First of All, Do not use the X52 in a hub, that is not powered, or dedicated to the X52. It would be best to spend the 10 bucks and grab a PCI to USB 2.0 Card and install it in your computer to work your stick and pedals, this will increase the reaction time as well as make the stick faster to respond to your controls and through the game.
You may also want to make sure that you have enough power to power the X52. Becuase it has the fancy LED's and the MFD, it sucks a bit of power, and your powersupply has to be able to keep up with it, and everything else that is running in your computer. So either get a Dedicated Powered Hub, or Upgrade the power supply if you find that the controls are sluggish, or it has difficulty responding.
We always say, the best gaming computer is the one that you custom build, and upgrade at your financial ability. The Power Supply is one of the most important core parts of the puter that you are building, its better to have excessive power, and more cooling fans in it, then to have a whimpy power supply and you to be wanting to toss your puter in the trash after playing a game after upgrading hardware but not your PSU.
Known Issues with Aces High II
I ran into the problem of the POV hats not wanting to recognize 8 function switches, and this is due to the software not defaulting the hat switches to 8 function, as well as the inability to assign them as a seperate button using the saitek software, profile editor, you will notice the Not Enabled sign located beside each diagonal function, the only way to map this function is to assign it a seperate keystroke using a macro, or recorded keypress. Also, you will have to right click on the POV Hat and select Buttons, and Make it an 8 way instead of a 4 way POV. This should resolve this issue.
Having problems with the shift key locking on you? this is due to the pinkie switch being a shift button. Your computer recognizes it as a shift button, and this is why you have the problem, especially while working with views, and other things that already have a shift button assigned. Now we are not going to recreate the wheel here, but if it seems as though the shift button is locking when you get out of windows, and you click an icon and it selects everything within that square, or section, or you have a selecting problem with your keyboard, go to your control panel, and under accessibility options make sure that you do not have sticky keys enabled, especially under the shift, ctrl, and alt keys. Some people enable this, as a function, and i do believe that it is defaulted when you load the accessibility options under windows. which is default in XP, XP Pro, and Vista.
One more thing, if you plan on using the stopwatch function on the MFD, or Multi Function Display, you should not map these keys to any buttons, because you have to use the function to look at the stopwatch, and then reset, as well as start, stop. These buttons are mappable in other games, but I cannot think of anything that should be used to map them to in AHII, or any other game that I play.
Flaps, and Visibility Suggestions- Alot of pilots on AHII, dont like to have to use Trim Settings, However, these can be used for the knobs and thats also what they are for, but I have found that you can use the axis, as Bands, and set them up to mapped keyboard keys, for flaps, and visibility ranges, such as (in order) Ground, Short, Medium, Full, these modes will help your frame rate as you get into a dogfight, this is a very important thing because you are only as good as your gunsight, and your gunsight is only as good as your frame rate.
The mouse function, some guys like having this function setup, however you can also use it as bands, for setting up a trim setting, I have found that it is kind of difficult to get used to, but it works, and can also be used to look around the cockpit, or by enabeling, mouse look, or the SHIFT M buttons on your keyboard.
Hidden Scroll Wheel - There is a scroll wheel located just to the left of the 3rd hatswitch on the throttle, map it to whatever you like, i have mine set to zoom, becuase it has 3 functions, and the button on it being the zoom default.
The Pinkie switch - This is very useful to map 1 button to have 2 functions through use of depressing the switch and then hitting the button, IE Weapon Select Secondary as a button, and then use the same button to fire the Secondary Weapon.
2 stage trigger - Be careful with this, do not map the 2nd button to B, or global fire secondary, the reason for this is becuase this should be used to fire ALL Guns. Map this one to N if you would like to use this function.
Throttle Control and RPM. AHII automatically assigns the slider control as the throttle, and this must be changed if you want to use the authentic style throttle, I recommend using the Slider switch as RPM analog input becuase you can "feather your prop" to save fuel, as well as keep you slow on landing with full throttle, or to use as a type of engine brake without having to put forth the effort of reversing the throttle.
