I'm new to Star Citizen, and wanted to know how you all control your ships. Do you prefer keyboard and mouse, a joystick, xbox style gamepad, etc.? Any recommendations about the best way for this game?
I personally use dual joysticks. It gives you a lot more control over the ship over keyboard and mouse, but is harder to aim with.
There's no reason why you couldn't just use keyboard and mouse, but if you are personally interested in trying a joystick there are many cheap options to get you started out. I'd check out this thread by Tono for some ideas
Although preference is always key, here are a few points to ponder:
•The more you pay, the more degree of control you get by getting a better setup. I have a Warthog hotas and joystick - don't really recommend it, but the hotas gives me 16384 possible units of throttle control (the game does not use every unit, but it does give me extreme control in how fast I am going).
•Having several hats and buttons to program for keyboard commands can be useful to keep your hands on the joystick and hotas.
•Practice is the only way to get good. Many hours will be required if you want to be an expert pilot. No device will replace this. BUT, I think I can fly better using a joystick/hotas than I ever could using just the mouse and keyboard. I also began using a simple joystick with throttle built in to the base (logitec xtreme 3d pro) - very cheap - and it was very good at the basic controls. The throttle was very lacking and there were not enough buttons to control everything. It did have xyz on the joystick while the warthog joystick only has xy.
•If you have the funds, consider adding additional controls like peddles.
•A final thought - How much you spend on your setup really depends upon the immersion you want to get from the game. Part of the fun for me is using cool gear with fancy lights to jet around the galaxy. If that is important to you, great. If not, then don't waste your money on it, buy more ships.
Note, John Zimari is always trying new configurations, equipment and setups for his gaming experience. He has a wealth of knowledge about what works and what does not. Five also created an app that runs on a pad to further deepen the experience and lend touch control. He has not worked on it in a while because RSI keeps changing things in the game, but when they lock down the details, I will ask him to make it available again. He mentioned, above, using two joysticks, a configuration I have read a number of other citizens utilize.
I like this setup. I also like the price. If you get it, let us know how it works. Z-axis on the stick is good. It also looks like the throttle has a few hats too and some degree of control. I might consider this as a backup. Only negative I see is that is looks lightweight - you might have to mount it to something to keep it from floating around while playing.
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