In light of Hawken and Mechwarrior Online - Joystick (for mechs) thread

T

thesecond

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Messages
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I want a joystick, throttle, and pedals. I'm looking into the ~$300 range, or maybe a bit higher for the set.
Since its a mech, dual throttles are excessive.

Joystick will be for aiming/shooting, pedals for turning, throttle for speed and movement things like jumping.

Force feedback is definitely a plus.

I assume other people will share this interest with me, and I hope to have a good discussion on the options out there, because frankly, joystick talk is pretty sparse. Its rare even at geekhack which holds pride on its chat about accessories.

So any help or discussion to bring light to the matter is very appreciated. Thanks.

EDIT 1: Lets try to keep the talk on the topic of joysticks. I do not want this thread derailed with arguments on how a person should play a game. I want this thread to be about joysticks, their quality, durability, and general comfort, and just about joysticks in general. Maybe this thread belongs in mouse and keyboards? Or maybe people need to read this first post before posting?
 
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It is a bit early, but I don't think Hawken seems like a very simulation oriented game.
 
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Hawken (what little I played at E3 2011), plays like Counter-Strike with Mechs. Clearly slower paced, but not slow by any means. Round based income for temporary upgrades and lots of twitch game play. Its not a simulation game at all.
 
I've been happy with my x52 pro and saitek pro flight rudder pedals, but if I had to buy a new hotas setup right now I would grab the Thrustmaster Warthog (I fly DCS). I use it in Arma 2, DCS A-10C/Blackshark, X3, Take On Helicopters, etc. I've played a bit of MWLL with it, but need to get back in and reconfigure everything again. It gets at least 5-hours a week of use and has been going strong for about a year. I would recommend reading some on the simhq forums. I've heard great things about CH Products as well.

I seriously doubt that Hawken plays well with a joystick. MechWarrior Online is coming though.

I'm still hoping for TrackIR and eyefinity support.
 
limitedaccess said:
It is a bit early, but I don't think Hawken seems a like a very simulation oriented game.
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Don't care.
PanzerBoxb said:
From the footage released, I would classify Hawken as a mecha-based FPS.
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Don't care.
theNoid said:
Hawken (what little I played at E3 2011), plays like Counter-Strike with Mechs. Clearly slower paced, but not slow by any means. Round based income for temporary upgrades and lots of twitch game play. Its not a simulation game at all.
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Don't care.

I asked a number of questions in the original post, and none of you seem to have read it. This is a thread to talk about joysticks. THE TOPIC IS JOYSTICKS. I'm excited to pilot big ass giant robots, and I'm sure other people are too. This is not a thread about your opinon on game genre nomenclature, sorry. If i wanted to talk about that, the thread title would be "what would you call hawken, FPS or simulator". If down the line, i find that mouse and KB are better for hawken, so be it, I will make the adjustment, but again, thats not what I want this thread to be about. So lets try not to derail the thread and bring the topic back to joysticks please.

-Sn1PeR- said:
I've been happy with my x52 pro and saitek pro flight rudder pedals, but if I had to buy a new hotas setup right now I would grab the Thrustmaster Warthog (I fly DCS). I use it in Arma 2, DCS A-10C/Blackshark, X3, Take On Helicopters, etc. I've played a bit of MWLL with it, but need to get back in and reconfigure everything again. It gets at least 5-hours a week of use and has been going strong for about a year. I would recommend reading some on the simhq forums. I've heard great things about CH Products as well.

I seriously doubt that Hawken plays well with a joystick. MechWarrior Online is coming though.

I'm still hoping for TrackIR and eyefinity support.
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How are those rudder pedals? Are they metal? Are they big? Do they have hard points on them that i can use to bolt them to something like the floor? What axes of motion do they offer? I've been really unable to find much information on how they move, the saitek site apparently assumes i know how they will work when it should really have a demo video or a decent manual or something. Like, i want to know if they just read when you top push, or if they have heel function, or twist function. All i really need is toe push function.

