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I'm a born-again Descent gamer--played #1 when I was young using keyboard only controls (which is absurd now). Since then I've discovered traditional First-Person shooters and used the mouse religiously to aim. Descent and this community now poses a good question, though--mouse, or joystick? Joystick seems to be the popular choice, as far as I can tell by the Tech forum, and using a mouse to pilot a flying craft seems kind of lame, but aiming with mouselook is just so completely easy for me to do, it seems crazy to change. Are there previous opinion threads I can read on this question? Otherwise, opinions please!

-Joker

100% Joystick since D1 demo.

From what you mentioned, you might wanna go with the joystick since mouselook is banned on most servers.

I've been on mouse for years now though and i've tried several joystick configurations, The mouse just worked better for me.

Although I prefer joystick, there are lots of good mousers out there... some of the best Descent players I know are mousers.

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But mouselook?! Dude, that's so un-Descent, it's not funny. Mouselook is fine for ground-pounders, but it completely breaks the flight-turn mechanics of the Descent series. More importantly, it destroys the flow of multiplayer dogfights that make the games unique.

(Here's a related thread.)

Saitek X52 FTW, man!

Mouse user here. I have fond memories of killing people at LAN parties with the vauss, over outraged cries of \"freaking mouser!\"

It's possible to be very, very good with a mouse, but I think the learning curve is steeper. Also, since your keyboard hand will be working that much harder, you have to watch out for repetitive stress injuries.

(On the other hand, mouse is usually cheaper. A nice mouse costs much less than a nice joystick, and you'll never have to replace a broken hat switch.)

Sometimes there is confusion about what \"mouselook\" actually means. There are two reasons you might want to use mouselook over flight sim:

1) You want to be able to spin around instantly, a la Unreal Tournament. As Foil pointed out, this is not really what Descent is about. Since it would give an unfair advantage in multiplayer, most servers have the option disabled.

2) Flight sim style has an inverted Y-axis that is confusing for FPS players. You can fix this \"upside-down\" feeling *without* enabling mouselook mode. This is done by un-inverting the mouse's Y axis in the configuration menus. (Speak up if you want to do this but don't know how.)


By the way, it's also possible to be quite good at D3 as a pure keyboard player. There haven't been many, but it can be done.

Real men use a stick in their left hand and a mouse in their right.

Sllik wrote:Real men use a stick in their left hand and a mouse in their right.

That's a good point, there are all kinds of configurations that work for people. There are even a few double-joystick players out there.

Thanks for the link, Foil. That's the kind of thread I wanted to find, but the search engine on this site seems to be screwed.

Request lock this thread and redirect others to viewtopic.php?t=12303 .

Thanks again

-Joker

Let's not resurrect that old thread. I just pointed it out for reference.

Have both, usually use the mouse because it's less effort.

Sidewinder 3D Pro + N52

Though to really screw yourself up for a couple weeks, put Foreward+AB on a separate hand from your backwards. Fun!

100% keyboard. Never been anything else.

A joystick makes me feel like I'm actually piloting the craft. More immersive, more fun

Sapphire Wolf wrote:Saitek X52 FTW, man!

Yes, a good stick (and throttle). Although I seem to have trouble configuring a hat switch to slide horizontally AND vertically at the same time.

Used to use a joystick, and I still have one, but I always use a mouse now. Much, much more accurate.

It handles just as well in Descent 1 and 2 with the sensitivity fixed. No idea what it's like in Descent 3 because I don't want to play it anyway.

Which joystick were you using before DarkHorse? I noticed a large jump of accuracy between my Saitek ST290 Pro and my 3D Pro.

Take your Pick

Click on the play button at bottom right for a slideshow

Descent 1/2/3 Freespace 1/2 and soon to be released BTRL Open Source, I use the M$3DPro setup
Pedals are not used with twist joysticks



BTW I play alot of flight sims

Prop Combat-Franken Force Mod config

Jet Sim config

BF-Series / Armed Assault config

on the LCD is TrackIR 4

How is Maine treating you - or are you a flatlander - aye?

Right hand on a mouse. Left hand 10 keys.

Bee

ASD + M$-3Dpro

I have found this to be a perfect left-hand controller for me. Fits my hand perfectly, the d-pad is great for slides, and I don't have to worry about those key conflicts that used to drive me nuts.

Last joystick I liked was a Thrustmaster Afterburner 2. The one I have now is a Cyborg Evo and the handling is horrible by comparison.

CDN_Merlin wrote:100% Joystick since D1 demo.

X2

Cuda68 wrote:

CDN_Merlin wrote:100% Joystick since D1 demo.

X2

X3

I originally started on d1 with keyboard only, which as Joker stated is absurd now. I currently play with a (non-optical) mouse and keyboard. I have an old Gravis Phoenix joystick that I just can't get to work with our only computer capable of playing d3 online.
I spent like 2 months getting used to inverted mouse and sucking very badly during that time. Had I known I could disable the inverted-ness, I would (probably) be much better today.

I use a Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro 2 in the right, 7 keys on the left. Don't use the hat cuz I broke about 4 of em and had to keep buying new sticks. When they stopped selling my stick I had to change my config.

I think, as WhollyCow said, that learning a mouse is a steeper learning curve. But IMO the best players are mousers... plus it is more convinient (sp?).

I wish I was a mouser. And now that I'm going to college I might have to consider making a change... ain't too cool having a joystick in your dorm room. And I'm in a triple so not much space for it either.

Money! wrote:I use ... 7 keys on the left [hand].

That's what I used to do; I don't use my hat for slides, either. But I kept having issues with key conflicts (e.g. if I was using too many other keys, my slide down wouldn't work), which is why I'm now using the N52 controller for my left hand.

nice to see, these things are discussed from time to time
Mouse but with a joystick simulating driver. Am I the only one doing this? maybe.