HELP: F 18 or Mirage with basic joystick

[-♥-Llandor]

Hi Guys
Hope all is well and keeping safe. I am going to take the plunge and purchase the track ir for this game, I am still a noob but enjoying the gaming experience. I realized this game is a investment of some sort if you want the full experience so I am starting with the purchase on the track ir. With that I am considering of purchasing the hornet or mirage, the only thing is I have a basic joystick, logitech extreme 3d pro. Can I fly the hornet with this joystick? It is my first preference. You're advice and guidance on this would be great. Fly safe

[Troll Norris]

Hi, yes you can fly both. To get precise control you can in DCS axis tuning menu make the stick less sensitive that allows you more precise control near neutral position for the less precise control near the edges of range.

[[ATP]Flo]

Yes you can fly the Hornet with a basic joystick.
At least you can start with that one.

Later you probably want to upgrade to a HOTAS with many many buttons to get all the functions to your hands.

For example you will need an additional axis:

- for the TDC to slew the Radar, Target Pot, Mavericks, etc
- for the Sensor Select Switch to switch between your MFDs
- for the Weapon Select Switch
- for the Radar elevation
- for the zoom
- for the trim

Also you will want to bind chaff and flares, as well as airbrake, groundbrake, designate target, undesignate target, nose-wheel-steering, disable-G-Limiter and afterburner detent to some buttons.

So you see... there is a lot to bind.

Yeah you can do all these things also on your keyboard which of course is not that easy...
But at least you can start with a basic joystick and learn to fly.

Later you'll get that HOTAS when you realize there is too much missing on your joystick.

That being said a higher quality HOTAS will also often give you an additional throttle which is very nice and much better than these 2in1 solutions. Also you will get a much better flight stability and sensitivity. I started with a cheap joystick too and I found it impossible to refuel at the tanker. After buying the T16000M it was so easy. And it also offers all the buttons and axis I just talked about.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KCHPRXA

[Vilab]

if you want to keep your simple joystick for now, the mirage is a simpler aircraft with less need for a proper Hotas

a T-16000M + TWCS pack provide enough buttons to use all modules short of the A10 ( f16 ? ) at 100%

[SSerponi76]

IMHO if you are seriously going into DCSW you should consider to invest in a good joystick prior to buy a track ir (you can buy it next ).
T-160000 is a good low-mid budget solution.

[dan]

Bind buttons 11 and 12 as modifiers. That way you have a lot more controls on your hand and can still have both hands on throttle and stick. This will work much better with mirage as it has much fewer controls. Hornet is gna be a pain. Or will at least require you to be much more creative.

[Sizigmund]

You can always bind a keys on the keyboard for the important things and on the joystick for the most important things, so there will be almost no need in clicking buttons with mouse pointer. It is not the same as a H.O.T.A.S. but it is a good enogh solution for a simple joystick. I'm also have a simple joystick, and it is working well for me.

[-♥-Llandor]

Originally posted by Sizigmund:

You can always bind a keys on the keyboard for the important things and on the joystick for the most important things, so there will be almost no need in clicking buttons with mouse pointer. It is not the same as a H.O.T.A.S. but it is a good enogh solution for a simple joystick. I'm also have a simple joystick, and it is working well for me.

Thanks, do you fly the hornet?

[Sizigmund]

Originally posted by -♥-Llandor:

Originally posted by Sizigmund:

You can always bind a keys on the keyboard for the important things and on the joystick for the most important things, so there will be almost no need in clicking buttons with mouse pointer. It is not the same as a H.O.T.A.S. but it is a good enogh solution for a simple joystick. I'm also have a simple joystick, and it is working well for me.

Thanks, do you fly the hornet?

No, I have all Flaming cliffs 3 simple airplanes. The complex airplanes that I have are A-10C and F-14B. I also have the KA-50 (Black shark 2) hellicopter. For now I'm only begin to discover the complex airplanes, the keyboard solution is not ideal of course but you can set almost everything because in this game you can use all kind of combinations with left or right shift, ctrl and/or alt buttons.

I bought Flaming cilffs 3 and Black shark 2 along time ago, I played Flaming cliffs 3 a little bit and then I stopped playing it. Now I decided to return to this game and also added two airplanes to my collection.

Honestly I think this game is very good. Maybe it is the best military airplane simulator. So I think to replace my simple joystick with something more advanced. But for now joystick and keyboard working well for me.

[Meles Meles]

I'm also using a Logitech 3D Pro. It's a great stick, but the major bummer is that it doesn't have very many buttons and just the one hat switch, so with some aircraft, specifically the ones with a lot of buttons on the stick in RL (I don't remember how bad the Hornet is when it comes to that) you will be relying on the keyboard a bit.

I also have a 360 gamepad attached, and thankfully DCS also picks that up, so for a lot of aircraft that's actually what I use for laser targeting. Is it realistic? Nope. Does it work great? Yup.

[[ATP]Flo]

Originally posted by Meles Meles:

I also have a 360 gamepad attached, and thankfully DCS also picks that up, so for a lot of aircraft that's actually what I use for laser targeting. Is it realistic? Nope. Does it work great? Yup.

Oh good Idea. ^^
This is a good solution to get some additional axis and buttons when you don't have a HOTAS.