Do you play Transcendence with a keyboard or a controller?

[Clear Air Turbulence]

I started out playing Transcendence with the keyboard, but recently I started using a control pad (a USB clone of the PS2 controller) combined with JoyToKey to play, and it's great. I don't have quite enough buttons for everything I need so I have to reach up and use the keyboard occasionally, but it does the job well. Here's how I have it configured.

Control pad - movement. I assigned "Down" to the period key so I can hold down to slow and park.

Face buttons - the one that is equivalent to the X on the PS2 controller is missiles. Square is primary weapon. Circle is change missile, Triangle is change primary.

Start is Pause, Select is Ship Menu.

Top right shoulder button is T, bottom right shoulder button hits G then D in quick succession (so I can use it for gating or for docking).

Top left shoulder button is map, bottom left shoulder button is autopilot.

This configuration allows me to do almost everything. I do have to reach the keyboard to do menus, undock, to target friendlies, or to release target. Also need keyboard for commanding wingmen/autons, but I rarely have those so I don't care much about that.

I do still have some buttons I can use. Pushing down on the left and right sticks counts as a button press, I'm thinking about assigning one to Undock and one to target friendly. If I use analog controls for steering the ship, I open up some more buttons on the control pad, but I really prefer using the control pad to steer instead of the ships, for precision.

Ooh, I just remembered something! I can assign stick movements to buttons as well - I may be able to control the game completely with the controller after all! I'm definitely going to add zoom controls (and don't + and - move around in menus? Another bonus!).

[Betelgeuse]

one of my first questions was about playing Transcendence with a controller.
Now I just play with the keyboard.

[digdug]

I think that to make everybody happy we need key remapping

[Arisaya]

I think that to make everybody happy we need key remapping

yeah, that would be nice...

[Atarlost]

More than that we need script access to the keyboard to really be happy.

[alterecco]

More than that we need script access to the keyboard to really be happy.

That would make me happy.

[Clear Air Turbulence]

I think that to make everybody happy we need key remapping

I think there may be some third-party apps you could use to do that.

http://www.newfreedownloads.com/find/remap.html Here's a few of them.

I've been going through my JoyToKey settings, and I can't seem to figure out how to map stick motions to key presses, but I KNOW I did it before somehow, because I had the system set up so I could hook up a Guitar Hero connector through a PS2 to USB adapter and then play Frets on Fire with it, and I had the t-bar (which equals an analog stick movement along one axis) set to a key...but I can't figure out how I did it.

[schilcote]

I don't play with a keyboard or a controller.
I controll the game with my mind.

[Bobby]

xpadder is good for converting controllers to buttons to work the game(sticks included). I tried using a controller once, but prefer the crisp response of an autohotkey-remapped keyboard, that and the keyboard is built right in and I can't lose it.

[Clear Air Turbulence]

I figured out how to have JoyToKey use the sticks separately from the directional pad. I had to enable hat switch bindings and put the controller in analog mode. Now I use the direction pad for steering and the stick for zooming.

[Clear Air Turbulence]

xpadder is good for converting controllers to buttons to work the game(sticks included). I tried using a controller once, but prefer the crisp response of an autohotkey-remapped keyboard, that and the keyboard is built right in and I can't lose it.

I prefer being able to sit back as I often play Transcendence for hours at a time and I have a decent-sized monitor. Also, with the controller I'm a lot less likely to hit the wrong key in a panic.

[Atarlost]

I prefer being able to sit back as I often play Transcendence for hours at a time and I have a decent-sized monitor. Also, with the controller I'm a lot less likely to hit the wrong key in a panic.

I don't know that controllers have enough keys. Especially if you need the usekeys for item activation.

Wireless keyboard for the win.

[Bobby]

I think I was able to fit most everything on the controller, but I used the analog sticks for steering, not considering the d-pad at the time so it was hard to steer. It has a messed up cord, but I may try it again.

there are 18 potential button presses not including the move/stop on a ps2 clone, if you count pressing the sticks, and each direction as a button(xpadder can do this, and i think it can also do each corner a button, so add 8 more potential buttons to the count above), and some things can be combined(gate, dock).

[Atarlost]

If you use no mods you can work with that. Maybe. Of course there are things like the Luminous 7ame algorithm that use odd keys. If you use mods just about any key could be required. There are at least 46 keys that should be useable for device quick-keys. 18 of them may be useable seperately with and without shift. Does your controller have 64 seperate keys? If not you don't have guaranteed interface compatability with mods.

[Bobby]

the keyboard is still needed for some things, dockscreens or ordering autons, but for flying(or fighting) 18 is sufficient. and some are left over for whatever mod is desired. button use follows:
weapons 4
use menu 1 (turning scrolls)
targeting 3
selecting 1 (enter, good for u or b)
enabling devices 1 (turning scrolls)
autopilot 1
pause 1
map and zoom 3
gate and dock 1
unused 2
perhaps 1 for domina, and autopilot to select sustain, or drop some target or zoom or pause buttons to gain more.

use menu works with any mod, just not with quick-keys. at least 2 keys are free for the most used mods, ultimately you still have the keyboard, and probably less hand fatigue. 64 keys? 80+ mods will be conflicting before you get that many used.