To HOTAS Or Dual Stick?

Junky Juke

Junky Juke
I forgot to mention my experience with the T16000 thrustmaster. It is a very stable joystick and very precise, but feels too much plasticky and the buttons on the base are not very intuitive to hit on the fly, to the point I only use few of them in VR. The new model T1600 M FCS anyway looks better. The buttons have some carvings that should help to touch-feel them without having to look at them. On last note the trigger of my T16000 just broke a couple of days ago, after 2 years of intensive use. I have to say that it was my first joystick, so maybe I was a bit too much trigger happy and used too much strenght to operate the joystick.

I guess I'm going to buy the complete thrustmaster T1600 M FCS HOTAS, it is actually the best price/quality balanced product out there.
 

Ripbudd

Banned
R
I was thinking of getting this: http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/farmside.html i know it's for farming but damn, this could be so cool for spaceships too!

My setup would be X55 + XB1 (unused now but i plan this for future spacelegs) + this

farm-sim-side-panel-01.jpg


Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znaf-vcysK4
 
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Ripbudd

Banned
R
Noctover said:
I can actually see that....being a good addition lol
Click to expand...

But beware! This product have no competition it's from Saitek and that makes it pricy with low quality because there is no alternative for side panel controller so yeah. We need competition to make side panels so we can get fair price or higher quality.
This thing only have buttons! No switches, those switches are just buttons. :)
 

Noctover

Noctover
Ripbudd said:
But beware! This product have no competition it's from Saitek and that makes it pricy with low quality because there is no alternative for side panel controller so yeah. We need competition to make side panels so we can get fair price or higher quality.
This thing only have buttons! No switches, those switches are just buttons. :)
Click to expand...

Cheeky little...how dare they be buttons!

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Ripbudd said:
But beware! This product have no competition it's from Saitek and that makes it pricy with low quality because there is no alternative for side panel controller so yeah. We need competition to make side panels so we can get fair price or higher quality.
This thing only have buttons! No switches, those switches are just buttons. :)
Click to expand...

You are right though.....there is literally nothing like it on the market, how weird is that!
 

Daitya Zo

Daitya Zo
I have a new CH Fighterstick and rudder pedals. I have about 38 functions on my 3-mode (LED mode) stick. Plus rudder and vertical thrust axes on the toe pedals. I made a slanted mount so when I am resting naturally on the pedals, my toe brakes aren't pressed.

So, I haven't bought the left hand yet.

My only issues with the dual sticks are:

1. Tilt-joystick for lateral thrust (on a left stick) doesn't feel quite right.

2. Lack of extra buttons on the left stick. A lesser concern. I.e., have to map throttle to digital increment/decrement.

Edit: yeah I looked at the farm panel earlier but I think since I already am programming LED modes, I should just save for a CH throttle. Or roll with what I have.
 
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Moshmann

M
Ian Skippy said:
Both, and set some controls double on secondary stick and throttle. A cheap way would be HOTAS X for throttle and secondary stick, plus another primary. The 16000m is very precise, so great for primary, but you dont need that much rpecision on secondary.
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Hello, could you tell me how to map several imputs to the same action (I bought this config but dunno how to map the same thing to thruster and joystick). Also, could you send me a screenshot of your mapping or something? Thank you very much :D
 

bootsam

bootsam
I'm relearning in a sense. I'm using m&kb. From what Ive found so far, combat would be a lot easier m&kb. Jumping between systems, again m&kb. Docking, planetary landings and manoeuvres in normal space HOTAS. I also always found that SRV was easier with m&kb.

Im used to a X55 HOTAS but it disappeared in a quantum black hole. I liked it. Loadsa buttons, great tophat for thrusters, squeaks a bit. If I could find it, I'd probably use it and ignore m&kb as the tophat thruster control with thumb is something I miss.
 

Gauntlet

Gauntlet
Dual stick with track IR here.

Used to run with an x52pro Hotas and it was great for years but slowly started failing on me with ghost button presses so downgraded :D to dual t16000m sticks and went Flight Assist Off too! I would never go back, for me it's so much more intuitive too. With FA off you don't need to concern yourself with throttle too much as its all just thruster inputs to control vector, so I have the 3 rotationals on the right stick and the 3 translationals on the left stick. For supercruise inputs I do map throttle increments for +25% and -25% as that's all the granularity I need.
 

here_it_comes

here_it_comes
Twin sticks with twist axis, or twin sticks plus pedals offers the absolute best level of control possible. I personally use a throttle along with two sticks just because it's more comfy for Supercruise.
 

