I have issues where my hands and wrists get achy when i generally play the game, but worse when i play gsf. I tried the xbox 360 controller and felt it was too sloppy because it lacks the precision of mouse clicking. Is a joystick a better idea or should i go keep trying at the xbox controller?

You can use a joystick for this?!?!?! I thought this was mouse only and JSs wouldn't be supported.... Would be cool though, but there's no need for it, especially since the devs don't seem to have much intent on developing out GSF.

 

You want a good joystick game, try Star Citizen I'd recommend an x52/ x52 PRO or CH PRO HOTAS.

Yes it's doable with programs like xpadder which is what I use.

Yes it's doable with programs like xpadder which is what I use.

 

Is there ANY advantage to doing so? How have your numbers adjusted between M&K vs. JS?

The advantage is not having a worn wrist, that's why i'm doing this.

So your vitality is preserved but your records may not be. I was under the impression that GSF would be too imprecise to utilize a JS. Good to know!

Depending on budget there are also sticks like the thrustmaster 1600 and some logitechs that are probably adequate for something like GSF but a bit lacking for more serious flight/space sims. The good HOTAS systems are usually a fair bit more expensive than a controller, so if you don't need the extras a medium quality standalone stick might be the way to go. Edited June 23, 2014 by Ramalina

Mouse and keys are the most precise by a huge margin.

 

I can imagine X360 controller through Xpadder working, but you will never get so much precision and so much speed as with mouse.

 

Joystick, that's barely gonna work. Bigger stick, more hand movement, nah. That's gonna hurt even more than the mouse.(no innuendos here, none at all)

 

I don't think you will have success while playing on anything but mouse and keys, no matter how good hardware you will get or how well you'd map the stuff in Xpadder. GSF is designed to be played by mouse.

Also, here you see the reason why multiplayer shooters on different platforms don't share servers. Mouse and keys just have insane precision and speed advantage.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Slivovidze

Hey, can you run a track ball?

 

 

I'm not sure which joystick to recommend for that use, but I know if you can trackball it, could be nice, especially the THUMB trackballs.

I have run trackballs exclusively and now have a wireless one. They are way better than an ordinary mouse and have a couple of extra mapping buttons at least on the wireless one. Gaming mice have a lot of extra buttons but since I use an old G11 gaming keyboard with 18 macro buttons I don't need one. Trackballs can give you an advantage once you get used to them but make sure you turn down the sensitivity on the desktop cus they are wicked fast out of the box btw. Good luck!