Peripherals The Joystick Thread

Post reserved for a four-way shootout between the Thrustmaster Warthog (plus Saitek Combat Pro pedals), Saitek X-55 Rhino, Saitek FLY5 and the Xbox 360 controller.

 

i was using a xbox controller and found the thing to be a nightmare
so bit the bullet bought the thrustmaster tflight hotas( i think its £31 from ccl atm cheapest i could find)
wasnt sure i like it at first felt all funny and strange and i couldnt get it to work properly when i first had it then i noticed a switch on the front was pointing to ps changed that to pc downloaded some profile some dude had made for elite changed a couple of controls around


im a 100% better than i was using a controller

ive a load of shorcuts and never touch the keyboard i do everything with the joystick
only thing i found it took a few hours to get used to using it and remembering all my shortcuts even now i dont know them all but i will

i feel i am much better at dog fighting than i was and i feel more incontrol of my ship

and yes i recommend it

 

Snagged a T16000M off Amazon for £31, they are now £40.

I gotta wait until mid September for delivery but I can wait.

 

Huzzah! After being told by customer support chat that my order had been cancelled as money had not been received (I freaked out juuuuuust a smidge...), direct support confirmed that my X55 is en route and on schedule to be here by the end of tomorrow! Happy days

 

Just a tip for Tflight hotas X users - if you are having trouble with the twist grip because you keep turning it when you don't mean to there is a single small screw near the bottom of the stick you can use to lock it, it may also be possible to just stiffen it but I haven't tried it.

 

That wasn't too long of a wait! I had a feeling you wouldn't see it til halfway through Sept

 

One of the reasons I got it from Aerosoft was that they were one of the only (if not THE only) place that had it in stock, albeit it was at the maximum budget. Other places were asking €300+

 

Rhino has landed!

 

Does anyone have experience of the difference between the Saitek X52 pro and X55, I'm assuming it's more than just the style and number of buttons!

I've played elite with an X55 enough to be about ready to buy one for release (or the kickstarter backer beta thingy, but the X52 pro is tempting.

 

So, X55 from Scan arrived (£136 is a bargain price, seeing as it had been over £180 elsewhere) so looking forward to taking it for a spin and doing a comparison with my Warthog.

EDIT: Scan is now up to £170. I appear to have sneaked it cheap!

 

What do you guys think about X52 (non PRO)?

I was going to get a cheaper version of joystick, Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X for £40, but read some opinions that it has not enough buttons for games like Elite D or SC.
Cannot afford to pay over £100 for PRO version or other solutions, so narrowed it down to Hotas X and X52.

 

Lets talk Joysticks again!

Up until now I’ve been using an X52 Pro which I got second hand from here. After some initial reservations (and magnet modding), I’ve really come to love it.

However, having put in quite a few hours with both Elite and SC I’ve encountered a few issues.

• While throttles are very immersive, they aren’t actually a very quick method of changing speed.
• They take up a heap of desk space. Star citizen is game that will require the use of a keyboard and mouse for FPS sections etc, so I’ve got to have access to them. With a huge throttle and stick on my desk, I can’t. Also, my desk is pretty small since I live in London where a shoebox costs £400k.
• I don’t have enough buttons. This is amusing because when people see the X52 the first thing they say is ‘OMG so many buttonz’. However, the reality is that SC, and also Elite have a huge number of different systems to control. The throttle part of the X52 has one HAT (4 buttons), and 3 main additional buttons that are easily within reach.

This is what I am thinking: Amazon are doing the Warthog joystick (without Throttle) for £115. According to CamelCamelCamel this is their lowest price ever. Closest I can find elsewhere is around £160.

I’d like then pair this with a Razer Orbweaver Elite to replace the throttle. I’m not going to pay £80 for that though, will have to try and find a second hand one. However, this give me 20 keys on the keypad, a HAT switch (another 4), and also another 2 around the HAT. That's 26 total.

I think I’m going to test out the viability of that method by using the crappy (non mechanical) Razer Nostromo I currently have.

Ultimately, I feel like I'll be compromising a bit on immersion, but gaining practicality.

This will all of course go out of the window if CIG release some absolutely badass 6DOF joystick setup.

 

After having X52PRO for a year or so, I think it's a great set.
However I could do without full blown throttle. SImply to minimise desk footprint.
I wish I could have a joystick with 3 hats and little throttle at the base plus loads of buttons.
There is one - CH Fighterstick USB, but I don't know anything about that one, looks really cheap, but is expensive, £100 just for a stick...
ALso doesn't have rudder twist which is a must for me

 

I've been enjoying getting back into the swing of using a stick and throttle setup with the X52.
After a bit of practice and getting a feel for the responsiveness and resistance of the stick, I've added a couple of the common modifications to it (magnets for precision & a bit of plastic compressing the spring for tension).

After those changes, it now works just how I'd like it to function for a cheap practice setup while practice for the rest of the year and get back into the swing of things.

