[colecampbell666]

BTW, the lights are the best part of the evo.

Shiny...

And I find it natural to have them that way, even before playing FPSes. It just feels natural to have them that far apart, and there's more choice for button layouts.

[Zacam]

Heh. I went HOTAS with the Saitex X-52 Pro. May not have anf feedback (yet), and it may not have quite enough buttons for EVERY function of the game, but I have yet to use the keyboard any more.

Which is good, sine the keyboard mapping in Freespace ignores the windows Regional Options and doesn't understand that I am using a Dvorak layout.

[Fenrir]

I have been playing for the last few hours. I'm a lot better now than I was when I started. I could get used to this!

Told ya. =)

[CaptJosh]

Heh. I went HOTAS with the Saitex X-52 Pro. May not have anf feedback (yet), and it may not have quite enough buttons for EVERY function of the game, but I have yet to use the keyboard any more.

Which is good, sine the keyboard mapping in Freespace ignores the windows Regional Options and doesn't understand that I am using a Dvorak layout.

Zacam, I hate that it can't tell I'm using Dvorak too. I've tried to engage cheat mode a couple times, but I can't remember qwerty enough to type it fast enough to engage it. Aside from that, when I go to type in a pilot name, it reads the keys like I'm using QWERTY. I think it's time for a feature request to properly abstract the keyboard interface for the game engine under Windows.

[griffon67]

just buy a x52 and you'll have all your control on your joystick.
I know 3 POV can be a bit too much but look. the first POV is for seeing around the ship, the second one allow me to change shield settings (like the arrow on the keyboard) and the third one allow me the change energy settings (more gun at left, more shield (down), more speed(left), equalize(up)) and all the other buttons assigned to the same functions as everyone.
to have more buttons than the game provide, just use the SST to use all the 3 modes+pinkie (that make all the buttons on the joystick X 6 possibilities , which should be more than enough)

[CaptJosh]

You do realize than an X52 costs well over US$100, right?

[griffon67]

if you love (but really truly love) simulation games. US$100 is not too much compared to a joystick you'll buy US$50 and have to buy another 2 years later....
if you don't play too much simulation games, I agree, US$100 is too much

[CaptJosh]

I play this a lot. 100+ is still too much. There's  this thing I have, called a budget. Perhaps you've heard of budgets before? Right now mine is limited. After my basic living expenses (you know, food, housing), my first priority is to get an additional DVD drive so I can set my Linux box back up. It's the only part I'm missing from building my Athlon64 X2 5400+ system to be a windows box only, while leaving the old board for a stand-alone linux box. That could be around 30 bucks right there. Next is a dynamic microphone for doing voice acting for here. That's going to set me back around $50 or $60 for the mic and cabling. As I currently have an FF2 stick, that means the Saitek X52 is an item that would be nice, but it just can't be a priority right now.

[colecampbell666]

What is Dvorak? It's obviously another keyboard layout, but for what? Laptops?

[CaptJosh]

It's a specific layout that is supposedly faster than QWERTY to type on. The rows have different keys:

`123567890[]
',.pyfgcrl/=
aoeuidhtns-
;qjkxbmwvz

as opposed to qwerty layout, which you doubtless can see by simply looking down at your keyboard.

[colecampbell666]

Why use it? I mean, it can't be that much faster.

[Swifty]

In QWERTY, the most oft used letters are biased towards one side of the keyboard. The Dvorak layout evenly spreads those letters out. I don't use Dvorak myself but I can completely understand why people use it and how faster typing speeds can be achieved with it.

[WMCoolmon]

Rumor has it that QWERTY was made back in the days of typewriters, because it actually slowed down people's typing speed so that the heads wouldn't get caught on each other. (Don't tell me I have to explain how a typewriter works, that would scare me...)

[CaptJosh]

More to the point it kept common letter groupings apart so that the hammers wouldn't lock with eachother.

[colecampbell666]

Rumor has it that QWERTY was made back in the days of typewriters, because it actually slowed down people's typing speed so that the heads wouldn't get caught on each other. (Don't tell me I have to explain how a typewriter works, that would scare me...)

Wh-What--s a wrr-t-write---typer????