Limited Funds: Monitors v Flight Stick v Tracker
- Thread starter MrMogadon
- Start date
I've seen the combined HOTAS like this one
Are they any good?
They seem to be SOO much cheaper than the separate throttle and sticks, that I'm wondering what the problem with them is.
Again, immersion seems a likely culprit, since in the game you clearly have them separate, but was wondering if this carries over into reality - after all at the end of the day, I'm a just a fat guy, of a certain age, sitting on an office chair, in front of a PC rather than an intrepid space ranger facing danger in the cold void of deep space, so a flight stick and even an OR can only help so much.
Thanks very much.
Are they any good?
They seem to be SOO much cheaper than the separate throttle and sticks, that I'm wondering what the problem with them is.
Again, immersion seems a likely culprit, since in the game you clearly have them separate, but was wondering if this carries over into reality - after all at the end of the day, I'm a just a fat guy, of a certain age, sitting on an office chair, in front of a PC rather than an intrepid space ranger facing danger in the cold void of deep space, so a flight stick and even an OR can only help so much.
Thanks very much.
Philip Coutts
Volunteer Moderator
I've seen the combined HOTAS like this one
Are they any good?
They seem to be SOO much cheaper than the separate throttle and sticks, that I'm wondering what the problem with them is.
Again, immersion seems a likely culprit, since in the game you clearly have them separate, but was wondering if this carries over into reality - after all at the end of the day, I'm a just a fat guy, of a certain age, sitting on an office chair, in front of a PC rather than an intrepid space ranger facing danger in the cold void of deep space, so a flight stick and even an OR can only help so much.
Thanks very much.
That is the most excellent Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X and it's a great stick for the money. You can pick one up for under £40 and just to let you know the throttle and the stick split apart. I have the left hand throttle at one side of my keyboard and the stick at the other side, they are connected by a wire that is coiled up underneath when the unit is put together as one. For me they are great value and I haven't ever regretted buying it. It's plastic but feels sturdy enough to me and in the 6 months I've been using it I've had no issues at all. It "only" has about 12 buttons so you might need to use some keyboard short cuts but that really comes down to how you play.
I have a t-flight hotas x too, before I used a gamepad and found it really frustrating to use and I did not like keyboard and mouse either, the game changed for me when I used the t flight hotas, they come apart or you can have them attached I found that it is too close together and it doesn't feel right for me. So I have them detached and the cable between the joystick and throttle is quite long about 40-50cm rough guestimate.
I've seen the combined HOTAS like this one
Are they any good?
Yes, they're excellent value and perfectly fine with ED. I've had mine a few years and they seem very robust and well built too.
The only reason I 'upgraded' to an x52 stick and stopped using my Thrustmaster was for the extra programmable buttons and modes it has over that Thrustmaster as I plan to play ED though Oculus Rift. I think the extra buttons on the x52 will be far easier to utilize than fumbling around with keyboard hotkeys.
All in all if you aint going Oculus, then that Thrustmaster will be ideal for ED. And as Philip Coutts mentioned, you can separate the throttle from the stick (it even comes with its own Allen key
)
Ok, so I got a Logitech 3d Pro and I got a DK2 on preorder.
Do I get the X-55 or Track IR?
Do I get the X-55 or Track IR?
Philip Coutts
Volunteer Moderator
If you are getting the DK2 there is little point in getting another head tracking system because they won't work together. I suppose if you wanted to play without the DK2 from time to time it would be useful to have an alternative but otherwise I don't see the point.
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As said, you don't need a tracker if you have Occulus Rift. From what I've seen, with Occulus Rift you will require both a stick and a throttle.
Depending on your budget and on how happy you are with your 3D pro, you might consider just buying a CH pro throttle (or any other separately available throttle).
i have 3 monitors and you get a much bigger viewing area, just bought a saitek x55 after a lot of its expensive should i or shouldnt i thoughts, but it has made the game, from ease of flying the craft, its easier to maneuver and docking is a dream.
if i had to buy again
1 hotas stick,
2 multi monitor
3 occulus rift
if i had to buy again
1 hotas stick,
2 multi monitor
3 occulus rift
I already had triple monitors before I bought into the game. I started off using the kb and mouse like in the old original Elite. That sucked enough to make me pull out my logitech ps3 controller. That one was slightly better but still sucked enough to make me spend on a Saitek X52 Hotas. The stick made a huge difference to my gameplay... whereas the triple monitors were never anything more than something nice to have. If you can't fly the ship it doesn't matter how much you can see.
I picked up a used trackIR on eBay, and I must be in the minority here because it doesn't rock my world.
Part of my issue is with the track clip pro, because I'm very conscious of the wire, but the whole thing just feels more like having my head as an extra joystick rather than a big gameplay experience. Maybe I just need to get accustomed to it, at least I have stopped trying to rotate my head when entering the Coriolis...
I would get a nice stick and get saving for a consumer OR (and probably a new GPU to go with it unless your rig is crazy good).
Part of my issue is with the track clip pro, because I'm very conscious of the wire, but the whole thing just feels more like having my head as an extra joystick rather than a big gameplay experience. Maybe I just need to get accustomed to it, at least I have stopped trying to rotate my head when entering the Coriolis...
I would get a nice stick and get saving for a consumer OR (and probably a new GPU to go with it unless your rig is crazy good).
Micro Center has a sale if still in stock!
http://www.microcenter.com/product/353243/TFlight_Hotas_X_Joystick
http://www.microcenter.com/product/353243/TFlight_Hotas_X_Joystick
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure what the shipping would be to the UK, but from their website, it does seem to be quite a popular item.
Happy 4th of July, by the way.
