[Polpolion]

I have a saitek cyborg evo force. It is really awesome. Get it.

EDIT: Unless someone already said it, get a USB joystick. Gameports are sorta dieing out...

[bizzybody]

I bought a Saitek ST290 Pro just for Freespace 2.

I also have a Logitech Wingman Extreme 3D Digital. Its twist sometimes needs to be rocked back and forth a couple times to settle it down when I start a game session. This is my second WE3DD stick. The first one absolutely would not calibrate the twist and I'd go corkscrewing along in any game that used the twist function unless I held it twisted off to the right. (Sorta like flying a P51-D Mustang, with extra turbocharging and nitrous oxide injection...)

I also have a Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro. Why MS made that beast gameport only, when they'd already introduced a USB version of the Sidewinder... The motors are so frigging big it looks like it could break your wrist.

For the Sidewinder 3D Pro die-hards, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_SideWinder and http://www.descentbb.net/viewtopic.php?t=7090 The person who built the USB converter isn't making more, but you can get the info to build your own. (Now if only someone would cook up same for the FF Pro!)

I think that forum thread also has some posts on how people have got the 3D Pro to work with XP by manually installing a standard 2-axis, 2 button stick, hooking up the Sidewinder, which gets detected as a 2-axis, 2 button stick- then deleting the first one they manually installed. Then XP smacks itself upside the head and recognizes the Sidewinder. You need the switch on the front of the base in the middle, between the | and ||.

I have an ADB version of the Sidewinder 3D Pro, but never could get it to work with Apple's Game Sprockets drivers or anything else on any Mac I tried it on. I have an ADB to USB adaptor that works with Mac mice and keyboards on Windows, I suppose drivers could be written for the ADB Sidewinder, or that it might possibly work on a Mac with the USB Overdrive drivers.

Most Force Feedback sticks have a sensor that prevents the stick from moving when there's no hand on it. CH uses a photocell on the right side of the handle while the Sidewinder has an IR emitter and sensor pair above and below the grip. Your fingers block the beam when your hand is on it. the CH one could be 'fooled' by a sufficiently dark room.

[spartan_0214]

YAY, another who uses an ST290 Pro!!!!

[Unknown Target]

I use an ST290 as well Nice stick, except my number 4 button stopped working

[Cabbie]

I'm a proud owner of a CH Fighter stick and a throttle. Very pricey but for its price these things are built like tanks. Even over 3 years constant abuse these things still work like it did from day one.   

[throwaway4]

I use the Steel Battalion controller.  The driver that some guy wrote is really great that you can tweak so much on the stick with all of the buttons.  You can literally program the entire keyboard onto the panel if you wanted to get nuts with it.  I love it.  I've played more Freespace now with it, than I have Steel Battalion.  It's the only PC game I play, actually.

[spartan_0214]

Why would you want to program all those buttons in?

[throwaway4]

Why would you want to program all those buttons in?

So, I can sit back on my couch and not have to have a keyboard around.  I use close to a majority of the targeting controls and energy management stuff, so I need more than 32 buttons.  (1-9 and f1-f12 for squad assignment).  You can turn mods on, so flicking a switch can literally change every function of every button and joystick.

[spartan_0214]

I like sitting right in front of my computer thank you very much.

[Kaine]

i have a Wingman Force 3D... and it was just about unusable for any game until i found http://www.wingmanteam.com/. there are some great programs on there for tweaking sensitivity, dead spots and stuff. because there's no real centering spring, there is a big "loose" section in the center of x, y and z. with the tweaker from that site you can adjust it to ignore that area, and adjust the response angle. i <3 it. I play with Force Feedback on, and it only really annoys me when i'm firing my afterburners. its nice getting feedback when firing missiles and guns, but getting whacked by flak sucks a lot.

oh and it just ticked over 2007 here. happy new year. (wow its sad i'm on here on new years eve)

[Starkweather]

Hehe, I have a Logitech WingMan Extreme, have had it 3 years, still works like a charm, cept not a charm, since they don't do anything.

