The Joystick/Controller discussion thread

[Casimyr]

I used an X52 Pro for years, it served me well but finally died a few days after I purchased ED .

Instead of buying another, I opted for a x55 Rhino. Unfortunately, when it arrived, UPS looked like they reenacted the opening scene of Ace Ventura with it. It was so beat up that two of the toggles had actually snapped off the throttle.
Sent it back for replacement but it ended up being processed as a refund (boggle).
Sadly, I was not able to test it past "well, I suppose it would look nice in mint condition..."

So I just picked up a Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS at my local Frys and it works just fine.
I find it to have a "better" feel than the x52 I used for so long, even after the mods to it. For the price, you do get a pretty dang decent HOTAS. The real lackluster part for me was the lack of buttons on it. Once I mapped my thrusters I only had a couple buttons left on the throttle.

Currently I'm rocking a Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2. While "old" it is the best stick I have ever had the fun of using. I got lucky and found three on eBay in fantastic condition for $80 each. I picked up all three, so I am all sorts of set for awhile. Though these things are hard to break to begin with.


My current setup for ED:
TrackIR (Handmade IR clip since I could do it easy and for only a few dollars), CH Pedals, CH Throttle, MS Sidewinder Force Feedback 2, CH Combat Stick (For other things I like to do and require an extra stick for) Voice Attack with 756 commands, hand built by myself, and a Saitek PRO Flight Panel.

I do not recall the last time I actually had to touch my keyboard while in game.

 

[SharkH]

I use the X55 but I've found the build quality to be very variable. Get a good set and you're sorted, get a duff one and... not so much.
I would however like there to be more use for all the rotary controls (e.g. setting power distribution).

If you mean the rotational axis on the top and bottom of the thruster than I use the top one for controling thrusters forward/backward its awesome for that because it has a middle point so you make very percise scooping with it.

 

[Zeeman]

All the upper tier hotas seem great, I will just leave this here though.....the analogue thumb stick on ch pro throttle is awesome for your lateral and vertical thruster needs

Though it takes a bit of getting used to* -especially now that I have mapped a whole bunch of stuff to the throttle.

*Guess who boosted into the station wall yesterday just after lift off?

Z...

 

[Moldfield]

I'm using the Thrustmaster T.16000M.

It works fine, but I hate three things about it:
((- I can't turn off the green LED (which shines as soon as the stick is off-center / in-use) - and it's shining in my face - I tried to cover it with a piece of cardboard I cut in shape, but that is not a very good workaround -> see edit: cutting the right wire works))
- The throttle feels cheaper than the rest - but it still works fine.
- Since the joystick is symmetric (- can be adapted for left handers), 6 out of the 12 buttons on the base are always on the "wrong" side. Which is a shame, because you need lots of buttons for ED.
I simply decided that I can do without having "everything" on the joystick.
As a trader I have landing gear and FSD and boost and 50% throttle and thrusters where I can reach it. Chaff, heatsink, shieldcells etc. I have on the "wrong" side... if I would be fighting more I would probably need to rearrange stuff.

The most important thing is to have one button setup as "shift" - which gives you more possibilities (- with the "shift" button pressed I navigate the ship menues, without it the buttons do 50% thrust, boost, thrusting sideways / down etc.) Just play around until everything is set-up well, and then get yourself used to it. I could try Voicettack for FSD and Landing gear though... - haven't got VoiceAttack yet.


Edit: thanks Zeeman: turned the 6 screws and cut the wire: no longer silly LED-action on my Thrustmaster T.16000M
http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-the-Green-Light-on-a-Thrustmaster-T.16000M-Joystick

 

[Jedra7609]

I am using a Logitech G940 system. I don't think they make them any more though so might be difficult to get hold of. Anyway, I like it very much. At the time, I got this instead of a Warthog because it came with pedals.

 

[RedWizzard]

Thrustmaster T.16000m + CH Products Pro Throttle.

The T.16000m is just an amazingly good joystick, and it's cheap. It doesn't look like much. The CH Pro Throttle has all the buttons in the right places and is just silky to use.

I'm running that combo too and I love it. I may one day upgrade the joystick but you'd have to pry the throttle out of my cold, dead hands.

Has anyone tried dual T.16000ms?

