**Update: There's a workaround!** Bug report: Large deadzones for flight sticks, even with 0% deadzone selected

[Shine]

I have an extended VKB Gunfighter flight stick with a driver-level 0.5% deadzone in the center of the X and Y axes, and MFG Crosswind pedals with a 1% deadzone in the center of its Z-rotation axis. For human perception purposes, this is essentially a zero-deadzone configuration. I am able to map all buttons and axes in the game.

I confirmed via both the VKB profile tester and DIView that any slight motion (even a few millimeters) is recognized within Windows 10, and none of my flight titles (Elite Dangerous, Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane, etc.) have a perceptible deadzone. The slightest movement moves my ship/plane, as intended.

In Squadrons, no matter how I set the in-game deadzone (i.e., ever if I reduce it to 0% or 1%), it appears that the game forces a rather large deadzone in the center of these axes. The deadzone is especially noticeable on the VKB, as being an extended stick it has a very large "throw," and thus is more sensitive to deadzones.

I tried putting the in-game deadzone at 1%, in case there was a bug specifically with the 0% setting, but that did not help. The Sensitivity setting also does not affect this (not that I would expect it to).

Is anybody else experiencing a large, unremovable controller deadzone in Squadrons, particularly if you have a sensitive stick (VKB, T16000M, Warthog, Virpil, etc.), and if so, have you found a fix?

Thanks!

[alvehyanna]

I'll let you know tomorrow when I can finally play (It's still Thursday here....)

[WarMachine]

I'm not in game yet, but was talking to two players earlier with issues that would be caused by deadzone issue on a X.

[evilC]

Yes, also seeing same thing, and confirmed with DIView

[Moldi Stromboly]

This is super bad news :(

[ExcelWord]

Yeah loads of people have it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsSquadrons/comments/j3f31x/anyone_else_having_issues_with_massive_deadzone/

[EnthalpyFlow]

Massive amounts, even setting it to zero. Any luck fixing it?

[Bisch]

OT: I also have a VKB and MFG pedals but can’t set roll left to left rudder - only right pedal works. Did you have such an issue?

[4apaev]

You wont need all that precision here - lasers magically hit any defined target in front of you

[Shine]

Originally posted by ☭ Bisch:

OT: I also have a VKB and MFG pedals but can’t set roll left to left rudder - only right pedal works. Did you have such an issue?

I did. Weird as this is, try navigating the binding screen using a different type of input. Like, if you were using the mouse, then try instead navigating it with a gamepad, or mapping navigation controls to the joystick and using those. I have no idea why this is so, but the game refused to recognize my left Crosswind rudder until I navigated that screen with an Xbox pad instead of the mouse. Likewise, it wouldn't recognize my VKB if I navigated the binding screen with the Xbox pad; I had to use the mouse.

This could very well be a coincidence, but PC games have had sillier quirks.

[TLO]

i have similar setup. vkb gunfighter mk3 with 200mm extension. deadzone makes the game unplayable. I ended up removing my extension and the deadzone is still there but less noticeable. It feels like you cant make precise movements. I really hope this is a bug and not an intended feature to balance out hotas players...

[Shine]

A friend of mine found a workaround!

Here's what they posted in Discord:

*****************************
After a bit of testing I realized that this vjoy device Z axis didn't have the deadzone issue after remapping it to Pitch/Roll/Yaw.

I then used the VKB config to switch the X/Y axes on my Gladiator NXT with the Z/Rot Z axes bound to the throttle slider and twist. Keep X/Y active on a slider or function that you're not using, otherwise the game wont recognize your controller. It looks like the deadzone issue only affects the X/Y axes, but none of the other ones.

I've restarted the game a few times to make sure that this is persistent. Technically this should also work through joystick gremlin or any other software that lets you rebind the X/Y axes.
*****************************

So yeah, the game only has the deadzone bug with what it sees as the X and Y axes. So if you use some remapping software (Joystick gremlin/similar vJoy mapper, or your stick's first-party mapping software) to make the game think that your physical X/Y axes are actually some other axes, then there's no deadzone. The game thinks my physical X/Y are actually X-Rotation and Y-Rotation, and since the bug doesn't affect those axes, I'm now deadzone-free!

This is the most #pcgaming thing I've ever seen, hahahahahahahahaha.

[Neo King Arthur]

Do you think this issue comes from the game "switching" to different inputs.? I mean, if you move the mouse, the game will switch into mouse mode. So when you move the joystick, it won't move.

Until you mash some buttons to make the game "switch" again to the joystick mode, and have you start to have controls using the joystick. Is it one of those cases?

[Bryan]

I played with my hotas and honestly did not like it. Switched to controller and it feels better. May try using my flight yoke for the lolz

[Shine]

Originally posted by Neo:

Do you think this issue comes from the game "switching" to different inputs.? I mean, if you move the mouse, the game will switch into mouse mode. So when you move the joystick, it won't move.

Until you mash some buttons to make the game "switch" again to the joystick mode, and have you start to have controls using the joystick. Is it one of those cases?

Nope, it's a deadzone issue. Here's a reddit video showing it: https://streamable.com/nxp2jt

Fortunately, a buddy found a workaround, posted just above!

[Shine]

Originally posted by TLO:

i have similar setup. vkb gunfighter mk3 with 200mm extension. deadzone makes the game unplayable. I ended up removing my extension and the deadzone is still there but less noticeable. It feels like you cant make precise movements. I really hope this is a bug and not an intended feature to balance out hotas players...

See a few posts above for a workaround. You'll have to save a new VKB profile and switch to it for this game, specifically, but at least it works!