joystick setups work. Are all the controls required to play on one joystick? Are there joysticks like that? Is it easiest to just get a stick and use the keyboard for movement. I notice that sometimes my fingers get a little confused when trying to do some of the fancier fighting techniques, and it also seems that I can only press 2 keyboard buttons at once.

I suppose, in essence, I am asking what the most comfortable set up for some of you is. How do you like to play VO / other 3d space shooters.

Thanks, PseudoKrazy (DeathGlider in game).

I use ms sidewinder percision pro 2, has 8 buttons, hat, 3axis + throttle.
and fight with only that,
ie. in combat no keyboard or anything
amount of buttons it has is *barely* enough for this.

I also have logitech extreme 3d, it has 2 more buttons, but button layout on the base is so awful i can only use 2 of 6 that are there at the same time.
So i prefer the sidewinder. (well, logitech is useless for me to be precise)

if you're going to use a joystick, use 2 of them.

That reminds me, I realy need to get a pair (been saying this for a few years now :) )

Yea.. I need to get a pair, too.. At least, that's what my wife says when I'm nice to people I can't stand.

EZR

i keep trying to give my wife the pair i already have...
she just doesn't seem to want them anymore... i don't understand it. (lol)

reminds me of a joke.

what can you give a woman that will completely take all sexual desires away?

wedding cake.

Saitek EVO sticks have 3 analog axes and go for like $10-$15 used.

Most usb joysticks are supported natively under linux and generally work well.

2 joysticks, definitely !

I use a pair of Logitech Attack 3. They are robust, relatively cheap and work perfectly under Linux.

BTW, does anyone use a joy with a "twisting handle" under Linux ? Does it work ?

It should work without any problems, i mean, why wouldn't it?

maq : why it wouldn't work ? I don't know :) I just asked in order to have some feedback from people who eventually use one of them. You know, to be sure, before buying one. It's not like we were living in a world where everything just works as advertised.

Anyway I re-read the posts again and noticed that most people (including you) have 3 axis joysticks, so I think I do have my confirmation :)

Beside this, I like my Logitechs but I confirm what you wrote about the buttons placement on the base. They can barely be used. I think the wheel is too hard too.

Well i don't use linux, so i can't confirm for sure, but vo has no problem with it, and i doubt linux has issues with just 1 more axis, so, it should be fine.

mouse/keyboard FTW!

Yes, the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro's Twist Handle Joystick works* here with an old 2.6.18 kernel (on Debian Etch). The Twist works just fine and straight out of the box.

* Unlike a mouse, I haven't found it easy to perform fine precison flying such as docking when using the joystick. There isn't much in VO to calibrate the joystick, and I edited the relevant config file by hand to add keyboard controls to various buttons. There is a linux jscal calibrate program but I haven't tried that yet - as I haven't used a joystick for a long time and I don't play often enough to know whether it was just my poor skill or the hardware.

Joystick is less precise, but it has other advantages.
And then some people just prefer one or the other regardless.
(or some can't hit a station when aiming with the mouse)

You can set buttons in the keyboard options, like any other keys btw.

I think I'd need a JS, or preferrably a gamepad (which is, essentially, a two-js setup), for racing in tubes. I know I prefer the pad for racing games, but I haven't really tested it in VO.

I definitely prefer js in tubes (as everywhere else), but i think it'd be possible to race with a mouse, tho it'd require different approach.

I also prefer the joystick and find it more intuitive for flying and combat, the Hat Switch is great for dodging and also for compensating for some of the difficulty in precision flying of the main stick.

For docking, I use the mouse and keyboard.

I wasn't sure if I would lose the keyboard allocations if I assigned them to the joystick within VO - I wanted to keep both.

You can assign multiple keys to any command, doesn't matter if they are on a keyboard or a joystick.