Twin stick FA-Off CMDRs - how?

[VR andysonofbob]

I have HOTAS at the moment with voice attack. I love it. I have the rocker and two thumb buttons on the throttle and the actual throttle set for the lateral xyz. The twist stick is pitch roll yaw/

I am interested in going twin stick. I can see this being fine when you are in normal space but doesn't it become a pain in SC when you are traversing systems for long periods? Or do you set it to 100% 75% 50% when required? Can you switch to use the throttle here?

How do you guys set it up?

Thanks!

 

[777Driver]

In Supercruise you don't have thruster control, can't see how two sticks are relevant.

I initially wanted to go down the two stick route, after extensive time with FA-OFF I found the standard HOTAS & Pedal option is more than enough, the flight control options in ED is extensive.

Left/Right toe brakes on the pedals handle lateral thrust (analog) vertical thrust is handled through a rocker switch on the stick (Digital)

For combat - digital thruster control is more than enough, you generally need full thrust for a maneuver, it's more about timing thruster inputs as opposed to the amount of thrust applied, especially with flight assist off. Throttle control is still analog.

Alternate flight control mode and/or flight landing overrides can instantly provide a completely separate control config for precision flying, it pretty much negates the need for a second stick.

 

[VR andysonofbob]

I can defo see the advantage of rudder pedals with toe brakes for side to side.

I'd feel happy if I could just have rudder pedals tbh! ED's flight control options are extensive, but not total. I do have a set of pedals, but they are for my wheel and are on separate axi. I can't see a way around that. Fab for SRV but I cant get them for rudder.

I didnt think about using them for lateral thrusters... Hmmmm. The analogue rocker on the back of my throttle does a fab job of left right though and I think having pedals for side to side with the throttle set to rocker as rudder might be too wierd now.

 

[SushiCW]

I have HOTAS at the moment with voice attack. I love it. I have the rocker and two thumb buttons on the throttle and the actual throttle set for the lateral xyz. The twist stick is pitch roll yaw/

I am interested in going twin stick. I can see this being fine when you are in normal space but doesn't it become a pain in SC when you are traversing systems for long periods? Or do you set it to 100% 75% 50% when required? Can you switch to use the throttle here?

How do you guys set it up?

Thanks!

They way I do it is I have left twist bound to forward/reverse thrust, and the throttle on the base of the stick bound to 0-100% throttle. (Happily they are separate bindings!) So in supercruise I'm adjusting the base throttle, for combat/docking I'm using the twist axis.

The only trouble is if I forget to zero the throttle when I return to normal space and get confused about why I'm still accelerating forwards with the other inputs null.

 

[VR andysonofbob]

They way I do it is I have left twist bound to forward/reverse thrust, and the throttle on the base of the stick bound to 0-100% throttle. (Happily they are separate bindings!) So in supercruise I'm adjusting the base throttle, for combat/docking I'm using the twist axis.

The only trouble is if I forget to zero the throttle when I return to normal space and get confused about why I'm still accelerating forwards with the other inputs null.

I take it twist thrust in combat feels natural? I thought it would be more natural to have twist as up down, with the stick as forward backward thrust and side to side?

Does it feel fun to pilot like that?

 

[IronDuke]

My right stick is a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, with the three axes bound to pitch, roll, and yaw. Left stick has no twist. X axis does laterals, Y axis does verticals. There's a digital throttle on top comprised of + and - buttons with 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% settings. I have it mapped to full range so what I actually have is -100%, -50%, 0%, 50%, and 100% throttle. In supercruise, the throttle works the same way, only the reverse thrust does nothing at all. :V The strength with this setup is that the ship will move in whatever direction you move the left stick, and turn in whatever direction you move the right stick. Very very intuitive, and darn near impossible to screw up.

Unfortunately my right stick died, so I have to get a new one. In the meantime I've been using the keyboard for thrust with FA on, which has made flying nimble ships impossible. I have to stick to my Cutter.

--IronDuke

 

[SushiCW]

I take it twist thrust in combat feels natural? I thought it would be more natural to have twist as up down, with the stick as forward backward thrust and side to side?

Does it feel fun to pilot like that?

It feels very natural now, although it took some getting used to initially. When I started it felt slightly better for me to have twist as forward/back instead of up/down (I think I tried both). I know there are twin-stick pilots in both camps, use whatever works best for you.

And yes, it's amazing fun. I've played with HOTAS as well, and it's fun for a lot of the same reasons. Although a throttle is really nice in many ways there are a couple of things I love about dual-sticks that would be hard to give up:

1. Full analog 6DOF control without occupying any of my fingers. Analog control of lateral thrusters isn't terribly useful for combat but means you can dock and generally fly around very very smoothly.
2. Two. Triggers. The satisfaction of squeezing with both hands to unleash maximum fiery death can't be understated.

 

[the100thmonkey]

I tried dual sticks, but hated having to use twist to get three axes on the left hand.

I ended up buying a 3DConnexion Space Explorer and using that for the translation axes. You have to use Sx2vjoy to make it behave (it doesn't work properly by default), but it's an excellent interface once you get it working properly.

Digital controls work just like fine too - an alternative I use a Razer Tartarus Chroma on the left hand. Works just fine. Indeed, it's probably better than the Explorer for trichording.

 

[Madrax573]

Go hardcore and use your mouse and keyboard!

 

[Underhook]

I used twin sticks for several months its great except that i wanted a slide throttle due to the fact that ED forgets your throttle position when you turn FA back on. A slide throttle automatically re inputs your throttle position. Without that your current direction and velocity will be your new throttle setting.

 

[Mystweaver]

I have used twin sticks for over a year.... But I foresaw the throttle issue and having to use twist.

I resolved this with foot pedals... I use these for thrust and as they have toe breaks I use one for boost, and the other can be anything...

Yaw remains on right stick, left stick yaw is headlook left/right

 

[VR andysonofbob]

I have used twin sticks for over a year.... But I foresaw the throttle issue and having to use twist.

I resolved this with foot pedals... I use these for thrust and as they have toe breaks I use one for boost, and the other can be anything...

Yaw remains on right stick, left stick yaw is headlook left/right

I only have racing pedals which I couldn't get to work for ships. It works fine in the SRV. Hang on, if I can get it to work in the SRV, it should be possible in the ships too right? Break pedal for boost?

That would be so sweet!

 

[VR andysonofbob]

It's pretty cool!

I am still not happy with the setup though. I have serious amounts of learning and unlearning to do. I think twist is up and down feels the most natural. It does work though. Might get a second t.16000m. Currently using T Flight HOTAS X for right hand and t.16000m for the left.

Edit:

Left hand X axis: thrust; y : verticals ; z is laterals. Suprisingly natural!