• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Joysticks?

H

Harmzuay

n00b
Joined
Apr 14, 2012
Messages
46
So I've been playing Battlefield 3 quite a bit and find myself tiring of being a ground pounder on some days and wishing I could get used to using a mouse and keyboard for flying helos or jets. Sadly it doesn't work for me (I end up barrel rolling the helos and losing control of the jets >_<) and I've used a joystick for past Battlefield games with a lot of success but that old one has bitten the dust and I'm looking for something new.

Nothing really seems to stand out. My previous one was a Logitech Wingman Extreme 3D. Very old by today's standards, still uses a serial port. I looked at the newest one they have and a lot of people seem to either be thrilled with it and a lot of people don't because it seems to wear out fairly quickly if it's used a lot. Being a gamer I need something that will stand up to the abuse of hours and hours of play. This time around I'm not so sure Logitech will suit my needs.

Saitek and Thrustmaster seem to be the only other real manufacturers out there that I can see. I was wondering if there were any recommendations from the rest of the gaming community as to what would be a good purchase? Thanks!
 
Thinking I should have posted this under the PC Gaming section of this forum. Yay for running on one our of sleep and missing the most obvious things. Sorry if anyone has to move the thread I understand.
 
Hit up ebay for a MS Sidewinder Force Feedback 2. :) Very solid for a joystick and still compatible with Windows 7. It's just a shame that Microsoft doesn't make them anymore.
 
I'm looking through a bunch of them (Logitech and Saitek) they all seem to be $40, or in general, look low quality. Perhaps you can look for a used X52HOTAS on Amazon. I know someone who bought one for $82 shipped and it was in like new condition. This way you can play flight games if you desire.

If that is out of your price range, the Logitech Attack looks good at $22 on Amazon.

The old Sidewinder sticks are good to, but they are very old and tend to go for $40. At that price point for something used just spring for an X52.
 
I have a saitek x52, excellent controller, but drivers are buggy. Thrustmaster would be top of the line I think.
Does battlefield support TrackIR?
 
TBJ said:
Does battlefield support TrackIR?
Click to expand...

Doubt it. In any case, the cockpits are low detail, ugly, inaccurate, and there is not so much of a need for it for the type of game. If you're looking for a flight game Battlefield is the last place to look.
 
Not looking for a flight game. Haha. I'm just old school when it comes to flying in games and I can't seem to adapt to flying in BF3 with a mouse and keyboard like a lot of other people do.

Not huge on flight sims anymore which is part of the reason I don't have a joystick anymore but I would like to have one so I can pilot in BF3. Since that is pretty much the only thing I don't do. haha. Anything on the ground is fine though. :)

Thanks for all the advice. Really helps when it comes to shopping around for these kinds of things. Like was mentioned a lot of the joysticks out today look cheap and of low quality. I'd be willing to spend a good chunk of change on a joystick if I knew it was good. I generally do that with all of my hardware and peripherals. I learned a long time ago that you usually get what you pay for, and well if you do the research and find the hardware that gives you what you want, it's worth it in the long run to spend the money. :)
 
Harmzuay said:
Not looking for a flight game. Haha. I'm just old school when it comes to flying in games and I can't seem to adapt to flying in BF3 with a mouse and keyboard like a lot of other people do.

Not huge on flight sims anymore which is part of the reason I don't have a joystick anymore but I would like to have one so I can pilot in BF3. Since that is pretty much the only thing I don't do. haha. Anything on the ground is fine though. :)

Thanks for all the advice. Really helps when it comes to shopping around for these kinds of things. Like was mentioned a lot of the joysticks out today look cheap and of low quality. I'd be willing to spend a good chunk of change on a joystick if I knew it was good. I generally do that with all of my hardware and peripherals. I learned a long time ago that you usually get what you pay for, and well if you do the research and find the hardware that gives you what you want, it's worth it in the long run to spend the money. :)
Click to expand...

One thing to watch out for when buying a casual gaming joystick is the throttle. Many have it right behind the stick, so your arm is resting on top of the throttle which makes it very uncomfortable.

This seems to remedy this issue:
http://www.amazon.com/Saitek-JI3G-Cyborg-Gold-USB-JoyStick/dp/B000056Q0P/ref=sr_1_17?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1354848695&sr=1-17&keywords=saitek+joystick

No idea about the quality though.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
TBJ said:
I have a saitek x52, excellent controller, but drivers are buggy. Thrustmaster would be top of the line I think.
Does battlefield support TrackIR?
Click to expand...

I was never able to get my trackIR to work with BF3.


The saitek x52 and better sticks are ok, but really hard to find at a non stupid price...considering its a pre 9/11 stick, paying +$150 is not cool considering its not without issues.

Stay away from the Cyborg sticks...they look cool but have such poor build quality it should be sold as a 1-time-use toy.


I spent months looking for a flight stick without luck...Unless you go for the bigass thrustmaster hotas warthog for +$500, your pickled.

In the end I spent $35 for the Thrustmaster Hotas X. Cheap and real solid...its ugly though.
 
I don't know if it's me, But I've never used a joystick outside the Microsoft FF 1. If only someone could port the drivers to windows 7. I miss the forcefeedback and the motorized auto center. Has anyone used the logitech FF Joystick? $299 is a lot but I would consider if it was similar to the old Microsoft sticks.
 
Saitek are known for being "cheap," they look "Flashy" but quality wise they aren't known for being tough.

You seem to have missed the CH brand of Joysticks (IE Fighterstick). It might not look as flashy as Saitek joysticks but CH are known for two things, having extremely durable joysticks (can last 10 years or more) and precise joysticks, which is important for flight sims and things. The downside is that the fighterstick for example, doesn't have the twist ability that some other joysticks have, so if you really want a flight sim experience you'd want to get some pedals and thing sthat go with it. However for BF and more "arcade" style flying games you probably don't need it.

Here's a review of Saitek X52 vs CH fighterstick:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ch_products_saitek_x52_review/
 
Last edited:
I'm interested in this too...

I had a logitech extreme 3d pro previously (here) that worked well enough for BF2, but I have since lost it and need to replace.

that thrustmaster hotas x (here) looks good too, but obviously takes up more space...
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
From the looks of it, you seem to be wanting to find a flight stick. Have you tried using the MS 360 for PC gamePad? I find it easy to use with flying type games.
 
I use a Saitek X52Pro and it works pretty good. I bought my coworker a Thrustmaster t16000m and he loves it. He has owned many, many gaming peripherals through the years and is a bleeding edge, always upgrading his pc kinda guy.
 
Lots of good info, thanks a bunch everyone!

My old joystick was a Logitech Wingman Extreme 3D and I loved it. Was comfortable and lasted me many many years through all kinds of hours with the X-Wing, TIE Fighter, BF1942, and BF2. Sadly it got lost during some moves the past few years so I don't have it anymore.

I will be checking out some the Thrustmaster and Saitek models, though right now I'm leaning towards a Thrustmaster T.Flight Stick X. Looks to be decent quality, plenty of buttons, and has the features I want.

A lot of the complaints I hear about joysticks these days are that the throttle switches go bad or become very loose after a while especially with the Logitech models.
 
Last edited:
GushpinBob said:
Hit up ebay for a MS Sidewinder Force Feedback 2. :) Very solid for a joystick and still compatible with Windows 7. It's just a shame that Microsoft doesn't make them anymore.
Click to expand...

Yep my FF2 is still running, 12 years old and hasn't broke.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top