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What kind of stick do you have? How many buttons? Some use the hat for thrusters, some use the buttons on the base.

Surely it's easier for your brain if you have one hand for thrusting and one for aiming/shooting. The hat is a terrible idea for thrusters.

If you have enough, the base could be used but I use one hand on the kb and one hand around the stick.

I sorta split my stick up. The hand I use for steering has the hat (the actual "stick" part of the joystick) Which I use for side-thrusters. But I keep my shoot, boost, target, cloak, and chaff deployment on the other part of the stick.

Elzam V. Branstein wrote:QUOTE (Elzam V. Branstein @ Dec 30 2010, 03:51 PM) I sorta split my stick up. The hand I use for steering has the hat (the actual "stick" part of the joystick) Which I use for side-thrusters. But I keep my shoot, boost, target, cloak, and chaff deployment on the other part of the stick.

Is that for your friend to use so you can share control?

MAGEINTA WARRIORS!

OK, last time I'll bring it up (I think...)

This topic now sounds like "tips for circle jerks".


...Just sayin'.

Dorjan wrote:QUOTE (Dorjan @ Dec 31 2010, 12:19 AM) Surely it's easier for your brain if you have one hand for thrusting and one for aiming/shooting. The hat is a terrible idea for thrusters.

I'm not particularly adroit, but I think this an incredibly wrong statement. I have absolutely no problem turning whichever way with hand/stick and thrusting in an arbitrary direction with my thumb/hat.
I have done some research on unusual UI schemes and thumbhats for direction control are not so exotic, sometimes in weird locations on objects, like on the back side fo a remote.
Oddly, I have more trouble with console control schemes, when the POV is controlled with the left hand... but mostly because I'm not a console guy. I still do way better than a non-gamer on the rare occasion I use a console.

Besides my personal experience, I disagree with your assessment of how the brain handles this. I'll find a brain expert just to make sure, but I think hand and finger movements are very easy to separate.

Just FYI: I do use my off hand for fwd/back/boost.

EDIT: brain scientist Doctor Cousin says:
The primary motor cortex has separate areas for finger and hand movements.
The pre-motor cortex (motion planning), associative and coordination areas (cerebelum) are not so clearly defined and have more global representations.
Also, to consciously achieve two tasks, the frontal lobes must be involved. If the tasks are achieved subconsciously, it means long term practice has moved the task into sub-cortical basal ganglia.
(This should happen anyhow in any gamer if I understand correctly)

Ah, I see. My joystick doesn't have a hat so I can't try that, but having up/down/left/right thrusters mapped there does sound like a good idea to me. The buttons at the base, on the other hand, feel pretty useless as I need to move my hand to reach them.

RedLion wrote:QUOTE (RedLion @ Dec 31 2010, 06:53 PM) Ah, I see. My joystick doesn't have a hat so I can't try that, but having up/down/left/right thrusters mapped there does sound like a good idea to me. The buttons at the base, on the other hand, feel pretty useless as I need to move my hand to reach them.

Interesting comment on the base buttons. There's enough buttons that I have most of my controls on hand when resting the left hand on the buttons there. 6 buttons + throttele. Of course keyboard and mouse are also needed, but not for fighting.

Of course I don't know what stick you use Redlion. How many buttons would you have down there?

One hand on the stick, one hand on the kb.

Problem solved and a lot more controls 8)

Adept wrote:QUOTE (Adept @ Jan 21 2011, 06:30 PM) Interesting comment on the base buttons. There's enough buttons that I have most of my controls on hand when resting the left hand on the buttons there. 6 buttons + throttele. Of course keyboard and mouse are also needed, but not for fighting.

Of course I don't know what stick you use Redlion. How many buttons would you have down there?

I too have 6 buttons + throttle at the base (I use a Logitech Attack3) enough for the directional thrusters I guess, but not for rolling + boosting + dispenser + chaff all of which I currently have right at my fingertips. Also, I don't think I would find having to move my hand from one side of the stick to the other very comfortable, but then again I have smaller hands than most around here