Saxman, they added TrackIR a couple updates back.
I've been using it for a couple weeks at least. It's one of the few things that is actually working pretty much perfectly. More about this at the bottom.
So far as the hardware end goes, they added customizable joystick configuration last update as well. It's still kinda wonky and buggy, nothing as good as you'll find as AH, but it's on the way towards that, quickly as well. See, it was the most complained about issue on the forums, and instead of answering their player base with combative posts of their own, or just ignoring it, they actually DID something about it, despite their own internal people telling them "the joystick thing is fine", when it absolutely WASN'T, especially for CH users.
You see, they had made profiles for the Warthog, the X55, and a few other popular sticks, and left everyone else out in the cold, figuring that was no big deal. Wrong. Not to mention the above stick's profiles couldn't be changed.
Now they can be, you still have to make a single stick profile with the CH manager profile, a bit of a PITA, but you can change all your button and axis now with whatever stick or hotas you have.
So far as the dogfighting experience, it's incredibly good, very complex. You have a sort of fighter like space flight profile, combined with the ability to stop dead, spin on an axis while still traveling in another direction, as well as thrust in all 4 directions, up/down back/forward. As you can imagine, it's like adding an entire new set of physics rules to what we understand here with Aces High. Quite a bit of fun in fact. They are still tuning the "fairness" of the gimbal aiming system, currently if you use a mouse to fly, you get a huge bonus in terms of precision of your fire, as the closer your cursor is to center, the more accurately and easier it is to train your guns on target. There is also a computer aiming system, similar to the offline targeting cue AH has in the training areas. Of all the ships I have (all of them right now), the Hornet spanks everything, and badly, in the public arenas, so there is much complaining about that. They are doing something about it, so much as they can, as it costs 125$, and it's a "pay for tech" system they're using, so the argument is if it SHOULD be spanking the 50$ fighters.
I would say it's an interesting experience, a different sort of fight than what happens here, not quite as fun or polished yet, but they are working towards it. Every single day the developers communicate with the players via bbs and youtube video. Every week the CEO does an hour long video ANSWERING QUESTIONS and complaints, instead of ignoring them. An almost surreal experience compared to other games. It isn't just $ either, they've been doing this since before they even got their first dollar put into the game. It's just that the gaming public has responded vigorously to being treating in a much more open and involved fashion. The 50 million dollars speaks for itself in that regard.
Also, a quick opinion regarding the mouse/aim issue. IMO an easy fix is to make TrackIR almost mandatory. I know, boo hiss right. However, what happens is this - right now the mouse almost simulates trackIR with it's aiming capability while flying the ship once it moves outside of the aiming circle the gimbals give the guns, right? Well, I've noticed that when in the Hornet or other fighter with a gimbaled gun turret, it actually tracks with my Track IR when using a joystick/HOTAS. So, really, when I'm using trackIR with my CH or Warthog, I have all the advantage mouse guys have, more in fact, as I can aim the gimbals with my eyes/head, while simultaneously flying the ship with the stick/rudder/throttle. That's something the mouse guys can't do, they can only really fly or aim to a certain extant - you can't pull violent out of aiming circle maneuvers with the mouse while simultaneously aiming. I guess a good example is with TrackIR/Hotas, I can pull hard up, all the way, a violent maneuver, yet still aim and adjust my fire to a different spot or axis even with my head, and the targeting/aiming cue follows my head/TrackIR, NOT my joystick movement. So, when a target moves out of my line of aim in a tracking gun shot solution, I can just adjust with my head, the gimbals following that TrackIR cuing, and still hit it. That's something mouse guys cannot do right now, as when you pull up max with the mouse, the aiming cue follows with that, you can't isolate it and still aim close to the center, it's either pull up all the way, or make subtle less violent pulls, and keep the targeting cue/reticle inside that small circle, as they are connected in movement. Advantage TrackIR/Hotas, which = Good times.
