Earthsiege (PC)
So, it seems I needed to install the 1.01 patch to get the HOTAS working as intended (the patch is also needed to be able to regulate the difficulty of the career mode otherwise it's stuck on the hardest setting).
Basically the original WCS throttle support worked very much like my initial fake dual stick solution and using the throttle not only did work only as a centered axis (which basically meant you could only go full forward or full reverse and good luck trying to stop) but it also interfered with the man stick locking it into place until you recentered the throttle. Also the rudder support while more straightforward had pretty much the same problem which kind of defeats the purpose of being able to aim while steering the mech (or "HERC" as they are called here).
In the end I just mapped the arrow keys to the two front buttons on the throttle for steering, but with the throttle the thing has been much more complicated and required the above-mentioned patch.
The patch altered the throttle support, now when you activate the options instead of searching for the throttle the game just enables a series of speed presets consisting of CTRL+number and gives you a file to use with the WCS throttle.
Of course not having a vintage thrustmaster throttle the file is useless but with the presets I could program the throttle, though not in the easiest way of just putting in the preset keys in the throttle TAB in CH Control Manager because that doesn't work with button combination. So I had to use a script, first by setting a series of virtual buttons with the CH Control Manager CMOS setup with this macro:
keys +LCTL +number -number -LCTL
“number” being one of the number keys and LCTL being the left control key.
Then on to string the virtual buttons together with the script proper:
script
cms.b1 = [ js2.a3 < 30 ];
cms.b2 = [ 31 < js2.a3 ] and [ js2.a3 > 60 ];
cms.b3 = [ 61 < js2.a3 ] and [ js2.a3 > 95 ];
cms.b4 = [ 96 < js2.a3 ] and [ js2.a3 > 125 ];
cms.b5 = [ 126 < js2.a3 ] and [ js2.a3 > 135 ];
cms.b6 = [ 136 < js2.a3 ] and [ js2.a3 > 150 ];
cms.b7 = [ 151 < js2.a3 ] and [ js2.a3 > 180 ];
cms.b8 = [ 181 < js2.a3 ] and [ js2.a3 > 200 ];
cms.b9 = [ 201 < js2.a3 ] and [ js2.a3 > 220 ];
cms.b10 = [ 221 < js2.a3 ];
endScript
Where every “cms.b” is a virtual button, js2.a3 means “third axis of the second device of the profile” (the throttle has a ministick which is axis 1 and 2, the throttle proper is axis 3) and the various numbers are the throttle axis potentiometer value intervals in which to trigger the macros attributed to the virtual buttons. I’ll probably revise the value intervals later to get a wider “full stop” zone as the absence of detents makes finding the center difficult sometimes but for now it seems to work as intended and doesn’t interfere anymore with the joystick allowing better control of the turret.
The rest was easy:
I must say the game becomes much easier when you can steer and aim the turret properly at the same time, especially considering that aiming for the legs of enemy HERCS is the best way to get extra salvage for repairing and building new HERCs.
The career mode is divided in several campaigns that seem to be dynamic to a certain extent, though I've found only one instance of a mission being altered because of the results of a preceding one until now.
The first campaign was relatively easy, at the moment I'm stuck at the first mission of the second one.
Also, that death animation: YIKES!
Projectile weapons seem to be the ones that work best, at least they don't drain shield energy and seem to have better range than most early laser weapons.
I'd just wish you coud see the distance indicator on the target display, in this game it seems you cannot know the distance and the status of a target at the same time.