[rms]

My big question with joysticks is the mounting of them.  In the past when attempting to use one on the desktop, it would shift, flop around, and generally was a pita to use, so I gave it up and avoided playing Freespace for years because I figured there was no point without one.

Now I'm playing it on easy with the mouse (I played Descent1&2 with the mouse for years, but most Descent levels have a 2D design, and in addition one of the dos mouse drivers allowed extremely high acceleration rate settings, so lifting the mouse up and setting it down did not occur so often.  In Freespace I'm constantly having to reposition the mouse).

What are people doing to mount joysticks onto the desk?  Are there commercial mounting systems for joysticks?  I can also see that I'd have to have it mounted at a slight angle as the desktop is fairly high.

rms

[Huggybaby]

Have you thought about something like this, or maybe some silicone sticky feet? If your joystick isn't heavy enough they may not help though.

[Wobble73]

Heh, I just bought myself a PS2 pad to USB converter for Xmas. It's working out great so far! 

[Huggybaby]

Yeah, I got 5 of those at Radio Shack for 6 bucks each I think it was.

[Mongoose]

Regarding mounting, I'm one of the only people I know to do this, but I actually play with the joystick in my lap.  (Insert innuendo here )  In my mind, it gives you the greatest degree of direct control and stability, with the added bonus of simulating the positioning of a real flight stick.  I picked up this tip from someone in the Descent community years ago, and I've used it with success ever since.  The only caveat I will add is that my configs for both Descent and Freespace are designed to use the keyboard as little as possible, so keep that in mind.  Also, for sticks that have bases not exactly conducive to resting comfortably in one's lap (such as my own Cyborg Evo), I've found that using a large hardcover book (such as a textbook) as a base does the job fine.

[Mirage]

I'm using a Thrustmaster Top Gun Fox 2 Pro USB stick and I love it. I also used to have a MS Sidewinder 3D that I liked but it had serious issues and I never really got to use the digital features of the stick much. The Thrustmaster is great though.

[Mischief Maker]

My experience with joysticks in general and CH sticks in particular.

My (dad's) very first joystick was a CH flightstick.  It had 2 buttons and a throttle.  I never had any problems with it at all and the only reason I'm not still using it is my new computer doesn't have an old gameport to plug it into.

Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro: the perfect joystick for the casual gamer.  I wish they still made it.  Also fell prey to gameport obsolescence. (sp?)

Saitek Cyborg: Felt and controlled like a cheap piece of crap, broke quickly, returned with no questions asked.  If you do get an EVO, keep the reciept.

Logitech Extreme 3D and Logitech dual stick pad (I forget the name):  Look great, control decently, poorly placed throttle.  Eerily, they both broke down on the same day.  They're (relatively) cheap for a reason.

Xbox 360 controller: suprisingly playable if you keep the difficulty down.  I used the left stick for flight control and the right stick for throttle.  Unfortunately, the triggers are only recognized as another axis so you have to use the shoulder buttons to shoot which can be a little uncomfortable.  Some games are really touchy about the Sidewinder's analog sticks.  If they ever released some kind of profiling software for this thing they'd have the ultimate general purpose PC controller on the market, but I think they'd rather not provide an alternative to buying their console.

CH Combatstick:  Really lightweight, doesn't look like much at all.  The first impression is ho-hum.  Since it's based on the F-16 for dimensions, that upper-right hat is a stretch to reach.  Then I downloaded the profiling software.  Using the "shift" key function I can map EVERY BUTTON I NEED to the joystick.  HOTAS without the throttle.  Plus the stick is completely reliable and quirk-free.  Expensive, but the use of USB ports will die before this stick will.  No stick twist, you've gotta use the "rotate" button oldskool.

Note that you can get CH sticks for much cheaper from amazon than buying direct from CH (I got mine for about $90, not including shipping.)

[Ghostavo]

 

[MarkN]

I have never had any problem with my saitek cyborg EVO, and that has good profiling software with shift buttons as well.
As for my previous stick, as Logitech wingman extreme, it went wrong very quickly with the centre of the stick movment being outside the central zone for the software, so I was having to hold the stick to one side to keep things straight.