 

[Vihar]

I *think* you can use the T-Flight throttle independent of the stick. I hope so anyway. I got the T-160000m and plan on springing for the TFlight set. At half the price, I can keep the T-Fligt stick as a back up if needed.

 

[aRtFuL]

So I just picked up a Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS at my local Frys and it works just fine.
I find it to have a "better" feel than the x52 I used for so long, even after the mods to it. For the price, you do get a pretty dang decent HOTAS. The real lackluster part for me was the lack of buttons on it. Once I mapped my thrusters I only had a couple buttons left on the throttle.

Yeah I wouldn't recommend people buying x52 over T Flight HOTAS in anyway.

T Flight is just better in almost every standpoint (value, build quality, even accuracy are equal considering x52 costs almost double the price of T Flight).

Thrustmaster just makes better products than Saitek overall... the problem with Thrustmaster is lack of diversity to accommodate for different budget/needs (you go from either the mid end like T Flight HOTAS and T16000M then BOOM to super-ultra high end in Warthog... which is exactly the same problem with CH products as well)

 

[Espege]

Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X here and loving it!

 

[Vektra]

Not to stir the waters here, but though CH Products aren't flashy, they're feature packed, durable as hell, and have that sweet,sweet microstick for vert/horiz thrusters. Super happy with my set. Also, they're not $800.... <glances at the Warthog setup>

ED does have excellent support for multiple joysticks, but they seem to be limited to about 6 joysticks/gamepads. Go over that limit, and the game starts to ignore certain axes and buttons. I have a g27, dual shock gamepad, ch products trifecta (throttle, stick, pedals), and an n52 speedpad, and I had to combine the ch products into one virtual device with 6 axes in order to not have to unplug my g27 while playing ED. That left the two toe brake axes and the fighterstick built in throttle unused. ED ignored them without insult.

 

[Nambo]

I have had a CH stick for some years.
So for this game I also bought the CH throttle, mainly for additional buttons, I read that the CH products are supposed to work well together but am disappointing when I used them both for the first time today to discover the new throttle has a massive dead zone between forward and reverse so have to revert to using the wheel on the Fighter stick.
Is there something I am supposed to do, or maybe the throttle doesn't like being used for forward and reverse though I had no dead zone on the wheel.

I also suspect that the stick doesn't feel as quick as it was now I am using the throttle as well?

 

[Jack Shaftoe]

I've had the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro for a bit, paid like $30 for it. Was looking for a throttle to add to it (or throttle + stick combo), and did a lot of online research. Brumster's video comparison/review (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceOdOytgT64) of the CH Pro Throttle vs. a flashier Saitek one ended up convincing me. I did cringe a bit paying ~$100 for the CH Pro Throttle, but haven't regretted it at all.

It's not flashy-looking, but it's damned comfortable in my hand. It doesn't have any real resistance to the axis, and at first I thought that might be a problem. It's not, and I'm glad it doesn't have any. It's got that analog thumb-stick for thrusters, which gives you way more granular control compared to a digital hat switch for lateral thrusters. It's got four hat switches on it (one eight-way)...that means there's an awful lot of functions you can map to it. The flashier Saitek throttles have rollers and knobs to twist, which I don't see as useful as the hat switches. I've programmed four different pip distributions in as macros (which isn't hard at all), and I can switch between those distributions with one push of the hat switch.

I had previously been thinking of using VoiceAttack, and possibly a Roccat PowerGrid setup on my tablet...but I honestly don't know what I would use them for. I've got everything I need under my fingertips. And no, the floppy little throttle-paddle thingy on my Logitech joystick doesn't interfere with the CH throttle at all. At first I set that (Logitech paddle) to zoom the radar-type scanner in and out, but that doesn't work so well, so I think I'll just leave that paddle unbound.

 

[Zeeman]

I'm using the Thrustmaster T.16000M.

It works fine, but I hate three things about it:
- I can't turn off the green LED (which shines as soon as the stick is off-center / in-use) - and it's shining in my face - I tried to cover it with a piece of cardboard I cut in shape, but that is not a very good workaround.

There is a very simple mod. turn 4 screws, but a cable. solved.

