Hardware & Technical Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2

Antmax · Dec 21, 2014

I'm picking one up today. Already have an X52 but have good memories of my old stick I gave away about 10 years ago. I hear the FF2 feedback makes a big difference in War Thunder. X52 has lots of buttons, knobs and sliders but it also has a lot of play and the spring makes transitions across center not that accurate.

The FF2 I'm getting today comes with a CH Products Pro Throttle for $80. Looking forward to seeing how that compares to the X52 throttle. I will be using one of the throttles in combo for sure.

Luceferous · Dec 21, 2014

Antmax said:
I'm picking one up today. Already have an X52 but have good memories of my old stick I gave away about 10 years ago. I hear the FF2 feedback makes a big difference in War Thunder. X52 has lots of buttons, knobs and sliders but it also has a lot of play and the spring makes transitions across center not that accurate.

The FF2 I'm getting today comes with a CH Products Pro Throttle for $80. Looking forward to seeing how that compares to the X52 throttle. I will be using one of the throttles in combo for sure.

Sidewinder...yay! CH Throttle...desk wart!

entim · Dec 21, 2014

756

It bothered me very much that the Sidewinder's thruster controls are very rude for Elite. I used the HAT for lateral/sideways thrusters, and throttle for controlling forward/backward thrusters. These do not provide the level of precision I'd like to have. Today I came up with this, and it works quite well: imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img673/1066/IzojFt.jpg

Luceferous · Dec 22, 2014

Y

entim said:
It bothered me very much that the Sidewinder's thruster controls are very rude for Elite. I used the HAT for lateral/sideways thrusters, and throttle for controlling forward/backward thrusters. These do not provide the level of precision I'd like to have. Today I came up with this, and it works quite well: imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img673/1066/IzojFt.jpg

Link fixed....

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img673/1066/IzojFt.jpg

Interesting solution! Very good quality photograph and labelling too (apart from the crossed arrows of course...bit naughty!).

JonnyRedHed · Dec 22, 2014

Luceferous said:
Y

Link fixed....

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img673/1066/IzojFt.jpg

Interesting solution! Very good quality photograph and labelling too (apart from the crossed arrows of course...bit naughty!).

yes I've thought about using an xbox controller as well to the side. Also to add another hat switch to the MS FFB2 as well. When I eventually get a new gpu in about a years time, maybe less then I can test this all out in ED. Until then I'm gpu-less

Antmax · Dec 22, 2014

The CH Pro throttle mates well with the Sidewinder. 3 4 way hats that can be buttons, an 8 way hat and analog stick for thusters plus three regular buttons. When combined with the double button combos ED control setup allows you just about have enough for HOTAS.

I came across this simple little utility too.

SimFFB 32/64bit

It is a simple util that can stay resident in the background 64bit shows 1.2mb in task manager. It has sliders for spring force, damper force, friction force and FF axis swap for games that sometimes have the force oriented wrong due to an ms bug. In ED it's only useful for setting up the spring center tension. Still handy though.

JonnyRedHed · Dec 22, 2014

Antmax said:
The CH Pro throttle mates well with the Sidewinder. 3 4 way hats that can be buttons, an 8 way hat and analog stick for thusters plus three regular buttons. When combined with the double button combos ED control setup allows you just about have enough for HOTAS.

I came across this simple little utility too.

SimFFB 32/64bit

It is a simple util that can stay resident in the background 64bit shows 1.2mb in task manager. It has sliders for spring force, damper force, friction force and FF axis swap for games that sometimes have the force oriented wrong due to an ms bug. In ED it's only useful for setting up the spring center tension. Still handy though.

Thanks for posting.

Cedhric · Dec 27, 2014

My MS SWFFB2 is 12 years old and in very good condition. Just some of the rubber coating starting to peel.

Under Win7 there's no specific driver, so FFB is just return to centre forces. Same in ED. I have some games that provide proper FFB (MS FSX for one) so it's possible to build it in game. Hopefully Frontier have plans to patch it in.

Lynx · Dec 28, 2014

Hi,

I just downloaded ED and it won't recognise my MS SWFFB 2, but hopping back to FSX the thing works perfectly. Going into 'options' and trying to set up key bindings is fruitless. any ideas what I am doing wrong please?

JonnyRedHed · Dec 28, 2014

Lynx said:
Hi,

I just downloaded ED and it won't recognise my MS SWFFB 2, but hopping back to FSX the thing works perfectly. Going into 'options' and trying to set up key bindings is fruitless. any ideas what I am doing wrong please?

Maybe from device manager remove the joystick and driver option. Unplug it and reboot, and plug in again (try a rear motherboard USB 2 socket) and let it down load drivers from windows update. Then run the game again.

Maybe some other commander will know more than I regarding this. failing this above, then maybe deleting the game user config and controller bindings file/s will help to reset things.

Antmax · Dec 28, 2014

I'm in windows 8.1. The drivers are built in but have a preset spring center force. No forcefeedback settings in windows without a tool like the one I posted above.

In widows 8 if you go to Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Devices and Printers there should be a gamepad icon labeled Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 joystick.

Right click on that and select game controller settings from the right click context menu. Pick the FFB2 from the list and click on properties and you should be able to see all the axis and buttons etc for testing.

If it doesn't recognize the stick at all. I'm not sure what to suggest. I have it in a powered USB2 hub now. But it works in any USB port on my desktop. Some usb devices don't like USB 3.0. Which can cause problems.

