Author Topic: Joysticks! 2014!  (Read 4676 times)

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Offline Cyker

  • 28
Hey all!

So what's everyone using, stick-wise, these days?

I'm still using my trusty old Sidewinder 3D Pro with that USB mod that grendle made maaany years ago, but it's starting to get a bit wobbly and I've had to slowly increase the deadzone as years have gone by as the saturn ring and spring have started to wear so it doesn't centre properly.

So I'm looking at things that can take its place!

One stick that has caught my eye is the Thrustmaster T16000M; Anyone here got one? What do you think?

Since owning the Sidewinder with its optical sensors, I can't go back to the vague pots or resistance strips as used in most sticks, and also much prefer the saturn ring/ball'n'socket mount compared to the gimbal mount used in most other sticks, and the T16000M seems to tick those boxes.
That and it's pretty cheap! (£31!)

So on paper it sounds okay, but what's it like to use? Flimsy or pretty solid? Also, what's the throw like, and do the hat and buttons feel good quality or do you think they'll wear out with serious button mashing?

The trigger looks like it'll break pretty easily if I squeeze it too hard...

Any thoughts?

Or, other suggestions!

 

Offline Veers

  • 29
I just bought a Saitek Cyborg Fly 5.

Now I just dunno what to do with it :/, so weird not using a mouse in FS or any other game I use. Nice stick though,
Current Activities/Projects: Ideas and some storyline completed.

ArmA 2&3 Mission Designer and player.


WoD - I like Crystal. <3

 

Offline Sololop

  • 28
Saitek Cyborg Evo. Older now, but has enough buttons and axis to do the job. Not a proper flight stick, though.

 
Having recently tried out a HOTAS setup (Joystick + Throttle), I found that while I could quickly maneuver, the aiming was terrible.  I recommend trying a HOJAM setup, in which you use both a joystick and a mouse.  The latter for aiming, while the joystick deals with movement.

I think the Thrustmaster T16000M should serve just fine as the stick.  If I remember correctly, it is agnostic when it comes to hands.

 
Logitech Extreme Pro 3D. Quite handy after using the oldest of old thrustmater sticks dating back to the mid 90s where it was a big thing to have the newly included throttle wheel.

Is it my joystick or is freespace fairly clunky with the responsiveness in game? Figured have axis curves is probably my saving grace in my flight sims but this doesn't have that.
Too many ideas.....not enough FREDing time!

 

Offline deathspeed

  • 29
  • i can't think of a good avatar
    • Steam
here is a thread dealing with FSO joystick response curves.
Maybe someday God will give you a little pink toaster of your own.

 
here is a thread dealing with FSO joystick response curves.

Thanks  :yes: have to try it out next time I get freespacing
Too many ideas.....not enough FREDing time!

 
Thrustmaster T-flight HOTAS X. Not a bad stick and not too harsh on your wallet either. To deal with a slight lack in buttons and such I also use Voice Attack. Still toying with the VA profile but seems to be working well.

[attachment kidnapped by pirates]
« Last Edit: November 16, 2014, 04:48:25 pm by leopardkeeper »

 

Offline Nagrach

  • 26
  • Just another Freespacer
Yep, the T.Flight Hotas is maybe the best HOTAS you can get for under 100€. Although, it has a strange in-Built Deadzone, so I recommend to put the ingame Deadzone as low as possible.

@leopardkeeper Voiceattack is enabling to control per Voice? More Star Trek feeling!
Crabby the crappy crab crap.

-273 °C. Finally a place where I don't need to sweat.

 
My wife bought me a Thrustmaster Warthog for a retirement gift. I use it for flight sims and Freespace.

 

Offline Herra Tohtori

  • The Academic
  • 211
  • Bad command or file name
For a single-unit solve-all joystick, get the Thrustmaster T.16000m. It's big benefit is accurate magnetic sensors on the X/Y axes, which basically means it isn't susceptible to wear and tear on those axes in the same sense as products like the Thrustmaster T-Flight Stick or Hotas X, or the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.

If you're looking for something more comprehensive, you need to remember that as of now FS2 Open only sees one controller at a time, and while this will hopefully improve in the future I have no idea of the schedule for that feature. Something like Saitek X52 Pro or their new X55 may be the best bang for buck if you want a HOTAS system while keeping things compatible with FSO.

If you intend to get a full set flight control system that would be compatible with flight simulators - containing stick, rudder pedals, and throttle - then the CH products are one worthwhile option since they can be combined into one controller by CH's own utility. Just, doing that will probably cost about eight times as much as just getting the T.16000m and about three times as much as getting the Saitek X52Pro or X55. As a guess.
There are three things that last forever: Abort, Retry, Fail - and the greatest of these is Fail.

 
Ltech Attack3....if it works , dont fix it---free from my non-gameing roomate---it turns ,burns, and learns...

 

Offline DeepSpace9er

  • Bakha bombers rule
  • 28
  • Avoid the beam and you wont get hit
Im using a mouse. I used to have a Logitech Attack 3 (buttons wore out) and a Saitek Fly 5 or something (internal issues) but now I just use the mouse because Im a masochist. Its not so bad though.

 

Offline Gee1337

  • 27
  • Sh!tlord/Human Garbage
I have a standard Saitek X52 Hotas. Since I got it, I love it! Loadsa buttons and looks pretty and I find the general build quality quite good. I got mine for about £90, surprisingly on the BT shop website of all places. People have reported issues with the deadzone on the stick and there is a mod which can be viewed here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JGZSx7UaVU

I've not done this as I found that playing around with the stick's settings and the game settings, it works just fine for me.

I use to have a Logitech Wingman 3d Extreme with FFB... it broke though... and I do miss the FFB!
I do not feel... I think!

  

Offline Nohiki

  • 28
  • Graf von Kaffeetrinken
    • Minecraft
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I just broke my sticks far too quickly, so now i stick with the mouse xD The last one was a cyborg evo force, and that was gone in 2 years.
:::ALSO PROUD VASUDAN RIGHTS SUPPORTER:::

 

Offline Dragon

  • Citation needed
  • 212
  • The sky is the limit.
Ever tried CH Products? :) Expensive, but built like a rock and easy to fix (especially since CH sells replacement parts as well). It's literally the same plastic you'll find in actual airplanes, and the electronics are of similar quality as well. Not surprising, given that CH also makes airplane sticks and industrial controllers (indeed, that's their primary business. The gaming controllers are just an aside). If you can break that, there's really no stick for you, but I doubt it. :)

 

Offline niffiwan

  • 211
  • Eluder Class
Heh, I broke a CH Flightstick Pro when I was younger.  Buttons stopped working and the action became terrible (the springs must have given out), so breaking them is certainly possible :)
Creating a fs2_open.log | Red Alert Bug = Hex Edit | MediaVPs 2014: Bigger HUD gauges | 32bit libs for 64bit Ubuntu
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Debian Packages (testing/unstable): Freespace2 | wxLauncher
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m|m: I think I'm suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Bmpman is starting to make sense and it's actually written reasonably well...