Alrighty folks, as there are a few flying sims out there I thought I should probably add one of these to my setup. After playing a driving sim with a steering wheel and VR headset there is no going back to controller, so I presume a hotas will be similar for flying sims.
Ive never used one before and was wondering if would worth getting a cheaper one to start with to see how it feels or just get a decent one straight away. Im not a major flight sim player but id like to keep trying them as they are great in VR.
Ive picked out these 3 to see what your thoughts are...
Thrustmaster T-Flight £32.99 Would this give me enough of a feel to see if its worth putting in another £100-200?
Saitek X52 Pro £129.99 Looks solid and the middle ground of the two
Saitek X56 Rhino £219.99 Looks an absolute beast but is it aimed more at serious flight simmers? (Released in about a week)
@edmg I can see the lack of buttons being a bit of an issue, especially when wearing a VR headset, but as you say for casual flight sim'ing it should be fine.
@kzintzi Looks quite impressive, I like what they have done with the buttons have a different feel/shape for each button would be handy when in VR and unable to see the joystick, I see what you mean about it not having the ball joint connection, that does look akward from the pictures but im sure it works just as well. It doesn't have the premium look of the others in the same price point, at least from the pictures anyway, but thats maybe just me. Im sure I read someone using their steering wheel pedals with a HOTAS before, I have my G27 pedals so il look into that a bit more.
On the t-flight, as with probably others, you can assign modifier buttons to extend the number of commands that can be issued without the keyboard. I use button 8, under my left thumb, to give me access to another set of commands. Just hold the modifier and another button together.
@edmg I can see the lack of buttons being a bit of an issue, especially when wearing a VR headset, but as you say for casual flight sim'ing it should be fine.
@kzintzi Looks quite impressive, I like what they have done with the buttons have a different feel/shape for each button would be handy when in VR and unable to see the joystick, I see what you mean about it not having the ball joint connection, that does look akward from the pictures but im sure it works just as well. It doesn't have the premium look of the others in the same price point, at least from the pictures anyway, but thats maybe just me. Im sure I read someone using their steering wheel pedals with a HOTAS before, I have my G27 pedals so il look into that a bit more.
yeah I was a bit concerned about the look as well, but they seem to value function over looks. they feel very sturdy in the hand and don't feel flimsy in any way - no creaking that I've noticed.
having 4 hats and an analog joystick and 3 buttons (4 if you count the clicker on the joystick thingie) on the throttle is awesome..
I'm still mucking about with the placement and I'm trying not to lock in the muscle memory for the layout ATM until I get my rift as one of the hats is currently managing which screen I'm "looking" at but it's awesome..
the control software is a bit interesting to use (look up the tutorials on the web if you're using it for complex stuff), but you can macro the hell out of it, plus they have a "switch" button you can use to configure 3 different sets of configs for each button (I'm probably never going to use this but some flightsim guys do apparently) so you'll run out of things to do before you run out of switches to do them. one thing I did like is that you can create a control profile and then set it to "single joystick mode" and the software emulates a joystick with a bajillion buttons and axis' so you can use it on old games that don't like multiple joysticks.
it's also not heavily sprung so 3 hours of moving the joystick didn't do my wrist in (something the warthog has issues with over time until your wrist strengthens apparently).
Though you are more than slightly incoherent, I agree with you Madam, a plum is a terrible thing to do to a nostril.
@kzintzi Thanks for the detailed info mate, much appreciated. The looks aren't so important as long as they are sturdy and function good. Sounds like a great set up but probably a bit above my level (as are the Rhino and Warthog)
Think I will go for the T Flight as its a fairly low investment and if I really get into it I will upgrade to something a bit better but if I just use it for the odd the flight sim here and there it will probably do me.
It's still sitting in the box waiting, but I went for a Hotas X from Thrustmaster for Elite Dangerous ... now I am waiting for them to fix the rendering issues on the Vive.
The problem I have with the Warthog it the lack of Z-axis. I know it doesn't bother some but I find it a PITA.
Waiting till next week for the new Saitek X56 after my old one died last week during some Warthunder action.
I can understand that, but seeing it's a 1:1 replica of the stick inside the actual aircraft it expects you to use rudder pedals for z-axis 🙂
I previously had a Saitek joystick with the twist z-axis and I found that incredibly annoying when I was inadvertently twisting it during hectic dogfights.
Alrighty folks, as there are a few flying sims out there I thought I should probably add one of these to my setup. After playing a driving sim with a steering wheel and VR headset there is no going back to controller, so I presume a hotas will be similar for flying sims.
Ive never used one before and was wondering if would worth getting a cheaper one to start with to see how it feels or just get a decent one straight away. Im not a major flight sim player but id like to keep trying them as they are great in VR.
Ive picked out these 3 to see what your thoughts are...
Thrustmaster T-Flight £32.99 Would this give me enough of a feel to see if its worth putting in another £100-200?
Saitek X52 Pro £129.99 Looks solid and the middle ground of the two
Saitek X56 Rhino £219.99 Looks an absolute beast but is it aimed more at serious flight simmers? (Released in about a week)
Any advice?
I got the Saitek Pro Flight™ X-55 Rhino a number of months ago and find it flawless for games like Star Citizen and pretty much all the flight sims you can think of!
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