Help with joystick

[jayrc]

Hi all,

Went to Fry's today and bought the Cougar HOTAS and I'm not happy with the way it centers so hard, also the software's giving me a hard time. What would you recommend? x52? Logitech?

My previous stick was a logitech 3d but the pots went out. I really need a separate throttle. I don't care about dual throttles because I mostly fly single engine fighters.

Thanks for your input, Jason

[Kittle]

I would go with the X52 if the centering on the Cougar is not your style. I have one, and it has been great for me. I also moved from a Logitech 3D Pro, and mine still works after years of use, just needed something with a seperate throttle and rotery buttons for trim and pitch control.

[Yammo]

Now, this topic is really a can of worms...
But I'll try to give a short description from my point of view of some sticks.

Cougar Hotas
I have no experience with this stick, but from what I hear, the vanilla stick is
nothing short of crap... You will need to purchase expensive mod-packs and
install them yourself to turn the stick into something usable.


Saitek x52(standard)
I used this stick for about 2 years and it is, in my opinion, awesome.
It seems to me, that the main reason some people dislike the x52, is
because of it's sloppy springs. But imo, the springs were just perfect.

I did have some problems with the stick occasionally resetting mid-flight,
which often meant I would fall out of formation or even crash if it happened
during take-off or flare. Make sure you have the stick replaced at the first
sight of such problems and an x52 will serve you well at a reasonable cost.

Caution: With this stick, you will never have to touch the keyboard again,
something that there is no going back to after getting used to the x52.


Logitech G940
Plenty of buttons, (just like the x52), plus force feedback stick. Since it is
force feedback you can set the return-to-center spring as loose as you like.
The pedals, although a tad narrow, are smooth as silk.

Downsides:
Expensive, but worth it if you have the money to spare. Then again, it's not
a lot more expensive than purchasing an x52 + pedals. (Which is a very viable
option...)

Unfortunately Logitech still have a few quirks to work out with this setup.
Primarely the so called "Reversal Bug"(google it). Logitech has finally managed
to produce a firmware fix for the stick-X/Y which decimates the "reversal-bug",
but the bug still remains on all other analogues.


So, it comes down to what you need your stick to do.
- HOTAS? (x52 or G940)
- Pedals? (x52+Pedals, or G940)
- Force feedback? (G940 or find a MSSWII on ebay)

Another thought, if you do not have a TrackIR(www.natural-point.com), I would
definitely go with a cheaper stick(like a Saitek Cyborg, MSSidewinderII) and get
one of those head-trackers first. I don't think there is a disappointed trackIR
customer out there... )


Good luck with your choice!

[KG26_Alpha]

Originally Posted by jayrc

Hi all,

Went to Fry's today and bought the Cougar HOTAS and I'm not happy with the way it centers so hard, also the software's giving me a hard time. What would you recommend? x52? Logitech?

My previous stick was a logitech 3d but the pots went out. I really need a separate throttle. I don't care about dual throttles because I mostly fly single engine fighters.

Thanks for your input, Jason

So did the graphics get fixed ?

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthr...519#post212519

[jayrc]

those settings didn't work for my card (gt240) here's what I ended up with, I'm pretty happy considering it's a low powered card, I think the planes changing at .50+ is just part of the game? correct me if I'm wrong. I'm on my way to get the x52, I do have freetrack thanks for your help.

[Render_OpenGL]
TexQual=3
TexMipFilter=2
TexCompress=0
TexFlags.UseDither=1
TexFlags.UseAlpha=0
TexFlags.UseIndex=0
TexFlags.PolygonStipple=1
TexFlags.UseClampedSprites=0
TexFlags.DrawLandByTriangles=1
TexFlags.UseVertexArrays=1
TexFlags.DisableAPIExtensions=0
TexFlags.ARBMultitextureExt=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineExt=1
TexFlags.SecondaryColorExt=1
TexFlags.VertexArrayExt=1
TexFlags.ClipHintExt=0
TexFlags.UsePaletteExt=0
TexFlags.TexAnisotropicExt=1
TexFlags.TexCompressARBExt=1

TexFlags.TexEnvCombine4NV=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineDot3=1
TexFlags.DepthClampNV=1
TexFlags.SeparateSpecular=1
TexFlags.TextureShaderNV=1

HardwareShaders=1

Shadows=0
Specular=1
SpecularLight=1
DiffuseLight=1
DynamicalLights=1
MeshDetail=2
VisibilityDistance=3

