Hardware & Technical My 1998 Sidewinder 2 force feedback is thanking Frontier

[aws357]

I've been playing with simulators since I was a wee lad.

Harrier jump jet on amstrad.

(pictured here at full resolution and ultra settings ! ! !)

I played many combat sim in the late 90s (falcon 4.0... su-27 flanker).

I also played fun simulators like SW X-wing and SW TIE fighter, freelancer, wing commander, X2 (but no Elite games, surprisingly).

But simulators those days are few and a niche genre with combat flight simulator stuck in the Blitz era.

I even became peculiar. Train simulators, Tube simulator... (I have not tried Goat simulator, any feedback?)

I could not dive into LOMAC because I did not have the time and drive to dive into a user manual that is as thick as the hardback version of 50 shades of grey.

So I almost threw away my Sidewinder, because why bother? It was gathering dust since 2004.

Thankfully along came Elite Dangerous (a friend of mine introduced us, I was curious, ED was willing and naughty).

The point I liked with ED :
-Hardcore enough to wake my interest.
-Softcore enough that it does not require a 300 pages manual.
-Not set during the Great Patriotic War.
-Having vibes of SW combat games.
-And even a wiff of train simulators for long distance hauling... (although I guess it is not for everyone)

Elite Dangerous is best played with a joystick.
And the old sidewinder worked fantastically, taking into account it is now old enough to go to college and grow a goatee...

So the sidewinder lives.

at least until windows 10 mess with the drivers and kills it. The End(?)

(crossing fingers Win10 will still be backward compatible...)

 

[Flavourless]

I am still using my old Sidewinder Precision 2 for E: D. It works fine.

Sorry, but HJJ was truly awful. I played Elite on the Amstrad CPC.

 

[Sergio Smegolia]

My non ff sidewinder 2 is still going strong also. Great stick, best thing Microsoft ever did.

 

[Riedquat]

Lol, I was sat in a harrier last month, the cockpit was a little more cluttered than that screen

I am using a Saitek Cyborg Evo, I got it to play WWII Online, not nearly as old as yours tho.

 

[aws357]

I am still amazed at the build quality of the Sidewinder. Its very durable... I wonder if that's the reason it was discontinued...

Still. The worry that windows 10 will not be compatible with my joystick is a very legitimate concern.

On the other hand, if it's the case, I can still downgrade back to 8. Silly me.

 

[kile]

I can beat that! I use a MS Sidewinder 3D Pro Plus! Yes, the old gameport version which was released late 95 early 96, if I'm not mistaken. I've built a dedicated gameport-USB converter for it, and the thing works like a charm. I've even modified the firmware of the gaemport/USB adapter to handle modifier buttons, so that combinations of buttons register as a separate button in Windows.

I bought it a few years ago on ebay and it was practically unused. One of my better ebay purchases.

 

[ZeeWolf]

I bought my Sidewinder 2 from a charity shop. The man had to fetch it from the boot of the car because he wasn't allowed to sell anything with a plug. I seem to remember he charged me about £3. That was about 10 years ago!

I've used it for ED since Alpha and have no plans to replace it.

 

[Cliffson]

My sidewinder had been gathering dust since x-wing vs tie fighter. Plugged it in when i got ED in may and it's worked great since.

If anything it's a bit oversensitive anyone know how to calm it down, fa-off is rather nauseating!

 

[aws357]

My sidewinder had been gathering dust since x-wing vs tie fighter. Plugged it in when i got ED in may and it's worked great since.

If anything it's a bit oversensitive anyone know how to calm it down, fa-off is rather nauseating!

I think in the options you can set the deadzone. And if you are flying a small ship, fast reaction and rotation might be expected?

It's always a shock when I switch from an Anaconda to a Cobra how reactive the small ships are.

 

[Pledge]

I thought my Logitech Wingman Force 3D was old! I use that stick in FSX and have used it in World of Warplanes. I got the stick probably when it was released (around 2000 /2001 if memory serves) or within a year of that.

I still have the power unit for the stick in question but remember that last time I tried it, the force feed back 'juddered' the stick as windows launched but then no game worked the force feed back - so I'm not sure if it's broken. Still! The stick works fine without the power.