The title says it all. Why don’t FD get together the best brains from amongst the user base and design a stonking twist yaw HOTAS using quality components? I’d buy one if they managed to make it for less than £250.
Hardware & Technical Isn’t it about time FD developed and sold a good quality HOTAS?
- Thread starter FatzDomingo
- Start date
More likely they get together with an existing manufacture to sponsor an ED themed stick.
The issue with both scenarios is that they need a user base above a critical mass.
That said, I would be happy for them to take my money if it was a quality item. I would love to replace my aging saitek cyborg 3d, with an elite specific stick.
Aps.
The issue with both scenarios is that they need a user base above a critical mass.
That said, I would be happy for them to take my money if it was a quality item. I would love to replace my aging saitek cyborg 3d, with an elite specific stick.
Aps.
No, preferably. Would comment further but may get deleted.
Didn't FD design the cockpit stick around the X52 pro?
But on topic, yea i agree they"could do it", but then other companies have many years of making and producing good & bad sticks...
Time will tell if this ever happens.
But for now i`ll use my Wharthog, as i killed 4 x54 Rhino's, just pure garbage internals, great feel and flow, but really let down by using mega cheap 3rd world internals :/
Fly safe and do thy research on flight sticks!
But on topic, yea i agree they"could do it", but then other companies have many years of making and producing good & bad sticks...
Time will tell if this ever happens.
But for now i`ll use my Wharthog, as i killed 4 x54 Rhino's, just pure garbage internals, great feel and flow, but really let down by using mega cheap 3rd world internals :/
Fly safe and do thy research on flight sticks!
This for the budget version. I use now after 2 years Saitek desater.
The (white)russian stuff for the pro.
https://virpil.com/en/
https://vkbcontrollers.com/
Some day...
What would be really cool of course is a dedicated space stick for 6DOF, like these 3d mice CAD users use.
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I would have thought it'd be a bit of a no-win situation, myself.
A cheap stick is going to be, well, cheap.
The X52 is already filling that segment of the market and it has, shall we say, "mixed reviews".
Conversely, if you're going to spend more than £200 on a joystick, you'd have to be daft to buy anything other than the usual suspects.
There certainly are various ways that a joystick could be made more suitable for ED than, say, a TM Warthog but creating a product that is different to a Warthog and similar quality is going to make it seriously expensive.
How many people are going to buy a joystick specifically intended for ED when they could buy something like a Warthog instead... for less money?
And then there's the issue of design, which is completely subjective.
Personally, I'd be a bit worried that they'd end up trying to make the joystick look "space age" when I suspect that most players really want something that looks like it was lifted straight out of a current military aircraft - which is why sticks like the Warthog and VKB Mamba do so well, even compared to superior products made by outfits like CH.
A cheap stick is going to be, well, cheap.
The X52 is already filling that segment of the market and it has, shall we say, "mixed reviews".
Conversely, if you're going to spend more than £200 on a joystick, you'd have to be daft to buy anything other than the usual suspects.
There certainly are various ways that a joystick could be made more suitable for ED than, say, a TM Warthog but creating a product that is different to a Warthog and similar quality is going to make it seriously expensive.
How many people are going to buy a joystick specifically intended for ED when they could buy something like a Warthog instead... for less money?
And then there's the issue of design, which is completely subjective.
Personally, I'd be a bit worried that they'd end up trying to make the joystick look "space age" when I suspect that most players really want something that looks like it was lifted straight out of a current military aircraft - which is why sticks like the Warthog and VKB Mamba do so well, even compared to superior products made by outfits like CH.
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My thought is something robust enough to last years, twist yaw that works and doesn’t fall to bits. I don’t care who eventually makes it!
I use the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle, paired with a different stick. I can say that the TWCS is pretty darned good. I already owned a stick, so I didn't spring for the whole set from Thrustmaster. With that, I'd day FD has done a good job working with TM in getting an Elte-centric HOTAS out there.
TM 16000FCS Stick and throttle is a decent piece of hardware, but has problems.
Firstly, it's not HOTAS. To reach half of the buttons you have to take your hand from the stick.
I agree that there isn't really a good reliable HOTAS under the Warthog. (which I, for example, can't use, because it requires pedals)
Firstly, it's not HOTAS. To reach half of the buttons you have to take your hand from the stick.
