The Joystick/Controller discussion thread

[IceFire122]

Ch Pro throttle and Defender Cobra M5 are my current setup.

The M5 is not widely known, but a very good high precision stick with rudder twist (Russian design):

 

[mazi]

This poll is really odd because of the weird list of Joysticks to pick from. I would think that CH Products ones are some of the most used by experienced flight-sim gamers. Simply best bang for the buck and my old simple CH Products Joystick from the 90s would still work if it wasn't for the the Gameport connector.
Isn't there a possibility to reedit/restart the poll with a proper list of HOTAS?

 

[daggadagga]

I use a dual stick setup - left stick for thrusters and extra buttons.
Right stick = Trusty old Saitek ST290 Pro.
Left stick = Thrustmaster t16000m
So far I've stuck with the Saitek for my primary stick because I'm so used to it. It does have a bit of drift though so have to set a dead zone.
I've also got some Ch pedals which I use for throttle control

 

[btcollett]

I will be using Logitech dual action USB gamepad.

the game pad looks like a PS2/3
if I can get it to work in the game, have no gamepad presets in the game

 

[AsukaZ]

Not too late for this bus am I ?
PS4 version is out soon, or did that happen already ?

Anyway this is my current configuration.

I printed these up after a major revision to stick up around the monitor while I'm I'm retraining my muscle memory. I thought I'd share them here.

Spoiler

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Spoiler

 

[Nickola]

@AsukaZ : have a look at your image links, they're all all either dead or broken.

I tried to play ED with Xbox Controller long ago, and I really feel gamepads lack the precision required for minute control of one's ship.
But maybe with training things get better...

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Not too late for this bus am I ?

Nah, it's only a 3 year old thread .. plenty more life in it yet

 

[Star Admiral]

I have a Thrustmaster HotasX, I love it. But aiming with fixead weapons is a pain in the buttocks because of the deadzone.

 

[Gryphorim]

I have X52, will upgrade to X56 as soon as possible.

Also have Oculus Touch controllers, interesting to see if 2.3 brings support (as multicrew pic in this weeks newsletter seems to suggest)

 

[Sir.Tj]

I was using a X55 but the trigger has gone, Luckily it's within the warranty so I'm waiting to hear back from Saitek's new owners Logitech on how they are going to sort the issue.
I suspect it'll be a X56.

 

[AsukaZ]

@AsukaZ : have a look at your image links, they're all all either dead or broken.

I tried to play ED with Xbox Controller long ago, and I really feel gamepads lack the precision required for minute control of one's ship.
But maybe with training things get better...

Really ? Are they still broken ?
I can see them ok.
Anyone else not see them ?
I'll check the hosting site, maybe they're set to private or something.

EDIT\ No, they're set to public, no idea sorry.

 

[AsukaZ]

Nah, it's only a 3 year old thread .. plenty more life in it yet

Oh good.

 

[Futuristic Kung Fu]

I was using a X55 but the trigger has gone, Luckily it's within the warranty so I'm waiting to hear back from Saitek's new owners Logitech on how they are going to sort the issue.
I suspect it'll be a X56.

Good luck! The X56 looks awesome.

 

[lenna]

Due to issues with the Saitek drivers combined with certain motherboards and versions of Windows I had to mothball my X52 a while back (I ended up giving it to a friend) and move to the Thrustmaster range of hardware which do not rely on non-standard proprietary drivers. My first stop was the HOTAS X but have since migrated to a HOTAS Warthog which when combined with a Playseat Air Force and a VR Headeset lends itself to a VERY immersive experience IMO.

Would have been nice to have been able to use the X52 but drivers are the main flaw with the Saitek brand kit - let's hope Logitech are able to redress that shortcoming.

 

[Bryan K]

Due to issues with the Saitek drivers combined with certain motherboards and versions of Windows I had to mothball my X52 a while back (I ended up giving it to a friend) and move to the Thrustmaster range of hardware which do not rely on non-standard proprietary drivers. My first stop was the HOTAS X but have since migrated to a HOTAS Warthog which when combined with a Playseat Air Force and a VR Headeset lends itself to a VERY immersive experience IMO.

Would have been nice to have been able to use the X52 but drivers are the main flaw with the Saitek brand kit - let's hope Logitech are able to redress that shortcoming.

Yeah, the X52 Pro drivers nearly killed my pc. So many bluescreens... I'm not a computer expert so replacing the motherboard on my Alienware was out of the question (I'm a geologist, not an engineer). The drivers for the old X52 worked fine, but the roll sensor in the joystick was worn down and my ship kept rolling on its own.

Finally abandoned both and got the T.16000 with TWCS throttle. A nice set, but the throttle is a little sticky. I had to Velcro it to the table to keep the base from sliding all over the place. Also, the little stick for the vertical/lateral thrusters is WAY too sensitive. If it's moved down by so much as a millimeter the ship will start drifting downwards at 11 m/s until I slightly nudge it back up. Tried adding deadzones in the options menu, but I still haven't gotten rid of that sensitivity issue completely.

 

[Asp Explorer]

The issues with the X52 mainly come down to urm, "interesting" implementations of USB. The drivers themselves work - although they are messy and quite unpolished.

All three of my X52's are working just fine - one has admittedly had a fair bit of surgery over the years - but that is just down to use and abuse.

 

[lenna]

The issues with the X52 mainly come down to urm, "interesting" implementations of USB.

My investigations have shown it is at least in part an XHCI compatibility issue wrt the Saitek X52 drivers - the USB implementation in question could be even Intel's own version and the drivers STILL have issues.

Under Windows 10, the drivers broke my Windows environment (standard mouse goes haywire while the drivers are installed whether the hardware is plugged in or not) - under Windows 8/8.1 they barely worked and were glitchy. In both cases, I had turned off the power management features of XHCI (as much as they can be that is) so I believe that was not the fundamental problem.

 

[Bryan K]

My investigations have shown it is at least in part an XHCI compatibility issue wrt the Saitek X52 drivers - the USB implementation in question could be even Intel's own version and the drivers STILL have issues.

Under Windows 10, the drivers broke my Windows environment - under Windows 8/8.1 they barely worked and were glitchy. In both cases, I had turned off the power management features of XHCI (as much as they can be that is).

I run Windows 7 and they caused a bluescreen saying "Driver_Power_State_Failure" over and over and over. Then startup would fail, and I'd have to run startup repair each time. Then, even that stopped working if the stick was plugged in. I couldn't remove the drivers because Windows 7 makes it all but impossible to delete drivers and the uninstall feature caused a bluescreen. I can never plug in my X52 Pro again, as it will shut down my pc within a matter of minutes.

There were other weird symptoms, too. Google Chrome would not open at times, and shutting down the computer from the start menu wouldn't work either. These were always the first symptoms just before the bluescreen. My IT buddy couldn't make heads or tails of it, and internet fixes were all coder gibberish, so I just gave up on it.

Remember the old days when external hardware just worked?

 

[Asp Explorer]

It's unfortunate that you had problems with it.

The only Intel desktop platforms I have to test here at the moment are the 7 Series and X99. Not much help I know, but it works just fine on both of those.

 

[Gunnet]

CH Fighterstick, throttle and pedals here.

Unfortunately you can't buy what I would call the "perfect" HOTAS off the shelf for any price. Almost every reasonable alternative has at least one feature I would like to have, but the CH gear is the right compromise between them all for me. Plus, at this point I couldn't live without the scripting it supports.