New player, just did the tutorials, i need help fixing controls?

[mystikmind2005]

Hi, yeah, so i just did the tutorials and i do not like the ship controls AT ALL.

I prefer an X3 reunion style... is there a 'traditional' UI setting anywhere?

I managed to change some settings - forward and reverse to W, S because, OBVIOUSLY.
then i moved strafe up and down to X and Z

Can i bind 'travel mode' to J by any chance? Historically SETA is J, so it makes sense.

I would rather primary fire weapon was left mouse button, but right mouse button will also do,,, just not space bar,,, because, WTF?.... space bar to fire?? really??? have the devs even played older/other space games?

I noticed SHIFT+N activates direct mouse control, i love it, but it keeps turning off??

What else can players suggest i fix?

[Jaggid Edje]

Personally, I rebound pretty much everything. Some of it to match what I was used to from X-3, and other things just to get them all within reach of a single hand.

Everything that you mentioned you can rebind in the same place as things which you said you have already rebound. I'm not sure why your mouse-steering keeps turning off. When I toggle it (I use shift+spacebar), it sticks until I toggle it off.

As for the biggest ones that I personally suggest rebinding. Flight Assist is probably top of the list. I changed that to spacebar.

I rebound all the modes (travel, scan, long range scan and seta) tothe number keys 1,2,3,4, moving the weapon group binds to shift+1,2,3,4. I switch modes more often than I switch weapon groups, was my thinking.

Edit to add: For weapon firing, I have a mouse with two different left click buttons, so I use the 2nd one for my secondary fire and I left primary fire on the default, (which is hold right click and then left click)

[mystikmind2005]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

Personally, I rebound pretty much everything. Some of it to match what I was used to from X-3, and other things just to get them all within reach of a single hand.

Everything that you mentioned you can rebind in the same place as things which you said you have already rebound. I'm not sure why your mouse-steering keeps turning off. When I toggle it (I use shift+spacebar), it sticks until I toggle it off.

Thats a relief, so i should be able to tweak the entire thing to what i like..... cool... oh i should go google some control configurations that i can copy, because presumably there will be new things i won't know how to configure

[mystikmind2005]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

I rebound all the modes (travel, scan, long range scan and seta) tothe number keys 1,2,3,4, moving the weapon group binds to shift+1,2,3,4. I switch modes more often than I switch weapon groups, was my thinking.

Edit to add: For weapon firing, I have a mouse with two different left click buttons, so I use the 2nd one for my secondary fire and I left primary fire on the default, (which is hold right click and then left click)

Thanks for the info...

For weapon firing, well, i avoided using missiles in Reunion and TC, and i got a basic mouse, so just as well.

[Doom]

Originally posted by mystikmind2005:

Hi, yeah, so i just did the tutorials and i do not like the ship controls AT ALL.

I prefer an X3 reunion style... is there a 'traditional' UI setting anywhere?

There's massive menu for remapping thins in settings, but basically it is better to use the default.

For example, the reason why WSAD is strafe is because you'll have to strafe A LOT. You're basically "supposed" to play with mouse steering on if you're using Mouse+KB.

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by Doom:

There's massive menu for remapping thins in settings, but basically it is better to use the default.

For example, the reason why WSAD is strafe is because you'll have to strafe A LOT. You're basically "supposed" to play with mouse steering on if you're using Mouse+KB.

I hope you just mean it's 'better to use the defaults' for strafing...not for everything. A whole lot of the defaults are complete garbage for M+KB.

I do agree with you regarding strafing, though. I wanted W/S to be the throttle keys myself, but strafing is used way too often to change it to some less convenient keys, so I settled for Shift-W/Shift-S for throttle instead (though mostly I use mouse wheel).
I use Control-W/Control-S for "full throttle" and "Full reverse". I also remapped the Engine-stop key to the Alt Key. All of that combined works well, at least for me. But yah, definitely strafing on WASD if you don't use a flightstick.

I sort of wish I wasn't too lazy to set up my HOTAS for this game, but M+KB is effective enough I haven't had the motivation to do so.

[mystikmind2005]

Originally posted by Doom:

For example, the reason why WSAD is strafe is because you'll have to strafe A LOT. You're basically "supposed" to play with mouse steering on if you're using Mouse+KB.

Strafe wasn't even a thing in early X games, then came the 'straif drive' which was installable tech, and somewhat hard to get at that.

Then all i ever used was straif left or right, no need for up down.

During the tutorial i noted i will need straif down to dock, until i get a docking computer.

Edit: I played allot of hours on Empyrion, and then after that No Mans Sky.

No mans sky has no straif, but that never stopped me trying to use it because of habit from Empyrion!!... Its really really hard to break established gaming patterns, and its always the most stressful situations where old habits want to come out... so i really got no choice but to try to fit my new games to old habbits.

[Wolfsblut]

Originally posted by mystikmind2005:

Hi, What else can players suggest i fix?

i would only touch the "auto-rotation" freature to turn it off aside that the gameplay is really nice if you once got the control settings. but i am also lazy to change settings a lot.
a tip from a pro

"pause" button is very useful to stop and do things and also

"shift+n" to switch between mouse and keyboard controls to fly with


i hope some of that might also helps you a lot like it did to me. have fun and never give up the game, its a very painful start but its awesome as ♥♥♥♥.. my xxxx hours in 7 unverses states that

[Jaggid Edje]

Speaking of auto-rotation, is there anything where that's actually useful? Every time I've messed with it it just seems to orient in the stupidest way possible for what I'm doing.

