Joystick recommendations

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Dowly

Yes, Sir.

Bah, no one stocks it

[Highbury]

If you are looking for a -$100 stick I recommend the Thrustmaster T.1600M. It is one of the only sticks on the market (and BY FAR the cheapest) that has Hall Effect magnetic sensors that give 256x the precision of regular sticks. It has a heavy base, good feel, can be adapted for right or left hand.... the only thing that is poor on it is the throttle slider. It is a NON-FF stick, just so you know. I have not tried the latest generation of FF sticks but the last ones I tried I did not like the feel of.

I went from a Saitek Evo to this stick playing RoF and the difference was night and day. ROF is quite dependent on a good peripheral setup to get the most out of it. Going a bit less on the stick will save money if you want to add pedals... throttle quadrant... TrackIR etc.

You will have to register on the forums as part of their SHV-like DRM Neal, if you have any questions about it feel free to look me up there. I am a moderator under the name Bleddyn.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Highbury

If you are looking for a -$100 stick I recommend the Thrustmaster T.1600M. It is one of the only sticks on the market (and BY FAR the cheapest) that has Hall Effect magnetic sensors that give 256x the precision of regular sticks. It has a heavy base, good feel, can be adapted for right or left hand.... the only thing that is poor on it is the throttle slider. It is a NON-FF stick, just so you know. I have not tried the latest generation of FF sticks but the last ones I tried I did not like the feel of.

I went from a Saitek Evo to this stick playing RoF and the difference was night and day. ROF is quite dependent on a good peripheral setup to get the most out of it. Going a bit less on the stick will save money if you want to add pedals... throttle quadrant... TrackIR etc.

You will have to register on the forums as part of their SHV-like DRM Neal, if you have any questions about it feel free to look me up there. I am a moderator under the name Bleddyn.

Very cool, I know moderator in the ROF forum I joined the forum a couple days ago, is there an Introduce yourself thread?

Thanks for the tips, Amazon just confirmed the shipment of ROF. I know about the DRM, learned about it in the SH5 forum. As long as the game plays pretty reliably, I'm fine with that.


I will check out the Thrustmaster T.1600M, this one? Nice, looks like my Sidewinder, I like.

Again, thanks for the tip.

[Task Force]

Ive got the extreme 3d PRO which is the same as the one dowly was talking about but with no force feedback...

ive used it every day/every other day (monday, wensday, friday) for the past year+ and no issues with it... reasonably good build quality, still in one peice, which is a mirical, bacause with the way I fly, im supprised I havent ripped its stick off... lol

IMO, very good value for money.

*dcs blackshark is a good game, I think you will like it... I liked it till I installed W7 and forgot my password for there site... alot to learn. lol

[Highbury]

Yeah that is the stick. I thought it looked a bit light going by the pic online but when I got it I was impressed. Probably 6 - 7 lbs.

As for the forum there is no real introduce yourself thread, people generally just make a hello one in General or Off Topic

[Skybird]

If you want to get serious about flight simming, especially with a thing like Blackshark, you may want to consider getting a HOTAS and pedals. You cannot seriously fly any helicopter in realistic mode without pedals, that'S like a car without steering wheel. And if the sim is an orgy with switches and buttons, a HOTAS is highly reocmmended. There even is the first FF-HOTAS out, simHQ just previewed it:

http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_158a.html

If you just play around a bit, simplifying flight models and not caring about realism but wanting quick arcade action, a single stick is okay. If you really want the illusion to handle a real flying thing, you need pedals and separate throttle and stick.

Consider TrackIR, if budget allows it. It's worth it, really.

[Onkel Neal]

Can't afford any of that now.

I got Blackshark today, and my ol' Sidewinder still works. I went through two of the training modules, ahem, let me just say, I will be opting for the easy start up mode, you know, where you push E to start the engines and get going. This sucker has a million switches and they all do something. I'm going to have to get used to flying with my right hand and mousing all the switches with my left. A real helicopter would be easier to fly, lol.