Aerothorn on 14/2/2010 at 23:42
Yeah - the problem is not the number of available controls (Descent is not a flight sim, and really doesn't need that many buttons) but the way the controls are laid out. On a joystick or mouse, for instance, the fire buttons and axis of movement can be controlled by the same hand - this cannot be said for a gamepad.
Jason Moyer on 15/2/2010 at 00:59
I don't see how a gamepad wouldn't work with a Descent game, unless you're so uncoordinated that you can't move the thumbsticks and press the triggers and bumpers at the same time. Unless you're using a nice dual joystick setup with a bunch of thumb buttons on the stick you're going to have to move one of your hands to access the things that would typically be mapped to the face buttons and the d-pad (accessing the guide bot, changing weapons, etc). In any case, I'm pretty sure I'd be more proficient at the original Descent games with a dual-analog gamepad than I would with a mouse/keyboard, which is probably the worst way to control them.
Freespace is a different matter, since that game tends to work best with standard flightsim controls (analog throttle, buttons for targeting and ship management). The original Descents, though, almost seem made for dual-analog gamepad control imho.
EvaUnit02 on 15/2/2010 at 02:10
You guys are all talking bollocks, Descent 1 & 2 (via DxX-XL) control beautifully with standard FPS controls + mouse look. WASD to move, Q+E to rotate, Space + LCtrl for up and down, etc.
Phatose on 15/2/2010 at 02:34
Er...yeah, those aren't on a gamepad.
EvaUnit02 on 15/2/2010 at 02:42
I was more addressing the guy who was knobslobbering the Spaceorb or similarly overkill game controllers for PC. The mouse look works beautifully, no need for analogue controller at all.
Thirith on 15/2/2010 at 08:06
I'm actually thinking that a conservative implementation of the Sixaxis might work pretty well for Descent (which I originally played just with keys, if I remember correctly - might explain why I was crap at it... :p). Left stick for strafing, right stick for orientation, triggers and bumpers for throttle and weapons, and you rotate the ship sideways with the Sixaxis. Something like that.
In any case, I think that Descent could quite easily be implemented as a cross-platform title without losing functionality. If anything negative were to come out of a cross-platform Descent, I doubt it would have anything to do with the control scheme as such. It'd probably be more along the lines of bad optimisation and crappy MP features.
EvaUnit02 on 15/2/2010 at 10:16
Quote Posted by Thirith
It'd probably be more along the lines of bad optimisation and crappy MP features.
+ A lack of extensive modding since they likely wouldn't release a SDK.
Thirith on 15/2/2010 at 10:21
Was the Descent modding community very active? I only played the first game extensively, and that was before I was all that aware of mods and the like - a time when demos came on magazine CDs rather than from the internet. ;)
gunsmoke on 15/2/2010 at 12:22
Descent was on the PS1 before it even had analog sticks.
DaBeast on 15/2/2010 at 18:58
Quote Posted by Phatose
Try to remember, anything that release will be console centric. A new freespace would require some major streamlining to have a function control scheme on a game pad. Have to wonder if you'd recognize it.
That said, have to wonder how a new descent would work on a control pad. I suppose you can use one stick to steer, on to strafe, and 2 should buttons for acceleration, but that only leaves like 2 buttons for everything else.
Ace combat did ok on console/joypad, the Freespace flight model isn't that different, in fact it might even be inferior. This only thing that sticks out is the slide manoeuvre.
