So I imagine a number of people (myself included) are new to flight simulator games and have been drawn in by this release due to it being a part of the star wars franchise.
So to those of you with experience in this style of game I would like to request you kindly offer us poor noobs some advice to help us get our feet off the ground so to speak 😉.
Use the practice range!
Practice flying in debris fields, like everyone has said here.
There is oversteer, it is not point and click. We all have to deal with it regardless of peripherals. It is very manageable.
Use boost and drift to your advantage. I can't tell you the multitude of players who do not use it to their advantage or use it at all. You have a mechanic that allows you to change vector almost immediately. Use it, practice at full engines, and fly around debris fields in the practice mode.
Play around with builds against Ace level AI in practice mode.
Don't get discouraged. There are a lot of people who have years of experience (like myself ) with flight sims and space sims current and past that have the same/similar mechanics this game has. Mouse users can be just as effective as joystick users and vice versa. You will learn, have fun with it, and know with every death you learn something.
One other thing. Joystick users...bump your sensitivity to 100% until they fix the dead zone issues. Without that added curve it's a sloppy mess.
Consider switching yaw and roll
By default if I remember the game have roll on z axis and yaw on y axis, I find it way easier if you invert this.
Thruster control is extremly important, you're more manoevrable at half speed and there's no inertia in this game so you slow down almost imediatly. So when you want to do tight turns around rocks or follow a very close target, dont forget to slow down before turns.
Power management is key. Power in thrusters will make you a lot more manœuvrable. When you will feel more confortable, "preovercharge" systems, then constant switch between systems to have multiple overcharge at the same time, and slow down the orvercharge vanishing.
In multi dont forget the "call target / confirm target" key. That's how you kill an alliance ship before his shields regen. And it's how you gain space superiority with both faction
@HCarbonic All hail gonk. 😉
I'm still going through the single player but there's some good stuff in here. As a PC player using my gamepad for this game is quite the challenge.
I was working on these thoughts for the HOTAS thread, but you guys...deleted it?
Not sure I have a lot to offer that hasn't probably already been offered:
FWIW: My HOTAS setup is the CH Products Fighterstick + Pro Throttle + Pro Pedals. I have Pitch and Roll on my stick and Yaw on my pedal toe taps. No issues to speak of, everything works great.
I don't really think I have anything else here to add. Regardless of the button configuration you decide on, you're going to have to spend time getting used to your new control scheme. It will be worth it.
Good luck, pilots. o7
@Heavenly-Hammer wrote:I was working on these thoughts for the HOTAS thread, but you guys...deleted it?
Not sure I have a lot to offer that hasn't probably already been offered:
- Deadzone - Rebind your Pitch and Roll to a different available set of axes other than the X and Y. You can do this in the software for your HOTAS assuming it comes with software that allows you to program buttons. I bound my Pitch and Roll on my stick to the U axis and V axis (there were several options available) and saved them to my stick, then updated the Pitch and Roll axes in the game. Deadzone issue completely resolved.
- Buttons - Bind as many buttons as you can to your HOTAS and considering using a button to dedicated to function purely as "SHIFT" when that button is held. This will allow you to give every button on your joystick an "alternate" function: a press while holding that button, and a press when not. For example, I have my stick setup such that pressing the main trigger is "button 1"...but holding the dedicated SHIFT button and pressing that same button is is recognized as "button 2". The value here should be obvious. I've set up my stick to actually have 3 possible functions on every button based on which one of 2 dedicated buttons is being held (SHIFT or ALT). Through this approach, I have bound about 65 buttons to my HOTAS and could bind 50 more if the game actually had that many keys to bind. The only time I would need to touch my keyboard at this point is if I wanted to type a message in chat or something.
- Properly setting up your HOTAS with maximum buttons can allow you to avoid feeling like you need to use COMBO buttons. This is ideal because combo buttons can put you in a pitch potentially if you hold a combo button too long and a menu pops up that prevents you from maneuvering or if a double tap happens unintentionally causing a different command than desired. This is, of course, a function of how many buttons and hats your stick has. But the fewer combo buttons you need to use, the happier you're going to be.
- If you have a stick with more than 15-20 buttons mapped, make an actual map/chart of your button layouts. Most stick manufacturers have a PDF map of all the buttons with space for you to type in what function you're using it for in any given game, allowing you to have your own quick reference guide. Doing this will save you time and guess work when you get to some random menu in the game and the game asks you to press "button 25"...only for you to not remember what "button 25" even is, forcing you to tab out of the game and take time consulting your stick's software to determine what the mystery button press is. With a written out map of your custom settings, you can just reference your print-out or PDF or w/e and see what the button is at a glance. Yes, it'll take you a little extra time and diligence during the initial setup, but it will save you time later when trying to remember buttons (and you will forget some buttons. It will also allow you to more easily diagnose problems or move buttons around if you aren't happy with where something is.
- Be patient. It can take awhile to get your buttons in the perfect arrangement for your preferences. And it can take even longer to remember them all. Don't get frustrated if you're still changing button positions a week from now. It's all normal.
FWIW: My HOTAS setup is the CH Products Fighterstick + Pro Throttle + Pro Pedals. I have Pitch and Roll on my stick and Yaw on my pedal toe taps. No issues to speak of, everything works great.
I don't really think I have anything else here to add. Regardless of the button configuration you decide on, you're going to have to spend time getting used to your new control scheme. It will be worth it.
Good luck, pilots. o7
Looking for the Xbox one Hotas but its been out of stock for a while. Not so interested in the pedals but I would like the stick over the controller.
Great post btw
If you have trouble keeping crosshairs on target because it keeps wobbling left-right-left-right and you just can't make it sit still, consider flying a craft with low maneuverability(for example tie bomber, or a tie fighter with reinforced armor). This makes the crosshair move relatively slower and makes it easier to line up target(the effect is similar to setting your mouse sensivity to low when using a scope for headshots in a FPS). Once you get used to the way ships move, you can gradually switch to higher maneuverability.
Another tip for making the flying simpler until you get used to it: You can set the throttle so that it only has three states: 0%, 50% and 100%. That way you can fly at 100% throttle until you need to make a turn, and then go to 50% throttle(best turning) instantly with a single button press, without having to look at the throttle gauge, then go back to 100% with one button press again.
To do this, go to settings, change throttle from continuous to discrete, and set the minimum step to 50.
