Best joystick for VR?

[GeneralIdea1964]

I'm on the cheap option, the TM2, but it has less buttons.

I remap them using one as a shift key so there can be 2 functions per button.
It's still not quite enough, but as some things can be set from left hand panel, I'm not too worried.

One idea I have but have not tried is relying on the head-look mode to activate the panels and thereby maybe releasing some buttons for other uses.

Not got the map controls sorted, but I'm thinking having the VR hand controllers set up for this might be a good idea.

Good luck

 

[BaronVonDoon]

I use a trusty TM Hotas X, cheap, sturdy, and not too many buttons, which you don't need if you use Voice Attack along with it. No plans to change it until it breaks. Best bang for your buck

 

[Crank Larson]

One idea I have but have not tried is relying on the head-look mode to activate the panels and thereby maybe releasing some buttons for other uses.

Problem with that is that headlook activation in VR is very off-putting when you are admiring the view - which I find I do a lot more in VR than I would otherwise!

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

I'm very new to the game, but can already tell that I'll need a joystick to play it properly. I'm currently on an Xbox controller.

Is there a joystick setup that is both reasonably priced and that works well with Rift?

Basically, I cannot have keyboard assignments because I can't see the keyboard with Rift on, so all controls should be on the stick and thrust.


Anything tried and true?

Whatever you get, make sure you get VoiceAttack, it's as essential to control and enjoyment as a good HOTAS is.

Problem with that is that headlook activation in VR is very off-putting when you are admiring the view - which I find I do a lot more in VR than I would otherwise!

You can toggle headlook on and off. UI Focus I think it's called.

 

[DragonIV]

Voice Attack is a must.

I currently have the T16000M FCS bundle, and it's nice, but the large amount of buttons on the base of the stick are all but useless in VR. My old stick, the Hotas-X, had pretty much everything in reach (but obviously fewer buttons).

Rather than use two different control schemes so as to multiplex buttons on the T16000M and throttle, I instead just use voice attack for the buttons I can't find. I still play more in 2D than 3D right now (too hot to play VR in the summer for me) so I didn't want to have to screw up my muscle memory to play both 2D and 3D interchangeably.

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

I have an X55, and while it is excellent for E: D as it has enough switches/hats/etc. to control everything, I can't recommend it as the build quality is absolutely awful. I've already had to take it apart and repair it once (it's about 18 months old), and given the cheapness of the components I found inside (particularly the very thin wires), I expect I'll have to repair or replace again in a couple of years.

I had a X55 too. Never had an issue but sold it for a good price just before the X56 became readily available and got a TM Warthog and TM pedals.

 

[DragonIV]

This, but ensure all necessary controls are mapped to the HOTAS in case VA wigs out or does not work. Anything related to combat or running away should be on the HOTAS. You can find examples on YouTube where players under stress are yelling at their VA without anything happening. Much easier to press a button.

THIS 100X THIS.

Lost my first anaconda (and to date, the only one I've lost) when I couldn't remember the words "deploy shield cell" in VA. I was busy shouting "use shield cell," "shield cell now," "fire shield cell," "******* use shield cell!" to no avail, then lifted my goggles and tried to press the shield cell button on my joystick's base. I got silent running instead. Shortly thereafter, boom. End of story.

Also decided taking on a wing of one Deady Annie and twin Deadly Pythons by myself was probably not the brightest move for a virgin Anaconda pilot also using VR for the first time.

Learn some, lose lots.

 

[BigDuke6ixx]

THIS 100X THIS.

Lost my first anaconda (and to date, the only one I've lost) when I couldn't remember the words "deploy shield cell" in VA. I was busy shouting "use shield cell," "shield cell now," "fire shield cell," "******* use shield cell!" to no avail, then lifted my goggles and tried to press the shield cell button on my joystick's base. I got silent running instead.

Which is why it's important to programs phrase variations into VA.

 

[The Lawful]

TFlight HOTAS X it is for me, rebought it after the first one became slightly worn after 5 years (still have it as backup). Has only 12 buttons, but I need only one shift key to steer the entire ship with it, two would be overkill. Relatively cheap, but does the job just fine.

Plus VoiceAttack, and that was a great addition for me. It's crucial to train the speech recognition engine properly so that it reliably understands you. I decided to use English phrases on a German Windows 10 Pro and that's an annoying task, as the display language has to match the recognition engine, so I had to switch the system language to and fro, but that's a Windows idiocy and once it's trained enough, it works (nearly) perfectly. The commands I use it understands 99% of times at first attempt ("Chaff Go", "SCB Go", "Run away", "Pilot Defend", "Jump" and so on, some of these are also mapped to keyboard and joystick buttons, but those became more or less redundant now. Plus, VA has a very powerful macro engine, the "Run Away" command, for example, does a number of different tasks plus gives appropriate audio feedback so you know it worked. The macro functions of my SteelSeries Apex keyboard are simply pale by comparison. It's only 12 EUR on Steam, would definitely give it a try.

O7,
[noob]

 

[NeryK]

I decided to use English phrases on a German Windows 10 Pro and that's an annoying task, as the display language has to match the recognition engine, so I had to switch the system language to and fro, but that's a Windows idiocy.

Same, except this was a dealbreaker for me. My main goal was to do voice input for in-game text chat in VR. I decided this was too much of a hassle and so just touch type as best I can on the keyboard (I also tried using displaying the Vive front-facing camera feed in OVRdrop to see the keyboard : also a hassle and the resolution is too low).