Simhq? I will go there, and i will read about CH products. Thanks so much for the information.
 
thesecond said:
How are those rudder pedals? Are they metal? Are they big? Do they have hard points on them that i can use to bolt them to something like the floor? What axes of motion do they offer? I've been really unable to find much information on how they move. Like, i want to know if they just read when you top push, or if they have heel function, or twist function. All i really need is toe push function.
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They are the primarily plastic (purchased before the combat ones that are metal were released). They are rather large and have trays that your feet fit into. Each side has a separate toe brake axis. It's main rudder axis has adjustable tension and each side is linked (ie. left goes forward, right goes backwards). 3-axes total. Having separate toe brakes is great for turning an A-10 during taxi.

These: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H67DDY...e=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B000H67DDY

Combat ones: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=114FS5JH62H1DEF5B9N0

I have seen people mount them, but I have mine pushed flush against a wall.
 
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thesecond said:
I asked a number of questions in the original post, and none of you seem to have read it. This is a thread to talk about joysticks. THE TOPIC IS JOYSTICKS. I'm excited to pilot big ass giant robots, and I'm sure other people are too. This is not a thread about your opinon on game genre nomenclature, sorry. If i wanted to talk about that, the thread title would be "what would you call hawken, FPS or simulator". If down the line, i find that mouse and KB are better for hawken, so be it, I will make the adjustment, but again, thats not what I want this thread to be about. So lets try not to derail the thread and bring the topic back to joysticks please.
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When asking for free advice, you can't really bitch when the advice you get is slightly divergent from what you want. Really, you should be asking here http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/243/1/Controllers.html
 
Well I thought it might be prudent to inform people that Hawken did not seem to be a simulation oriented game like Mechwarrior. As I would think an understanding of the game type would probably useful when determining ones choice of controls.
 
theNoid said:
Hawken (what little I played at E3 2011), plays like Counter-Strike with Mechs. Clearly slower paced, but not slow by any means. Round based income for temporary upgrades and lots of twitch game play. Its not a simulation game at all.
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You're turning me on!
 
I saw you were looking for something in the $300 plus range. I am also very interested in what kind of joystick/etc to use, but I am thinking about nothing more than $100 dollars. Last Mechwarrior game I played was on a microsoft force feedback joystick, then a cheap Saitek. They weren't fantastic, but they did get the job done. I wouldn't be competitive with them in multiplayer, but was fine for a single player game.

So any suggestions for the $100 max category?
 
thesecond said:
Don't care.

Don't care.

Don't care.
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Go somewhere else then. You asked advice about joysticks for two particular games. Someone pointed out that one of those games would probably suffer from a joystick. There is no value in turning down free advice. Cheers though. +ignored.
 
Meh, I used to play the real MW2 with a Gravis Phoenix, and later a Thrustmaster FCS, WCS2, and rudder set up. Even had an ACM game card. It turned out to not be the best setup for me in that game. What I eventually ended up with, and found to be vastly superior to the a fore mentioned setup, was: a mouse for turret control, the analog ruder pedals for steering, and the key board for every thing else. I knew tons of KB&M only, as well as joystick users for that game, seems every one had their own thing for that game.

Hawkin looks more like a FPS using mechs, so I suppose most will end up using traditional FPS style controls for it. But most any joystick would likely work fine with it as well. You would just lose the precision of a mouse for aiming.
 
I came into this thread to offer some feedback about joysticks, having some experience playing flight and mech sims.....but after reading it.... I don't care
 
$20 logitech joysticks are fun, but they are cheap quality plastic that really start to wear out in a couple of weeks. If you're going to seriously use one (like bf3 pilots, or the flight sim nuts) then get a quality ~$80 Saitek.
 
The ultimate:

sb.jpg


:D
 
MavericK96 said:
The ultimate:

sb.jpg


:D
Click to expand...

Its not really that great...(especially as its not the blue version! Which looks better!) It's plastically and lots of stuff feels cheap on it (throttle)... But you can easily mod it to USB and get XP 32bit drivers for it. Not sure since then.

You might as well use a controller. They have 2 better joysticks...:p
 
Alpha strike soon mechwarrior.
When?
Now!!!!


Since this is the [H]ard forum and we have an image to uphold. Perhaps you should build one. At first glance it seems like a daunting task. It really isn't.

