Today I bought Descent 1, 2, and 3. I've been planning to get a joystick for a while now (mostly for console emulators) but before I spend anything I want to be sure of one thing- will a modern joystick work for all three games in the series?

I've been looking at the $20 range which includes the Logitech "extreme 3d" and "attack 3". If anyone has a better suggestion I would be very happy to hear it.

Its impossible to say as some people seem to be playing fine and others have had to mess around with configurations to get a certain joystick working. If you do decide to buy the game and see if it works and it doesn't you have these forums and gog support to try helping you get it working and at worse case the games are perfectly playable with a keyboard and mouse setup.

Depends on your style. I play D3 on occasion with half a dozen friends and use a joystick. Since the twist died I don't do quite as well but am still ultra-agile i.e. hard to hit. The downside of course is that it's hard to aim when I'm rolling\ sliding all around the place - probably why I like Vauss\Seeker missile weaponry. My brother, the #2 on the scoreboard, prefers mouse and using the mass driver which requires extreme accuracy but fires at long range. I really hate getting slammed\killed by it :) For some odd reason I like levels with corners, large rooms & NO MASS DRIVERS!!!!! :)-

This is the joystick I have but am having a hard time assigning functions to the buttons. SLide left is the only hat function that works. Suggestions?

Try creating a new pilot and select the Sidewinder joystick when it asks you what type of stick you have. It should default to Twist=banking and the hat for sliding.

Hi all,i've just loaded D3 and found my logitech attach3 will not be accepted when changing the config settings,it see's the buttons but not x y or z and goes straight to mouse setting window although its configured and seen by the computer.
I know it has worked before on D3 from another download previously.
any ideas,im running win7
thanks

I'm using the Logitech Attack 3 without any problems on windows 7. Just make sure that windows recognizes it and all it's motions and you'll be fine.

I only use the buttons on the top of the stick, triggers, missiles, cycle weapons and deploy countermeasures, everything else is in the WASD configuration on the keyboard.

Hi, window 7 recognizes mywingman digital 3djoystick, but descent 2 doesn't. Can you show me what process you did to make sure window fully recognizes the joystick?? Thanks

Make sure to use one of the newer Descent 2 versions.

D2x Rebirth
D2XL

Hi, I bought the game off this website, so does that mean I should have the newer versions?? Many thanks

Find the copy of D1/D2X Rebirth or D2XL to get the updated versions with more support.

I know this is an old post, but I am having difficulties setting up my Extreme 3D. I remember growing up using the twist as a heading correction, or rudder. Now it serves as a yaw function and I cannot change it. It is very difficult to fly in this manner. In the "config" menu, I am able to click on the "heading" area, but it will not accept input from the rudder on the joystick. Same with the X/Y axis regarding banking. A real airplane, which I am used to, works the way that I am trying achieve, not the way the game defaults.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Does your stick work in the windows game control area?
Your twist should be axis Z and your pitch should be Y and yaw be X or vice versa.
Also, in D1/2 you may have to choose a different type of stick to emulate

For Descent 1 & 2 I recommend installing the Mods "Rebirth" or "D2x-XL", because they take your Input from Windows, so everything should work, even multiple Joysticks (I'm playing with two Joysticks).
For Descent 3 though, i have no idea. When i used my original CD, the Joysticks got detected by Windows but not the game, but when i installed the GOG-Version of Descent 3 it ran all fine.