What type of controller will you be using for Elite Dangerous

[Brodie]

do you have the x52 or x52 pro... I love the glowy look of the x52 but why then does the pro look so poopy..

I went for the Pro version, using the control panel you can change the colours of the lights across both the stick and throttle, the only cosmetic difference i know of is that the LCD screen on the throttle is green on the Pro and Blue on the standard.

However given the X52 Pro contains metal innards and is widely considered to be more reliable i went for that option.

According to Saitek other difference are:

1. Tri-state LEDs (which are also accessible by the SDK)
2. Dual spring centering mechanism - provides incremental stiffness as you move the stick away from centre
3. Dual hall effect sensors for increased accuracy of the stick axes
4. Metal shaft and centering mechanism for increased durability
5. Selected metal parts

 

[Brian]

I went for the pro version as it was mega cheap on ebay. It had one button missing - the C button on the joystick - so I contacted Saitek and they sent me a replacement free of charge!!

Whole thing cost me about £50 two years ago.

Brian

 

[SlinkyJim]

I've been told, quite a few of the X52's have issues with centering, those with these issues should have a look for the Magnet mod (replaces the ****ty magnets with Neodynium ones near the hall sensors) the magnets are available quite cheap on ebay if interested and the cd spindle lid mod to strengthen the spring, X52pro users should not have the spring issue due to the double spring however the mag mod is well worth the effort

 

[Geraldine]

Great tip there SlinkyJim.

Also here is two vids on modding the X52.

**note: opening your stick will void your warranty**

Magnet Mod

Spring Tension Mod

 

[SlinkyJim]

Thanks Geraldine

I've also got a link to a site where there are pics and a write-up on what to do regarding the magnet mod here:-

http://www.72ndvfw.org/forum/m/5688083/viewthread/6740054-tune-up-your-x-52

hope that helps

 

[Gwenydd]

Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog

Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog. I also hope to make use of my working multi-function displays and other programmable controls assuming the game will allow it.

Gwen

 

[DobrijZmej]

What about the Google Glass?

 

[a_snail]

I went for the pro version as it was mega cheap on ebay.

I've been watching the pro version of the X52 for a while on Ebay, the trouble is the longer I'm leaving it before getting one, the more the final price is going up. Some second hand ones rescently (including postage) have been going for just under £100. Brand new ones start from around £110.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

What about the Google Glass?

Great for recording what you do in game ... is that what you mean ?

Some second hand ones rescently (including postage) have been going for just under £100. Brand new ones start from around £110.

Probably worth buying a new one with such a small difference in price and I have to say the X52 looks smexy ... doubt I would use one personally as I am a KB/Mouse chap but my wifey may want to

 

[DobrijZmej]

Great for recording what you do in game ... is that what you mean ?

No, I mean, as an additional control (tilt and swivel head, the gun control movement using the eyes), and as an extra screen.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

No, I mean, as an additional control (tilt and swivel head, the gun control movement using the eyes), and as an extra screen.

Possible .. don't know much about Glass other than you look a *beep* with them on your head ... would have thought the Oculus Rift would be more suited to ED mind

 

[SlinkyJim]

@A_Snail
have a look round, i saw a site with them listed at 102 if i see it again i'll let you know the link, PS i got a X52Pro off ebay a few weeks ago £80 used once, missed out on the metal combat pedals though by 2p.. lol

 

[a_snail]

@A_Snail
have a look round, i saw a site with them listed at 102 if i see it again i'll let you know the link, PS i got a X52Pro off ebay a few weeks ago £80 used once, missed out on the metal combat pedals though by 2p.. lol

Thanks.

I was almost certinally was bidding against you. I'm always a bit hesitant about bidding a high % of the retail value on the grounds that if there is a problem, its going to cost more in the long run. I'm also not sure how prone to problems the x52 pros are - lots about the none pro not centering properly although there are ways to improve that.

Its a while before ED comes out, so I will keep an eye out on EBay and other suppliers. I've actally seen a brand new one for sale at £78, but the reviews of the company selling it were either 1 star or 5 stars in equal numbers and it seems a bit dubious so gave that a miss.

