long time forum lurker with a question. I am (in)patiently waiting for my rift, but it will probably be another few weeks and I am planning to play, among other games, Elite Dangerous and other flight simulators such as War Thunder. I am also planning to buy a HOTAS (any suggestion for a reasonable price? - max £130-150), so my question is: should I buy and start playing the games now, to get used to the controls and games themselves and then transition to VR once the HMD finally arrives or would I be better waiting for the RIFT and learn directly in VR? Anyone tried either way? Would it change the experience later in VR?
Thrustmaster t-flight hotas x is relatively inexpensive, at £30-£40, and does the job really well. If you really get into it, you could always move up to some of the more expensive ones.
I will add that you should not play the game at anything above 1080p before you get your Rift. I have a 2560x1440 144hz monitor that I played Elite on and let me tell you it was a shock moving to the Rift.
I recommend the CH Products Pro Throttle, F16 Fighterstick and Pro Pedals. All are USB. CH has been making controllers of superb quality for over 20 years. You can find good used ones for less than 300 USD for all three components.
Elite Dangerous is definitely a game with a steep learning curve and LOTS of controls, so it is best to get to learn it before you can't see what you are doing.
My recommendation: Thrustmaster T.Flight + VoiceAttack.
Elite allows you to use some buttons as modifiers, so the lack of buttons on the t.flight compared to other solutions is not that bad. VoiceAttack allows you to control the game through voice commands, thus eliminating the need to have too much buttons.
If you go the X52 route, get the X52 Pro, as it has a mag sensor instead of pots.
I'm new to the forum and was wondering where you're finding these flight simulator games? I didn't see them in the Oculus store inventory. thanks
There are really only three good ones right now, Elite dangerous, Eve, and DCS. DCS is the only one I don't think is on OH, you can get it free from steam.
I would recommend finding a sidewinder ffb 2 on eBay and the throttle off x52. After playing with a ffb joystick everything else feels terrible. Trim works great on dcs and fsx and the stick centers nicely on elite. I found the x52 joystick top heavy and difficult to fly accurately with but the throttle is great. I've never played elite out of the dk2 and I'm afraid too because the graphics look amazing and will feel awful returning to the rift (happened to a friend).
