Keyboard

By Suncho

The keyboard is also a reasonable controller, though finishing last on the three controller food chain. However, the keyboard has it's own benefits. As such, we felt that there needed to be a resource on the internet for keyboard players. This page is here to help new pilots learn how to fly right without having to go out to buy an expensive ($30-$50) joystick. Often times people new to the Descent community are turned away because they don't feel like going to buy a joystick. Skorpion and Suncho fly well with the keyboard.

The most important thing about a keyboard setup is that you have all 6 axes accounted for. You need to be able to turn up, down, left, and right. You need to be able to bank left and right. You need to slide up, down, left, right and move forwards and backwards. Make sure that you always have a finger free for each of the axes. For example, you shouldn't have the same finger doing the turning right and left and the sliding right and left. The default setup will not do!

Learning the Keyboard
Learning to fly with the keyboard is much like learning to touch type. You have to be able to put your hands in the correct positions and press the keys without thinking. Just as with touch typing you shouldn't learn all the keys at once, but in order to be able to do it properly you will need to know them all at some point. This is a recommended order in which you should learn the keys: 

Fire Primary, Fire Secondary, Forward, Reverse, Pitch Up, Pitch Down, Turn Left, Turn Right (note that autoleveling should be on.) 

Bank Left, Bank Right (turn autoleveling off and use the banking controls to level yourself) 

Cycle Primary, Cycle Secondary, Fire Flare, Headlight, Use Cntr Meas, Next Cntr Meas, Prev Cntr Meas 

Slide Left, Slide Right 

Slide Up, Slide Down 

Anything else you want to use 

Only move on to the next step when you have mastered the previous one. Yes, it does take time but it is well worth it.

In the Descent 3 configuration there is an option called keyboard ramping. Adjusting this setting determines how long you have to hold a key for the movement in the game to accelerate to its fullest. When the keyboard ramping is high, the flight is more smooth and accurate but less responsive. When it is set low, you can do things very quickly but it is more difficult to aim or fly in the right direction. When learning the keyboard it is best to leave this setting at its default. Later, once you've mastered using all the keys, you can set the ramping to however you like. I recommend a lower keyboard ramping because you can learn to fly more smoothely, but there's no way to get higher responsiveness from high keyboard ramping. With keyboard ramping you can turn slower by constantly tapping the keys so they don't go to full acceleration. 

Please note that the Toggle Slide and Toggle Bank keys are BAD. You need to be able to do everything at once. Even while you are learning it isn't very good to get into the habit of using them.