Example Follows:
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3151112/4.html

Step one. Buy console controller of your favorite variety. Windows compatible...(PS3/X360)
Step two. Source various bits of hardware from the HomeDepot.(wood..screws..bits for gimbal...Etc..)
Step three. Disassemble controller.
Step four. Add potentiometers from controller to your heavy duty yoke.
Step five. (Optional) Replace potentiometers with HAL sensors and magnets so they are noise free and wont wear out.

How strong it is and how it looks is totally up to you.
 
CH Products. I've tried most other decent brands over the years, but I've always found CH to be more smooth and precise. Just a pleasure to use all around.
 
John721 said:
CH Products. I've tried most other decent brands over the years, but I've always found CH to be more smooth and precise. Just a pleasure to use all around.
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Is the new CH stuff on par with the old? I have not used their stuff in years. (A high end flight yoke, attached to a PC running Flight 5 back in the late 90's.) Just curious, because some of Thrustmaster's stuff feels like it has taken a step backwards in precision over the last decade.
 
Thanks for all the recommendations to check out CH joysticks. I will definitely research their use and check out their forum to see what they think.


MavericK96 said:
The ultimate:

sb.jpg


:D
Click to expand...

If only eh? i wish they still made this thing. I only found out about it after it was discontinued and finding them on ebay for less than a fortune is a pain.




[
BallerX said:
Alpha strike soon mechwarrior.
When?
Now!!!!


Since this is the [H]ard forum and we have an image to uphold. Perhaps you should build one. At first glance it seems like a daunting task. It really isn't.

Example Follows:
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3151112/4.html

Step one. Buy console controller of your favorite variety. Windows compatible...(PS3/X360)
Step two. Source various bits of hardware from the HomeDepot.(wood..screws..bits for gimbal...Etc..)
Step three. Disassemble controller.
Step four. Add potentiometers from controller to your heavy duty yoke.
Step five. (Optional) Replace potentiometers with HAL sensors and magnets so they are noise free and wont wear out.

How strong it is and how it looks is totally up to you.
Click to expand...

Holy shit that is one of the best threads I have ever seen. I would love to do something like that, but I don't have the skills. I'm hoping to get something as close as possible to that by buying joysticks and then hard mounting them to a chair sort of like a playchair... but without actually having to buy a playchair :D

If i was made of money i would push it far to get it like a Tesla II pod, with separate screens for your cockpit view, radar, weapon groupings menu, damage monitors and the like, but damn. I am not rich by any means, and my hardware addiction swallows all of my disposable income.
 
Saitek doesn't have the best customer support. Their Multi-Fuction Display (MFD) is buggy on the X52. Have to watch for driver issues.
 
DeathPrincess said:
Its not really that great...(especially as its not the blue version! Which looks better!) It's plastically and lots of stuff feels cheap on it (throttle)... But you can easily mod it to USB and get XP 32bit drivers for it. Not sure since then.

You might as well use a controller. They have 2 better joysticks...:p
Click to expand...

I know, it was kind of a joke. I got to use one my friend bought back when Steel Battalion first came out. It was kinda cool, but felt cheap like you mentioned. Plus, most of the buttons/switches were things you would maybe flip once during startup and then never used again. Gimmicky as all hell, but kinda neat just the same. Too bad they never really made another game that used it.
 
Up until not too long ago, I was still using my Thrustmaster Yoke/Throttle FCS that I had modified with serial to usb adapter. Honestly, nothing beats those controls feel wise.
 
MavericK96 said:
I know, it was kind of a joke. I got to use one my friend bought back when Steel Battalion first came out. It was kinda cool, but felt cheap like you mentioned. Plus, most of the buttons/switches were things you would maybe flip once during startup and then never used again. Gimmicky as all hell, but kinda neat just the same. Too bad they never really made another game that used it.
Click to expand...

The only game I ever played on it was mechwarrior 2(I think it was that one)! For the PC mod you can get different mappings for different games (the labels are wrong so it takes some trial and error and relearning!) It was nice to have buttons for individual functions, but the joysticks were terrible and a nightmare to aim with! :D The throttle was kind of annoying as youd have to remove your hand from the left stick to change speed, which meant in combat situations youd be flailing around unless you just went full speed the whole time! :D

There is another SB game coming out...problem is...kinect...only :confused:
 
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