On the subject at hand I use a T16000M FCS, with a single "modifier button" and I am able to map all the controls I need. The mini-joystick on the throttle is a very useful feature to control thrusters on a ship or the turret on a SRV.

 

[[VR] Frank_G]

Depends... Thrustmaster products are pretty decent and definitely a recommendation. But beware of the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS... like VR, there is no going back, once touched...

But regardless of what joystick you choose, consider some additional Thrustmaster Cougar MFD Panels. They are good priced and add a lot of comfort to your VR setup as they can be used blind with ease. I strongly recommend taking a look at these.

 

[Alec Turner]

TFlight HOTAS X it is for me, rebought it after the first one became slightly worn after 5 years (still have it as backup).

Agree. Another T-FLight user here, also on 2nd stick (when a much loved button on the first one stopped working after 1.5yrs I just nipped out to Maplins and bough another - £35 replacement, £70 in total - job done).

Has only 12 buttons, but I need only one shift key to steer the entire ship with it, two would be overkill. Relatively cheap, but does the job just fine.

LOL, not sure what you'd make of my setup, I've got 4 shift buttons (all the ones next to the thumb on the throttle hand). That gives me 20 functions on the hat stick alone!

 

[ZeroAi]

I'm very new to the game, but can already tell that I'll need a joystick to play it properly. I'm currently on an Xbox controller.

Is there a joystick setup that is both reasonably priced and that works well with Rift?

Basically, I cannot have keyboard assignments because I can't see the keyboard with Rift on, so all controls should be on the stick and thrust.

Anything tried and true?

I still use the XBOX controller on PC and Rift as (1) it's the same control scheme as the XBOX and PS4 (comforting to this old man) and (2) I never did find a good way to get my Hotas to work in the Gal and Sys map like my XBOX controller. Needless to say me Hotas is collecting dust :-(

 

[VR Mr Teatime]

I don't know if anyone has bought one of these, but they look interesting https://virpil.com/en/

Also they will be available on Amazon from late Sept according to the site.

For me I have my modded Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS (the only things left are the handles and some of the switches), which I've re-purposed from virtual F16C to Elite Dangerous with all essential controls on the stick or throttle. I also have a few non-essential buttons (e.g. orbit lines on/off) or buttons you don't want to trigger by accident (e.g. cargo jettison) on panels.

 

[TorTorden_VR]

I don't know if anyone has bought one of these, but they look interesting https://virpil.com/en/

Also they will be available on Amazon from late Sept according to the site.

For me I have my modded Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS (the only things left are the handles and some of the switches), which I've re-purposed from virtual F16C to Elite Dangerous with all essential controls on the stick or throttle. I also have a few non-essential buttons (e.g. orbit lines on/off) or buttons you don't want to trigger by accident (e.g. cargo jettison) on panels.

Checked those out on the web a couple of weeks ago.
And they look very interesting but a bit pricy.

Granted by what I saw it seemed to make the warthog look like a flimsy toy.

 

[[VR] Frank_G]

Checked those out on the web a couple of weeks ago.
And they look very interesting but a bit pricy.

Granted by what I saw it seemed to make the warthog look like a flimsy toy.

The base segments are outstanding and the option to have a left hand version of the stick is very useful, especially for space sims. The sticks seem to be made of plastic though.

 

[TorTorden_VR]

The base segments are outstanding and the option to have a left hand version of the stick is very useful, especially for space sims. The sticks seem to be made of plastic though.

Well there is plastic and there is plastic.
Like the plastic in my current CH sticks

Now as I don't mind the feel of those, I acknowledge that the internals and the sensor on the stick particularly are, well basic.

From what I gather with these the mechanism on these are a fair bit more "over-engineered".

 

[Kinky Jalepeno]

I'm very new to the game, but can already tell that I'll need a joystick to play it properly. I'm currently on an Xbox controller.

Is there a joystick setup that is both reasonably priced and that works well with Rift?

Basically, I cannot have keyboard assignments because I can't see the keyboard with Rift on, so all controls should be on the stick and thrust.

Anything tried and true?

Prob the Saitek x52 series but I make do with the Thrustmaster X HOTAS.

 

[VR Mr Teatime]

Well there is plastic and there is plastic.
Like the plastic in my current CH sticks

Now as I don't mind the feel of those, I acknowledge that the internals and the sensor on the stick particularly are, well basic.

From what I gather with these the mechanism on these are a fair bit more "over-engineered".

Must admit I would rather decent fibre reinforced plastic handles (it works for Glock/FN amongst others) and metal mechanicals than the other way round. The Warthog unfortunately uses a plastic gimbal iirc, which is maybe marginally better than the Cougar which had pot metal - both are not what I'd call "engineering grade".

 

[Zeeman]

Must admit I would rather decent fibre reinforced plastic handles (it works for Glock/FN amongst others) and metal mechanicals than the other way round. The Warthog unfortunately uses a plastic gimbal iirc, which is maybe marginally better than the Cougar which had pot metal - both are not what I'd call "engineering grade".

Just got my Virpil Mongoos T50 a few days ago, aircraft grade aluminium gimbals that are adjustable in may ways (can swap gimbals, springs and adjust tension with screwdriver), the grip is also very nice - top quality buttons that feel very nice to press, really nice overall. I think I prefer it to my Warthog, and I can always attach the Warthog grip if I really want to...

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