Controller / joystick

[ferry]

Hi all,

I’m a long time flight simmer and have a virtual cockpit built around me; it’s the only way you get real immersion going in my opinion.
I’m also a long time sailor (40+ years now, of which 8 professionally, but I digress), but virtual sailing is new to me. As such I have no hardware at all dedicated to this. But, sailing using key presses is not great, even though I’m getting by for now.
My question is: do any of you use some hardware to help? I’ve googled a little and came up with surprisingly little, so my next thought would be to make something myself using my 3D printer, switches, pot meters and an Arduino/Teensy. However, I’m strapped for time so if throwing a little bit of money at something decent is the answer I’d prefer that.
Related question: eSail picked a random controller when I enabled it in my eSail settings. It turned out to be the tiller for nosewheel steering from my cockpit. Is there a way to assign another controller to eSail without unplugging my entire cockpit?

Thank you, and Kind Regards,
Ferry

[Fragger]

Hey, there!

Yea, I don't know of any specific hardware for sailing sims, but you would probably be able to get away with grabbing a cheap wheel/pedal set, if you don't want to do the whole Arduino thing. I've used my Logitech G29 a few times just for testing purposes, and it works ok. You could use it as is, but maybe you could tear some things apart and run the buttons/pots elsewhere, but still make use of the wheel software for assigning the buttons to keys. A whole custom setup would be the ideal, thing, though, I think.

Also, I saw that you posted on the discussion about voice commands; that update on the Test branch will be a good step forward for allowing us to setup buttons to individual winches.

It would be pretty cool to have a whole custom sailing rig to play around with. Thinking about it some more, though, I think one thing that eSail is missing is the ability to pull and let out the lines with a controller axis (At least, I don't believe that works).
But, you know, it might be neat to have a physical setup with a winch and bit of rope for controlling the lines, haha. No idea how that would all work, though!

----
For your issue, I don't know of a way to choose the default device. I think you just might have to unplug any other USB devices that you're using, unfortunately. =\

I suppose you could try going into Control Panel - Devices and Printers and then right click and remove those other devices that way, but, I'm not sure what sort of hassle it might be to get them functioning again!

[cbaldwin256]

The other option would be to use key mapping. To do this I would first turn off the controller in Settings. Then use AntiMicro or similar. This way you may be able to get better control over which controller is doing what. Under Guides there is a section on this.

[ferry]

Thank you both. I’ll start digging a bit. I have a Teensy lying idle here; it can double up as a joystick and keyboard (and mouse) if you want to, so there’s stuff to play with there.
I do like the idea of getting a race wheel and taking it apart. Then again, knowing me I’d probably take the wheel off entirely and replace it with a pirate ship style wooden wheel 😂

[Fragger]

Ha, that would be pretty great! I think that's what I would want to do. =P

Some people do replace the wheels, even on something from Logitech. But, if you do plan on doing that, the bigger the wheel you intend to use, the more robust you'll want your wheelbase, as something like the Logitech stuff may not hold up well to the additional weight and other forces. Now, since we're not dealing with force feedback in eSail, it won't be as big of a concern, but it still would suck to quickly crank your wheel around all the way, only for something to go "CRACK!" inside!

Something from Thrustmaster might hold up a bit better, and they are belt driven, but, a direct drive wheel would be the best thing. They get pretty expensive, though, as they're basically just a big motor that you mount a wheel to. I think some people still build their own, but, these days, you can find companies that sell them ready to go for sim racing.

[ferry]

Yeah that was my thought process precisely. The problem with a racing wheel is that there’s very little in terms of turns. I’d love to have 2.5 to 4 full turns in it. But you’re right, to get that sturdy enough you’re looking at a complex build.
I’ll let that one soak in my brain for a while.

[Fragger]

The G29 has 900 degrees rotation and Thrustmaster wheels (T150 and up) seem to have 1080. With a CSL DD, though, you should be able to lock the rotation to whatever you like, through the software.

[ferry]

Aha!!! EBay here I come.

[ferry]

I’m also eyeing up the Logitech G Saitek Farm Sim Controller. 900 degrees and a lot of assignable buttons…

[ferry]

Ok I bought it. Will let you know how I get on.

[ferry]

Hi Chris,

Mixed results with the controller. It works, but the rudder reaches maximum deflection well before the x-axis of the controller does. (40% into the rotation to be precise) I’ve tried remapping the axis onto a vJoy device and reducing the range significantly, but eSail isn’t picking this up. Other applications do pick it up though, so something strange is going on.

Two questions:
Are there plans to put good controller support into eSail?
Can I, somewhere in any of the files, force eSail to look at a particular controller only?

Kind Regards,
Ferry

[cbaldwin256]

Its only using the built in Unity support which isn’t great. There are some Settings which control the amount if movement, but that’s not quite what you are after I think. I will move this to Feature Requests.

[ferry]

Hi Chris,

Yes you’re right. That setting only controls the amount of rudder deflection, but not the scale on the controller’s axis.

Thanks for looking into this!

Cheers,
Ferry

[NavyMutant8151]

I too would like full range of motion on my G29. The only thing I could achieve is set the steering speed to 1.12 and dead zone to 0.01 and then I have a full range of the boat helm using 360 degrees of rotation from the 900 that G29 has, albeit it's too sensitive for my taste.

On the other hand I'm also using my shifter to select winches on the Test branch. This way I no longer need to think what winch has what number or press cumbersome tabs. Gears 1-4 select winches in a logical order and then I've Gear 5 do "Submit", Gear 6 do "Undo", and Reverse lets go of the line completely. This way I have some sort of a "physical" action into the simulator and also much easier to tack, gybe or do other sail-related actions.