 

[Pyros]

I'll probably use my current Thrustmaster T.Flight X joystick, unless I feel the urge to upgrade. It is in quite good condition, but is a cheap, sturdy and effective stick :smilie:

Along with keyboard + mouse for ship and trade commands, of course.

 

[a_snail]

Excellent - finally got a bargain on Ebay. Didn't get the X52Pro in the end, the prices kept going for not much below retail price, so was pretty much resigned to getting one at full price. Instead I got a Saitek X65F joystick for the same price as a new X52Pro.
Its a bit strange to use, but very responsive at the most sensitive settings. At the least sensitive settings you need to put 6.3Kg of force on it which seems excessive. Strangely centering seems to be a bit of an issue at first play, although the weight of my hand on the stick is more of an issue - a bit of calibration in order I think. The throttle is also excessively stiff even on its lightest setting, so I'm not sure yet what to do about that.

 

[Juniper]

I don't tend to play many games (Skyrim being the most recent exception, which was keyboard and mouse) so I will wait and see what the game supports before I buy anything.

The Saitek controllers & HUDs look good, but pointless if the game doesn't support them.

 

[a_snail]

The Saitek controllers & HUDs look good, but pointless if the game doesn't support them.

Frontier have said there will be joystick support and as far as I can tell, games can make use of the Microsoft Joystick driver which in tern supports Saitek joysticks (much like how mice work), so support should not be an issue.
I have to admit, keyboard and mouse have been what I used in the past, but remembering back to the early days when I played Elite, a joystick made a world of difference (but that was before the days of mice)

 

[X2Eliah]

Possible .. don't know much about Glass other than you look a *beep* with them on your head ... would have thought the Oculus Rift would be more suited to ED mind

Google glass, eh? I'm doing a bit of uni-work related to it, and frankly, the Glass is way less impressive than you would expect. For one - without breaking the OS open, the Glass will be limited to showing you cloud-content streamed over to it. Everythign has to be generated on some application server, then sent to google's servers, which re-send it to your Glass.

Secondly, the Glass presents "timeline cards" - essentially they are still pictures with limited amount of pictures/words on them. You can have a video file, admittedly. But as far as activities go, you can have actions tied only to the whole card itself, not parts of it (so - no buttons, no hyperlinks as we know them now).

This also means that Glass does not really do persistent, up-to-date GUI (HUDs, for example). It is a fixed-content delivery system, which updates periodically from the cloud at best. So.. think of it like viewing a webpage, which may or may not have refresh enabled. It is nothing like a 'second monitor on your computer'.

Finally, the layout templates Google wants to force app developers to use, for Glass apps, are very limited to content and amount. For example, you can only have 5 lines of core text content... <---- this paragraph would simply not fit on one card, even if you cheated and used the subtitle line as well (6 lines)...

Hope that clears things up a bit.

 

[OillyRag]

I got a Saitek X65F joystick for the same price as a new X52Pro.
Its a bit strange to use, but very responsive at the most sensitive settings. At the least sensitive settings you need to put 6.3Kg of force on it which seems excessive. Strangely centering seems to be a bit of an issue at first play, although the weight of my hand on the stick is more of an issue - a bit of calibration in order I think. The throttle is also excessively stiff even on its lightest setting, so I'm not sure yet what to do about that.

Hi snail, congrats on the new stick, i'd be interested to hear how your getting on with it once you've been using it for a few weeks and whether you'd recommend it for others.
At the moment i'm looking at getting a cyborg FLY 5 for Elite but like you i have been looking at the X52's on ebay.


Edit:
Bit of a rant coming up soz,
can i just say all this talk of Google glass implementation is pure fantasy, i appreciate it will one day be an actual product, but come on guys, its still in beta evaluation stage right now and i get the impression that Google isn't in any hurry to get it to the stores. the idea that frontier will be spending valuable development money on supporting it is as i said in the top line pure fantasy.
rant over


.

 

[psykokow]

Hi snail, congrats on the new stick, i'd be interested to hear how your getting on with it once you've been using it for a few weeks and whether you'd recommend it for others.
At the moment i'm looking at getting a cyborg FLY 5 for Elite but like you i have been looking at the X52's on ebay.

I do fancy that X52.... so please let us know..