- The throttle feels cheaper than the rest - but it still works fine.
- Since the joystick is symmetric (- can be adapted for left handers), 6 out of the 12 buttons on the base are always on the "wrong" side. Which is a shame, because you need lots of buttons for ED.
I simply decided that I can do without having "everything" on the joystick.
As a trader I have landing gear and FSD and boost and 50% throttle and thrusters where I can reach it. Chaff, heatsink, shieldcells etc. I have on the "wrong" side... if I would be fighting more I would probably need to rearrange stuff.

The most important thing is to have one button setup as "shift" - which gives you more possibilities (- with the "shift" button pressed I navigate the ship menues, without it the buttons do 50% thrust, boost, thrusting sideways / down etc.) Just play around until everything is set-up well, and then get yourself used to it. I could try Voicettack for FSD and Landing gear though... - haven't got VoiceAttack yet.

the trick with the T16000M, is to pair it with a CH throttle. The CH takes care of the "lots of buttons" side, and the stick becomes a pure weapons/targets only controller. The buttons ont he base, for me, are mapped for things like landing gear, lights... Stuff that is not going to need to be pressed in a hurry.

Someone said the problem with this is you bring a cheap joystick into an expensive set-up - but the T16000M is extremely accurate, and lack of buttons is it's only real downfall (on the stick itself, that is).

I would love to have gone the CH flight stick, but lack of twist killed it. I've also seen way too many issues with the X-52/X55's to buy it - and then, having to mod a brand new stick with magnets and springs is just... Well, no...

I have had a CH stick for some years.
So for this game I also bought the CH throttle, mainly for additional buttons, I read that the CH products are supposed to work well together but am disappointing when I used them both for the first time today to discover the new throttle has a massive dead zone between forward and reverse so have to revert to using the wheel on the Fighter stick.
Is there something I am supposed to do, or maybe the throttle doesn't like being used for forward and reverse though I had no dead zone on the wheel.

I also suspect that the stick doesn't feel as quick as it was now I am using the throttle as well?

I had this issue - download the controller software and calibrate it. May take 2 or 3 goes - but mine works perfectly now. You kind of want to do this for the thumbstick anyway....

Z...

 

[Zeeman]

I'm running that combo too and I love it. I may one day upgrade the joystick but you'd have to pry the throttle out of my cold, dead hands.

Has anyone tried dual T.16000ms?

I did try dual joysticks (T16000 + Logitech extreme Pro) but could not get my head around making it work properly, as your hands either sit ont he throttle section, or the stick, and juggling between the two is just annoying. So I ended up using the Extreme Pro throttle and the base buttons for boots, landing gear etc while I was waiting for my CH throttle.

I do love the button layout on the Extreme pro stick - wish the T16000M had a button layout like that...

Z...

 

[LucidNightmare]

With Joystick I still need keyboard and mouse??

So bought I joystick today, love it, but I still need my keyboard and mouse. There are just so many commands in ED that I don't see how anyone could get away with just a joystick. Am I missing something or do all of you have to use all three too? How do you have room for all of it lol?! My keyboard is dangling precariously off the left side of my desk, joystick next to it and my mouse is way over on the right...I feel like I'm going to go into cardiac arrest playing ED haha. Also how the ($&*#! do you guys remember all these bindings???!!

Any ideas, suggestions, pictures of your set up, etc. Would be appreciated.

 

[Sagan Ross]

I've been playing with both the X 52 and the X 55 and i much prefer the latter - in the end it is a matter of personal taste.

 

[draktok]

I 'seldom' use my mouse and keyboard since I got my joy stick. I bound my joystick to do just about everything except type, and then go up and down. and by that, i mean the keys r and f. i can't find a good way to bind those how i like on the joy stick. Meh

 

[LucidNightmare]

How many buttons do you have on your joystick??? To look around your cockpit you have to use the mouse I think.

 

[Yabba Addict]

With a decent stick and throttle and programming software you can easily not use the keyboard, the only time I touch the mouse is for the gal map and the keyboard for typing. If you let us know what stick you have we might be able to give some suggestions.

 

[draktok]

Nope you can rebind it! When you're in the options, you can change headlook mode to be the joystick. Change "look up and down axis" to joy Y and "look left and right" to joy x, and turn off invert axis for headlook. i have 10 buttons, 2 triggers, and then the joystick has a little 4 way dial on it. Very useful! I use my mouse for the galaxy map, typing, and a couple hot keys I can't think of off the top of my head. for the most part i'm hands on joystick