joystick games

March 31, 2009 11:46 PM

Are there any good joystick based games (PC) out there any more?

I used to have a great time with flying games (WW2 etc), with space flying games (wing commander), and with mechwarrior 1, 2, 3. But these days, apart from old copies of MS Flight Simulator, there don't appear to be games made for joystick control.

On the assumption that good recent games had been made, and I just hadn't noticed them because I didn't have a joystick, I went and bought one of these cheaply recently. Turns out I may have made a mistake, based on a quick survey of my local game store.

I'm not looking for anything made in the last year with high-end graphics, I only have a laptop integrated graphics controller, but have any games been made in the past several years? Are any of them any good? Couldn't find a forum for this sort of stuff via google...

Alternatively, are there any freeware downloads for stuff I may have missed out on in the past ten years.

posted by wilful to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

I understand your worries about high-end graphics, but MS Flight Sim X works well with low quality settings on my laptop integrated graphics controller. The simulator is fantastic, and the graphics settings window affords you much control.
posted by boeing82 at 12:21 AM on April 1

IL2-Sturmovik is very impressive and uses a joystick. It's also reasonably realistic and the graphics used to be taxing for 2001, it might be worth finding a demo and trying it on your laptop.

The latest edition, IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 is $US 10 on Steam.
posted by sien at 12:28 AM on April 1

You could try FreeSpace Open. It's not really new, but it's in constant evolution, and there are a lot of campaigns and content available.
Here is the automated installer which will download everything you need for you, should you decide to try it.
posted by Incer at 12:53 AM on April 1 [1 favorite]

Riffing on Incer's suggestion, try Beyond the Red Line, a Battlestar Galactica-themed Freespace port. I played it without a joystick, became horribly frustrated, and seriously considered buying one just so I could pay without wanting to scream.
posted by lekvar at 1:33 AM on April 1

Flight simulators: Flight Simulator 2004 is apt to run more smoothly than FSX on your laptop, and it can be had for $9 on Newegg.com. You might also check out X-Plane, a competitor product to the Microsoft series. IL2-Sturmovik, previously mentioned, is another great choice, although it's a bit hard to get started in unless you've played flight sims before; it can be had for $9 on GOG.com. Amazingly good game.

Space games: Freespace 2 and the Freespace Open add-on require that you own the original; $5 on GOG, likely available in bargain bins and on ebay, as well. Darkstar One is another good option here, although it skews more towards the Elite gameplay than FS2.
posted by ellF at 4:26 AM on April 1

Freespace 2 (Open) really is a wonderful thing, and having to use my USB control pad to play it left me longing for a proper joystick like back in the old days. The more crowded the mission the better, of course.
posted by waxbanks at 6:58 AM on April 1

Thanks everyone!

I wonder why the joystick has basically died?

Another game I used to think was awesome was X-wing (and Tie Fighter), but I couldn't get them running on XP.
posted by wilful at 3:13 PM on April 1

Gamepads and keyboards are more efficient for quick movements and have better tactile feedback than joysticks. For flight simulators, they can't be beat though.

Do those analog thumb-sticks count as joysticks? Those are pretty huge now for analog input.

I supposed you've already been to HOTU and seen all the old warez?
posted by ostranenie at 7:31 PM on April 1

And as far as running X-Wing and Tie Fighter on XP - somewhere, somewhere, there is a guide or forum post or something detailing just that subject.
posted by ostranenie at 7:32 PM on April 1

If you liked X-wing an tie fighter X-Wing Alliance is a step beyond and will run on XP. It's a bit of a game getting it going, but it does work.

As ostanenie says, google around to see how to get those games running.

Your question about why these games died is interesting. Presumably they just stopped selling. But you'd figure there would still be a niche big enough for them.
posted by sien at 9:03 PM on April 4