At some point I need to sort out the arrangement of my office area so that I can use it more comfortably, as I'm currently having to sit slightly sideways with a small trolley surface under my desk for the flight gear.
Think I'm going to pick up a cheap height adjustable laptop table next week as a temporary fix and then start putting plans together to build a custom rig for my peripherals.


Somewhere at the end of this year or start of next year, I'm planning on either picking up a Warthog or CH setup with some pedals, unless we get some info about the Star Citizen HOTAS before hand and they sound like a worthwhile investment... then I might save for that one.

I'm also quite interested in grabbing an i-Pac for myself to see if I can put together a custom button panel for a few extra controls. Something around the same lines as this (though a lot smaller to sit next to the throttle):

 

I've got the X52 Pro and the Saitek 'Cessna' pedals (basically the Combat pedal mechanism but with plastic footrests). Grabbed the TM Warthog stick on the Amazon special, so hopefully it should not be too hard to set up the stick in Elite/SC to work with the pedals/throttle (The X52 pair is nicely picked up automatically in elite).
I can see how there aren't enough buttons for everything, but I mostly play in VR so if it's not on the HOTAS there's little chance of me being able to find the key. Saitek's keybinding/macro software is so tragically awful the stick works better without it even being installed (frees up the unrebindable 'mode' button), so hopefully Thrustmaster's software is a bit better.

 

Warthog arrived yesterday and I unboxed it today.

Oh man - its a serious bit of kit. What is striking at first is how heavy it is! The joystick on its own must weigh a kilo even before you plug it into the baseplate! The build quality is insanely good though. It genuinely does feel like it would be at home in a real jet, everything is just solid.

Its also very tall! About an inch taller than the X52 which was tall in itself. I'm definitely going to need some kind of custom desk mount for this - no doubt about that!

Initially I was a little bit perturbed at how weighty it felt to move around in comparison to the X52 - there is definitely a market for both of these sticks, some people are going to prefer the lighter feel of the X52 and won't get on with the warthog at all.

In terms of layout the (silver) bottom hat switch which you can see below on the X52 is actually on the top of the Warthog which for me at least makes it slightly harder to access.


Warthog:


This isn't a huge issue though, as the stick has another below it, as well as a rocker (black) to the left and a further rocker below and left, which is pretty convenient as it is exactly where your thumb naturally rests.



Overall, the layout works slightly better for my smaller hands.

Unusually, the back is pretty interesting too. As well as having the obvious 'fire' button for your forefinger (which by the way is absolutely solid, I half hope it loosens up a bit, or someone finds a way to replace the bones in my finger with adamantium), it also has a further 'pinky' button, and another button that is actually activated by a 'paddle'. This is a really nice feature and makes the button impossible to miss. It also has a *really* satisfying feedback loop.... I have a feeling this is going to be either missiles or countermeasures.

Overall then, its not as easy as you might think to compare the X52 and Warthog. The latter obviously wins on build quality, but the X52 is actually fine in that area too. It really comes down to layout and physicality then, and here its very much a case of personal preference - where do you want your buttons? How much stiffness do you want in them? Where does your thumb naturally rest? How long are your fingers? How big are your hands. These are the questions you should be asking yourself.

The obvious downside with the current setup is that I lose the throttle. To address this I've also paired the stick with my Razer Nostromo - I'll have an update for you shortly on my thoughts of the two of these together - but initial impressions are good!

 

Nice read Parge looking forward to update still cant pic between the 2 but I am in no rush

 

I've recently bought phinix's X52 Pro off him and in anticipation have bought some magnets as recommended in Parge's original post video. As much as I love my Sidewinder Force Feedback 2, it's a little worn and needs a few more buttons! Not to mention I like the idea of a more serious throttle.

I like my equipment to feel weighty though, so depending on how it feels, I may look into attaching some weights.

I assume some of you have seen my recent thread about my wirelesssmelly joystick! I bought it for my new HTPC and it works like a charm. Now to buy the TV, amp and everything else to go with it...

 

My Warthog arrived today....

My first impression - Holy f**!!! this is one heavy HUGE fat... stick!
I haven't fired it up yet, but Jezuuuzz - this is heavy stuff, I'm having second thoughts now, seriously..
This one is so heavy on moving then I don't know if it's really a good choice for space sims...
My X52 PRO was perfect in terms of moves, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get used to this 4kg big *****

It has huge resistance to side moves, same for buttons. I need to try it out in Elite first to see how it goes, specially longer gaming session.

Pete, you will be pleased with my X52PRO - that stick just ran so smoothly and nicely. Now, when I just tried out Warthog, I started to miss my X52...

 

Warthog stick looks awesome. Button placement very similar to the x-55 I use.

@Parge - have you thought about trying a 60% keyboard? I use one between the hotas elements with mouse on the other side of the stick.

Separate note, who uses pedals? I'm debating but they seem expensive, and thoughts on if they're worthwhile in EliteDangerous?