Back in the day I used to use a joystick but there were too many buttons to hit on older joysticks like I had, so my friend and I used to alternate between one of us manning the keyboard.
A ton of the articles I read were about people without joysticks and wishing they had something better. Been playing with an xbox controller and only getting OK results. I have an idea but not quite sure the best way to do it. I built something that uses your iPhone as a USB gamepad, so it could give a similar feel to joysticks, but the problem is that there is no way I can fit all the buttons you need on the touch screen (and you'd be accidentally hitting them all the time). I was going to cut it down to some core buttons, (firing/max/min thrust/auto pilot I think) and then navigate the rest with the keyboard. I just need to design what the iphone screen will look like and I'll be ready to test it out. If anyone is intersted in testing this out, or helping me make something that will really work so that we all dont' have to go buy joysticks to enjoy this please please get in touch.
(Hopefully I can spark notice from the dev team with this and we can create a controller that's more fully integrated. I'm here and ready to work with you guys!!)
I wish I had more impressive hardware to brag about, but truth be told I'm grateful for what I've got.
My little Logitech Extreme3D Pro has been through a lot with me. I love this flight stick to death. It's seen more action than the dirtiest call girl in Reno. Someday though, I hope to get my hands on a little bit of an upgrade, then put my LX3Dp on a shelf where I can admire it fondly with a glint of nostalgia in my eye.
It's a real shame how small the market was for sticks, last time I checked. I've done some shopping but the local places didn't have anything with roll, pitch, yaw, AND throttle... and those are a must for me. What I'd really like though is a two-hand setup, righty for angle and lefty for magnitude. Even though I haven't run into any ships yet that let me utilize lateral thrust (man, I wish...) there are a few apps out there that could use that interface option.