Got a Joystick, but.....

[MajorDeath]

The only flight controlls I have bound to the joystick are for movement, fire, and the hat is my afterburner. I still use the keyboard for throttle, flares, and switch weapon. I also still have the yaw on A and D as well as the stick. Seems to allow for a bit more precise aiming. I"m sure I"ll change things around as I get more use to it. but baby steps right?

The thing that does bother me, is in BF2 you could out maneuver missiles. It seems now you can't, and the main guns are so powerful. I'm sure I'll get better, but man I was up against some pilots that just seemed to wait for me, came out of the clouds and gunned me down before the seat belt lite came on lol.

As a side note, I love how the stationary AA guns are actually useful. I think I killed 10 people with that thing last night.

[ryanbatc]

I use M+ KB only in BF3. As long as I'm not up against Drisel I can do very well.

[mapes]

Joysticks for jets in this game kinda suck. I think they modeled the "joystick" from a game controller. For example if I assign a button it calls it pad 4. I think this why you have to delete the other joystick binds in the game. The other annoying thing is the freelook is crap. I have a Saitek EVO cyborg. it has a 12 position hat. I still have to press a button and then I can use the hat to look around. Kinda lame. So I end up having throttle by keyboard (with a free look button near the throttle keys). So to fly jets I'm using keyboard and joysticks. When it comes to helos all of my flying before this game is mouse and keyboards so I use that still for helos.

[Nauticas]

You're kidding, right? An xbox controller is the best thing to ever happen to chopper piloting.

I'll try your bind setup, but I'm not sure it will help me. I don't like hacking to hold a button down to move forward because you have to keep that hand by the buttons so your right hand is dedicated to throttle which is dumb.

[glasscasket]

i can control throttle with 360 controller.

[Dead...Again]

You're kidding, right? An xbox controller is the best thing to ever happen to chopper piloting. I find it lacking in the jets (though, that's only because of the jet throttle down binding issue).

For chopper piloting with an xbox controller: Pitch and Roll on the left stick, Throttle and Rotate on the A/B/X/Y buttons. Guns right trigger (or right bumper), CMs left trigger (or left bumper). Other functions wherever you feel comfortable putting 'em.

I may try that. The 360 controller works ok for me. My biggest problem is free look. It turns waaaaay to slow.

[Nauticas]

i can control throttle with 360 controller.

Sure you can, but it is still binary. You cannot set it to 79% if you wanted.

[SighKoPath]

i can control throttle with 360 controller.

Yeah, if you put it on a stick axis (say, up/down on the right control stick), or if you're flying a chopper. Jet throttle down doesn't work on controller or joystick buttons, which is where I want it. The only button it works is the S key on the keyboard.

[Dead...Again]

Sure you can, but it is still binary. You cannot set it to 79% if you wanted.

That is true with the chopper, but not with a jet. You hold the throttle down until you get to the level you want, the let go. If you want to slow down, you hold down throttle down. Granted this doesn't work if you have a throttle lever like most joysticks have.

[glasscasket]

percentiles mean nothing to me.

[Nauticas]

percentiles mean nothing to me.

If the game had a linear progressive throttle instead of binary you would never shoot me down in a plane if you didn't use the linear progressive throttle to your advantage.

In BF1942, it was critical to learn what speed you needed to be at during certain maneuvers. You would simply throttle up or down to where you wanted depending if you were dive bombing, dogfighting, going inverted, etc. Learning this was the difference between good pilots and great ones.

If you are curious how I know this, well, I played BF1942 competitively in CAL for 2 years and won CAL twice back in the early 2000s. I would have played in the CPL (actual LAN tournament) if they didn't cancel BF1942 2 weeks before the CPL (and CPL wonders why they don't exist anymore after pulling stuff like that).

I think the binary throttle makes the flying "too simple" and takes away a lot of the fun in it for me. I think there is a fine line between realism and fun in these games and seeing planes practically hover in mid-air and not stall out is just too far away from the "real" aspect of the game.

[glasscasket]

i understand nauticas.

i'm just saying i've played far too much ace combat(like a g) with a controller to not a be a champ. like you've said, the controls are more simplified in this iteration... which really kinda caters to that playstyle and such.

i don't see you on the server much, it'd be fun to see a pro fly.

i used to gun for a guy in 2142 that was top 100 but didn't play competitively. he's pretty much the reason i'd finish games a la 40/2 in those awesome 'jets'.

the controls really are set up for a 360 controller. just sayin'

[Nauticas]

i don't see you on the server much, it'd be fun to see a pro fly.

I'm no pro in BF3. I didn't put much time into flying in BF3 because I do not find flying in BF3 fun. Now in BF1942, I was a pro

I haven't been on much because I've been playing SWTOR and got a little tried of all the bugs and crashes that are still in BF3.