Sky=1
Forest=2
LandShading=0
LandDetails=2

LandGeom=2
TexLarge=0
TexLandQual=3
TexLandLarge=0

VideoSetupId=17
Water=0
Effects=0
ForceShaders1x=0

PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.15
PolygonOffsetUnits=-3.0

SYSTEM SPECS:

Intel core duo 3.0ghz
gt240 (galaxy) driver 260.99
3.25 gb ram
windows xp 32 bit sp3

[Sasha]

Originally Posted by Yammo

Saitek x52(standard)
I used this stick for about 2 years and it is, in my opinion, awesome.
It seems to me, that the main reason some people dislike the x52, is
because of it's sloppy springs. But imo, the springs were just perfect.

I did have some problems with the stick occasionally resetting mid-flight,
which often meant I would fall out of formation or even crash if it happened
during take-off or flare. Make sure you have the stick replaced at the first
sight of such problems and an x52 will serve you well at a reasonable cost.

Caution: With this stick, you will never have to touch the keyboard again,
something that there is no going back to after getting used to the x52.

X52 is a great set of hardware... but:

It is too soft in stick movement, simply lacks spring resistance, no WW2 feeling !
It is also really huge (but really) huge piece on your desktop...

My feeling - great piece of hardware for F-16 or Flight sim. X... but "not my cup of tea" in WW2 environment...

[swiss]

Originally Posted by Sasha

It is too soft in stick movement, simply lacks spring resistance, no WW2 feeling !

"Real" WW2 feeling would make your arms fall off after 5 minutes of dogfight.

BTT: The x52 is a nice piece of hardware considering the price, don't forget to do magnet mod.

[JG27CaptStubing]

Originally Posted by jayrc

Hi all,

Went to Fry's today and bought the Cougar HOTAS and I'm not happy with the way it centers so hard, also the software's giving me a hard time. What would you recommend? x52? Logitech?

My previous stick was a logitech 3d but the pots went out. I really need a separate throttle. I don't care about dual throttles because I mostly fly single engine fighters.

Thanks for your input, Jason

The Cougar HOTAS is bar none one of the best sticks out there... However you need to spend a lot of money getting it Moddified. I wouldn't recommend it.

The the Stock Cougar has a fatal flaw. In order to keep Costs down Thrustmaster opted to use cheap pot metal for the gimbles. This basically means that over time it will wear out and place a lot of stress on the POTs. They will eventually spike and die.

I modded mine very high end gimbals and replaced all the pots with Hal Sensors and never looked back. 9 Years of continuous use and not a single hitch with spiking. It's far superior to any Saitek or Logitec stick period but it comes at a heavy price tag.

I suggest you look at the following artical on SimHQ. They review several sticks and you will have to figure out what works best for you.

I myself may look into getting the next Gen Thrustmaster Warthog.

http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_094a.html

[Matt255]

I had the X52, only really used the throttle though, together with my MS FFB2 (best FFB stick so far imho).

I think the X52 is pretty good for its price. It's a little bit light-weight and does feel a bit like a toy (atleast the stick). The spring is very weak. The stick has a hall-effect sensor (= good precision + pretty much no wear & tear at all). Never had a problem with spikes on the throttle (which still uses potis, afaik).

Overall, even though i rarely used the stick, i would recommend it. I know quite a few people have it. Of course some people are experiencing problems with it (nothing is perfect).

Of course you would still need pedals. I tried the Saiteks once, the CH pedals are too narrow for me. I eventually bought Simpeds and am very happy with those. No problem whatsoever, perfect size, very precise and smooth action.

Well, because i mentioned the MS FFB2, i think it's one of the best flightsticks ever made and so far the best FFB stick, but it's not really an option if you also need to buy pedals and a throttle.

I only heard good things about the CH sticks and throttle. Of course they're not cheap, but they seem to be worth it.

I'm using a HOTAS Warthog for two months now. I think it's great, very expensive but (so far) worth the price. Excellent feeling and precision, the throttle is the best i ever tried/owned. Perfect smooth action, many switches and a pretty good software (atleast i don't have any problems with it). The stick is a bit stiff. I'll probably try to weaken the spring somehow, to improve precision.

[jayrc]

Thanks everyone for your input, I bought the x52 and I'm loving it, spring feels good to me, plenty of buttons, has holes already for mounting. cool lights. Now if anyone has a profile for the curves that would be great, with my old stick I had them set at Oleg's setup 1 4 6 9 etc. but I had to put them all at 100 which actually feels realy good.