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Thoughts on a Gaming Controller for KSP?


Speed_Kerman

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Me personally, I cant see KSP running very well on a gamepad style of controller. Either keyboard & mouse or a flight stick with mouse input for building crafts.

And I say this as someone who is primarily a controller-based gamer.

It's just that some games lend themselves better to certain controllers in my opinion.

IF you do want to get a gamepad controller for PC, I would personally spring for the Xbox 1 controller as you can pretty reliably use that for just about any game. It's button layout is standardized and 99% games will either be built specifically for it or have respectable support for it. I know it's a little spendy, but I'm a HUGE believer in future-proofing yourself.

I've had bad experiences with generic brand controllers, so I usually don't buy them.

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Basically what the other guys said^

You are going to end up having to set the controller down and use keyboard/mouse to build stuff anyways. Maybe you'd be better off looking into some alternate control scheme mods that let you fly with your mouse?

I have an Xbox 360 controller I use with my PC for some games, it's kind of nice for flying about in KSP but it just gets obnoxious having to switch back and forth constantly and I mostly end up just using the keyboard/mouse instead.

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The Logitech you're considering did serve me well for about two to three years, also had a Logitech flightstick for FSX,  so the brand does hold up to regular use.

But if you do have an existing controller you can use on the PC and can be detected by KSP, it'll do.

And I'm probably the opposite of prior posters here: I only keyboard-fly for hand launches when I want to isolate axes of input. Every other time, I'm using either autopilots or the gamepad (especially during docking. Repetetive WSAD+IJKlHN can be an RSI nightmare for me).

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I used a Logitech Dual Shock from around 2010 for quite a while before it got ripped apart and stuffed into a control panel. Worked a lot better than keyboard, but I would not buy one for KSP. Larger joysticks give so much better control.

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Thanks for all the advice guys. I did pick up my Logitech F310 controller yesterday. So far I haven't tried it with KSP, but I have been trying it with some emulated retro Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games and I'm pretty happy with it. Maybe tonight I'll try setting it up for KSP, but solely for flying.

I really don't mind if I have to switch back and forth between keyboard for building and controller for flying, as I'm sure I can program all the functions I need (like RCS, throttle controls, gear...) to the buttons of the controller.

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21 hours ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

Basically what the other guys said^

You are going to end up having to set the controller down and use keyboard/mouse to build stuff anyways. Maybe you'd be better off looking into some alternate control scheme mods that let you fly with your mouse?

I have an Xbox 360 controller I use with my PC for some games, it's kind of nice for flying about in KSP but it just gets obnoxious having to switch back and forth constantly and I mostly end up just using the keyboard/mouse instead.

I have a 360 controller and adaptor for PC... do I need to do anything special to get it working with KSP? I'd quite like to have a go at flying with it :)

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2 hours ago, MR L A said:

I have a 360 controller and adaptor for PC... do I need to do anything special to get it working with KSP? I'd quite like to have a go at flying with it :)

If you are playing on Windows 10, all you really have to do is plug it in, Windows will automatically download the drivers and install them. you'll know it's working when the green light on the controller turns on.

http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-on-windows/accessories/xbox-controller-for-windows-setup

Then, you just have to set it up in the KSP controls menu, last time I used mine there were no defaults so you'll have to manually assign all the keys unless somethings changed in that regard.

Edited by Rocket In My Pocket
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why anyone would want to play PC with noobsticks is beyond me but to each their own.

I will point out that there's no advantage gained from using a gamepad or flight stick outside of atmospheric flight in planes, but we got mods for that purpose so it's really moot.

Edited by Xyphos
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2 hours ago, Xyphos said:

why anyone would want to play PC with noobsticks is beyond me but to each their own.

because analogue controllers are FAR superior for fine movements required in flying/driving games. WASD simply doesn't cut it (unless you buy that analogue keyboard that can tell how hard you press the keys). Yes, M+K is a lot better for FPS games and a "pro" wouldn't dream of playing CS:GO with a 360 controller, but by the same token, a professional driver/pilot wouldn't dream of playing a racing game/flight sim using WASD. 