[mystikmind2005]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

Speaking of auto-rotation, is there anything where that's actually useful? Every time I've messed with it it just seems to orient in the stupidest way possible for what I'm doing.

Is that like the O key in Empyrion? It levels your ship... Very handy in Empyrion, especially with freight weights switched on, and the obsession of ships in Empyrion to yaw whenever you turn.... do i actually want to yaw? NO, i just want to turn, but it is what it is.

[Wolfsblut]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

Speaking of auto-rotation, is there anything where that's actually useful? Every time I've messed with it it just seems to orient in the stupidest way possible for what I'm doing.

once your used to X/Y/Z rotations and the map its a very useless thing i think.

sure its harder to get in without "auto" but it will be worth doing.

auto was proably intended to research easy on maps for containers and such secrets. but with map marker you can do on map to target a mission/map point its very useless freature.

[Mowglia]

Originally posted by mystikmind2005:

Hi, yeah, so i just did the tutorials and i do not like the ship controls AT ALL.

...

What else can players suggest i fix?

Personally I would recommend that strafe be left as WASD when playing with the mouse and keyboard. Ship control is critical in X4, and since WASD is what most players use for movement then it's natural because your fingers are already resting on these keys (which you'll be using anyway for running around).

You will always need strafe in X4. If you're coming in too hot then you can use it to adjust your position without making awkward turns. You can rotate around lockboxes a lot easier with strafe, and also capital ships when you're trying to shoot their turrets or simply avoid fire. You'll also use it a lot in the spacesuit.

I use X to sprint in games, so I'd choose X to boost - most players wouldn't, lol. But the specifics don't matter here as much as the general philosophy. Use keys/controls that you're happy with. If you're not happy with them then change them; don't fight them.

There's a guy called Cpt Collins on YouTube who goes deep into this, and the first thing he does when setting up controls is delete all existing settings, start with a clean slate, and bind them to what they should be. This is probably the best approach.

Just remember that anything combat-related should be very easy/fast to get to, and after that anything you use a lot should be the next easiest. Even when you're set up "correctly" it might take you a while to familiarise yourself with the new layout, but stick with it.

It can take a long time to work this stuff out, because you'll likely notice issues through extended use. For example, I use a flight stick (which I recommend for X4), so all my turning, rotation, targeting, aiming, and shooting is on my right hand. My left hand is doing the throttle and a strip of buttons on the left side of the flight stick (flight assist, boost, the magnet, stop engines, dock, comms, and travel drive)...

I always used WASD (left hand) as strafe and the POV HAT (thumbstick) to look around. Which felt natural as I could easily look around (when flying) using the thumb on my right hand. Except during combat my left hand needed to leave the throttle/buttons on the flight stick, and get to the keyboard to use strafe - not ideal, especially for the spacesuit.

Since Timelines forced me to up my game I switched to using the POV HAT for strafe, which is much more useful in combat. Strafe on the right hand, along with all other movement, is extremely powerful. But now I have to use the keyboard to look around, and even though it's more effective (regarding combat), it just doesn't feel right.

So you may never be 100% happy with your configuration in X4 (so many controls, lol). Just let logic and a focus on combat controls be your guide.

That said, if I ever buy a new flight stick then I'll keep the old one and use it with my left hand (which would solve my "looking around" issue).

Perhaps the best way to play games like X4 is to use a pair of flight sticks (like Cpt Collins).

[Mowglia]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

Speaking of auto-rotation, is there anything where that's actually useful? Every time I've messed with it it just seems to orient in the stupidest way possible for what I'm doing.

It can be useful in the sense that we're used to looking at the map top-down. So if the ecliptic is ever skewed and we want to straighten things up without necessarily having to look at the scanner, then we can just turn it on, roll, then turn it off again.

It's kinda lazy, but handy, although I don't use it much :D

I can't think of any reason whatsoever for actually leaving it on.

[Jaggid Edje]

Oh, so that's what it does! I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I did not realize that it re-aligns you with the ecliptic. I couldn't figure out what it was basing its roll decision on...

I can see it being maybe sometimes useful then. Not often though. I mostly use selected targets/waypoints for aligning myself, like someone already mentioned above.

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by Mowglia:

There's a guy called Cpt Collins on YouTube who goes deep into this, and the first thing he does when setting up controls is delete all existing settings, start with a clean slate, and bind them to what they should be. This is probably the best approach.

That's what I do; I unbind everything (except ones that I think look fine as they are) and then do the bindings from scratch based on what feels most natural to me. While this can seem daunting at first glance for a game with as many bindings as X-4 has, having things bound to what feels natural specifically to you reduces the time it takes you to 'get used to the controls', so it probably saves you time in the long run.

I also have a blank 'template' of my keyboard which I fill in as I do mappings, so that I can then print it out as a handy reference. Below is a screenshot of the bindings I use once entered into the template. I have a special gaming keyboard that makes more keys easily reachable just with the left hand, which is why it has that weird-looking layout in the upper left of the image.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3422714669

[Mowglia]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

Oh, so that's what it does! I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I did not realize that it re-aligns you with the ecliptic. I couldn't figure out what it was basing its roll decision on...

I can see it being maybe sometimes useful then. Not often though. I mostly use selected targets/waypoints for aligning myself, like someone already mentioned above.

Yeah, exactly - I might use it several times a day. Unfortunately it doesn't yaw, merely orients (rolls) you "the right way up" relative to the map :)