Hardware & Technical Anywhere I can test joysticks?

[Wandering Weevil]

As an '84-er who's played just about nothing since, I now need a stick and throttle. I'm considering all the usual suspects--X52 Pro, CH Stick+Throttle, T.Flight, etc.--but was wondering if anyone knows of a vendor who allows buyers to try out the sticks and actually has stock of anything I might want.

I don't really have anything to gauge them against--the last stick I used was a QuickShot II with my old C64! Right now, I have no idea how I'd adapt to a twist-to-yaw stick, what I'd use hats for, or whether I'd benefit from a two-stage trigger. I could read all the reviews on the web, but I can't help thinking there's no substitute for getting hands-on with several in one store.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[Cedhric]

Maybe visit a Flight Sim convention? Ther used to be a few run in the Bristol area. Check out some FS forums (avsim.com etc.)

 

[-Ice]

Where are you located?

In the UK, I know PC World/Currys has stock of some joysticks so if you're interested in buying one, they would most likely allow you to open it to see if it fits your hand or some other reason. Having several of the "prime choices" would be a stretch though; these are niche products so brick-and-mortars don't really carry the best stuff.

As a player who owns both a TM WH and TM Cougar, I would say that more buttons on the Warthog is definitely a plus. I like bounty hunting so the less time I have to look at my controls to throw a switch or press a button, the more time I have to "look outside" and have situational awareness. However, the firm buttons on the Warthog which I found to be awesome in combat flight sims is now beginning to bite me. I play modern combat flight sims so one press - missile away. Gun attacks are short bursts. With gimballed weapons in Elite, I am keeping one or both buttons pressed for much longer and after a few hours of gaming, my fingers and forearm are sore. I might see if I can buy some flight gloves though, see if that'll help.

I would say a two-stage trigger isn't really necessary. I have my guns on my trigger and my lasers on my pickle button (button activated by thumb). Sure, I can map either of them to the 2nd stage of the trigger, but that really limits me. If I just map lasers to 1st stage and guns on 2nd stage, then it makes sense. Lasers first, once shields are gone, hit him with kinetic. However, what if I want to fire both for a little added damage? Okay, so what if I map it so that the 2nd stage actually fires BOTH the guns and the lasers.... the problem there now is if the ship cannot fire the lasers consistently. So basically, having each weapon group mapped to a different button gives me the flexibility I need. Unfortunately, the 2nd stage trigger is a different button by itself and there is no way to press both 1st stage and 2nd stage simulataneously so having primary and secondary grouping on different buttons makes the best sense.

Hope that helps.