Controls

[Raveen]

Seeing as this forum has been a decent source of free stuff for Adept I thought I'd give it a go

I'm currently flying with my trusty Sidewinder FF2 which I've had for years and was the mainstay of my Allegiance piloting. The stick has throttle and buttons enough for sidethrusting, shooting and targetting. For everything else it's keyboard.

I'd like to pair the stick with a throttle but I don't have much money to spend. I going to keep an eye on ebay. Any suggestions for a stand alone throttle for not too much money?

[Wyld Karde]

Can't help you with a standalone throttle, but this is a model I've seen recommended in various Elite related discussions as a budget HOTAS setup, and it's the stick I use myself. It's got a good action, a ridiculous number of buttons (four plus hat on the stick, six plus rudder rocker on the throttle, three more on the base), and it's a damn sight cheaper than an X-52. You might want to check eBay for a second-hand one if the forty quid new price is outside your budget.

[id3nt1ty]

I really like my CH Pro Throttle, but it wasn't cheap. Unfortunately there are no unwanted flight controllers in my office any more, although I still have a CH Yolk but I'm not sure how useful that would be for Elite. Maybe suitable for flying a Type-9.

What I'm really after now is better button placement on my joystick. You can never have too many buttons.

[Wyld Karde]

Hey Rav, I found this posted to Reddit earlier that you might find a convenient alternative to buying a throttle if you've got an Android device on hand.

[id3nt1ty]

I think you can use the Roccat Power Grid on iOS too, if you're that way inclined.

What I really want is to be able to toggle power to each of the individual modules so I can keep my eyes forward whilst trying to avoid station security. I always end up in an odd spin when toggling thrusters because I'm shooting towards the letter box with FA off, which leads to some very tense "pull up... PULL UP! Straighten out... don't get scanned. Don't get scanned! Don't get scanned. Oh God I'm going to hit the letter box! Fucktypenine! - PHEW!" moments. I love the effect of turning off life support and doing all that in silence then having sound suddenly come back as you enter the station.

[Raveen]

Well, I dug out my old Strategic Commander and got it working, digitally at least.

It's always had a problem of sliding around the desk and that hasn't gone away. I also found the throttle really hard to control with the sliding action. I think that this is maybe not for me, or at least, not without pedals to supplement as main throttle.

I think I'll go back to keyboard for now.

[Adept]

I second the recommendation for the CH Pro Throttle. The little analogue thumb stick for translational thrust is almost too tasty. Loads of 4-way and 8-way switches as well. Oh and three nice buttons for boost, FA-switch and reverse gear.

[Raveen]

I've just bought a steering wheel on eBay to use the pedals for forward and backward thrust. Really tempted by a Logitech g13 too.

I love random controllers far too much

[id3nt1ty]

Who needs a reverse gear when you have a HOTAS?

[Adept]

I prefer more control, since the CH one doesn't have a midpoint marker id3. Other than that, full range would be fine.

[id3nt1ty]

You have a midpoint marker on your screen. Well, you have a throttle indicator. But the biggest hint for me is the movement of the Blue Zone when you nudge into reverse.

But I understand why you've chosen to do that. Full range just fit my flight style better, and it's one less button I have to remember to hit. It does mean I have a button free now, as I have originally had push to talk behind there. But the ingame comms are good enough not to need mumble, so I might find another use for it.

[Raveen]

I had a quick practise last night and the pedals work well and should make thrust quite controllable. The only problem was the pedals weren't calibrated and Windows 10 hides the game controllers option.

[Adept]

Your pedals are like those of a car, not those of a plane Rav? What are you going to use them for? I have my CH Pro Pedals mapped to yaw, aeroplane / helicopter style.

[Raveen]

I have yaw on my stick (snigger) so the pedals are forward/reverse thrust. Works really well too. Means I can map my sidethrusters to the kb and have access to other controls rather than using the dinky throttle on the stick and being limited to 4 buttons on the base. The throttle pedals really reinforce the space trucker aspect too, although I'm flying mostly combat these days. Docking is now really sweet as I have far more sensitivity and can reliably find 0 thrust by lifting both feet.

I'm using the stick throttle as zoom for the radar although I'm not sure why because even A3 sensors don't seem to reach beyond the edge of full zoom.

The only disadvantage is that my FF wheel spazzes out doing it's calibration every time the PC is switched on.

The wheel is fun to have though, Davie and I had lots of fun playing racing games together yesterday. 3 year olds cannot steer but don't appreciate this fact

[Adept]

The wheel is fun to have though, Davie and I had lots of fun playing racing games together yesterday. 3 year olds cannot steer but don't appreciate this fact