Theory of Operation - TL/DR? See attached Image and Comment! Part 1: Introduction While on a business trip, I decided to install Star Citizen on my laptop so I could continue to play while away from my home desktop. If you’ve watched my videos on YouTube you know I prefer to play Star Citizen with dual Thrustmaster T-16000m joysticks. I feel this setup gives me the finest control over my ship while delivering the most immersive gameplay experience. While I was gone however, I had room only for an Xbox controller. While playing, I quickly decided the default controls were woefully inadequate, so I set out to design my own layout that would give me the most control using this limited input device. Part 2: Six Degrees of Freedom The first goal I set out to accomplish was to be able to have fluid control over as many of the six axes of movement as possible. The most important were of course Pitch & Yaw followed by Forward & Aft movement. Being right handed, I bound the former on the right stick and the latter on the left Y axis. That left roll and the two remaining strafe axes. I only had one more joystick axis to bind, so it was time to do some prioritization. Roll is very important while dog fighting as it allows you to angle your ship so that the majority of the G-Forces are lateral. This is the direction where the pilot has the most resistance to said forces. Following that same reasoning, I decided that the left/right strafe axis was a close second while strafe up/down was primarily useful only during precision maneuvering such as takeoff and landing. I decided to bind strafe left/right to the left stick X axis since it was the most intuitive for me. I still wanted roll to be analog, so I decided to split that function between the left and right trigger buttons. That left the strafe up/down axis, which I also split between the left and right triggers while using the D-Pad (Down) key as a modifier. I finished up by placing Afterburner and Boost on the thumb stick buttons allowing you to access them without taking your thumbs off the sticks. Part 3: Primary Functions With movement out of the way, it was time to focus on the functions critical to effective dogfighting. Guns were a no brainer, so I started by placing the weapon groups on (RB) and (LB), and missile lock/launch on the (X) button. Next was targeting. It’s difficult to aim effectively without a lead/lag indicator, and you can’t lock missiles unless you have a selected target! Therefore, I placed the most important targeting functions on the remaining face buttons (A), (B) & (Y). Other critical functions that required quick access were countermeasures (D-Pad Left & Right) and lookbehind (D-Pad Up) for situational awareness. Decouple is also quite useful during combat for advanced maneuvers so it I wanted a button that was easily reached with my left thumb while keeping my right on the joystick. The back button fit the bill perfectly. With D-Pad down already being used as a Modifier, that was all the room I had for primary functions. Part 4: Secondary Functions Next up was some less critical (yet still important) functions using D-Pad down as the modifier. The ability to target friendlies is useful for checking your wingman’s status and damage levels as well as matching speed for formation flying. For this function I chose (B) since it was already used without the modifier to cycle enemy targets and that seemed the most logical place to put it. Quantum Travel can be useful in escaping so that went on (Y). When exiting quantum drive or re-coupling your flight controls, Star Citizen sets your throttle to match your current speed. Since strafe forward/back doesn’t disengage the throttle, it is important to have a button bound to set the throttle to zero. This function along with Space Brake, I set to (X). Landing gear / Autoland isn’t a very important function, but I had the space available, so I set it to (A) for convenience. The same applies to Comstab on (LB). G-Safe on (RB) however, can be useful for increasing maneuverability while conserving boost fuel. Just be careful. It’s a high-risk tactic that takes practice to pull off without passing out! When CIG implements the scan function in the future, I’ll likely swap that out for Comstab on (LB) since I rarely use it. Racers however, may want to leave it there since it can help some ships track better in the turns. The last two functions are Self Destruct and Eject. They are rarely needed, but when they are its good to have them easily accessible. But due to the nature of these functions, you want them set so that they aren’t easily activated by accident! The thumb stick buttons with the modifier are a good choice for this. Just make sure you don’t try to use Boost or Afterburner while strafing up and down! Part 5: Conclusion While I think I’ve found a great way to fly within the limitations of a gamepad, I’m always open to suggestions for improvement. Feel free to leave comments with your suggestions, or just let me know how this layout worked for you. Normally I would say that an Xbox or PS Controller is no replacement for a good set of Joysticks. But if you’re traveling, don’t have desk space for, or simply can’t afford joysticks, it will work in a pinch. With this setup and some practice however, I’m sure you could rival many joystick or even mouse & keyboard users in combat effectiveness. To be honest, if it weren’t for this trip, I’d probably never have even bothered with a gamepad. But in the end, I’m glad I did. I would have liked to make a video on this setup (and I may still do so in the future). But unfortunately, I won’t be home for a few months so a forum/reddit post will have to do for now. If you found this useful, make sure to check out my YouTube channel, and subscribe for more content like this. Thanks for your attention, and have a great New Year! -BuzZzKiller www.youtube.com/channel/UCQLWkbVkiJvWLGCHR8E9yuQ https://twitter.com/BuzZz_Killer