[Stoikheion]

Hi everyone,

I'm really loving Freespace Open so far! I've started to play around with the controls, however, and I've found a couple things I'm confused about. There are controls for "thrust right/left/up/down", but none of them seem to be having any effect in the game. Also, the "reverse" thrust doesn't thrust me backwards, nor does it really slow me down very much. Are all of these things glitches, or are they related to the type of ship I'm piloting? (I've only piloted the Myrmidon and the Hercules so far). For dodging ships that are coming straight at me, it would be really convenient to be able to move sideways, but I'm not sure if the limitation is for the sake of realism or if it's because I've somehow configured it wrong.
Also, is there any way to customize controls by using the scroll wheel? When I press the middle mouse button, it registers as "Button 3", but scrolling up and down aren't recognized as gestures. Also, my mouse (The Razer DeathAdder) has two additional side buttons, that don't seem to be recognized as anything, even when my drivers map them as standard "Windows button 4" and "Windows button 5". Should I be able to use these additional buttons to customize my controls?

Thanks in advance!

[Dilmah G]

Your ship has to be capable of those thrust directions, the Mara is AFAIK.

[Stoikheion]

Ah, thanks, that makes sense! Does that also apply with the reverse thrust, or is it just a brake for all ships?

[Commander Zane]

And --Steve-O--'s Wraith.
By the way Dilmah, have you flown the Uriel yet during testing? Does it still have the rear thrust?

[Dilmah G]

Ah, thanks, that makes sense! Does that also apply with the reverse thrust, or is it just a brake for all ships?

It's just a brake, however with Shivan ships it also reverses them from a stop start.

And --Steve-O--'s Wraith.
By the way Dilmah, have you flown the Uriel yet during testing? Does it still have the rear thrust?

No idea, never tried it .

[eliex]

Any Shivan fighter is capable of reversing, but not too sure about the Aeshma.
In Droid's Tides of Darkness campaign, a player can't press z all the time.  

[Stoikheion]

Thanks for all the responses! I guess once I actually go through a big chunk of the campaign mode I'll figure out how the different types of ships actually vary.

So out of curiosity, has anyone had experience with binding the scroll wheel to commands, or alternate mouse buttons?

[General Battuta]

And --Steve-O--'s Wraith.
By the way Dilmah, have you flown the Uriel yet during testing? Does it still have the rear thrust?

Yep. Useful.

[Commander Zane]

Woot!
Using that can be so unfair.

[Mongoose]

From what I remember, the game's default mouse controls unfortunately don't support more than three buttons.  I know that at least one of the SCP coders was/is working on overhauling the input system to allow for things like many-buttoned mice or rudder pedals, but I have no idea if/when we'll see it implemented.  In the meantime, there's software available that can allow you to map your mouse as a virtual joystick; PPJoy is one I've heard mentioned before.

[Leeko]

I can't play FreeSpace without a joystick. I don't know how you people live like this.

[Spoon]

I can't play FreeSpace without a joystick. I don't know how you people live like this.

I can't play Freespace With a joystick, though I can more or less understand some people do
Keyboard forever!

Question for a joystick user though, if a ship has sideward moving (Strafing) how would a joystick player deal with that?

[Droid803]

I've never used strafing before. How does it even work in FS?

[Commander Zane]

Just push whatever button's mapped to it and wham, you're using lateral thrust.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I play FS2_Open with a keyboard and I hardly ever use the thrust controls.

[Dragon]

Question for a joystick user though, if a ship has sideward moving (Strafing) how would a joystick player deal with that?

I have side thrusters mapped to POW hat on my joystick (I'm using WingMan Force 3D).
Far more useful than looking around.