Godart · Dec 28, 2014

Another happy FFB2 user here - that stick is one of the items where you think MS should have ceased meddling with OSes, done hardware instead.

Got it off ebay a couple of years ago, 25€, has worked perfectly ever since.

Btw you guys realize that you can define multi-button bindings in ED? I got every control I need mapped onto the stick, except for the lights.
Like: button 6 engages FSD, button 7+6 toggle landing gear; button 5 is boost, button 7+5 is flight assist toggle; and so on...
So 7 is my toggle button, which essentially gives me twice the effective number of buttons (-1) to bind to...

JonnyRedHed · Dec 29, 2014

I've been sending emails to Bill Gates and the people that email eventually lands with about re-supporting the MS FFB2, and even to assign a couple of people from their massive company to re-write a new software and driver. One to last well beyond windows 7,8,10 >

Do I get anywhere, do I hell. But I still send them each month like clockwork and have been doing so for years.

gandik · Jan 2, 2015

AnnDroid said:
Anyone got one of these and using it for Elite Dangerous, would like to hear your views, ideas please...

i using this stick about 10 years now and i love it,its still working like new.

in ED working great too but ED not supporting force feadback .im hope they change this soon [i praying on it]

entim · Jan 5, 2015

entim said:
It bothered me very much that the Sidewinder's thruster controls are very rude for Elite. I used the HAT for lateral/sideways thrusters, and throttle for controlling forward/backward thrusters. These do not provide the level of precision I'd like to have. Today I came up with this, and it works quite well: imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img673/1066/IzojFt.jpg

Reporting back after 2 weeks. This works brilliantly for me. The Sidewinder is very precise, and the two analogue sticks give awesome control over the thrusters. I use every button on the pad, and only need to touch the keyboard for the esc key.

Cedhric · Jan 7, 2015

Godart said:
Btw you guys realize that you can define multi-button bindings in ED? I got every control I need mapped onto the stick, except for the lights.
Like: button 6 engages FSD, button 7+6 toggle landing gear; button 5 is boost, button 7+5 is flight assist toggle; and so on...
So 7 is my toggle button, which essentially gives me twice the effective number of buttons (-1) to bind to...

+1 for this. I've now got a couple of modifier buttons (Joy-7 for Weapons and Joy-6 for Systems). Along with the Hat switch, this gives me pretty much all I need for everything in cockpit via the joystick, little need for keyboard use. Thanks, Godart!

titusamericanus · Jan 28, 2015

ms sidewinder force feedback 2

AnnDroid said:
Anyone got one of these and using it for Elite Dangerous, would like to hear your views, ideas please...

I use mine with a x52 pro throttle. It really filled the gap that the stick alone left.

JonnyRedHed · Jan 29, 2015

Don't forget force feedback (haptic feedback) support. For HOTAS and xbox 360 and one controllers inc the xbox one haptic feedback triggers.

[REQUEST] thread for force feedback support

Jens · Jan 29, 2015

cfww said:
Yeah, I have one. It's still very accurate after many years use. There is no force feedback effects but rather a constant pressure on the stick which works nicely. The throttle is a simple lever but is accurate with no jitter and the twist grip action is perfect for yaw movement. The base is nice and solid and won't move about unless you fly like a gorilla. No extra drivers are needed, just plug and play. A 'figure-of-8' IEC power cable is needed to power it along with the built-in USB cable. It can be calibrated from within the Windows Control Panel if needed.

There were two versions of this joystick. The one with the silver buttons and dark red trigger, no.3 and no.4 buttons is the one to look for. I forget the reason why, I think it had a better firmware perhaps. Be aware that the 'rubberised' coating on the handle can get tacky after a while but only if not used for long periods. I have bought a second hand one that was like this but with a bit of use it reverted to normal (I maybe used a bit of talc on my hands to help the drying).

It's perhaps a bit short on buttons but it's not a big issue. I mapped mine:-

1 - Primary Fire
2 - Secondary Fire
3 - Turbo
4 - Lock Target Ahead
5,6,7,8 SYS/ENG/WEP/RST
The 8-way hat is used for lateral and vertical thrusters.
Keyboard for everything else.
(I use a TrackIR with this.)

I have bought a couple of spares for when my first one dies. Not happened yet! Overall the MSFF2 is a simple, reliable and accurate stick and definitely recommended if you can find a nice one.

It is a bit scary you have almost the exact mapping as I have on my MSFF2. Only difference I use it for target nearest enemy on button 4.

Back on topic. The joystick very comfortable to use and very sturdy. I doubt you can buy these anymore.

/Jens

Sparrow · Feb 2, 2015

Antmax said:
The CH Pro throttle mates well with the Sidewinder. 3 4 way hats that can be buttons, an 8 way hat and analog stick for thusters plus three regular buttons. When combined with the double button combos ED control setup allows you just about have enough for HOTAS.

I came across this simple little utility too.

SimFFB 32/64bit

It is a simple util that can stay resident in the background 64bit shows 1.2mb in task manager. It has sliders for spring force, damper force, friction force and FF axis swap for games that sometimes have the force oriented wrong due to an ms bug. In ED it's only useful for setting up the spring center tension. Still handy though.

Thanks for der little Tool. I use exactly the same configuration at ED MS-FFB2 and CH-Pro Throttle