No joystick support :(

[the_moog]

Finally bought Freelancer at the w/e after reading all about it here... but I can't believe it doesn't support joystick control or am I missing something? Yes, the mouse flight control is pretty good... far better than I expected, to be honest, but I'd still prefer to fly with my joystick.

[Catachan]

1. The developers never intended to implement joystick support.

2. Mouse settings allow better reflexes than joystick in a twitch game like this.

3. Joysticks are pants anyway ;)

[Nouri]

You should have tried the demo or read the reviews. I uninstalled the demo as soon as I discovered that there's no J/S control. I have a Thrustmaster F16 FLCS; why whould I use the mouse FFS?

[the_moog]

You should have tried the demo or read the reviews
Nah, I don't bother with downloading demos anymore... pre-release demos can be very buggy, eg: the Raven Shield demo crashed all over the place for me but the real game is fine. I just support my local Game store as they have the 10-days no quibble returns policy... thus, they get all my business.

I bought Freelancer on Saturday from Game and, having found there's no joystick support, I suspect it will be going back next Friday, unless it really grabs me one evening this week.

[*Tsunami*]

You support your local game?, you know how they can afford to take your games back after 10 day???

Well you know that "Lowest Prices Guaranteed" claim they have, its slightly false.. It should read "Lowest Prices Guaranteed (if you cant be arsed to look elsewhere, not including our website)".

To which I say, buy a game from game if your unsure u'll like it, otherwise, find the cheapest shop in your area (and there normally is one cheaper) and buy it from them, otherwise, you might end up paying £35 for every game you want..

BTW, no joystick, works for me, good call by the developers.

[the_moog]

Er, yes, I support them... I buy all my games from them as I know that if I dislike the game in the first 10 days I can return it... or, as was the case with Medal of Honor, if the game is too-rip-off-short and can be finished in a week, I can still return it. Excellent added-value service from Game, in my opinion, so I have no need to shop elsewhere... now, if they dropped the returns policy I'd start ordering my games from www.play247.com in order to save money but with no returns.

BTW, no joystick, works for me, good call by the developers
No! Making joystick an option and not obligatory would have been a good call... making mouse mandatory when I *expect* joystick support in a flight/space sim, is a piss-poor decision, IMHO, and a decision which will almost certainly result in me returning the game and not being able to recommend it. How would you feel if Doom3 came out with Keyboard support only... no mouse... it's the same thing. Lazy development! and from Microsoft (or on their label, anyway) who make joysticks FFS!

[Catachan]

If a game comes out with keyboard only and it works well, then fine!

The point is, mouse/keyboard is supremely well done in Freelancer, not some shoddy idea which they tried and didn't test.

If someone makes an FPS that works without a mouse as well as Freelancer does without a joystick, then I'm all for it.

See where I'm heading? It's not about what you use, it's about what you do with it.

PS. And no, it wasn't lazy development, it was intended from the very off of the game if you read back through previews.

[Nouri]

Well it's their call. I'm sure we're not the only ones that won't touch this game simply because it doesn't have JS support.

[the_moog]

Ok... and if you look back, I did say this in my first post... they have made a good job of their mouse control for flight!

But... and it's a big but... I want to fly my planes and fly my spaceships using my joystick... with a Microsoft game I want to be able to fly using my Microsoft FF2 joystick and feel the guns fire and the damage I take with the feedback. Make it an option... don't make joystick mandatory - not everyone has one and, as is all too clear in this thread, not everyone likes them. However, I do!

No, I've not read any previews. I only considered the game after reading this forum... it sounded great. No one mentioned the lack of joystick support as you're all happy flying with a mouse... good for you, I hope you enjoy many more hours flying with your mice... however, I want to fly with my joystick and consider this to be a fatal flaw in the game.... so back it goes and they lose a sale.

I still say 'lazy design'... even if it was intended from the very start that just means it was 'lazy design' from the start!

[Say_Ten]

Heh, I personally expected joystick support but can equally enjoy playing the game with just the mouse. There's nothing lazy in deciding not to support the joystick if you decide to do it from the word go. The flight system, the fact the turrets turned beyond where the front of your ship is facing, makes using a joystick actually very hard to make work. Just thinking about it and tbh I couldn't think of a better system than the one they've put in place. You could always get a FF mouse :)

[Kosmo]

Freelancer is not exactly a "simulator", more like fps with limited additional dimensions.
Its just not ment to be played with j/s. Simple as that.
Crying about is as silly as demanding j/s support for Counter Strike.

Edit.
Oh and if you skip the game just because you have attitude problems then you are missing a great game for stupid reasons.

[Darkforce]

download a program to use joystick as mouse...try easy joymouse

works for me

[Lucifa]

Please check the dates of threads you reply to thanks :)

[Darkforce]

well I have not find a forum that could help me use joystick to fly in freelancer. so now when I can do it myself I want to make sure other can as well even if this forum is of old óf date

[maxrealism]

http://www.xpadder.com

This might help you chaps who prefer joysticks... bit late... but hope it helps.