how many joysticks do you need for that sorta precision flying?
only using m&kB and you hardly notice the difference
You don't *need* axes to be a better flyer nor will more axes *make* you a better pilot, however in general axes are absolutely *better* than M/KB, and the more of them at your disposal the better. And here's the objective reasons as to why, but starting with the one small advantage a mouse DOES have:
- A mouse gives you the most PRECISION. It uses the muscles with the finest motor control, and as such is the best input device for getting your cursor to a specific spot on the screen fastest. This is why it's the best input device for aiming in FPS combat, BUT. . . what a mouse is BAD at is rate. Get in an FPS game and try continually spinning in place 20 times at a constant rate. You can't do it; you'll speed up, slow down, stop while you reposition the mouse, etc.
- With a joystick axis on the other hand, you just move it little and hold it there, and BOOM, nice constant rate indefinitely. And for flight sims, this is advantageous much more of the time than super-fine precision, even in combat. Everything is always moving, so rather than getting one quick precise headshot, you instead want to maximize Time On Target by matching your RATE of attitude change to your opponents velocity vector.
- Now let's move beyond the 2D pitch and yaw. In a space sim, you have 6 degrees of freedom: yaw, pitch, roll, and x, y, and z translation. With M/KB, 4 of these are on the keyboard, which of course has ZERO rate-variability as they're just on/off switches. If you have enough flight stick axes at your command, you can now fine tune the rate of ANY of those 6 vectors. Strafe up from the pad at full power on takeoff, but then ease it down super gently when landing. Better yet, make a gentle downward landing while also creeping slightly forward (as you just entered the NB hangar), while ALSO slowly yawing to the right to get your ladder pointed right at the elevator.
- Lastly, on a more subjective but I think still relevant metric, the immersion is better. Are those pilots in Maverick twitching their nose around with their fingertips and tapping a little button to put down the gear? Of course not; it's all axes and levers and toggle switches and BIG buttons with labels!
I have been conditioning my wife..getting her used to the word "Virpil"
Which leads me to: this is a great plan! Virpils are just awesome, and a good way to sum up my general point here is that if you've hit concierge, than A.) you're clearly OK with the investment Virpils require, and B.) doing so will likely grant you more enjoyment from the game rather than just adding another ship to your fleet. . .
". I get around 40 FPS in space, on moons, and very occasionally in some cities while looking at some specific direction.
