Hardware & Technical joystick advice

[Ven Jarvik]

I've got a Thrustmaster HOTAS X combined with Voice Attack. You can get the stick for about £40 or less brand new. When combined with Voice Attack it's perfect for the game and very reasonably priced.

I was going to suggest this but I wasn't sure that the thread starter wasn't after a higher end model.
To him/her,and to anyone else reading this thread who does not have money to burn,however,I would wholeheartedly recommend this HOTAS.

I have been using it,and to be honest,I don't need anything else.When combined with voiceattack (about a fiver) it's all you need.You can adjust the response on the stick,but not the throttle (but I don't need to on the throttle anyway) and the only problem I had was it was sliding about a bit,so now I have them clamped either side of me and it works like a dream.

 

[Mucka]

I've got a Thrustmaster HOTAS X combined with Voice Attack. You can get the stick for about £40 or less brand new. When combined with Voice Attack it's perfect for the game and very reasonably priced.

Yeah me too, works a treat and great piece of kit for the price.
Got mine from ebay for just £34 including P&P.
If people are looking for a budget Hotas you can't do better.

 

[DeepFried]

Well, I didn't know how important the twist was ?

Twist is not important at all, provided you have either pedals or a rocker on the throttle. You need some sort of yaw axis.

I'm fortunate to have a throttle rocker, joystick twist, and pedals, so i'm spoiled for choice. I put yaw on the pedals and use the rocker and twist for thrusters.

Yeah me too, works a treat and great piece of kit for the price.
Got mine from ebay for just £34 including P&P.
If people are looking for a budget Hotas you can't do better.

Yep I have one too, on a budget its a great piece of kit. If CH products were easier to get in the UK i'd probably have gone for a fighter stick and pro throttle, but in the absence of that and given that I don't want to spend lot of money on the warthog, and am not fond of Saitek, the T-flight X is a logical choice.

 

[CatInSpace]

You need some sort of yaw axis.

Agreed. I couldn't imagine myself flying without it really. It also feels important to have yaw assigned to a true axis instead of a digital on/off switch/button.

I have used pedals for rudder with Flight Simulator in the past and they are great, however I've sold mine in the past. The next best yaw-enabled thing would probably be a flightstick with a twist-axis (I recommend the very affordable and precise T.16000M). Flying one with the left hand on the keyboard works really well.

Adding a great throttle to this setup makes the experience better and more fun though. I went for the CH Pro Throttle myself since I've had great experience with CH products in the past, and this particular throttle has a really cool 'left thumb joystick' (true axis) that you could use for vertical and sideways thrusters. The throttle is on the expensive side (especially when compared to the T.16000M's price), but I've found it very worthwhile indeed.

Oh, and do consider adding VoiceAttack as well, as mentioned by many other Commanders. It's only a $8 investment, and it's great for immersion and binding controls that you won't have room for on the flightstick/throttle.

 

[Nikonthenet]

I'm using the Saitek X55 and its very very good if you can splash that much on a HOTAS. I found the best deal here: http://store.gameshark.net/Saitek_P..._on_Throttle_and_Stick_System_for_PC/5733/173

 

[Deadly Chicken]

I was considering the CH combo of a fighters stick and the throttle pro, pricy abnd I would have to wait. so I looked around locally and found virtually nothing, the only thing that anyone seems to stock is

Logitech Extreme 3D Pro PC Joystick

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-au/product/extreme-3d-pro-joystick

now I could easily fly with the keyboard and just replace the mouse for flight, I guess this might be a cheap option to test if I can get used this this before whacking a big wad if cash down on the pro gear

would this stick just make me hate joysticks or is it good enough to give me the flavour ? it seems to have twist and a fair few buttons even if it looks a bit cheap and plastic.

btw I am in Australia and not anywhere near a big city , so I can order good stuff online but I cant go and see it in a shop.

 

[Glock_17]

I can only give you advice on what not to buy, and that would be the Logitech G940.

Great stick, dont get me wrong. but logitechs support is utterly lacking!!!

 

[Deadly Chicken]

well I picked up a Logitech extreme 3d thing for 36 bucks so not a lot wasted if its no good, first impressions, half the time it feels easier than a mouse and half more difficult ? having twist isn't really helping me that much, maybe for docking ? but I find it easy enough to do that with keyboard anyway. I think it will take a bit of getting used to and I need to figure out what the buttons do and what to make the unconfigured buttons do.

ther eis a nice 8 way thing on the top that lets you switch the power between weapons and drives and shields, and the boost button is configured to one of the top buttons, I tried using the little rotary thing for speed, but its much easier to use the keyboard for that