I agree that there isn't really a good reliable HOTAS under the Warthog. (which I, for example, can't use, because it requires pedals)
It cost a lot of money just to build the molds to make the parts and keeping them in good shape and of course running the parts. I bet most of you would be surprised how much those molds cost.
The T16000 is a cheap stick, the Saitek stuff is just badly engineered garbage that'd need to be made to a higher standard and sold at a much higher price to work (power issues, incompatibility with anything but the most select USB2 ports, bad software, crap connectors, and generally insufficient materials, are all long-standing issues in the entire line-up that neither Saitek nor any of its subsequent owners bothered to acknowledge or fix, and even so they never managed to sell that stuff at a profit).
The Warthog is the "stick using quality components" the OP is asking for, minus the twist axis, and even though Thrustmaster "only" had to put stuff they already had into a new case they have to ask for a ~350 quid UK price and it has issues like mysterious stiction or sometimes frying its firmware making the whole thing a very expensive brick.
I agree with the ergonomic criticism of the t16000 stick, but I don't think a £100 product (the FCS set) is cheap, it's mid range, or the bottom rung of the fully featured market.
Not sure I agree about a horas needing to look modern Vs futuristic either, it just needs to have enough controls &be ergonomically sound.
The cougar & warthog successor have replaceable grips, I like the idea of having an ED specific grip. I don't use the twist function myself, I use the paddles on the throttle for yaw.
Not sure I agree about a horas needing to look modern Vs futuristic either, it just needs to have enough controls &be ergonomically sound.
The cougar & warthog successor have replaceable grips, I like the idea of having an ED specific grip. I don't use the twist function myself, I use the paddles on the throttle for yaw.
Isn't it about time Frontier built a space rocket? I'm sure they could do it better and cheaper than Elon Musk, I mean who wants the boring ones when you can get one with an FSD? I'd buy one!
/s
They do software not hardware in the same way they do games not aerospace-engineering.
I do agree most current HOTAS/joystick systems are either terrible, expensive or not robust but I disagree that Frontier are the ones to do it. They could collaborate with someone like thrust master but I'd highly doubt they'd produce their own.
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Great stuff!. I still have to check out your links...
There was one controller made as a dedicated pure 6DOF on a single stick.
That was the SpaceTec SpaceOrb360, this company produced, and likely still does, advanced 3D Cad controllers...some of which look like a spaceship controller deck. I see now that Sony made a version very similar to the SpaceOrb for use with PlayStation.
The Orb was a PC Peripheral, using their proprietary (I assume) connection methods for the ball/axis assembly.
There was at least one plastic element involved in the Orb construction which made it prone to breakage.
And add to that any likely over-stressing of the wrist based on that particular model-layout, and I'm not sure it's an improvement.
There was one fellow who had a warehouse full of Orbs, however, in South Florida... if I recall. In non-English packaging.
o7
If you have a flight sim setup, transducer chair and all that, I can see wanting the high end controls to go along with it. For the majority of users however, HOTAS is a wishlist item. I have one, but it's the TM16000M set and I don't see any issues with it. I don't need to use the keyboard for anything I do on a normal basis. I can't imagine breaking this setup but I don't play all day every day. I don't think most players do. For that reason though, I cannot imagine an FD design on one.
If anything, I could see the HOTAS being less bulky, usable to more people with different PC setups and limited space.
If anything, I could see the HOTAS being less bulky, usable to more people with different PC setups and limited space.
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![[VR] Enexemander](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/119/119036.jpg?1621636716){kind=avatar}
I upgraded to the VKP Gladiator MK II from the T-16000M and matching throttle set up. I still use the TCWS Throttle. It's an excellent throttle. I do wish it came with a center detent option. The VKP Gladiator MK II is fantastic. I upgraded from the T-16000M because I'm a twist yaw scrub (Sorry 777Driver), and the twist yaw on the T-16000M is not very precise for FAOFF, and doesn't return to dead center. The VKP stick does both of these.
If, however, you use pedals for yaw then the world is your oyster. Lots of great products from VKP with a stick twist are there to choose from. I hear good things about virpil as well.
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Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X for the win. If it's good enough for Isinona, it's good enough for me.
Great kit at killer price:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrustmast...sr=8-1&keywords=thrustmaster+t+flight+hotas+x
Why spend 250 when 30 is all you need.