Elite, Braben, Kickstarter!

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@hughJ Yes, I took the time the other day to move my HOTAS off my desk onto a couple of dining chairs either side of my desk chair. It was an improvement in immersion and quite comfortable. The idle hand motions break immersion slightly for me as well, also if I watch my virtual right index finger pulling the trigger it seems to lag behind as the animation doesn't start playing until my trigger is fully pressed. The one-to-one nature of the joystick movement is really nice though. Sometimes I find myself matching the idle movements on screen; mostly I just wish there were a way to disable them.

@cheapchips I can see that being useful. I'd imagine in game it could be represented as jointed mechanical arms that the controls are attached to.

 

[hughJ]

The point of a trackable hotas is that you can position the controller how you like and have it reflected in game. The default setup isn't perfect for everyone.

The closest you're going to get for that would maybe be Frontier making 3-4 different pilot/controls seating arrangements and letting you choose something that's closest to your setup. No one is going to make an optically tracked hotas setup, and no dev would spend the time making a dynamic cockpit system to support it. The only other thing I could see for 1:1 positionally tracked joysticks is if it were done with virtual joysticks using the motion controllers, but those sorts of UIs are problematic because it requires suspending your arms in mid air for extended periods of time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hCHx2BOzSU

 

[tabs]

Imagine adjustable monitor mounts with the plates facing upwards and flight controls sitting on them. That sort of thing could work in game, particularly in a spaceship. I do agree though that a trackable HOTAS is going to be pretty far down the list of things to worry about from both soft and hardware devs.

 

[hughJ]

The floating mounts would need be incredibly sturdy as they'd need to carry the weight of your arms hanging off them without the mounts flexing and bobbing around. To each his own, but I really like having that feeling of the hotas being rock solid. Originally I just had them sitting on the desk, but they'd shift around a little bit (especially with the stiffer spring/setting on the stick and throttle). Then I strapped them down to the speaker stands but the stands still moved around a little. So finally I added 50lbs of weight to each stand base and they now feel as solid as they look in the game. Best thing about them is that they have tiny footprints no larger than the hotas so I'm able to use them and set them aside without any setup time.

The next purchase debate has been a Buttkicker or maybe a SubPac. Can imagine those would feel amazing while hovering outside the space stations. VR is getting expensive

 

[tabs]

Ah you misunderstand me, I meant the virtual representations would be floating mounts that would match where your RL controls sat. Would fit in a sci-fi genre easily enough.

Yeah I've been wondering about the buttkicker myself. Do you know if they make much noise? I like to play late at night sometimes.

 

[Arwin]

I got myself a third DS4 primarily for use with PC, and now am really tempted to get Elite to try and see what I can get out of it ... Motion controls plus triggers plus two analog sticks plus touchpad should be pretty efficient

 

[tabs]

Do it! Really immersive experience. Worth checking this reddit post for mappings you might want to use on the DS4. I played on a 360 controller the first couple of days and the basic scheme requires plenty of keyboard use. There is an advanced one with context switching but I didn't have a chance to test it before my HOTAS arrived. The devs recently mentioned that they've improved the control scheme significantly for the xbox and will be bringing those changes over to PC. They're not here yet though as far as I know.

Oh I should mention that there is a demo (shocking in this day and age, so I never knew about it until after I bought the game). Maybe you want to give that a go first.

 

[Arwin]

Pc demo as well? Will try. Reddit mappings are not using gyro yet, maybe pre-inputmapper? That driver really helped me enjoy DS4 on PC

 

[tabs]

You're on your own with that one. Might be worth trawling the official forums to see if anyone else has had a crack at it.

Yep, the PC demo gives you the training missions.

 

[Davros]

The next purchase debate has been a Buttkicker or maybe a SubPac.

Why didnt you go for a forcefeedback hotas
ps: those that follow the teachings of the gaming gods own one of these (and yes I do look sexy)

 

[hughJ]

All of the flagship hotas sets now are without forcefeedback (the sub-$1000 consumer stuff anyways). The choices are pretty much down to the thrustmaster warthog, or if on a budget, the saitek X55/x52pro.

I actually remember the interactor. Maybe I could do with one of those, and then find a SpaceOrb360. And wire up a Genesis Activator for activating the cockpit menus. So much tech that was ahead of its time, heh.

 

[tabs]

I would offer a third option which is quite popular among ED players (and can personally recommend as it's what I use):

Thrustmaster T16000 flight stick with a CH Pro Throttle. The throttle is the star of the show here with it's analogue thumbstick for lateral thrusters and well positioned buttons and hats. The T16000 is a very well performing budget priced stick that (if you decide to upgrade it later) can be switched to a left handed grip for dual stick playing.

I was a bit dubious of the T16000 as it was so cheap, but it really is very comfortable and accurate. More budget concious players can even use it alone as it has a throttle slider on it's base. I played like that for a day until the CH Pro arrived and it was fine.

I've not needed to install software for either one. I was concerned at first about having to have yet 2 more sets of controller software installed (already have Logitech for my wheel).

 

[hughJ]

That combo seems pretty sparse for buttons? I'm curious what your button configuration is - you must have commands you're neglecting or having to rely on the keyboard to use? Actually that's a pretty important point to mention for those who haven't played ED or especially ED with the DK2 - using the DK2 actually has a pretty big impact on your button config and cockpit management as you need one less hat switch and at least a few less buttons available at your finger tips.

 

[tabs]

Not at all. I have 9 or so buttons going spare on the base of the stick I've not found anything to bind to yet.

The throttle has 16 thumb buttons via 2x4 way and 1x8 way hats. 3 finger buttons, and another 4-way hat for the forefinger. That's 23 buttons just on my left hand not including the mode switching button when you press the analogue stick in. There are 3 modes giving a total of 69 discrete commands if using that. To put it into perspective though, I have not yet found a need to use the mode switch.

The joystick has a further 12 buttons on it's base, of which I currently use... I think 3, for things I rarely do, such as recenter the rift. Then there are 3 thumb buttons and a 4-way hat, plus the trigger.

From the moment I launch the game until exiting it I only use the keyboard if I'm searching for a system by name in the galaxy map.

 

[tabs]

Elite is soon to be stretching it's legs (wheels) on planets. Here's David Braben and a buddy racing around an installation, planetside:

 

[homerdog]

Are they going to add the ability to walk around inside your ship? I really want this.

 

[tabs]

Yep, that's planned for a future expansion, including walking around stations and interacting with NPCs.

 

[Grall]

Now, if they could make it offline singleplayer as well I would buy it...

 

[homerdog]

Now, if they could make it offline singleplayer as well I would buy it...

Oh right, lol I forgot about the last minute switcheroo when they yanked single player. Nevermind, I don't do MMOs.

 

[Gerry]

Oh right, lol I forgot about the last minute switcheroo when they yanked single player. Nevermind, I don't do MMOs.

They didn't yank single player mode. They yanked the ability to play offline.