Hardware & Technical New generation of Hotas please.

[Maxx Peck]

Btw, there was some company that announced a hotas for mechwarrior online....or was it hawken...one of them.
Well it was a two stick configuration with integrated keyboard, touchscreen and aome additional buttons.
Dont think it was ever released though, maybe since both those games didnt really reach the success that they thought.

http://www.roguegamegear.com/product/mek-fu/

You're right it never got released, I was thinking about the same thing when I read the OP. There are prototypes though, I recall seeing it in use on the E3 or something equivalent.

There was also an old original xbox game (googled it: Steel Batallion) which came with a (mech)controller, but I suppose it'll take some modifying to get it to work on PC (if you can find one).

Spoiler

 

[Ravenov]

Btw, there was some company that announced a hotas for mechwarrior online....or was it hawken...one of them.
Well it was a two stick configuration with integrated keyboard, touchscreen and aome additional buttons.
Dont think it was ever released though, maybe since both those games didnt really reach the success that they thought.

Razer Artemis was a concept for MWO...

I thought it was dual stick tbh. Pity MWO is arguably harder when you use a joystick ... but then the less said about MWO the better

---

Personally I would like a quality stick with rudder twist, and a HOTAS throttle with a gentle centre detent and a mini thumb joystick for strafe and vertical thrusters. Both with enough buttons and hats to get everything on. As good as the T flight is, i still need to use the keyboard for more things that i would like. A touch screen control like power grid would be nice, but you can't feel for it very well without looking.

 

[Enride]

Personally I don't see that the joysticks themselves need to be changed. Instead, I'd prefer to see some better panels released as additions to the HOTAS. And they need to look as good as the current crop like the X55, not just some cheap crappy box with clear plastic buttons that you can stick a label behind.

The Saitek panels are arguably the best out there right now, but only if you buy the entire series and that's obviously quite expensive and still rather limited in use.

The thrustmaster MFD's are ok, but they look pretty cheap and at the end of the day they're just a plastic frame with buttons. To make them worthwhile you have to make your own inserts or otherwise mount them onto a screen. Again costly, and somewhat defeats the purpose.

Using roccat powergrid on a mobile or tablet is ok, but again it's just a cheap work around and I've yet to see an actual decent looking grid. It's also not very useful when you need to press something in a hurry.

Everything else is pretty much just a "real world" equivalent to roccat - a customisable box of buttons.

I want to see something I can mount on a desk that looks like it belongs in a cockpit. I want panels of switches that I can swap out depending on what I'm playing. etc etc

So that's why I am building my own. I'll be documenting the whole process, and will be offering blueprints, circuit diagrams, and source code, for anyone to download for free so you can replicate it all yourselves as well.

Sounds interesting!
We need more DIY and simpit builds here


Ill have to defend the thrustmaster MFDs though, while essentially a plastic frame with buttons, they ARE almost identical in size and shape to those they are replicating.
And mounted to a surface they both look and feel great!

I have them on a secondary monitor so when playing falcon4 or DCS, i essentially have realistic functioning MFDs!

Edit:

@Max and Ravenov

Aaah i remember the steel batallion one, that game looked so awesome! Was expensive though :/

So both hawken and mwo had their own planned controllers. Both look pretty sweet TBH but seriously, both those games are way WAY better suited for mouse/keyboard control.
Hawken is essentially Quake, and MWO....Ravenov said it best

 

[hellomrthompson]

I think we will be seeing a couple more HOTAS setups in the next 6-12 months. In all honesty I can see people working on them now more in anticipation to when Star Citizen gets closer to release. I think we will see a couple low priced options from the likes of Logitech, Corsair etc etc, the large peripheral companies who can leverage their manufacturing to sell into what is still a niche market.

On the other side I can see (or would like to see) some new players into the premium space. Things at the Warthog price point or higher. If there hasn't been already a Kickstarter/Indiegogo type funding system would make sense. The design of a HOTAS is a lot of CAD work and lot's of parts and upfront money in tooling/molds (although higher end setups could be 3D printed). Seems like VKB could be poised to get a bigger US presence as well once they are able to catch up to demand.

 

[Xzanron]

I think we will be seeing a couple more HOTAS setups in the next 6-12 months. In all honesty I can see people working on them now more in anticipation to when Star Citizen gets closer to release.

StarCitizen already said they are working on a cusom HOTAS.. with Saitek, if I remember correctly.

I really hope it's not just a branded version of the usual suspects, but something that really focus on space sims. If it is, then it will be great for Elite as well.

 

[Dozer.k.a.o.]

The aditional mini joysticks its what i think will be te most needed feature at this moment, in newtonian flights it make no sense controlling the ship with a big joystick with a long trail because What you make is small pushes an pulls most part of the time.

And they should look futuristic of course, if that don't compromise ergonomics or built quality, they should look cool when you are not playing , and even with the oculus you know they are still cool if you are not looking at them.

What i don't see clear is any touch panel or screen added, in some years we all will play in virtual reality, so all the buttons and switches should be easily recognizable by the sense of touch

 

[Iskariot]

I wish Thrustmaster would build a Warthog II with twist rudder.
The same for CH, but CH also needs a bit more buttons and I am no fan of the sliding throttle.

 

[HoshiQaVam]

The aditional mini joysticks its what i think will be te most needed feature at this moment

To be fair to the existing crop, HOTAS like the X55 have quite a few HAT's already. The Throttle alone has two 8-wayHATS right where your thumb rests, making it absolutely perfect for thruster control, as well as a mouse that can be mapped as a 4-way HAT. The joystick itself also have 3 HAT's on the top.

It doesn't exactly lack buttons, either. Around 6 or 7 buttons on the joystick, 3 2-way switches on the bottom of the throttle base, 4 2-way switches on the side of the throttle base, and around 5 other buttons on the throttle itself.

StarCitizen already said they are working on a cusom HOTAS.. with Saitek

They're working on a re-branded X55 apparently, so I really doubt there'll be many (if any) actual hardware changes. They'll probably just paint it a different colour and change the green LED's to blue or something.

 

[Dozer.k.a.o.]

To be fair to the existing crop, HOTAS like the X55 have quite a few HAT's already. The Throttle alone has two 8-wayHATS right where your thumb rests, making it absolutely perfect for thruster control, as well as a mouse that can be mapped as a 4-way HAT. The joystick itself also have 3 HAT's on the top.

Actually is the way i use it, i'm talking about the hats of the throttle, but i would ike them to be analogue with a little more trail, and bigger. Also The one 1st one, is very dificult to move up/down because it is very close to the main throttle.

 

[coffeemonster]

I wish Thrustmaster would build a Warthog II with twist rudder.
The same for CH, but CH also needs a bit more buttons and I am no fan of the sliding throttle.

i hope they don't because i just bought a warthog

 

[Vortigon]

StarCitizen already said they are working on a cusom HOTAS.. with Saitek, if I remember correctly.

I really hope it's not just a branded version of the usual suspects, but something that really focus on space sims. If it is, then it will be great for Elite as well.

I agree - the build quality compared to price some companies are charging is a joke!

They need a quality controller for SC and others