What is better DirectX 8.1 or DirectX 9? They can be found under "Video" and Change Driver, I'm just hoping to find it the main differences without having to benchmark the results myself. :) (hopefully)

Also I am not very comfortable with the controls, do joysticks work very well/are they supported? If so anyone have a good joystick recommendation?

Another question is do Itani/Serco and UIT have different ships based on their preferred ships? If they do what are the differences? Just wondering because out of the FAQ...

Start FAQ Quote

"Serco Preferred Space Craft
Large, heavy armor, large missile weapons

Itani Preferred Space Craft
Small, light armor, agile, highly maneuverable, energy based weapons"

End FAQ quote

Thanks guys and any help appreciated. :)

I can't tell a difference between the 2 Direct X versions on my system.

Joysticks are supported and some think they work quite well. I use a mouse.

There are different ships and variations offered by different factions. At the moment each nation has one "Special" ship. Serco has the Prometheus, Itani has the Valkyrie, and UIT has the Marauder. It is currently possible to ingratiate yourself with a nation other than your own in order to get the other specials. You can also buddy up to certain corporate factions to buy variants of common ships.

I personally use keyboard+mouse, but one joystick control configuration that I hear several players use, that sounds very intriguing, is dual-sticks, like for example a playstation2 gamepad. I keep meaning to get around to trying that, but haven't yet. Probably will require a bit of getting used to.

DirectX 9 gives you a bit more performance if you have a DX9-capable gfx card. Otherwise, no difference besides the improved antialiasing.