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3 minutes ago, MR L A said:

for fine movements required in flying/driving games. WASD simply doesn't cut it

for fine movements, simply toggle the caps lock; your pitch/roll/yaw indicators will turn from orange to blue while in fine-adjustment mode. QWESAD works plenty well in both modes.

alternatively, you can disable SAS while in-flight, hold ALT and press QWESAD as needed to adjust trim, and your vessel should fly itself when properly adjusted.
(ALT+X resets all trims to zero)

Edited by Xyphos
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Just now, Xyphos said:

for fine movements, simply toggle the caps lock; your pitch/roll/yaw indicators will turn from orange to blue while in fine-adjustment mode. WSAD works plenty well in both modes.

That isn't what I mean by fine movement. A press of the key still has maximum effect in that given direction, caps lock just reduces what the 'maximum' is. Also, toggling caps repeatedly during flight is extremely... crap. It's not even a valid point when someone wants fine pitch control but full roll. Aside from that, I wasn't specifically applying this to KSP. You asked why anyone would "play PC with noobsticks" - I answered; because they aren't "noobsticks" depending on what you're actually playing or even trying to do within KSP. Also, if you think WASD works plenty well for atmospheric flight, I'm pretty sure you're not a flight sim guy lol

 

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and when you learn how to properly use a keyboard, you'll find that you don't need analog input to play KSP.
and no, I'm not a flight sim guy. the last time I played with a flight stick was back in the late 90's early 2000, forget the name of the game but it was a group of 1940's era pirates that flew planes and zepplins

 

EDIT: Crimson Skies. (thanks, Google!)

Edited by Xyphos
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4 minutes ago, Xyphos said:

and when you learn how to properly use a keyboard, you'll find that you don't need analog input to play KSP.
and no, I'm not a flight sim guy. the last time I played with a flight stick was back in the late 90's early 2000, forget the name of the game but it was a group of 1940's era pirates that flew planes and zepplins

 

EDIT: Crimson Skies. (thanks, Google!)

I can use a keyboard properly you condescending oaf. I'm perfectly aware that to play KSP we don't need analogue input and nor did I say anywhere that I or anybody else did. I'm saying analogue control for flight is better. There's a reason people with an interest in flight use analogue controls and it isn't because then need to "learn how to properly use a keyboard".

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5 hours ago, Xyphos said:

why anyone would want to play PC with noobsticks is beyond me but to each their own.

I will point out that there's no advantage gained from using a gamepad or flight stick outside of atmospheric flight in planes, but we got mods for that purpose so it's really moot.

I'd assume docking.  Whenever docking, I'm always wondering why I'm not using a controller.  I'd assume that a joystick would work best for normal flight.

31 minutes ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

Also, isn't this 2017? I thought we were past the whole "console shaming" thing. PC master race was so early 2000's.

If so, that was odd timing.  Consoles still had a bit of an advantage thanks to RISC architecture and directx overhead (and general microsoft kludgyness in directx).  But I guess there isn't much point in "console shaming" now that it generally takes a fps/detail hit to play on console.

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  • 3 months later...
On 10/6/2017 at 9:01 PM, wumpus said:

I'd assume docking.  Whenever docking, I'm always wondering why I'm not using a controller.  I'd assume that a joystick would work best for normal flight.

On 10/6/2017 at 8:27 PM, Rocket In My Pocket said:

On my joystick, I use the joystick for rotation and the "Top-hat" (little thumb joystick on top) for RCS translation. Trigger toggles RCS, another thumb button toggels SAS, Docking was hell until I had all that.

Having a real throttle is worth the price right there. Often for non-atmosphere landings, I have my left hand on the keyboard rotation controls and my right just on the joystick throttle.

 

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