Joystick
By Birdseye and wavetrades
There are a lot of different joysticks out there, but the one stick that has
kicked more ass than any others, is the Sidewinder 3dpro. No, not the precision
pro or the force feedback, but the 3dpro. Why is the Sidewinder series so good?
Well, the Sidewinder series has a twist function that allows the joystick to
perform extra tasks at once with one hand over a normal joystick. The 3dpro is
superior over the other two later models because of a well placed hat and good
button placement. The precision pro is an acceptable stick to use as well; maybe
even the cyborg 3d gaming stick. Problems with the Ppro is that the button under
the hat is much less accessible than the button under the hat on the 3dpro.
Problems with the cyborg 3d is that it is hard to get working for descent one
and two (which all the veterans play still frequently, even though D3 is out).
If you only play D3, maybe the cyborg 3d is for you. However, the 3dpro is out
of "print," Microsoft discontinued it, but 3dpro sticks are still being sold on
Ebay and in various stores when Microsoft finds a batch of 3dpros in a one of
their warehouses.
Three out of four finalists in the D3 50K finals used a SW 3dpro, including the
winner. That should give a good indication of its power.
I really can't stress enough how important it is to get a good joystick, and
learn one of the soon-to-be-mentioned configurations. Mouse is second rate to a
good joystick setup.
The only different thing about most 3dpro configs is how the twist function is
used in the config.
If you're a new pilot, you may not want to start using the twist feature
immediately, and wait until you're comfortable triple chording and maneuvering
your ship. Most all Sidewinder configs have the hat functioning as sldie up and
down, button 1 as fire primary, and button two function as secondaries. The
other two buttons on the stick are often used for different things, you may make
one flares, countermeasures, reverse, etc. On the keyboard you'll most always
have to accelerate and or reverse.
The Glock Config
The most popular config is the "Glock" config (named after the pilot Glock21).
The Glock config is signified by specifying the stick's twist (X2 axis) as bank
left/right. You'll have to slide left and right on the keyboard in conjunction
with the hat's up and down to triple chord.
The Sirian Config
Another config, which I'll call the Sirian config (after the pilot Sirian), uses
the twist as slide left and right. With this config, all chording is done on the
stick, in conjunction with the hat. Thus banking is left to the keys.
The Strap Config
Turning is setup on the twist. (Very fast). Banking is setup for the
side-to-side motion of the stick. Slides are setup on the hat. (Up/Down)
If you think about it, it is a very natural setup: (not everyone agrees). Lean
the stick to the right, and your ship dips the right wing down and the left wing
comes up. Twist the stick to the left, and the ship turns left. Also, you get a
little bank-left added in because when you twist left you automatically lean
left a little.
This setup has been used by some of the best pilots out there, including Strap,
Vlider, Fatal, etc. This setup is a bit notorious for causing arm/wrist pain and
having a high learning curve, but that is the case for most any config.