BL1P

BL1P
I use dual VKB sticks with VKB pedals. I fly FA-OFF only.
Right stick is: Pitch, Roll, Yaw.
Left stick is: Lateral, Vertical thrusts.
Pedals are: Forward and Backward thrusts.

Throttle is controlled by keyboard % settings, only really used in super cruise.
 

Chaodiurn

Chaodiurn
Dual stick with the right hand optionally using the mouse. Been doing this for years. It just is amazing and I'm even able to do it in VR. I just feel to be way more in control of my space ship. Even though I must admit, that I have to work through the bindings each time I reinstall the game. This can cost quite some time, but by now I got quite fast with it.

(t16000 and X52 hybrid setup).
 

Pug

Pug
Lokus Midgard said:
My Microsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 joystick has served me well for many years, but with a game like this, I do yearn for an affordable joystick with two POV hat switches. Being as VR costs more than half a grand, that's well out of the pbudget of most casual gamer folk, which means one POV to control lateral thrust and an additional one to control where the pilot looks at, would be desirable.

So, looking around to see if a HOTAS set might have crawled down to be affordable enough to justify as a long-term investment, I find the Thrustmaster T.16000M is getting good reviews for its precision and that the throttle would give more than just two POV hat sticks.

But as I search more, I discover that people have been taking advantage of it being able to quickly be converted for left and right-hand use: They're not using the throttle, at all, but instead using two T-16000M sticks together. What an intriguing concept! And, technically, this would be cheaper than purchasing the HOTAS version.

Has anyone out there tried this with 'Elite: Dangerous' yet? I'm genuinely interested what the experiences are with this and whether it's more or less intuitive than HOTAS for flight. A throttle only allows one extra dimension of control, but two sticks allow for six (X/Y/Z multiplied by two) and it makes me wonder if that could feel overwhelming or like a breath of fresh air. Or did you try it and just go back to using a throttle?
Click to expand...
Best most affordable I have found is the T1600m but I hate not having a neutral throttle 'Notch'

Previous to that I was using a Tflight hotas x a brilliant cheap Hotas but didn't have all the functionality I wanted.
I'm not adventurous enough to use two sticks instead of a throttle, I also like the button configuration on the throttle and the analogue rudder rocker.
My take.
Pug
 

Lyvan Kitaen

Lyvan Kitaen
You don't have to pick one or the other. I use both depending on the situation. When just tooling around doing things like trade or exploration, I use a throttle and stick. When doing combat or precision flying, I use dual sticks. All three devices are hooked up all the time and I just switch my left hand between the throttle and left stick as the situation demands.
 

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VR Jay Le Chardon

VR Jay Le Chardon
Holy NECRO! This was a 2017 thread!!! To which I was going to reply "If you are n a budget, look at facetrackNOIR, its a free app that uses a webcam to track your face and thus controls your POV, and I'd recommend a couple of T16000 sticks, mapped as right stick being yaw pitch and roll, with left stick being vertical thrusters, lateral thrusters and throttle. I have the twist on the left stick set up as twist left is lift, twisr right is lower, like bolting the ship to the deck. This gives you rotation about the three axes on the right stick, and travel along the three axes on the left stick, and you can use the throttle in SC. Although for longer SC transits I'd suggest mapping some of the buttons on the bases of these sticks to throttle presets. I found the one had on the t16000's a bit limiting in Elite, so I mapped it with the triggers being primary and secondary fire, and most other functions being taken care of by combos of buttons surrounding the hat on one stick and a hat on the other stick. For example left stick button A + any of the four directions on the hat or and of the three buttons gives 7 combos. Left stick button B + any of the same 7 buttons gives you 14 potential bindings, and using button C plus any of the right 7 makes it 21. Flip that from right to left, so button A on right stick + any of the left sticks 7 buttons (hat plus 3 adjacent buttons) is another 7 bindings bringing the total to 28, right button B + any of the left 7 makes it 35, and right button C and any of the left 7 makes it 42, all at your thumb tips. without having to move your hands from the sticks to hit the universal qwerty button box."

For example:
Left button A plus right hat down = Supercruise
Left button A plus right hat up = Hyperjump
Left button A plus right hat Right = Galaxy Map
Left button A plus right hat Left = System Map
Left button A plus right button A = Landing Gear
Left button A plus right button B = Cargo Scoop
Left button A plus right button C = retract hard points
 
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