Can I play these type of games without a joystick? I still remember playing TIE Fighter waaay back (best space sim ever, IMO) with a mouse, and I have to constantly 'wipe' my mouse pad with the mouse so I can turn my craft. Magic Carpet is on sale and I'd love to get it, but I don't have a joystick and it'd be a bummer if I don't have the proper control to play it.

Thanks in advance!

I have a hard time with Freespace 2, all the controls are hard to remember.

IL-2 Sturmovik can be played using nothing but a keyboard, but you have to have at least a basic joystick for the game to be anywhere near enjoyable. Taking off is usually a doddle, but flying, shooting and bombing are nigh impossible. Landing is even more difficult, but that doesn't really matter because you're unlikely to survive that long.

Do yourself a favour and get a joystick!
I don't really remember if I played Magic Carpet with or without it (so long ago), but if you have to pass games you want just because you don't have one is worth it alone.
And also some games are just so much better when played with a joystick, Tie-Fighter and X-Wing being prime examples.

Magic Carpet plays fine without a joystick, I know because both times I've had copies I've played with out a joystick. It might be better with a joystick, but it should be perfectly playable without.

For Magic Carpet, I didn't even think about playing it with anything but mouse+keyboard. Getting used to the flying carpet "physics" should be quick, and given the speed of the game, aiming with the mouse makes things easier. And, well, a joystick makes sense for a ship, but as feeling goes, it's not particularly fit to a carpet!

As to other simulations, you should indeed get a joystick, or a pad. Sure, you will have to deal with some issues here and there (depending on the type of support for them in old games), but it's worth it. Freespace is playable with the mouse, but the feeling will still be odd. X-Wing and TIE-Fighter were meant for joystick much more than anything else. For the Descent series though, the mouse is really OK, as the ship behaviour is meant to react only to small movements of the mouse (kind of simulates the weight - do as if you were turning your head and the ship will stand still). I finished the 3d one with this, and had a great time and satisfying flying sensations.

Well, I've been holding off getting a joystick until TIE Fighter made it to GOG, but I guess I should get one now anyway, since so many of my favorite childhood sims are already available (Wing Commander series and Privateer).

thanks for the replies guys!

It's definitely possible. Might be difficult at first to know all the controls, but once you have them memorized, it works out fine. Very difficult to do tricks and acrobatics however.


EDIT: Can any of you recommend a good beginner joystick? Thank you.

Oh dear! =P Using a joystick for Magic Carpet? You people are mad! I don't even know how that's supposed to work, as the game mechanics really are a more freeform FPS than anything else. Always mouse and keyboard; nothing else.

You can, the question should be: Do I want to play a flight/space sim without a joystick?
I would say, No. It gives you greater control and therefore a better experience but it also plays on the immersion factor that games so often chase. Sure you won't be this guy

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d8_1334771584

but you will have a more enjoyable experience with a joystick.

WOW, how cool would it be to use that thing if he made it more science fiction looking to play a game like Freespace 2?

Don't stop there! Add some hydraulics to that baby. Turn that cockpit upside down! Speaking of which, I remember fantasizing about this idea back in the time of Mechwarrior 2: having a fully simulated cockpit, including some heat mechanics (nothing that'd kill you but at least make you uncomfortable). Feeling/hearing that thumping motion as you stalk your prey, getting knocked back with every heavy hitter salvo you let off...