Hi, long-time lurker and occasional player here. I played Freespace 1 when it first came out - but on a friend's computer, as we could not afford a machine good enough for it. Now I'm an adult, with at least
some disposable income (although a lot less than I'd like), and have saved up over the last few years and built a ...
moderately kickarse machine. I also did a lot of research, and currently have a Defender Cobra M5 (
Image) and a CH Throttle Pro (
Image #1,
Image #2) as my input, while I save up for something even better and wait for it to come out. Using Universal Control Remapper or Joystick Gremlin, I can have FSO see them both as one device, with a total of 31 buttons (6 4-way hats, as I'm not going to be using the 8-way functionality on those that have them - I keep hitting directions I don't mean to, when I do that - a trigger that I'm going to be ignoring the dual-stage function of, and six buttons, one of which I'll be using as a shift button), and 6 axes. Including the shift functionality, that is a potential total of 59 digital inputs (31 - 3 (trigger for primary weapons, shift key, and one other for secondary weapons) * 2) and six axes (three axis on the joystick - X, Y, and twist, three on the throttle - throttle main axis, and two on the ministick at my thumb. Technically I have another axis, the throttle on the stick, if I need to use it for something). All buttons can either be bound as simple buttonpresses, or as macros for quick commands, such as distributing power or sending commands to squadronmates. If I really need to, I have a 3-way mode switch, so technically the buttons can be tripled, although practically there'd be a few I wouldn't give new functions to, just so I can fly in any mode.
But the sheer amount of interface commands that Freespace offers is intimidating me - I don't know what to bind!
Any suggestions on what commands are the most important? What should be its own button, and what should be a shift-key command? What should be grouped up into a 4-way hat of all related commands?
I'm planning on playing FSPort, then FS2O, then trying various mods. But at present I'd most appreciate help with bindings for FSPort and FS2O - I figure once I've done that, I should have enough experience to make the changes various mods will no doubt require.
Any help would be appreciated - thanks!