The Joystick/Controller discussion thread
Well sir,
I use the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, and I haven't had cause to consider any other joystick. I very much enjoy it, and I have had nothing but good times with it. The price was my primary reason to purchase it, but I can assure you, I feel that I have made a wise buy, and have no regrets.
The base is heavy enough to suit my needs, but the stick is light enough that if I chose to hold it for some terrible reason, it isn't unwieldy, and the number of buttons on it seem to be pretty much the right number for me.
Good luck on your choice,
Commander Leslie
Hey! Another fellow Canuck!
I have the Logitech X3D joystick myself for playing ED (I play at work, I work security and there's nothing to do babysitting an empty building). So far, I've been pretty impressed with the stick, it does need some dead-zones setup to avoid the issues others have mentioned. That being said, it will loosen up a bit and wiggle after a while (I've had mine about 3 months now), but the buttons and everything else haven't had any issues so far. The base is weighted, so the thing won't go skittering around your desk during intense fights.
Also, I picked it up for $40 at BestBuy here in Ottawa.
I have the Logitech X3D joystick myself for playing ED (I play at work, I work security and there's nothing to do babysitting an empty building). So far, I've been pretty impressed with the stick, it does need some dead-zones setup to avoid the issues others have mentioned. That being said, it will loosen up a bit and wiggle after a while (I've had mine about 3 months now), but the buttons and everything else haven't had any issues so far. The base is weighted, so the thing won't go skittering around your desk during intense fights.
Also, I picked it up for $40 at BestBuy here in Ottawa.
Seems it's the joystick choice for many canadians - I got mine at Future Shop in Edmonton, naturally, also for $40. Oddest thing was, they didn't even have it on the floor, it was in the racks, and I had to ask for it, confusing the employee who had no idea about its existence.
Commander Leslie
I own the Logitech 3D Pro. It's decent for the first flight stick I've ever owned, but has some calibration issues. I've had to partially deadzone my roll and pitch to compensate since I kept getting phantom input. It seemed like my Cobra was a car in dire need of a front end alignment.
I'm going franken HOTAS. Logitech 3D X Pro with a CH Pro Throttle. If the Logitech craps out later i'll pick up a Thrustmaster T1600. I have a X52 pro and it just feels cheap and not at all solid. Plus the joystick just feels to light imo.
I would of got a CH joystick as well however the lack of yaw control is a big minus.
I would of got a CH joystick as well however the lack of yaw control is a big minus.
Using a Logitech. Sturdy and reliable with good feel.
Agreed, my vote goes to to the T16000m.
+1 to that it even uses the same sensor that the Warthog hotas joystick uses.
To save money on a full HOTAS get the T1600 and a CH throttle.
T-flight HOTAS X, may not be the most precise or have the fastest response but ridiculously good value for under $50, programmable, profiles, doesn't need fixing down to be stable, works fine for me as a "leftie" and the throttle can be used as a chin rest 
I bought a T Flight Hotas X specifically for this game and so far I'm enjoying it a lot except for two things :
- there's a little deadzone that ampers my dogfighting ability, making me question the usefulness of fixed guns VS gimballed.
- this one is personal, but as I'm using mostly 25% incremental throttle, the additional smoothness and precision of the throttle itself isn't useful to me (but then again is has BUTTONS).
So I'd recommend it even if I haven't compared it with others.
- there's a little deadzone that ampers my dogfighting ability, making me question the usefulness of fixed guns VS gimballed.
- this one is personal, but as I'm using mostly 25% incremental throttle, the additional smoothness and precision of the throttle itself isn't useful to me (but then again is has BUTTONS).
So I'd recommend it even if I haven't compared it with others.
Was using a 360 controller for ages (since beta at least IIRC), with a short break back to M+K as I broke it, then had to wait to get the wireless dongle... I just bought a TF HOTAS X, never going back to the 360 controller for Elite, dog-fighting is far easier now.
I pulled an old Logitech Extreme 3D Pro out of my closet to play Elite: Dangerous. It's many years old, but still works well. I've used it since Elite's official release, playing daily.
