Widescreen Gaming Forum

Is anyone still playing games with a joystick?

Aside from MS-Flight Simulator I mean. :wink:

Our fun HL 2 Arcade Thread:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=53230&highlight=joystick#53230

Got me thinking about the good old days of playing Star Wars Rebel Assault and Wing Commander IV. Are there any good games out there these days that utilize the joystick?

It looks like Logitech, MS and Saitek still make them, so there must be a few out there. Perhaps we could compile a list in this thread.



A dying breed...or sleeping giant?

Update 9/5

Added Poll + Freespace and Freespace 2: Descent to the list.

Update 9/13: Here is the official list i've compiled thus far. Thank you to all our forum members who responded with their thoughts and input. The following games support joysticks:

Joystick Compatible Games:

Need for Speed Series
MechWarrior Series
Star Wars Battlefront II (flying portions)
Battlefield 2 (flying portions)
Wing Commander Series
X-Wing Series
Freespace 2
Microsoft Flight Simulator Series
Descent
Descent: Freespace
Star Wars Starfighter
Serious Sam Series
Duke Nukem 3d
Doom I and II
Lego Star Wars I and II
Lucasarts Monkey Island Series
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Mame Arcade Emulator
Jedi Knight
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Jedi Academy
Return to Castle Wolfenstein with the following commands:
1. Bring down console
2. Type in "/set In_joystick 1" (w/out quotes)
3. You can save a step by going into the wolfenstein cfg files and changing in_joystick from 0 to 1

I still used my trusty old MS Sidwinder joystick, I suffer with bad hands and wrists and it's really the only way I can play driving games, Need for Speed series...etc

Curly

Darkstar One (the only space game released in... years...) uses a mouse and keyboard combo like FreeLancer did.

I still try to play FreeSpace 2 and X-Wing Alliance on occasion. I say 'try' because I can't seem to get either of them working on XP. :(

Battlefield 2 - Steering helicopters and airplanes with mouse/keyboard is a pain. So you definitely need a joystick here.

As I normally don't play any flight simulations, that's the nearly only game I play with my MS SideWinder ForceFeedback2.

Ive got a Saitek one (looks like an older model of the one you posted there). Which i use for space combat games, FS2004, and last, and most importantly, MechWarrior II 8) - i couldnt play it any other way ;).

I've got a slightly larger one of the pic you just posted...has more buttons on the base.

I haven't really had a chance to use it for much thouhg... ms flight sim mostly, and a bit of mech warrior.

It's too bad you don't get to use them for much anymore these days.

I'm glad to hear there are still some joystick afficionados out there. :) I'm going to go pick one up myself sometime in the near future. There seems to be a decent selection of them out there too.

I'd also like to add to the list: Star Wars Battlefront II. I uninstalled the game a few months back, but i'm pretty sure the flying portions (which were a lot of fun) of the game allowed you to use a joystick as well.

I still try to play FreeSpace 2 and X-Wing Alliance on occasion. I say 'try' because I can't seem to get either of them working on XP.

I'm amazed that I never heard of either of those. Both look awesome. They seem to be tailor made for joysticks though. I did a little searching and it looks like x-wing alliance has support for up to 1600x1200 (Freespace 2 is 1024x768). I heard mention of a patch that Lucasarts released for it.

Update: Found it.

http://support.lucasarts.com/patches/alliance.htm

I'm thinking of getting Darkstar One, but noticed that there was another title that looked similar: Sword of the Stars. Anyone play it?

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/swordofthestars/index.html

Battlefield 2 - Steering helicopters and airplanes with mouse/keyboard is a pain. So you definitely need a joystick here.

I'm glad you mentioned that. For years I stayed on the ground with all the Battlefield games (1942, Vietnam, BF2) because the controls were just too wonky for me. They seemed very counterintuitive, so I stuck with ground/vehicle combat. If I were to hook up a joystick however it might revitalize the whole experience for me.

I still used my trusty old MS Sidwinder joystick, I suffer with bad hands and wrists and it's really the only way I can play driving games, Need for Speed series...etc

That sounds fun actually, though I wonder which would be better, a joystick for driving games or the mini-wheel like the Logitech momo force? Right now i'm thinking that joystick would be sufficient.

And MechWarrior II....wow that sounds nice. I just wish the graphics were a little more updated. Any chance of a MechIII? :)

Joysticks ?

Yeah, I got me a Saitek Cyborg Evo.
Had a Logitech Wingman 3D Pro once, but it was so crap I simply needed another one. Interesting that my Logitech Dual Action gamepad had exactly the same problem...

Anyway, Microsoft does not make joysticks anymore. The Sidewinder department has been canned several years ago already.

