[Kiloku]

...With my noobness.
So that's how it goes: I played the original and the BP campaigns in normal difficulty, as I usually do with most games, and was happy when both were finished, but then I saw many people here who usually play on Insane, and apparently find that not very hard at all. Then I thought: Why not try at least Hard difficulty?

I was in for a killing. In BP I can't get past the 2nd mission (where you find a single Manticore in the asteroid belt and shoot it down, causing a lot of Shivans to appear), and most missions in the Retail campaign take me at least 4 tries, usually more...

Someone help!

[/whine]

[General Battuta]

Don't worry about it. FreeSpace is a pretty hard game with tricky AI. I'd been playing the game for about eight years before I made my first real attempt at playing the main campaign on Insane.

Blue Planet on Insane would just be 

[Dragon]

Hard difficulty isn't something to be taken lightly, you need to manage your wingman, handle the fighter without bonuses (on hard they're not gone completely, but really shrunk) and deal with better AI.
BP is generally not balanced for Hard nor Insane, so I suggest that you play it on medium, it wasn't designed with higher difficulties in mind.
Insane is in fact most realistic mode in FS, as you don't get any bonuses and AI is brought near to human level, though many campaigns may get completely unbalanced because of it.

[Wobble73]

I wouldn't worry about it, I usually play on easy, dropping down to very easy for harder missions and I've been playing it for years now. I daren't play any multiplayer games as I'd get completely pwned. 

[Kiloku]

Seems like I'll have to keep trying I really want to get better, so I want to face the Hard AI. I managed to outmaneuver some enemies (barely) but I always end up dying

[General Battuta]

Be cowardly. Tell your wingmen to C-3-1 one target at a time.

[da1edwin]

Practice evading missiles without countermeasures, so that you can save them for when you're overwhelmed with missiles in close quarters. It's easy with a single missile - position your ship so that the yellow triangle is at the 3- o'clock position, and when it gets close, hit afterburners, yaw left, and pitch down or up at the same time until you see the yellow triangle spin around your HUD. The same thing works with the 9- o'clock position and yawing right. Either way, you'll spin towards the missile but not actually hit it because you're pitching at the same time, and the missile won't be able to turn sharply enough after you've passed it.

[Sushi]

BP is generally not balanced for Hard nor Insane, so I suggest that you play it on medium, it wasn't designed with higher difficulties in mind.

I've found this to be true for a lot of custom campaigns... some of them are literally impossible above Medium (the first mission of Raider Wars, for example: above Med you can't save the transport!).

I've taken to playing all custom campaigns on medium, just because it's what they're most likely to be balanced for. They don't all get tested for Ace and Insane.

[Spoon]

Probably because just creating a campaign can be horribly time expensive. Balancing it out for all difficulty settings is going to be a nightmare...

[General Battuta]

It really is. The fact that beam fire rates are different on different difficulties is enough to break a lot of missions on its own.

[Mongoose]

And since the game defaults to Easy difficulty, and a lot of poor schmucks like me never bother to move up from there, it's likely to be a lot of re-balancing for a very limited audience.

[Dragon]

It really is. The fact that beam fire rates are different on different difficulties is enough to break a lot of missions on its own.

That's why I'm using "Same Turret Cooldown" with all of my ship to ship weapons, I can then make a result of capship battle to be similar regardless of skill level, also, AI profile that I use with my personal mod has $Max Turret Target Ownage: set to 99 on all levels (Retail profile really caused problems with capship battles, even in main campaign).
Cap battles made using this setup are simply epic, even if it's a simple test mission.
The same setup on AA cannons also makes capships a real threat to strikecraft (and allows flaks to kill bombs even on very easy).

[Kolgena]

Just a comment:

Do you use the numpad or some sort of analog device to fly? (mouse or joystick). It actually makes a difference. I used to be numpad exclusive and was always overwhelmed even on missions like Lion at the Door on medium. Then, I tried a mouse/numpad combination, and I was suddenly able to beat the whole campaign on hard.

Yes. Being able to actually aim makes a big difference.

[Kiloku]

I use a Joystick. A good one, IMO. Saitek Cyborg Evo, with X,Y,Z and Rx Axises, a very responsive trigger, 5 buttons, plus 6 function buttons, but they're pretty much only reachable using 2 hands on the joystick. I also use Game Commander 2 for Voice Control, and the usual keyboard controls.

[jkalltheway]

Be cowardly. Tell your wingmen to C-3-1 one target at a time.

Thats how i beat Blue Planet! HAH!

[Higher Game]

I think a quality joystick explains most of the maniacs who beat Procyon Insurgency on insane and get all the medals.

[eliex]

Eh, it's possible to beat every mission in PI on Insane with a basic mouse and keyboard (without cheats) except for the dreaded Crossing the Minefield III. Maneuvering plays such a key part in the mission that only a joystick can handle it.  

[General Battuta]

I beg to differ!

[Spoon]

A good joystick does not instantly equal better flying skills.
I tried, couldn't get used to it.
for me, the keypad or mouse will always be a better option.

Like fighter games, almost everyone there swears with an arcade stick. I really really tried to play street fighter 4 on it. Couldn't get a super/ultra out with it. Then I tried the pc version and I suddenly felt like a effin' pro because I could perform a lot of basic stuff flawlessly on the keyboard.

[Thaeris]

I used the mouse and keyboard for the longest time. Then, I got a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. The stick is good for general maneuvers, but for precision shooting the mouse is required. Also, despite the joystick's software that lets it interface with a said game (such as FreeSpace), I was never able to tone down the responsiveness appropriately enough so that "no deadzone" could be set in the main game. This means that I can often get off a shot or two, but sustained, accurate fire is rather difficult (the stick just isn't responsive enough). This is especially true for fighters with offset weapons banks such as the Myrmidon.

I'm not sure this is the best setup (might be better to have the mouse on the other side and fly two-handed!), but I keep the mouse just behind the stick (closest to me). The sensitivity is at max, meaning a sustained pull will give the fighter a good jerk. An accurate barrage is thus possible. The only problem is that as there's not much room for the mouse a sustained turn with that device alone is impossible.

-Thaeris