Recommendations for first time HOTAS user.

[4EyedWunder]

Hi All!

Played the original Descent 1&2 with keyboard and mouse, but looking to explore HOTAS. Looking at and really like the TM T-Flight Hotas X. Would this be good to start out on?

Thanks!

4eyed

[Miasmic]

My recommendation, if you don't play any standard flight sims, is to go dual joystick. I use it in this and Star Citizen and absolutely love it. I started with the Thrustmaster T.16000m FCS HOTAS, and enjoyed it for a bit, but eventually migrated to dual T.16000m's. It just feels much more engaging. Also makes flying with 6dof much more intuitive imo.

[ODDity]

I have my eye on the Hotas X too.. I mean, at least it doesn't cost a bazillion money and looks pretty decent. I see them on ebay a bit and the new from amazon wouldn't break the bank either.

Back in the day I played descent with a thrustmaster stick, IIRC it had 3 "face" buttons, a hat, trigger and a wheel on the base for "throttle" which I don't think I ended up using and I made do with that.

heh I found a picture of it https://i.imgur.com/M4AopEe.jpg

Anyway with the Hotas X my understanding was that the throttle had additional controls and you could also rotate it for yaw or something which sounded neat..

Can't afford it at the moment either way but that's kinda what I'm going with whatever happens because I for sure can't afford anything else.. I begin a new electrics hobby and dropped a shed load on boxes of resistors, solder, hot air reword, smd, arduino.. heck.. I don't even remember what is supposed to arrive from China.

Sorry I waffle.

Carry on!

[4EyedWunder]

Originally posted by Miasmic:

My recommendation, if you don't play any standard flight sims, is to go dual joystick. I use it in this and Star Citizen and absolutely love it. I started with the Thrustmaster T.16000m FCS HOTAS, and enjoyed it for a bit, but eventually migrated to dual T.16000m's. It just feels much more engaging. Also makes flying with 6dof much more intuitive imo.

So basically this[www.amazon.com] HOSAS setup?

That would probably take some time to adjust to. I can already imagine pulling both sticks off my desk when things start to get intense! Plus its roughly 2x the price of the TM HOTAS X or HOTAS 4. I think I would feel better buying the cheaper setup until I knew for sure that HOTAS is going to work for me. Either way, thanks for the feedback.

[Miasmic]

Originally posted by 4EyedWonder:

Originally posted by Miasmic:

My recommendation, if you don't play any standard flight sims, is to go dual joystick. I use it in this and Star Citizen and absolutely love it. I started with the Thrustmaster T.16000m FCS HOTAS, and enjoyed it for a bit, but eventually migrated to dual T.16000m's. It just feels much more engaging. Also makes flying with 6dof much more intuitive imo.

So basically this[www.amazon.com] HOSAS setup?

That would probably take some time to adjust to. I can already imagine pulling both sticks off my desk when things start to get intense! Plus its roughly 2x the price of the TM HOTAS X or HOTAS 4. I think I would feel better buying the cheaper setup until I knew for sure that HOTAS is going to work for me. Either way, thanks for the feedback.

I totally get that. Thats exactly why I went with the FCS HOTAS first too. Just figured I'd let ya know about skipping that step for space sims and 6dof if you have no interest in standard flight sims. HOTAS is great, but that leaves all your strafing/vert movements on a thumbstick. Flight sims don't need to worry about this as much, because in-atmosphere flight doesnt typically rely on vertical thrusters as much (for the most part). It feels much better, to me, to have that control on a full flightstick rather than a thumbstick.

As for pulling them off your desk when you get excited, there are cheap DIY ways to go about handling that, or expensive sim chairs. For a couple of bucks at Home Depot you can rig up a PVC set up to hold everything in place. Check the imgur links in the discussion below for what I used until I bought my Playseat.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/448850/discussions/0/1621724915771043788/

**Also, yes I have the sticks from that link. They didnt package them together when I got mine though. Dual T.16000m's is the same price as their FCS HOTAS. I've not tried the T.Flight, but I've not really read/heard good things. I have a feeling you'd end up wanting to upgrade, if you decided you liked flying with a HOTAS. You cant use Thrustmasters T.A.R.G.E.T software with the T.flight either, which is a shame. If you're set on going HOTAS first, i'd still recommend the FCS version of their HOTAS. Better to buy quality once, than so-so multiple times. Buy local and make use of return policy if you change your mind. No harm in that :P

*Sorry for all the edits, I suck lol.

[ODDity]

Thanks too Miasmic

I suppose it is my birthday in.... a few months.. I can hold out for the dual sticks like you say I reckon, looks good and versatile.

Be well!

Edit: I don't suppose.. can you buy them one at a time.. like.. I only see the Right Hand one on Amazon but is it the case you can switch the hand rest around to use with either left or right? Curiously if you order 2 separate it's cheaper here ..

edit: ah apparently so.. I should read moar :)

Originally posted by amazon:

Fully ambidextrous joystick: 3 removable components allow the joystick to be perfectly tailored for left-handed or right-handed use

[Miasmic]

Yea, you can get lucky and find them on sale every now and again for $50 a piece. I prefer to pick up locally for warranty/replacement reasons. That's not to say I've had any issues with the sticks, I just do that for everything I can. I get a 1 year warranty and replace annually. I've done that with my mouse and keyboard for years.

**Doing the warranty thing allows you to upgrade to newer components as well. When you return, if they no longer sell that product (or you just want something different), the warranty covers the original price of the product and you simply pay the difference for whatever you want. MicroCenter and BestBuy both operate in this way.

[4EyedWunder]

Wow Miasmic - you're full of great info! I have a MicroCenter near me, so I will keep that in mind next time I do tech shopping.

[Hara]

I had a Saitek X52 for a short while before selling it. I found that for 6DoF like Descent the twin stick setup is much better suited like Miasmic wrote. The HOTAS I had was just so bulky, and was really only cool to use in flight sims or other large open space games. I am super pleased with getting a Thrustmaster T.16000M in its' stead.
I don't have a second stick yet, but using the joystick in place of the mouse in a WASD setup is a good way to ease into it, if you're used to FPS.

[Klauth]

Originally posted by HaraDaya:

I had a Saitek X52 for a short while before selling it. I found that for 6DoF like Descent the twin stick setup is much better suited like Miasmic wrote. The HOTAS I had was just so bulky, and was really only cool to use in flight sims or other large open space games. I am super pleased with getting a Thrustmaster T.16000M in its' stead.
I don't have a second stick yet, but using the joystick in place of the mouse in a WASD setup is a good way to ease into it, if you're used to FPS.

Hi there,

Just wondering, are those Thrustmaster joysticks wireless ? Can't buy non wireless for my setup ...

[Miasmic]

Gonna be pretty difficult to find wireless joysticks that either aren't incredibly expensive or cheap gimmick. Why not just use USB extension cables?

[Klauth]

Originally posted by Miasmic:

Gonna be pretty difficult to find wireless joysticks that either aren't incredibly expensive or cheap gimmick. Why not just use USB extension cables?

Can't work on my setup ... TV + PC are 2 meters away and all controls are wireless ....

[Miasmic]

You could try a wireless usb hub. I dont know much about em, but they are out there.

[Lime]

I just bought a Thrustmaster 16000. Love it so far, just gotta figure how I want all the buttons.