I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good joystick for playing I-War?

There aren't that many joysticks on the market nowadays, but Logitech Extreme 3d Pro is fairly good. Its reasonably cheap, but its also accurate enough to serve you well and has enough buttons for I-War. Keep in mind, though, that the recommendation only goes for casual gaming. If you plan on playing any serious flight sims, then something more expensive might be in order.

Thanks for the recommendation, yeah I am not a serious flight sim kind of guy. But I do like Independence War, and am hoping its sequel will find its way to GOG as well.
And Freespace 2 was good too, Though i hope they include Starlancer and Freelancer on GOG some time too.

I wanna recommend that stick too. it's really good, sturdy enough and works flawlessly with IWar out of the box.

Third the recommendation. Or, if you want force feedback, Logitech's Force 3D Pro - same design, only with force-feedback motors. Good general-purpose joystick.

I still use my Saitek X52.

I'm still rocking the microsoft sidewinder force feedback 2 joystick i got for free back in the day. and it works on windows 7.
[url]http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Sidewinder-Force-Feedback-Joystick/dp/B00005NIMB[/url]
but nothing can beat the original Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro IMHO. I wish mind didn't brake 11 years ago. I'm not sure if this works on windows 7 or not. keep in mind this uses a 15ping game port to connect to your PC. either have a sound card with a gameport on it or a USB to gameport.
[url]http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-SideWinder-Force-Feedback-Pro/dp/B00002JXBD/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1275410651&sr=1-2[/url]

I'm using a Saitek Cyborg 3D USB. The same stick I used while developing Defiance and I-War 2! Over ten years old and still going strong.

Still using my MS Sidewinder Precision 2 USB I used all those years ago.

Is there any way to assign some functions to joystick buttons, besides the ones that are there by default?
It would be cool, for instance, to assign a joystick button to go into freeflight mode, or to activate lateral thrusters.
Thanks
~belgerog
EDIT: I just used the joystick profiler to redirect joystick buttons to keyboard keys, it's working fine.

The Thrustmaster T.16000-M would be a decent choice to start out with, if you're just looking for something basic. Hall effect sensors for the stick axes, plenty of buttons, and ambidextrous, but it does lose points for only having four stick buttons and one hat switch. The 12 base buttons (6 on each side) would be far more useful on the stick itself.
If you have more funds, space, and don't mind buying used, go shop around for the Saitek X-45 or X-52 (non-Pro). Decent entry-level HOTAS.
I personally use a Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar (Force-Controlled Cougar mod in the stick) and some Thrustmaster RCS rudder pedals (Hall sensor kit installed). Very nice setup, but if you have to ask how much...(The stock Cougar and RCS aren't THAT expensive compared to similar CH, Saitek, and Logitech offerings, but when you factor in the mods...)

I'm currently using an old Sidewinder Precision pro, as my Saitek Cyborg USB has gotten too loose in the stick-twist.
I'm tempted to get a Saitek X-52 as a replacement for my now defunct (as in non Windows 7 compatible) CH Products gameport HOTAS.