Upcoming HOTAS

[ElectricZ]

For those of you that have the CH setup... if I don't get the pedals.. how easy would it be to use something else as rudder control since it doesn't have twist.

That's the one thing on my CH rig I didn't buy again... No pedals. So I had my rudder initially assigned to one of the 4-ways on the stick which worked just fine. But I switched, and I advise anybody who doesn't have pedals or a twist-yaw stick to give this a try. (Doesn't matter what manufacturer.)

ED's control options has a toggle command available for roll/yaw. That means you can set a button to switch between roll and yaw, two inputs you rarely use at the same time.

I have my "default" stick set to pitch up and down on the Y axis like normal, but I have my yaw (rudder) set to the X axis - which is totally non-intuitive for anyone coming from a flight sim. But ED is a space sim. Being able to yaw with the same control as the pitch makes targeting and lining up for rendezvous an absolute breeze. You push the nose where you want it.

For roll, I mapped the ED roll/yaw toggle to the pinky button on the stick because it's easily accessible. This way, whenever I want to roll instead of rudder, I clench my little finger and roll with absolute precision. I let go, and I go back to yaw.

I tell you I almost like it better than the pedals, except it takes away a button. But give it a shot. Of course you can keep the roll on the X axis and set the toggle to yaw by pushing the button. Either way works great. Give it a try if you don't have pedals - you get full analog yaw/roll on a single stick. And it's not just a CH thing - it'll work with any stick out there.

 

[Zenicetus]

What do you Commanders think would be helpful changes or additions to the current HOTAS set ups?

I wouldn't change a single thing about my Warthog joystick. It even has the option (I learned recently) of removing the stiff spring if you want a looser feel.

I would change a few things about the Warthog throttle quadrant. It works fine in ED, and has more switches than most (all?) other throttle quadrants. But it's based on a direct copy of the A-10 throttle, and that's not ideal as a general-purpose gaming throttle. Some of the buttons are a little too stiff (designed with the same force needed to operate with a real pilot's gloves on), and I wish all the toggle switches on the base were 3-way instead of many being 2-way. Those are fairly small complaints, but sometimes I run into wanting to program something that's a bit tricky, when forcing it onto that A-10 throttle layout.

Thrustmaster spent a lot of R&D and tooling cost to make this HOTAS set, so I don't expect it to change. But it would be great if they released a second, more general-purpose throttle design at some point, that was built as heavy-duty as the A-10 throttle. They could probably even cut the cost a little, by making it a single-engine design instead of the split throttle (although I do use that for civilian flight sims). That's not needed for space games like ED or SC.