I would 100% recommend buying even a cheap stick/ throttle (something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Extreme-Pro-Precision-Joystick/dp/B00CJ5FPTA/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=joystick&qid=1628086470&sr=8-4), keyboard and mouse is no substitution for a proper stick/ yoke, and if you do enjoy the sim more, then you could buy a more expensive stick, but if you want a proper experience of what the sim can actually do, then you can’t just use a mouse/ keyboard. Also, there are loads of amazing freeware packages for XP, scenery, planes etc. However, before you buy, make sure your PC can run it, what are your specs?
First of all, I have to tell you, that you must have public IP address (that is visible from the internet). If you don't have one (you have a private IP), port forwarding won't work. You can get (read 'find out') your IP address at this website (https://myip.com/), this is your IP you are presented on the net. Now it really depends whether your IP is public or not, you must try to do port forward and eventually it should work. If it will not, then you 1) Did something wrong, 2) Don't have public IP, then you must use some kind of tunnel (for example ngrok; https://ngrok.com/) in order to make your computer reachable from outside your local network. Feel free to ask anything. :)
And if anything I'd recommend picking up a 16gb of ram kit it add a bit more performance I recommend this kitG.Skill RipJaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin SDRAM PC4-25600 DDR4 3200 CL16-18-18-38 1.35V Dual Channel Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-16GVKB https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015FXXBW0/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_05682J6VHDMCBBXKJM2Y
There is no joystick, it's a controller board.
I could probably map keyboard keys to do the same thing but this will be much cooler and I won't have to map multi-key combinations that I won't remember or have a keyboard nearby taking up desk space.
I'm going to mount it in this case so I'll have something similar to your saitek peripheral, but no joystick, just buttons and switches.
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