New (budget) Hotas Vs Old Stick

Lucius Neng

L
I'm currently playing using an old saitek cyborg 3d stick. It has a little throttle on the side, and does the job for regular flying.

However, I'd like to try a bit more FA off... I'm wondering if an upgrade to a t flight hotas X would be worth it.

My main issues with my current device:
1. It's a little sticky for finer movements. It's smooth enough for general turning, but for very small adjustments it tends to jump a bit. I've tried lubricating round the springy thing at the base, but it hasn't improved.
2. The throttle doesn't have a clear centre. I currently have a button to reverse the throttle, but that won't work for FA off. I also have switches bound to forward/revers thrusters, but these are digital, and it feels a bit fiddly.

My thoughts:
  • Does having a separate throttle really make much difference, or is this just more a case of 'more practice required'?
  • Would just getting a second stick make sense? I could go HOSAS. (The cyborg is ambidextrous.)
  • Would the next price bracket (circa £120ish) be much of a step up? (But no higher. Most of the threads I read degenerate into warthog/virpril recommendations. My budget won't stretch there.)

Any thoughts or recommendations appreciated!
 

TheMindBuddah

TheMindBuddah
My first stick was a HOTAS X (PS3/PC) and still have it somewhere on my PC parts box. Separate throttle will add to your experience as well, and any HOTAS with extra switches and buttons (why I upgraded that to a Logitech X56).

With any HOTAS setup you get what you pay for and personally would aim for something like the Logitech X52 or the thrustmaster T.16000M at the £120 mark.

Box have the X52 for £109

and Scan have the T16000M for £115

It's all down to the immersion with a good HOTAS setup!

Source: https://youtu.be/8ivT7kj4J18
 

Cmdr Nemo

Cmdr Nemo
Boil's down to ya get what ya pay for. Both in quality and the number of available button's to reconfigure. I bit the bullet and bought an Thrustmaster warthog and throttle. And with the various different modes available, only utilize half of the availble button's.
 

STRONTIUM DOG

STRONTIUM DOG
for me the simple fact is with a cheap x box controller I can do a Coriolis home run(that's the trench round the station you can squeez a sidy through) with flight assist off np
they recenter nicely and rapid opposite lock better imo
the problem is training yourself for the small movements required as at first I was always over doing it and is akin to flying a cylon raider coming off of a hotas
 
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STRONTIUM DOG

STRONTIUM DOG
should have added bind the sticks any ol how but forward and reverse thrust to the analogue triggers if using one is my advice
and shoulder buttons thrusters to strafe left right
 
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Lucius Neng

L
Thanks strontium, maybe I'll move back to the controller (as I already have one). I like the more relaxed playing style of a controller, but I miss all the buttons available on a stick!
 

STRONTIUM DOG

STRONTIUM DOG
yea I know what you mean by lack of buttons I use voice attack in that regard and have doubled button functionality using that too (via its longpress function)
also an xbox controler chatpad can be a welcome addition but I find just va alone serves my purposes.
i have never fitted a docking computer and have been manual docking for what 8 years now when i first started i wasn't pretty not pretty at all and still do sometimes, some very laughable landings.(FA off and stella artois not a good combo but can be hilarious) otherwise its what us 84er's like to call skills init which itself is really just practice and lots of it until it becomes 2nd nature which after possibly a long time will just fall into place like having kiddy bike stabilizers suddenly removed and the freedom that follows
once the skill sets in
now i have it bound to a controller button and use it 50 50 in my guesstimation almost using fa on as a kinda handbrake
 
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