Is a gamepad better than mouse/keyboard in this game?

jpinard · Post by **jpinard** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 16:13

Does the gamepad play better than mouse/keyboard?

Before I spend the next 20 hours digging out an old gamepad, I thought it'd be best to get your opinions. Thanks for participating.

Dr2i · Post by **Dr2i** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 16:15

I play with keyboard, mouse and a simple joystick. (I should do ok without joystick though, it's only for immersion)
It's going perfectly, no gamepad or anything.

Swallen · Post by **Swallen** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 16:21

I own a gamepad. And if you are not used to playing first person shooters with a gamepad (or perhaps using a joystick for flying around), you are better off with the mouse.

As for the keyboard, it makes no difference. I felt weird browsing menus with the gamepad, but it's just about the same. The problem is the UI design itself, not the controller you use.

Nomadian · Post by **Nomadian** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 16:23

With this game and it UI probably the gamepad.

With previous X games I liked the gamepad for fighter combat only. Everything else was better accomplished using mouse/keyboard.

Guffeh · Post by **Guffeh** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 16:40

After trying both Mouse & Keyboard, and a 360 Controller, I can confirm that everything feels much smoother with the 360 Controller.

Even with that said, I still prefer mouse & keyboard, sans the UI/menu.

mute71 · Post by **mute71** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 16:59

I tried playing with game pad but you're forced to let the game identify what you need to do. With mouse and keyboard you press space and you have a free mouse cursor. It is much easier navigating the space around stations this way.

For example I could not dock with my own freighter in the plot for the first time since the game locked on the drone launcher.

It may look like the controller is a good choice, but i hated the time trying to play with controller. Playing with Mouse and Keyboard i enjoyed the game alot more, altough i do not understand the menu structure, since you think it would be better with a controller.

(Still enjoying the game - but not with a XBOX Controller!)

Mauzi! · Post by **Mauzi!** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 17:03

In my view the poll question is clearly unclear:

Do you mean the finished game or what we have right now ?

Makes me wonder if the intent of this poll is to make it look like the controller is as good for playing as keyboard...

Currently, since extra keys are obsolete and everything is nailed down for exactly the console, the game currently obviously is better playable with the controller. But as soon as they add missing functionality like targetting, the controller will suck since you have to use the keyboard in addition to get some extra keys.

Being unclear if you talk about the fixed game or the current status surely is the reason why this poll is even: Misleading questions will result in misleading answers.

pjknibbs · Post by **pjknibbs** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 17:33

Mouse and keyboard, definitely. Got cramp in my left arm after playing for 45 minutes with a controller.

steelgrey75 · Post by **steelgrey75** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 18:06

This game I find plays better with a 360 pad, although usually I always use mouse and keyboard for games. Only problem is that you can either roll or turn not both, so the game compensates for that by orientating your ship automatically if you stop moving. It seems to work quite well.

CRYAX · Post by **CRYAX** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 18:18

i nicked the kids xbox 360 controller for a while, It is smoother but the lack of bindings makes it hard to use over keyboard and mouse.

Nomadian · Post by **Nomadian** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 18:23

steelgrey75 wrote:This game I find plays better with a 360 pad, although usually I always use mouse and keyboard for games. Only problem is that you can either roll or turn not both, so the game compensates for that by orientating your ship automatically if you stop moving. It seems to work quite well.

The funny thing is... X3 wasn't as centered on the gamepad as XR is, yet I had no problems steering, strafing, rolling, accelerating and braking, firing guns and lasers, selecting guns and lasers, using SETA (=boost in XR), activating my jumpdrive and selecting my target location, activating my sector map, as well as some menu navigating all with the exact same gamepad I was using for XR.

It seems they took a step backwards with gamepad integration even though XR is centered around it.

fcth · Post by **fcth** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 18:24

I've been playing with a gamepad, but frankly the UI is such a mess that it doesn't seem the game plays well with any control scheme. I think there's no reason you can't control a complex game with a controller, but doing so requires more thought in terms of context sensitive controls. You can't simply decide that you'll map the most important controls to the controller and throw out everything else.

In contrast, Independence War II was designed around the idea that you should be able to do pretty much everything using a joystick, so had a radial menu similar to x-rebirth that could be brought up using a button on the joystick, and controlled using the hat switch. However, unlike Rebirth's menu it was much quicker to use, because it only used the cardinal directions (Rebirth easily could have mapped the D-pad to this) which allowed for quick selection, and to use the directional press as a select, rather than having to hold and release a button like in Rebirth. Subcommands and info screens also came up more quickly, so there wasn't rebirth's laginess. And of course, the menu text was reasonable sized, instead of being tiny and low contrast.

Wyeth · Post by **Wyeth** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 19:05

I'm an old time PC player (keyboard/mouse) and have never owned a modern gaming console so I haven't ever used a controller but I bought one in anticipation of the game and I have to say I'm loving it for the flight controller aspect. I still switch back and forth for various things - keyboard/mouse for the stations/menus and the controller for flying around and the occasional ABXY menus.

I'm getting more use to the controller for the menus although it's a bit of a pain.

Old dog, new tricks and all that.

Big Bad Orca · Post by **Big Bad Orca** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 19:29

Wyeth wrote:I'm an old time PC player (keyboard/mouse) and have never owned a modern gaming console so I haven't ever used a controller but I bought one in anticipation of the game and I have to say I'm loving it for the flight controller aspect. I still switch back and forth for various things - keyboard/mouse for the stations/menus and the controller for flying around and the occasional ABXY menus.

I'm getting more use to the controller for the menus although it's a bit of a pain.

Old dog, new tricks and all that.

Yeah, me too - always been a keyboard gamer, but got an xbox 360 controller a few weeks ago! I really like it - tried with the keyboard and actually prefer the gamepad...

I'm enjoying this game so far - looking forward to stuff being added (and fixed!), but generally it's pretty good.

dzhedzho · Post by **dzhedzho** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 19:33

How about, it's the same stuff option?

Only better feel is when you actually fly the skunk. Anything else is just as painful or broken.

It would be so much better to have x3 type of menu and use the DPad than the current 5 keys to ask a single thing... This UI would be embarrassment for a console game...

TMC04 · Post by **TMC04** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 19:54

I use mouse & keyboard and haven't had any issues with it.....

werewolves? · Post by **werewolves?** » Tue, 19. Nov 13, 20:21

Been playing with a 360 controller, it's a pretty well done control system. Still use M+K a bit now and then.

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Is a gamepad better than mouse/keyboard in this game?

Does the gamepad play better than mouse/keyboard?

Is a gamepad better than mouse/keyboard in this game?