How do you fly your planes / land your landers???

[GoSlash27]

All keyboard for me too. I have a very pimpin' Saitek X-55 and rudder pedals I got for Flight Sim X and Superbug, but even after all this time I've never bothered reconfiguring for KSP.

Best,

-Slashy

[Ten Key]

Joysticks are wonderful for aircraft, but I've found I prefer the discrete inputs of the keyboard for RCS maneuvering in space. Landers too, though I rely a bit more heavily on the RCS thrusters for killing my horizontal velocity than I probably should.

My joystick/throttle/rudder pedals mostly work in KSP, though I'm still running 0.23.5. Even the analog thumb stick on the throttle works. But the game can't distinguish between buttons on different devices, so it treats button 1 on the throttle and button 1 on the joystick as the same. I have to be careful when mapping my keys. It also has the charming habit of occasionally forgetting which axis is which if I reboot the game. That's become part of the pre-flight checklist-- making sure yaw is still yaw, and so on and so forth.

[Dafni]

I play on steam, is there a way for me to play an older version of the game, to see if it would detect the axis of one of my sticks?? (I bought it just after the 1.0 launch)

[Just Jim]

I have a Logitec Extreme 3D, but in KSP I only use it for flying jets. Rockets, rovers and launching SSTO's I use the keyboard.

[Dafni]

I have a Logitec Extreme 3D, but in KSP I only use it for flying jets. Rockets, rovers and launching SSTO's I use the keyboard.

I have the same stick but it does not work for me

[Ten Key]

I play on steam, is there a way for me to play an older version of the game, to see if it would detect the axis of one of my sticks?? (I bought it just after the 1.0 launch)

Sorry Dafni, but I don't think there's a way to download older versions. I disassociated my game from steam a long time ago, so I still have the version I initially purchased.

[Just Jim]

I have the same stick but it does not work for me

Really? Hmmmm.... You may have to go into the settings/inputs and manually bind the joystick axis and buttons. It's been a while, but I think I had to do that the first time.

[RoboRay]

My joystick has worked fine for a couple of years, now.

[Skorpychan]

Only use keyboard but definitely open to the idea of using a joystick. Both these threads talk about custom controllers and I gotta say JUST a joystick won't do it after seeing these

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/102513-My-KSP-control-panel

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/66763-Custom-hardware-simpit-repository-For-people-who-take-KSP-a-little-too-far

Ideally, I'd like to play KSP with two joysticks (rotation and translation) and a throttle stick. But since a controller has those as well as buttons, I think I can settle for that.

[Dafni]

Really? Hmmmm.... You may have to go into the settings/inputs and manually bind the joystick axis and buttons. It's been a while, but I think I had to do that the first time.

Yes, of course. The problem is the game only recognizes the buttons, but not the axis, nor the throttle lever. Buttons work fine. I did everyting that was suggested to me in the joystick issue thread, bought another stick, installed the game on a different computer, bought the game again on a friends account and computer just to check for this, tried addons and plugins... always the same result: the game (in the settings/input menu) just sees the buttons, but not the stick and levers. On other games both sticks work just fine. Its driving me crazy.

Thank your for all the suggestions. I can do most anything with the keyboard too, but the proportional input for throttle or steering or even RCS must be real nice to have. I hope that one day it will just work.

Do you think I should buy the game from Squad, de-install the steam stuff, and it might work better??

cheers

Daf

[cantab]

I play on steam, is there a way for me to play an older version of the game, to see if it would detect the axis of one of my sticks?? (I bought it just after the 1.0 launch)

The "Previous Stable Version" is available as a "Beta" in Steam. I advise backing up your current install first then letting Steam "Delete Local Content" before installing the old version.

[The_Rocketeer]

Yes, of course. The problem is the game only recognizes the buttons, but not the axis, nor the throttle lever. Buttons work fine. I did everyting that was suggested to me in the joystick issue thread, bought another stick, installed the game on a different computer, bought the game again on a friends account and computer just to check for this, tried addons and plugins... always the same result: the game (in the settings/input menu) just sees the buttons, but not the stick and levers. On other games both sticks work just fine. Its driving me crazy.

Thank your for all the suggestions. I can do most anything with the keyboard too, but the proportional input for throttle or steering or even RCS must be real nice to have. I hope that one day it will just work.

Do you think I should buy the game from Squad, de-install the steam stuff, and it might work better??

cheers

Daf

You may have already answered this, but have you established that your stick works as intended in other sims/games? In my (admittedly partial) experience, there's no reason why KSP shouldn't understand an analogue input that's properly configured in windows.

Edit: also, no. There's absolutely no reason to blow another £30 on another game key for exactly the same problem to come up again. This isn't an issue stemming in any way from your game source, and Steam community support is actually often first rate for solving problems and remembering the solution for others.

FWIW, I set up my PS3 controller with a 3rd party configuration program. It was fiddly to get it all working correctly (windows thought the sticks were all buttons) but once I had it sorted out in the windows calibration wizard, KSP picked it up perfectly fine.

Edited August 29, 2015 by The_Rocketeer

[Dafni]

Ja, that's the weird thing, both my sticks work perfect for other games, plug and play.

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

Logitech extreme 3d pro here. bought for KSP.

Worked in beta, just setup for 1.0 works fine.

Personalizations include: cutting roll sensitivity down, invert throttle, setup "Top hat" for translation, trigger toggles retros, thumb button suspends SAS.

BTW: joysticks give you constant Rover and Kerbal throttles. no more putting a rock on the W key.

EDIT: was not "plug and play" had to go into Settings input and setup every axis and control. (they try to play, then go back and fix it, ... repeat. but worth the effort.)