Toggle Switches, some want these set as Salvo settings however you must resolve the pinkie switch issue first. Toggle switches can be set to just about anything that you like, however you can double the functionality by using the pinkie switch in conjunction with them, so you get 12 functions out of 6 buttons.
Clutch Control - Pressing the clutch button does nothing for the game, and due to the fact that it is recognized as a button in windows under control panel, AHII does not recognize it as a button, This little beauty is what you can use to switch profiles on the fly, and triple or even quadruple your button functions of the X52 controller. How to do this? If you are sitting there scratching your head, simply press the button and then hit the POV 1 switch up and down, and you will see that it changes profiles. Set up a profile such as AH 1, and then make another one called AH 2, you can switch back and forth between profiles, so you can have one for vehicle, and 1 for fighter, 1 for attack, and another for bombers, or you can even have another one setup for engine control etc etc etc.
You can also set this to a latched position to momentarily switch to a different profile comletely during gameplay, and then press it again to switch back to the main profile.
How many profiles should you have?
Make as many as you like, however you must be aware that while playing AHII, you have to set one as a primary and then select between the two of them at the start of gameplay by pressing the button, and then releasing it.
This also serves as a "Whats that button again?" function. simply press it and press the button that you want to find out what it does, (if you gave descriptions when you setup your profile by renaming the macros to what function is serves) and the MFD will display the text from the profile below the Mode Indicator LCD Section.
The Mode Switch.
Since we are setting up key mappings on the controller Vehicles use their own neat little variations of throttle, gun positions, etc etc etc. So it is wise to use the mode function for switching between vehicles and bomber gunnery modes, becuase it will save you time by simply moving the position, as well as save you from hitting the keyboard and mapping the keys for mode 1 2 3 4 etc.
Getting used to the joystick.
First of all I am going to say that yes, the stick is a little fancy, and looks like something out of star trek, however it is not as forgiving as most of the sticks out there and you should not yank, jerk, and pull it around, and keep all wires away from the family pets, especially rabbits (they chew wires and you cant sweep up rolling poop). One of them once chewed through the TV Power Cable, The TV went out, and I said to my father "Dad, I think your gonna need a new rabbit". Spend a few hours and log some training time in with the new stick and get used to it. You may also want to setup the damping and scaling to move the way that you want it to, due to the ease of pulling back and such on the stick.
Some people choose not to use the joystick but keep the throttle, due to these factors.
Rudder hardness - the X52 has a rugged rudder design, and you have to nudge it a lil, and strengthen that wrist and forearm to control the rudder. Dont get any dirty ideas, the only way to get used to this is to play the game and spend a few hours in the Training Arena, or in offline mode.
It is best to get a set of rudder pedals and brakes because it gives you more control over the aircraft and also enhances the experience.
Softness of X and Y Axis - This stick is designed as an electronic equipment, it is definitely not as cheap as the MS Sidewinder, or the Logitech 3D Extreme, and it will not take the same beating, be gentle with the controls, the high position of the stick gives you the ability to rest it in your lap with a good old fashioned redneck style TV Tray, or set it up on a pedestal beside your Chair so you can get the F-16 Effect, or for some of you Grognards, and Fligh Sim Fanatics out there, you can also make your own mount for the stick to sit where it would be in the cockpit of your aircraft so you can get the realistic effect that you are looking for.
It has suction cups as well, for glass desks, and these should be used if at all possible, or if you feel that you want to void your warranty you can dissasemble it or drive some screws in place to lock it down in your contraption that you have made to hold the stick for you.
I am working on the profiles that will be able to maintain all functions of AHII in one profile, as well as a secondary for engine control etc etc. to be used in conjunction and they will be located on my website
http://www.squadsites.com once they are completed.
http://www.squadsites.comGet your squad or Clan a website
