Lunar Flight

controls bugged to death- setup a complete nightmare. tried with X360E to map controls but FFS ...abandonware and no support or development - proceed with caution.

This is an oldie and a goldie. I am playing this in VR after a break and after watching the first couple of series of For All Mankind. It is awesome. This is LEM simulator, flying a lunar lander module over the surface of the moon (or Mars) and doing jobs for money, you can then use the money to upgrade your lander and buy emergency supplies such as as repair kit or extra fuel. Your lander hovers on a jet engine in low gravity and you can either choose to fly it like a helicopter (very difficult) or use the RCS thrusters to gain and scrub off velocity while using the main stick to keep the craft steady (easier but still tricky to learn). The controls take bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of them, it's a very chilled experience. I use a HOTAS system with pedals and I would say that this is probably the best setup. Even once you are used to the controls, one momentary lapse of concentration can spell disaster ... well, a reload. The game offers three types of mission: cargo delivery, cargo recovery, and signal analysis. Cargo delivery just means flying from one base to another with varying weights of cargo and correspondingly varied fuel efficiency and control weight. Cargo recovery involves flying to a rough location and locating a lost cargo pod with the aid of a proximity beacon then landing by it and picking it up, this is one of the more challenging mission types due to the sometimes tight fuel limits but is very satisfying when you get it right. Signal analysis involves flying to a point in space and hovering within a specific area above the ground until the ship decodes the signal (or something) and then landing at the designated base. It's all very simple and quite repetitive stuff but it's easily good for enough hours to justify the money. There are four maps: three on the moon of increasing terrain difficulty, and one on Mars that introduces increased gravity and wind to the mix. Watch For All Mankind, buy the game, play the game. You won't regret it.