I have set some deadzones to help with slight drift issues. One of the buttons on the base seems to need extra push to work. It lacks enough buttons to map all the ED functions.
Otherwise I like the feel of it. It has a nice sold/heavy base and firm resistance.
I'm struggling a bit with the full-range throttle. In the first couple weeks, I just set it to forward thrust only. But, I'm trying to use reverse more now and it's tricky to find zero. I just tried a deadzone for that too. We'll see. Even more expensive setups seem to have some issue with this.
I have been looking into getting a better joystick, but the cost is putting me off a bit. Also, availability (and that has drive cost up it seems). Also, it's not hard to find people complaining about the more expensive HOTAS setups too. There doesn't seem to be a perfect product out there. I would like to get an Oculus Rift when it finally comes out with an official non-devkit release. 2015 is target, so hopefully it's close. At that point, I'll very likely want/need a HOTAS since it's hard to use a keyboard with a shoebox strapped to one's face. Buying a HOTAS and a Rift at the same time, will be a lot of cash. Thus, buying a HOTAS now makes some sense. Also, to get used to it, so I'm ready.
Anyway, I'll probably go with a Saitek x52 Pro HOTAS which seems to be USD$200. Camelcamelcamel seems to show it had been $140 a month ago. I'll definitely keep my Logitech Extreme 3D Pro as a backup.
I have set some deadzones to help with slight drift issues. One of the buttons on the base seems to need extra push to work. It lacks enough buttons to map all the ED functions.
Otherwise I like the feel of it. It has a nice sold/heavy base and firm resistance.
I'm struggling a bit with the full-range throttle. In the first couple weeks, I just set it to forward thrust only. But, I'm trying to use reverse more now and it's tricky to find zero. I just tried a deadzone for that too. We'll see. Even more expensive setups seem to have some issue with this.
I have been looking into getting a better joystick, but the cost is putting me off a bit. Also, availability (and that has drive cost up it seems). Also, it's not hard to find people complaining about the more expensive HOTAS setups too. There doesn't seem to be a perfect product out there. I would like to get an Oculus Rift when it finally comes out with an official non-devkit release. 2015 is target, so hopefully it's close. At that point, I'll very likely want/need a HOTAS since it's hard to use a keyboard with a shoebox strapped to one's face. Buying a HOTAS and a Rift at the same time, will be a lot of cash. Thus, buying a HOTAS now makes some sense. Also, to get used to it, so I'm ready.
Anyway, I'll probably go with a Saitek x52 Pro HOTAS which seems to be USD$200. Camelcamelcamel seems to show it had been $140 a month ago. I'll definitely keep my Logitech Extreme 3D Pro as a backup.
Hi!
Currently i'm using a logitech extreme 3d pro. It have served me well in other sims, but in my opinion, not good enough for ED if you are plannig dogfights and not just trading around. Specialy, when you need to deal with flight assist off. To be proper at dogfight in my experience, with time you need to turn it off.. I really recommend to have a hotas, mine is on way now. Thrustmaster T Flight HOTAS X 49 euro + postage cost. Not so expensive and so much ppl gave positive feedback on it. It is a nice entry level hotas.
If you are more like a trader explorer type or just don't want take dogfight seriously (phew-phew around), the logitech extreme 3d pro is a good and cheap solution. 11 programmable buttons and hat switch. The base is massive and heavy enough. Some minimal deadzone needs to be seted up to the axis.
Edit: Sry sir, 12 buttons.
Currently i'm using a logitech extreme 3d pro. It have served me well in other sims, but in my opinion, not good enough for ED if you are plannig dogfights and not just trading around. Specialy, when you need to deal with flight assist off. To be proper at dogfight in my experience, with time you need to turn it off.. I really recommend to have a hotas, mine is on way now. Thrustmaster T Flight HOTAS X 49 euro + postage cost. Not so expensive and so much ppl gave positive feedback on it. It is a nice entry level hotas.
If you are more like a trader explorer type or just don't want take dogfight seriously (phew-phew around), the logitech extreme 3d pro is a good and cheap solution. 11 programmable buttons and hat switch. The base is massive and heavy enough. Some minimal deadzone needs to be seted up to the axis.
