37 replies to this topic

[BB3_Oregon_Steel]

ebp_si, on 14 November 2019 - 05:15 AM, said:

For those on this forum that consider yourselves an excellent or top notch player, do you use a keyboard/mouse or Joystick?  Edit to add- if you placed in the top 5 in Mastery of any of the Fall Campaigns, I consider that excellent.

 

I am not a top notch player, and may never be one, but I also will not give up flying with a joystick if that is what it takes.

 

Ok, I am not a top notch player ... but I fly BIPLANES which makes me qualified to talk about ... well pretty much anything. 

 

I don't know how joystick peoples do it.  Not only can I not hit anything when flying with a joystick, I pretty much can't even fly.  I mean, what happened to the good old days when you pressed forward and your plane went down, back and it went up, left and it went left and right and it went right.  Now days I think there are Gremlin's flying the plane instead of me.  

 

With the mouse and keyboard all I have to do is deal with Barron von Blackscreen, and his sidekicks SidewaysFlying Plane and Stuckinflypaper Plane.  They are more than enough for me to deal with and ... oh yes ... 

 

YAY BIPLANES!!!! 

Edited by BB3_Oregon_Steel, 16 November 2019 - 01:14 AM.

[Captain_Rownd]

BB3_Oregon_Steel, on 15 November 2019 - 03:13 PM, said:

 

 

I don't know how joystick peoples do it.

 

Same way we did it while playing Red Baron at the arcade in 1984.  Dunno - the joystick is just completely intuitive for me. 

 

Edited by Captain_Rownd, 16 November 2019 - 02:13 AM.

[cobra_marksman]

Captain_Rownd, on 15 November 2019 - 07:45 PM, said:

 

"speed brakes" are something i only just learned about and haven't been able to try yet.  What is "sniper mode"?  (got a portable bush to hide in, lol?)  and what is "marking selected targets"?

 

Newcomers Forum

 

1. Game Guides, Tactics, and Tutorials

A great place to start!

Tons of great information can be found their to explain every part of this game.

[SkyWolf__WM]

Captain_Rownd, on 15 November 2019 - 09:11 PM, said:

 

Same way we did it while playing Red Baron at the arcade in 1984.  Dunno - the joystick is just completely intuitive for me. 

 

 

I flew Sierra Network's "Red Baron" online in the first network that was available. It was so cool at the time.  

[jonnymule74]

hoom, on 15 November 2019 - 06:06 PM, said:

 

With the mouse you just move your mouse cursor to where you want the lead to be, auto-pilot manoeuvres the plane until the boresight indicator is where the mouse is, it means a massive situational awareness improvement since you're nearly always essentially on Snap to Target & you have a lot less things to deal with to get guns on target.

You can hold right & free look without turning or often just flick the mouse round for a quick look without much impact.

 

 

 

This ^^^^^^

[egikov]

I play with a joystick because it's more fun. I like to be in control of the plane. It's interesting to fly upside down, kind of disorienting. It would be extremely hard to get in top 5 with a joystick in Fall Campaign in Mastery. Even top 20 is very hard. But I was in top 10 in multiroles (Thunder vs Tempest) and in Battle of Moscow.

Edit: I use Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.

 

I played with a mouse before. Long time ago. It's much easier to play better and win. But it's not flying a plane, it's a cursor flying - the plane just follows it and it's boring to me. The advantages of surround view helps a lot, aiming also is much easier.

Edited by egikov, 17 November 2019 - 12:07 AM.

[CorvusCorvax]

egikov, on 16 November 2019 - 11:37 PM, said:

I play with a joystick because it's more fun. I like to be in control of the plane. It's interesting to fly upside down, kind of disorienting. It would be extremely hard to get in top 5 with a joystick in Fall Campaign in Mastery. Even top 20 is very hard. But I was in top 10 in multiroles (Thunder vs Tempest) and in Battle of Moscow.

Edit: I use Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.

 

I played with a mouse before. Long time ago. It's much easier to play better and win. But it's not flying a plane, it's a cursor flying - the plane just follows it and it's boring to me. The advantages of surround view helps a lot, aiming also is much easier.

^^^this

 

Luckily, since this game is not anything more than cartoony flight, I have never found a joystick necessary.  Other flight games, I prefer to run joystick, throttle and rudder pedals.

[WildAnge11us]

Stygian_Alchemist, on 15 November 2019 - 08:06 PM, said:

Mouse offers some advantages, not least of which is camera control. Then there's the fact the game's primary selling point is that it's designed around a mouse/keyboard and they've always supported them -way- better than Joysticks. The JS bug fiasco of last year comes to mind. I've always assumed they were roughly equal with actually shoving the reticules around the screen, with the natural advantage of mouse movement precision because the muscles involved in moving the mouse being the only real upshot of difference there. You'll find some people think a joystick is a magic device that makes it all real and has amazing and magical properties that make the plane perform better, but truthfully to my understanding.. most of the best/better players rock mouse/keyboard. (kinda hoping some top echelon JS players pop up and correct me on that last bit. The rest is pretty well agreed on through many conversations and screaming matches. JS users tend to look down on m/kb users as well)

 

joystick has camera control as well. built in button or you can remap it. my joystick has a 360 degree button on it that I can select either set points or just rotate the switch and panoramic view all around in a circle.

