DescentBB

I am just getting back into the game, and wondering if I should change my setup. Previously, I banked, pitched and turned with the joystick, and used the hat for weapon switching, flares, etc.

Since I have to get used to playing again anyways, I wondered what people think here about changing my setup, so that I now slide with the hat. In theory, I can see two small advantages to it:
1) sliding with the hat might just integrate movement and aiming a bit more. In particular, it might make it easier to line up your shots with the MD, as movement might just be a tad more natural.
2) with the keyboard, i used one finger to control both upwards and downwards slides (w and s keys). This means that I loose a few precious milliseconds when wanting to quickly switch directions.

But not sure if its worth the hassle to go through all the readjustment times. What other advantages do people see in sliding with hat/keyboard?

One benefit of sliding on your keyboard is that most keys are good for millions of presses, the hat switches on your joystick are often nowhere near that quality and will wear out quickly. Also I have known a number of people that use both the keyboard and the hat switch at the same time, perhaps that could be an option for you.

Personally, I've done both. My opinion:

Keyboard:
- Advantage: Control arrangement feels most natural to me, i.e. movement (forward,back,up,down,left,right,ab) is all on my left hand and rotations (roll, pitch, yaw) is all on the right.
- Disadvantage: Keyboard conflicts on most keyboards, cramped hands.

Hat:
- Advantage: Short 'throw' for direction changes. Leaves my left hand free for other controls.
- Disadvantage: Uncomfortable for me, plus I don't like so many movement/rotation controls on one hand.


So... now I do neither. My slides are controlled by the directional pad on one of these:

(I took the rounded piece off the d-pad.)

I really, really like this controller, because to me it feels like the best of all worlds. No key conflicts, controls are arranged the way I like, no hand cramps, and my direction changes are as quick as ever.

that's a cool thing, Foil --- seems to be ideal for my purposes. What's it called?

One benefit of sliding on your keyboard is that most keys are good for millions of presses, the hat switches on your joystick are often nowhere near that quality and will wear out quickly.

yeah, that's a worry as well, particularly since I am using a second hand sidewinder. Not sure in how much supply they'll be in the future.

edit: ^^^^ it is a belkin n52 speedpad.

Hey Foil, I have an older model n52 pad (orange and no backlit keys) the main reason I don't use it is because the keys have a very long throw and too strong of a spring for my personal preference. How is the key throw on that newer blue model?

thanks, Krom!

@Krom: I've had a few of the older N52s (the d-pad stem kept breaking, so I kept getting new ones via the Best Buy replacement warranty). I've definitely been happier with the newer N52 \"te\" model; it has a shorter key-throw, and it's lasted me at least two years now.

Cool, thanks. I mainly use mine for its programmable macro settings, I'll configure and save it for specific key sequences or really fast repeats in games and slap it somewhere in reach when I need it. For instance in portal you can do that climbing trick by grabbing and jumping off a weighted cube at the same time, I have a macro programmed into my n52 so all I need to do to scale huge heights that way is to hold down one key which is a lot easier on your fingers than doing it manually.