Edit: Sry sir, 12 buttons.
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TM Warthog............Nothing else comes close.
I own both the Extreme 3D Pro and the Thrustmaster T16000M and my recommendation is for the T16000M. I currently use two of them (one for pitch/roll and one for translational thrusters) and apart from the shortage of stick-top buttons (it has 3 buttons and an 8 position hat) the feel is fantastic, the spring is authoritative but not too strong and the stick responds to the most sensitive adjustments with amazing precision. (I have managed smooth 1 meter per second per second acceleration changes with FA Off.)
I bought one for my left hand, to work in tandem with my Extreme 3D Pro, and I liked it so much I bought a second one to replace the Logitech. They're fully ambidextrous including the palm rest (which unscrews and swivels around for left-handed use if need be) and fits either hand like a glove. The trigger has less than a quarter inch of extremely light take-up before a nice tactile click activation for those precision shots.
What else can I say?.. The base fits in the footprint of a spiral bound notebook and has a light that activates when the stick is receiving input so you know if you're leaning on it.
I'm picky about my flight sticks and this one's a winner IMO.
I bought one for my left hand, to work in tandem with my Extreme 3D Pro, and I liked it so much I bought a second one to replace the Logitech. They're fully ambidextrous including the palm rest (which unscrews and swivels around for left-handed use if need be) and fits either hand like a glove. The trigger has less than a quarter inch of extremely light take-up before a nice tactile click activation for those precision shots.
What else can I say?.. The base fits in the footprint of a spiral bound notebook and has a light that activates when the stick is receiving input so you know if you're leaning on it.
I'm picky about my flight sticks and this one's a winner IMO.
Thanks for the info Torhal.
Will see how the preset in Elite is first, then I'll check out Crab's setup.
I raided the loft and came up with an old Thrustmaster 'Top Gun' joystick and a Microsoft Strategic Commander to use as a throttle.
I downloaded the brilliant app from this thread:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18432&page=2&p=1383181#post1383181
which restores analogue inputs on the MSC and it now makes a great combined throttle and yaw control. If you have an old joystick that lacks yaw and/or you're on a bit of a budget, I can highly recommend this setup. You can pick up MSC's for next to nothing these days as Windows won't recognise them without a bit of help, and it gives an awesomely futuristic feeling control. All my plans for a HOTAS setup have gone completely out the window.
(CMDR Miko deserves all the Kudos in the world, by the way. No one poster on this forum could ever improve my game experience more than they have.)
I downloaded the brilliant app from this thread:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18432&page=2&p=1383181#post1383181
which restores analogue inputs on the MSC and it now makes a great combined throttle and yaw control. If you have an old joystick that lacks yaw and/or you're on a bit of a budget, I can highly recommend this setup. You can pick up MSC's for next to nothing these days as Windows won't recognise them without a bit of help, and it gives an awesomely futuristic feeling control. All my plans for a HOTAS setup have gone completely out the window.
(CMDR Miko deserves all the Kudos in the world, by the way. No one poster on this forum could ever improve my game experience more than they have.)
Sidewinder precision pro 2
Two buttons on the base don't work, but that's no biggie. The stick itself is wonderfully loose too.
Shame you can't buy them any more or I'd buy a new one tbh.
I tried my bro's X52 and really couldn't get on with it - if it had the throttle on the side of the stick and didn't have that massive throttle controller, maybe I'd like it.
It was just so big I couldn't get to the keyboard and there were enough buttons to map absolutely everything.
Two buttons on the base don't work, but that's no biggie. The stick itself is wonderfully loose too.
Shame you can't buy them any more or I'd buy a new one tbh.
I tried my bro's X52 and really couldn't get on with it - if it had the throttle on the side of the stick and didn't have that massive throttle controller, maybe I'd like it.
It was just so big I couldn't get to the keyboard and there were enough buttons to map absolutely everything.
I did have the X52 at first but could never get the thing to work on my iMac due it only having a USB 3 controller. I then splashed out on the Thrustmaster Warthog. Build quality is incredible however it is probably overkill for ED. I do love the feel of the throttle on the X52 though.