PS4 Thrustmaster hotas 4, yay or nay?

monkey3

monkey3
I played the first 20 or so hours with ds4 and although no massive issues, I was struggling. I thought it was simply because the game was difficult. I was happy with the learning curve, like I said I just thought it was difficult at times massively frustrating.
Mrs was the one who bought me the hotas 4 and literally out of the box plug and play awesomeness. Now the concerns are genuine. Parts of it feel cheap, but parts feel good quality. More or less the throttle is a flimsy thing,but functionally great. The joystick feels pretty good and works a treat. It can be adjusted for resistance.
The best thing about it is, for me. It's a game changer. All ship control functions are right there, no switching between control types. This makes landing anywhere nice and easy. I haven't overshot any fsd flights. All round I am well impressed.
Now I'm no casual gamer, but I haven't owned any top of the range PC flight sticks, but it's fair to say that for the price and if your a console only gamer this is a worthy purchase. I know I'm going to put 100s of hours into elite, I love it already. So in that respect £63.99 is not to shabby. Same with the Thrustmaster 150 wheel. I had a fanatec for my 360 back in the day and the Thrustmaster does the same straight out the box now for my ps4. Thats what console gamers want that's what you get.
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
Hey folks, while I would not buy a HOTAS just for ED, I have been giving it more thought in regards to other games. Rumor is NMS might support HOTAS with next update. I believe Ace Combat 7 supports HOTAS.. I would love if Everspace supports HOTAS - I just can't fly in that game due to lack of DS4 customizations, but HOTAS tends to be more "universal" (the throttle is always the throttle, for example).

One of the reasons I'm not in a hurry for HOTAS on ED is because ED is one of the few flying games that really works well with the DS4. Other flying games have left me wanting, mainly due to limited customizations and lacking features. That said, if I got a HOTAS for AC7, I'd definitely give it a go in ED!

Does anyone have experience with PS4 HOTAS with games other than Elite? Please give your review!
 

Lucco

Lucco
I have a Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas 4 since a long time and I find it is good and worth the price.
It is not a high quality device but it does the job.

Yes AC7 support this device, I have played all the campaign with it and I have enjoyed it.

So my answer is definitively a yes, the T-Flight Hotas 4 is a good low quality HOTA :)
and also, it is only the good choice for the PS4 because it seems that the HORI has many issues.
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
Un1k0rn said:
Build quality is crap. Don't waste your money.
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Yeah this saddens me. I have a Thrustmaster joystick for PS3 (throttle is a smaller lever on the side), and it's a very decent stick for the price. Unfortunately Sony kinda screwed PS3 owners by not keeping compatibility with these peripherals (same goes for PS3 remote control) when they introduced the PS4. Sucks, cause I have a perfectly wonderful stick that I can't use.

Hmmm, sounds like an age-related problem, LOL ;)
 

Deleted member 110222

D
Old Duck said:
Yeah this saddens me. I have a Thrustmaster joystick for PS3 (throttle is a smaller lever on the side), and it's a very decent stick for the price. Unfortunately Sony kinda screwed PS3 owners by not keeping compatibility with these peripherals (same goes for PS3 remote control) when they introduced the PS4. Sucks, cause I have a perfectly wonderful stick that I can't use.

Hmmm, sounds like an age-related problem, LOL ;)
Click to expand...
I really wish I didn't have to advise against buying this HOTAS, but it's a joke when it comes to reliability.

It's great when it works. The problem is that it doesn't work for very long.

Mu X52, which I've had much longer and used a lot more, still works perfectly. Says it all really.
 

ElmerBacon

ElmerBacon
While I tend to agree on the fact that the build quality of the TM HOTAS 4 (and xbone variant) is globally poor, its also worth noting that it is pretty cheap for that kind of device. In fact, when you look at the wider offer available on PC, it is literally the cheapest option (that I'm aware of, anyway). So overall its quality/price ratio turns out to be decent.
The real issue here, as has been said many times on this forum, is the lack of any higher quality alternative available on consoles, albeit at a higher cost.

As for its reliability, well, this is obviously one of these "your mileage may vary" kind of situation; while I've read that some had to return theirs after only a short time, I'm still using mine after more than 970 hours in-game.
I guess it depends on two things: obviously on being lucky enough not get a lemon in the first place, but mostly on your tolerance about the seemingly inevitable degradation that occurs pretty early in the life of the stick: soon enough the thing will start to squeak and drift a little...
These are obviously annoying issues, but in my own experience they don't seem to get much worst over time. On mine at least the drifting can be addressed by increasing the dead zone slightly on the affected axis, and the loss of precision it incurs remains negligible.
As for the squeaking though, well, I guess after getting tired of greasing the thing every other weeks I just got used to it... I understand that not everyone would, though, so again YMMV.

Finally, and regardless of the actual make of the stick, I'd warn any experienced DualShock4 pilot considering getting a HOTAS that switching control schemes is a painful and frustrating affair, whose benefit is not obvious in the short term. If you are not ready for hours of awkward and uncomfortable flying while you re-learn how to pilot, you'd probably be better off saving time and money and sticking to the DS4.
If you're pretty new to the game though, this is the best time to take the plunge; just be warned that you'll have an equally hard time going back to flying with a pad once you master your HOTAS...
 
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donkclarke

donkclarke
Used mine for AC7 in both VR and normal.
As an experience, probably the best game immersion I have ever felt. Can't get on with AC7 without the HOTAS!

HOTAS 4 does the job for us PS4 players wanting something other than DS4. Had mine 2 years. I maintain it every few months (clean & regrease) and it's fine.
I built a lapboard and used industrial Velcro to add some stability and it's ace. After a few months of ownership, the roll axis started to drift on very long supercruise trips, but a quick deadzone adjustment (once i'd figured that out...https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/does-the-hotas-4-have-a-deadzone-adjustment.400390/ ).

A friend of mine who moved to Canada visited earlier in the year (we play Elite every week together) and had a quick blast on my setup and couldn't believe how different the game felt using stick and throttle (for the better). In his mind though, he admitted that he would find it very hard to swap from DS4 to HOTAS due to muscle memory etc. I told him it added a couple of weeks frustration, but once over that, I have never picked the DS4 up again.

Plus, I like having my lapboard with the HOTAS, keyboard, Tablet and a big mug of tea in front of me whilst chilling on the sofa!

Don't think you'd regret it once you were recalibrated - AC7 is great on HOTAS, Elite is superb. Just my opinion...
 

col crow

col crow
My experience pretty much the same as donclarke above. I have more than 2000 hours in Elite with the hotas. Also have used for AC7 and Eve Valkyrie.
 

CMDR JQ

CMDR JQ
I've also used it on AC7, Eve Valkyrie, Ultrawings, and War Thunder. Honestly for the price it's pretty great. The buttons get soft quickly, and you'll need to lubricate the stick/keep it somewhat loose for smooth operation, but for me ED is unplayable without it. The center detent on the throttle and paddle thrusters are perfect, it feels designed for the game. Also AC7 in VR doesn't look amazing, but playing that with the HOTAS has been the most fun I've ever had in a video game.
 

GraphiteGB

GraphiteGB
An annoying issue with it is it is a Mix of rubber dome buttons with mechanical switches in the unit...
( because its a PS3 controller cloned for PS4) PS3 had to support Analogue controlls on buttons when it connected as a DS3 on games... this function is not needed on PS4
learning how hard you have to press to get them to engage every time is a skill that has to be learned...
SW-TM-SPST.jpg

X, O, R1, circle Square, L3. R3.. are the micro switch type above...
All the others are rubber dome...
 
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