3421

Ah OK. In that case, I’ll keep playing without head-tracking. It just didn’t add enough for me, and I worry about neck discomfort. (But I have some RL neck issues, so that concern may be unique to me.)

3422

For me, the biggest reason for using headlook is tracking targets or – the more useful task – using it to spot parallax when I’m exploring. It’s way easier to do it with headlook.

3423

The mouse doesn’t work very well with the Rift in the galaxy map, as it’s really hard to get the little pop-up menu to appear. Unsure if that is also a problem using a headtracker - I’m guessing not, since you have a deadzone locking you to a more forward view. The joystick is less efficient (panning is too slow), but it works pretty well otherwise.

3424

I already navigate station menus just fine with the joystick hat. The only part where I can’t do without the mouse is the Galaxy map. Everyone in this thread kept talking about using the search field to find systems, and later to find Alliance/Empire systems, so I do that using the mouse. I just couldn’t find a way with the joystick to tab over to those other tabs in the Galaxy Menu, and even if I had, navigation of the map itself is a lot simpler using the mouse and mousewheel.

3425

I’m getting very frustrated by the pause/save system. On several occasions I paused the game (or thought I did) by using either the P or ESC keys, in order to take a call from a client or from nature, only to watch in horror as my ship is destroyed by crashing into a station or by pirates. Now earlier today I saved yet another fresh start, only to find when I reloaded the game several hours later that the mission I was on had expired.

Is it me? Am I missing something here?

3426

Yes, there is no pause. :) If you need to step away from the game, just log out. You can do so anywhere, no need to be in a station like many space sims.

3427

Right, and the mission clock keeps ticking server-side whether you are logged in or not, as far as I can tell. This has made me very gun-shy about taking on any mission I am not prepared to complete during that play session.

3428

What the what now? I wish I had known that before spending $60. Definitely a game breaker for me.

3429

It uses the same control as navigating to other tabs of the main left and right UI panels in the cockpit (Next/Previous Panel Tab).

The only thing I can’t work out how to use with a joystick in the Galaxy map is in the View tab, the buttons that do ‘Show All’ and ‘Clear’ for trade routes.

Also the Y button on an Xbox controller is equivalent to pressing ‘Home’ on the keyboard (returns to your current position on the map). As far as I can see there is no equivalent for this function available to map to a joystick button.

3430

Missions aren’t central to the game. Most of my friends don’t ever bother with them.

3431

tgb, I do missions a lot still, but for some reason I’m not bothered that the clock keeps ticking. Guess I understood that going in. I just don’t accept any that I can’t finish that evening, or whenever I’m playing. Still an amazing game.

3432

I may have to sleep on whether or not I want to give this another chance.

3433

Aha! So if I set course to a planet about twenty jumps away I should be able to simply go from system to system it remembers them for you (just fuel up every so often)! :)

Thanks so much for this!

3434

I am wondering if I could just use Voice Attack to exit the panels and use the hat to move through them. Though I do not mind using my G13 for the panels (I am kinda used to it by now). I just do not like giving into the least efficient use of my hotas! :)

I have to say I am having fun in the game even if it is grinding for funds to get a Cobra. Yay, for space sims!

I am thinking of re-reading DownBelow Stationnow too (by C J Cherryh) and also enjoying Bypass Gemni by Joseph Lallo.

3435

I think most failure cases are a simple loss of rep, the concept of which offends me as an MMO-avoider, so I don’t really care. There are only a couple types of missions with fines, and they appear to give you an extension the next time you log in.

It’s up to you but this seems to be the least-harmful real-time clock implementation I’ve seen in a game.

3436

I sweated the mission timers at first, but soon realised it basically doesn’t matter. If you see a mission but don’t have time to complete it, who cares - there’ll be plenty more of the same type when you next log in. And if you take a mission and lose it, the reputation loss or fine is very minor, unless you load up on two dozen of them! I will sometimes take missions that I know I can’t complete if the timer is very long, and even if I have to abandon it partway through it’s no loss. Some missions will also offer extensions if you haven’t completed them in time.

Missions are great for getting started, but eventually you’ll find better ways of earning money and reputation.

3437

It uses the same control as navigating to other tabs of the main left and right UI panels in the cockpit (Next/Previous Panel Tab).

The only thing I can’t work out how to use with a joystick in the Galaxy map is in the View tab, the buttons that do ‘Show All’ and ‘Clear’ for trade routes.

I couldn’t get text entry to work either, but that might have been a quirk of the button/axis setup I was using.

3438

Odd, as the ‘Enter System Name’ field is selectable via joystick with my Logitech G920.

3439

It was selectable in my setup, but it didn’t let me type anything (or rather, it looked like it was constantly clearing the field. Like I say, probably a quirk of the buttons/axes I chose. Regardless, even the movement around the map was too awkward for it to be worth it.

3440

Oh custom dead zones at the panels? I’ve been wanting that since I first started playing. Got a link handy?