KSP controller setup and awesome find

[CommandantAce]

After much research and consideration into Ace’s KSP controller setup, Ace has found a Stick + Control pad combo that has a lot of potential.

The first requirements were;  (3 axis flight stick + throttle) & (3 axis Joy stick + key pad) = :-)

The setup also had to fit on my desk and be of reasonable quality. I must have looked at all the Joystick and throttle combos available and even looked into creating custom controllers. I settled on the Saitek AV8R flight stick. For a Saitek product it is a good solid build and mine works just fine. It is good for lefties and righties. The throttle is on the front, easy to reach and out of the way. There are lots of programmable buttons and a four-way hat. You don’t have to use the Saitek software, I don’t. Best of all it comes with stickers :-)

Cons; the stick is kind of big. People say I have big, beautiful hands, tremendous hands but this thing makes my hands feel small. That makes for a long throw and you may have to hold the base down. The base is a good size.

 

For the Joy stick and key pad I wanted some thing like the Saitek Farm Sim control pad. It had a lot of cons; it is reportedly a poor build and big. It hangs off the desk edge and that is against the requirements. I was pretty close to purchasing.

 

I found the IP Desktop from CH Products, it is an awesome find! It has a 3 axis joy stick, with a 2 button top, perfect for switching docking mode. It also has 12, yes, 12 programmable buttons I haven’t been able to use them all. It is compact, good for lefties and righties. The stick is short-throw the foot print is small and the palm rest holds it place for good control. It shows up in the control panel as a regular game controller so it has potential with other games. It makes docking and rover steering really fun.

 

 

Cons; CH Products makes game controllers this is not one of them. The IP Desktop is an enterprise product used for controlling PTZ security cameras. You may not be able to purchase it directly and it is expensive if you find it new, around $400. I was able to find a floor model and haggled with the seller.

 

Ace is having lots of fun with the setup, good luck with yours!

 

  

Edited December 14, 2017 by CommandantAce

[ZooNamedGames]

I had KSP at one point bound to an USB-SNES controller. That was fun. I was too used to the WASDQE format that I never could use it for long. Might pick it back up though.

[invision]

who care about flight sticks just tell me more about the stickers

[CommandantAce]

They are sweet!:-)

[wumpus]

I suppose sooner or later I need to break down and buy a gamepad for docking.  Every time I dock I realize that I need two sets of inputs (rotate and translate) and the keyboard is klunky.

Has anybody done that?  Can you put the gamepad down when not docking without random crashes (when a gamepad button is accidentally hit)?

[Corona688]

I've done that, but never found a perfect arrangement.  There's just so many controls to map.  Analog stick for pitch/yaw plus gamepad for translation seems obvious, but what about back/forward?  You can map them to the bumpers, but then, which bumper is "forward" and which is "back"?

Not even three-axis joysticks seem built with it in mind.  You get an intuitive 3d pitch/yaw/roll input, some 2d inputs, and a lot of buttons.

[FlyingPete]

PS3-type controller works for me. You then have two analog sticks plus the pad- enough for rotation and translation axes. D-pad for up/down/left/right, left stick for pitch/yaw, and right stick for fore/aft and roll. R1 and L1 are throttle controls, and either L3 or R3 for precision controls. Map the rest of the buttons to whatever's convenient.

[AngrybobH]

While that stick looks nice I would caution anyone from buying anything from Saitek. I have owned a couple of their products that had great features but the quality and longevity of these were not up to snuff. Their customer service is also terrible giving you lines like "well, we don't actually build that even though our name is on it so we can't really help you." and "We can't send you a replacement until you send yours in and see if we can charge you to fix it even though its only 6 months old". I recommend to anyone the tried and true Logitech 3d extreme pro. They have built this same model for a decade or more, it is dirt cheap, it handles abuse well, and it lasts for a very long time. The one on my desk right now has outlasted 3 PCs. With the 3 axis stick and the 2 axis hat plus 12 buttons and a throttle you can do any setup you want.

The IP desktop controller looks like it would be real fun with a bunch of games, too bad about the price though.

[magimix]

A while back I picked up a Steam Controller, and I get on very well with it for KSP.  Squad did a great job with supporting it - the different 'modes' of the game (flight, editor, map, etc.) have tailored bindings that are well chosen, and the bindings automatically switch based on the mode you are in. 

[Corona688]

This thread has inspired me to get my gamepad working properly and write it down so I can use it more than one day in a row.

Gahhh, I need more hands, buttons, and axes to continually forget.

Edited December 17, 2017 by Corona688

[FlyingPete]

I've personally never bothered with staging/docking mode, personally. Here's the setup I use last time I wrote it down:

So having pitch and yaw on the same stick isn't ideal for aircraft, but you can get used to it, and it avoids any weird control changes when you leave atmo. Two translation axes share controls with rover wheel controls, but you virtually never need to use both RCS and drive at the same time, so you can just switch RCS off while driving.

When docking, have the pilot hold the correct attitude, then you can move from the left stick to the pad for translation, while still maintaining control of roll on the right stick for when this matters.

The other buttons may take a few iterations to find the best setup, but this works well enough.

[Corona688]

Thanks for publishing your controller layout!  There's not enough information on this stuff. 

5 hours ago, FlyingPete said:

I've never bothered with staging/docking mode, personally.

I think my controller has buttons yours doesn't - each analog stick is also a button, B11 and B12.  I don't actually use the axes for translation, or use docking mode in game.

5 hours ago, FlyingPete said:

Here's the setup I use last time I wrote it down:

Ohhhohoho.  Mapping "brakes" and "cut engines" to the same button is very clever!  I'll have to steal that.

What use is "precision controls" with a controller?  It seems to get ignored for axes, at least for me.