I've not been playing VO for very long but I'm really enjoying it, it's got that magical something and reminds me alot of a super charged version of Elite which I used to play many moons ago on an old Atari 520 ST, them were the days.

I must admit I've tried other space sims such as Black Prophecy and Eve but, for me at least, they don't cut the mustard. Sure the other sims have bleed'n edge graphics and the like but there's something missing, and that something is what VO has by the bucket load. I just wish I could put my finger on it, why VO has the edge in my book but unfortunately I'm not having much success. One thing that really stands out for me is the physics flight model that's used, I'm no astronaut but VO seems to have that nailed compared to the competition. I'm also tempted to use words like 'gameplay', 'depth' and 'community' to describe 'that magical something' but perhaps what I'm really trying to say is that VO stirs my soul, it stirs my soul in ways other beers just can't reach.

Talking of flight models I've just purchased a Logitech gamepad after watching Phaserlights VO tutorials although having never used a gamepad before I'm finding it a challenge, especially during combat. I'm also experimenting using the gamepad in one hand and the mouse in the other with interesting results to say the least. If only one hand knew what the other was doing.

Well, that's enough from me for now and thankyou.

Atari 520 ST, archaic computer, nice. I think I was five when those came out, a couple years before my Dad was getting his first modem; one of those 1200 bps rigs you would use to sign in to bulletin-board systems.

Vendetta Online has soul, for all the reasons you mention above, and I think the longer you stay the more you will be able to realize just what it is that you enjoy about it. For me it's the backstory that spans over 2,000 years, the original writing language found on the flashing billboards, the racetracks that record times in milliseconds, and the group of players that care about this game and want to see it succeed.

The Logitech gamepad isn't perfect, but it provides the most "tight" control I've found to date. I prefer to use the left analog stick to strafe, right analog to look, R1/R2 fire primary and secondary, L1/L2 thrust forward and back, the four "vitamin" buttons to target in front, target nearest hostile, toggle flight assist, and toggle auto-aim. These last two after reviewing some combat footage I use anywhere from five to fifty times per fight, to not at all, depending on who I'm up against. I also have either select or start bound to +zoom, very useful (my brain knows where it is although my eyes rarely see it).

Anyway after about a week you'll get to know the galaxy, after a month you'll begin to find your style, and after a year you'll have started on the path to mastery. I recommend trying out the game in 'vanilla' flavor for the first year, then grab a few skins and one or two plugins. Don't hesitate to ask questions, you'll find us generally a helpful bunch.

Welcome to the game.

I played Elite back on the BBC B! Then on ZX Spectrum, then on Amiga. Played Frontier too, but didn't really like the combat. When I found VO in 2003 I was like, yeah, this is my new home. Never knew why, but in one of many forms, I'm still here :D

Welcome to the loonyverse.

Welcome back. I played Elite on the ZX Spectrum and on the 1040ST.

Thanks for the welcome!

It was my mate who got me into computers back in the late 70's early 80's, he had a Speccy too. My very first computer was an Atari 800XL with a tape recorder to load games. The joy's. The modem I had was the sort that had you dialling the number you wanted on your land-line phone then listening for the modem at the other end to make the right sort of screeching noise before quickly plugging the phones handset into the modem to make the connection.

My first introduction to Elite was watching it being played on a BBC, the pilot was trying to dock at a spinning wire framed 3d space station, from that moment on I was hooked!

I'm gradually getting used to the gamepad but how do I bind one of my gamepad buttons to +zoom? I've looked in options-controls-keyboard but could not find the binding even though I'm able to use the 'i' key on my keyboard to +zoom.

The method I use it to first assign the button to something else under options, like "Select Next Cargo", in order to reveal its name. Then type into the chat line:

/bind JOY0BUTTON8 +zoom

substituting whatever else the name of the button may be in place of JOY0BUTTON8.

A full list of console commands can be found under the manual appendices.

Welcome aboard, glad to hear you're enjoying the game.

Thanks Phaserlight, that was just the ticket.

Welcome, it is great to see posts like this!