EDIT II: not using the stick for everything. (while there are enough buttons on the damn thing) I only use it for flight, maneuver and docking, I use the keyboard for everything else (lights,staging,breaks, timewarp.) left hand on the keyboard, So not HOTAS, rather HOKAS

And some ships (big rockets) just respond better to keyboard. (push button control)

Edited August 29, 2015 by Brainlord Mesomorph

[FyunchClick]

Keyboard too.

Once you have a module or pilot capable holding prograde/retrograde things are pretty easy. I'm assuming you're doing a powered descent, not landing a glider?

If it's a bottom lander, just enable SAS, set reference to "surface" and have SAS track retrograde (this will point your nose in the exact oposite direction of the speed you need to bleed off to come to a full stop relative to the surface), then just throttle your way to a soft landing (set SAS to stability just before touching down to prevent it trying to flip your craft to follow retrograde if there's a bit of a bounce). If it's a belly lander with some thrusters pointing down, try sticking a docking port on the belly, right click and select "control from here" on it when you're about to land, and then it's the same trick (only track prograde as your docking port is at your belly, not top). And if you don't want to tack on thrusters, put on vernors, and use RCS instead of throttle. They're pretty powerfull, easier to control than with the throttle, and enough of them can lift even a big craft.

I've not sweated a single powered descent since discovering the use of setting your speed reference on the NAV ball (bar those where I ran out of fuel half way through).

Edited August 29, 2015 by FyunchClick

[Dafni]

Logitech extreme 3d pro here. bought for KSP.

Worked in beta, just setup for 1.0 works fine.

Bought the same stick, just for KSP, but no such luck here. I wish mine would work, I'm about to give up on this

[Ten Key]

Well, at least your stick works. I can't get KSP to recognize my axis or levers at all. Even went out to get another stick that was suggested on here, same annoying result.

What kind of joystick was it? Logitech also, or another manufacturer?

Just so I'm understanding you correctly, you're going into KSP's key mapping screen and while it recognizes your joystick's buttons, it doesn't see any of the axes? You click on, say, the "map pitch axis" button, move the joystick, and nothing happens?

Two completely random shots in the dark here. First, I have had weird problems with other programs in the past, and the root cause ended up being a config file that had been locked as "read only". You might check to see if your KSP is in a read only folder.

Second, I vaguely remember having some issues with my joystick not liking being plugged into a USB 3.0 port. I had to plug it into a 2.0 port in order to get it working right.

[Dafni]

What kind of joystick was it? Logitech also, or another manufacturer?

Just so I'm understanding you correctly, you're going into KSP's key mapping screen and while it recognizes your joystick's buttons, it doesn't see any of the axes? You click on, say, the "map pitch axis" button, move the joystick, and nothing happens?

Exactly. That's exactly what happens. Same with the 8way hat switch and the throttle levers, no reaction from KSP whatsoever. Buttons all work perfect.

My first stick is a Logitec 3D pro and the new one is a Saitek, both work perfectly fine on other games.

USB 2 is something I haven't tried yet, thanks for the suggestion. I check as soon as I can.

thanks for your time and help

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

USB 2 is something I haven't tried yet, thanks for the suggestion. I check as soon as I can.

thanks for your time and help

well it's not the stick, and its not the game, so yeah, start looking at the connection.

[cantab]

So not HOTAS, rather HOKAS

Reading this made me realise HOTAS was an acronym and what it stands for. I'd always assumed it was a brand name for joysticks! /tangent

[steve_v]

The true meaning of that acronym illustrates why this situation is so annoying - hands on the stick means hands off the keyboard and mouse, which implies everything shall be mapped to the controller. Without manual config edits if you please.

[Wanderfound]

Another keyboard flyer here. It works well once you get the hang of it; key-tapping takes the place of partial stick deflections for moderate inputs. Designing your ships so as to avoid excessive control inputs (especially with FAR) helps a great deal as well. This was all flown by keyboard:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Just Jim]

Yes, of course. The problem is the game only recognizes the buttons, but not the axis, nor the throttle lever. Buttons work fine. I did everyting that was suggested to me in the joystick issue thread, bought another stick, installed the game on a different computer, bought the game again on a friends account and computer just to check for this, tried addons and plugins... always the same result: the game (in the settings/input menu) just sees the buttons, but not the stick and levers. On other games both sticks work just fine. Its driving me crazy.

Thank your for all the suggestions. I can do most anything with the keyboard too, but the proportional input for throttle or steering or even RCS must be real nice to have. I hope that one day it will just work.

Do you think I should buy the game from Squad, de-install the steam stuff, and it might work better??

cheers

Daf

Wow... that is odd. The game recognized my Logitec 3D fine, including the axis.... and I'm running a steam version. All I had to do is go into settings/input hit one of the the Big grey button in Axis bindings and spin my joystick so it saw the right axis. I just tried it again to make sure and it worked fine.

If your running windows it can't be drivers.... windows can automatically install a Logitec..... weird.

I'm so sorry... I wish I could help more, I don't know why it isn't working for you.

[steve_v]

If your running windows it can't be drivers.... windows can automatically install a Logitec..... weird.

Ditto on GNU/Linux, so I don't know what's up here either.

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

The true meaning of that acronym illustrates why this situation is so annoying - hands on the stick means hands off the keyboard and mouse, which implies everything shall be mapped to the controller. Without manual config edits if you please.

Well, technically I believe the acronym refers to the IRL air force policy of putting ALL the buttons on the stick and throttle. (can't be done in KSP) So the pilot never has to move his hands. In PC gaming it refers to just having A SEPARATE THROTTLE at all.