From the top of my head I could list:

Logitech
Saitek
Thrustmaster
Trust <- but Trust stuff is just cheap junk I always avoid :p


There are indeed few games you need it for, you should be mainly looking at flight/space simulators. A more recent one would be X³ - Reunion. Great patch has been announced for 4th quarter 2006 as well.

I'm amazed that I never heard of either of those. Both look awesome. They seem to be tailor made for joysticks though. I did a little searching and it looks like x-wing alliance has support for up to 1600x1200 (Freespace 2 is 1024x768). I heard mention of a patch that Lucasarts released for it.

Update: Found it.

http://support.lucasarts.com/patches/alliance.htm

I'm thinking of getting Darkstar One, but noticed that there was another title that looked similar: Sword of the Stars. Anyone play it?

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/swordofthestars/index.html

Never played that - might be worth investigating. :D

The 2.02 patch for Alliance is no use - it doesn't like XP at all...

A dying breed.

Anyway, Microsoft does not make joysticks anymore. The Sidewinder department has been canned several years ago already.

Wow. :shock: Didn't know that. Ok, lol. Scratch MS off the (already small) list. :wink:

In a way that is too bad - Unlike their OS, MS peripherals have a great reputation and I always heard good things about their Sidewinders.

The 2.02 patch for Alliance is no use - it doesn't like XP at all...

I'm interested in playing this title, but I'm hearing mixed things about compatability. I checked the Lucasarts Online Store for this title, but it looks like they aren't selling it. Online Amazon retailers want upwards of 50.00 USD for it. :shock:

Ok, so going over the list here is what we have thus far.

Joystick Manufacturers:

Logitech
Saitek
Thrustmaster

Joystick Compatible Games:

Need for Speed Series
MechWarrior Series
Star Wars Battlefront II (flying portions)
Battlefield 2 (flying portions)
Wing Commander Series
X-Wing Series
Freespace 2
Microsoft Flight Simulator Series
Descent
Descent: Freespace
Star Wars Starfighter
Serious Sam Series
Duke Nukem 3d
Doom I and II
Lego Star Wars I and II
Lucasarts Monkey Island Series
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Mame Arcade Emulator
Jedi Knight
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Jedi Academy
Return to Castle Wolfenstein with the following commands:
1. Bring down console
2. Type in "/set In_joystick 1" (w/out quotes)
3. You can save a step by going into the wolfenstein cfg files and changing in_joystick from 0 to 1

Right now i'm including games you'd actually want to play with a joystick, but i'm sure we can add others that have support too.




One other thought: Perhaps console pads like MS's xbox 360 gamepad for PC or Logitech's fine rumblepads can be considered the spiritual successors to the joystick, although i'm not sure that there's much action going over on that side of the pc gaming world either. Are there any titles that you feel absolutely must have a console pad?

Darkstar One (the only space game released in... years...) uses a mouse and keyboard combo like FreeLancer did.

I still try to play FreeSpace 2 and X-Wing Alliance on occasion. I say 'try' because I can't seem to get either of them working on XP. :(

I play darkstar one, 2 good things about it, supports my saitek, and I run it in 1600x900 (highest it supports til a patch)

Some games I'm not sure about:

Descent
Descent: Freespace

I know these two support joysticks. :)

Added! :)

Oww, if you include pads then i use pads a lot!

For racing games mostly, but if the games has a console style then ill use it on that too.

Games im playing with a joypad at the moment....

NFS:MW, Tomb Raider Legend, Trackmania, Outrun 2006.

I wouldnt dream of playing a FPS or adventure games (unless its Final Fantasy or that sort of style) with a pad.

Im using the 360 pad at the moment, i used a PS2 adapter before that. Ive still got the old MS Sidewinder pad handy too :).

Ive still got the old MS Sidewinder pad handy too :).

I've got one of the old motion sensor sidewinder pads....... find it a bit wierd to use.

Curly

[quote]Ive still got the old MS Sidewinder pad handy too :).

I've got one of the old motion sensor sidewinder pads....... find it a bit wierd to use.

Curly

The ones that came with a copy of Motocross Madness 2? I had one of those for a short while but i took it back, i didnt like the dpad (it wasnt straight) and i was playing FF7 at the time and it was a bit frustrating.

Nice idea, seems the consoles have stolen it and are treating it as cutting edge now ;).

This is the pad i still use at times:


I had one of these a long time ago too:....

Nice idea, seems the consoles have stolen it and are treating it as cutting edge now ;).

Everyone always things they thought of it first. ;)

I was actually thinking about starting a "Console Pad" thread list, but then I realized that most 'pads these days contain presets for a looong list of games, and are probably compatable with most titles out there anyway.

But I wonder if it would be fun to toy around with a list of games that really enhance the pc experience, or are almost mandatory. Metal Gear 2: Substance for PC stands out as being one of those games.

I'm also gonna poke around this week for some more info on those titles which i've yet to add to the official joystick list.