Originally posted by evilc
What I mean is this...
Some controls are more important than others when you are in combat and need to keep hands on throttle and stick.
Welcome aboard...
TC provided an excellent rendering of his stick setup.
Here's the issue as you so correctly noted. All sticks are different. Some have the throttle on the base. Some have a twisty stick for rudders. Some have 12 buttons. Some have 4-way hats on top or 8-way hats. Some have an 8-way hat and 5- or 6 buttons on the top next to the hat.
My particular stick is an older CH F-16 Fighter stick. I have approx. 17 views on the hat using the "up modifier" on a button on the throttle. The stick also has 3 more 4-way hats on it along with 3 more buttons. This is the joystick alone. I also have the CH Pro throttle which adds 4 buttons and 4 more 4-ways. Last I have some really old TM pedals (they used to call them RCS). So when you think about it I have 34 buttons (35 with the "up modifier") and the 8-way view hat. Every single one of them is mapped to do something. My stick is almost at the top of the heap but not quite since it is an older generation (analog). The price reflects it. People spend what they want to spend and this is not about who wants to buy what. However, you can buy a stick for price that won't get the wife ack active yet give you a chance to be very successful in any part of this game. Let me explain.
High on the list of any joystick is the ability for you to maintain continious eye contact with your opponents plane. We maintain visual using the Hat (old military saying is coolie hat because that's what they looked like). The Hat in a real jet was used as a trim switch. Planes like the A4 Skyhawk had no auto pilots. You would lock your elbow in a particular position then trim your plane to level flight so you could gently touch the joystick without having to maintain constant gripe over long cross country trips. But, you would normally trim a little nose down when you were about to engage someone in a fight. The reason is obvious. History lesson over. Back to the hat....
The sayings used by old aces are absolutely true in this game. "Speed is life." "Lose sight, Lose the fight." "Turn in to your attacker." "Attack from a position of advantage whenever possible." Note the "lose sight" one. If you were to break down a steps in a dogfight one of the most important ones is your ability to maintain visual throughout the whole fight. It doesn't matter if you can turn on a dime if you lose sight of the other guy for a second or two the odds are you just died. It is so important that you can actually watch a guy make a mistake in the fight and immediately capitolize on it. At that point you own the fight and can end it. A rolling scissors is a perfect example as you are maintaining eye contact with the enemy plane while gaining nose positional advantage. Once that happens you know exactly when he is going to pop out in front of you for the killing shot.
The question raised here is how to set up a stick. The real question is which stick to begin with. What are the minimum requirements for a joystick without breaking the bank. There are a lot out there. They range anywhere from $1 (garage sale) up to $300 (top of the line). The average player spends $20-40 on a stick.
Here's what to look for;
The minimum must have...
1) an 8-way hat.
buttons located away from the hat (on the base the stick mounts on). The reason is you cannot move your thumb around on the hat and press down the look up modifier at the same time.
At least a throttle located on the base.
2) Additional NICE to have and not really anymore expensive...
A twisty stick joystick for rudders.
As many buttons on a joystick as you can find. They will be put to good use.
3) Got a little more money and want to blow it...
A separate throtle (with buttons) is excellent.
Separate rudder pedals also excellent.
We have an old saying...A joystick is approx 95% better than a mouse. A good joystick is approx 50% better than a base 4-way hat type joystick with a couple of buttons. Take the time. Ask questions. Use this help board to ask questions. Buy a joystick that will work for you. But remember if you don't get what you need then you will struggle as long as you play. There are a lot of $20-30 NEW sticks out there meet items 1 and 2 above.
Lastly, (whew) there ARE stick setups that provide you with a logical way of managing a fight using HOTAS. Since most folks have no idea which is good or not quite as good I'd suggest instead of just grabbing some easy stick setup you meet with a trainer in the Training Arena (TA) and spend the hour with him. And a word of caution...the Trainers have been around a long time and have learned whats the most expedient way of using HOTAS in a fight. It's human nature to try something, right or wrong, and continue to use it because you were never taught the correct way. The concern is unlearning the wrong way. If you get your stick setup corrrectly (read logically) THEN learn how to use the new views and buttons you just set up you will be a long way into this great game!
Hope this helps.