[cobra_marksman]

WildAnge11us, on 17 November 2019 - 03:23 AM, said:

joystick has camera control as well. built in button or you can remap it. my joystick has a 360 degree button on it that I can select either set points or just rotate the switch and panoramic view all around in a circle.

Just another thing you can do with a joystick. 

If for any reason you don't have enough joystick button, here is a good trick to increase it by 4 more.

Most joysticks have a Hat on top of the stick, normally for camera view, ( 8 total positions ).

I borrowed 4 of those position and configured stick to things I use on almost every flight mission.

Forward position-  Bombing mode-- Aft. position- Turret-- Right position-- sniper mode -- Left position  --Rear view. 

Now I just increased my joystick from 11 to 15 control buttons.

[FreeAmmo]

Joystick

 

[BB3_Oregon_Steel]

Captain_Rownd, on 15 November 2019 - 06:11 PM, said:

 

Same way we did it while playing Red Baron at the arcade in 1984.  Dunno - the joystick is just completely intuitive for me. 

 

Then my stoopid joystick thingee much be broken.  The whole thing worded AMAZING in Wing Commander but on this game ... pssssfffftthhhh ... 

 

That being a technical term of a negative connotation.  

[Moonrider]

I gave up on joysticks in Beta. I had an older one, and I'd get it tweaked just right, then an update would drop and reset my config. After 4 or 5 updates and reports asking for a fix, I stopped using one. It's been mouse ever since.

[bradk62]

Logitech 3D Extreme joystick.  On my fourth one - I highly recommend the extended warranty - well worth the 25% extra cost.

 

I've played this game since the Open Beta test in 1.9.   I started with kb/mouse but found it unsatisfying as well as unrealistic. 

 

As a licensed pilot, I can tell you honestly that flying with a mouse bares no resemblance at all to flying a real plane.   Most people have never flown a real plane so it won't bother them a bit.  Lucky them.

 

It took me a solid year to learn to fly the joystick to the point where it didn't negatively affect my win rate.   Overshooting and undershooting my target while firing was the hardest thing to overcome as I already new how to fly with a joystick (well a yoke, actually).  It is now finally comes second nature and I keep my bullets on-target consistently.

 

The kb/mouse feature of this game is probably the most unique interface I've ever played.  It enables players with no experience to fly a plane AND shoot other planes down with virtually no training. 

 

I wish I could enjoy it.

 

Edited by bradk62, 18 November 2019 - 11:24 PM.

[trikke]

Moonrider, on 18 November 2019 - 05:17 PM, said:

I gave up on joysticks in Beta. I had an older one, and I'd get it tweaked just right, then an update would drop and reset my config. After 4 or 5 updates and reports asking for a fix, I stopped using one. It's been mouse ever since.

 

me, too.  during alpha and beta, I bought 3 sticks, all escalating in price, looking for some kind of magic wand

 

 many excellent pilots then and now use sticks.  Toggle is a great example.  

 

then I tried a mouse after 1.x, and never looked back

 

it's just another tool to move your pixel plane around.     great stick pilots would also be great with a mouse

 

I'm mediocre with both, but maybe you'll be different       hand-eye coordination trumps expensive peripherals

[CorvusCorvax]

bradk62, on 18 November 2019 - 11:22 PM, said:

Logitech 3D Extreme joystick.  On my fourth one - I highly recommend the extended warranty - well worth the 25% extra cost.

 

I've played this game since the Open Beta test in 1.9.   I started with kb/mouse but found it unsatisfying as well as unrealistic. 

 

As a licensed pilot, I can tell you honestly that flying with a mouse bares no resemblance at all to flying a real plane.   Most people have never flown a real plane so it won't bother them at all.

 

VFR guy here.  I find the physics in WoWP so cartoony that I just don't miss stick/throttle/pedals.  I like flying with real flight controls, but not in WoWP.  

 

The joke of the flight physics make me not care about input devices.

[trikke]

VFR SEL PP ticket guy here, but I'm not current.    can't write it off anymore.   

 

wifey refuses to ride with me, after hearing me tell one particular story about poor nighttime decisions on a short lakeside strip

 

frankly, she's probably right

[CorvusCorvax]

trikke, on 19 November 2019 - 10:23 AM, said:

VFR SEL PP ticket guy here, but I'm not current.    can't write it off anymore.   

 

wifey refuses to ride with me, after hearing me tell one particular story about poor nighttime decisions on a short lakeside strip

 

frankly, she's probably right

I am also not current.  Wife won't ride with me because she hates to fly, and little planes do all the stuff she hates, all the time.

[bradk62]

CorvusCorvax, on 19 November 2019 - 07:02 PM, said:

I am also not current.  Wife won't ride with me because she hates to fly, and little planes do all the stuff she hates, all the time.

 

My wife used to fly with me but as soon as we had kids, my flying budget was gone.  Just happy I can still afford the joysticks now - brings back fond memories.

 

Now that we are empty nesters, I can afford it again but it kind of scares me.  Either I'm older and wiser or just plain chicken.