From Twisty Stick to Rudder Pedals

[mondego]

Did anyone else make a similar move from twisty stick to rudder pedals only to find that it set them back considerably in ability?

Before I took a hiatus from the game for several months, my trusty Microsoft Sidewinder broke, so I bought CH Rudder Pedals and a Saitek X52 Stick + Throttle. Ever since, I cannot do half the things I used to. My muscle memory for maneuvers is gone, so I spend the majority of fights trying to "think" my way through them instead of just reacting. I also often find myself "forgetting" to hit rudder during certain moves, or forgetting to remove rudder thus blowing E with a lazy foot. I am constantly snap rolling during stall fights because I don't have the same "feel for the plane" that I used to.

I am sure with time I will become accustomed to this setup and back to my former self, but it seems to be taking much longer than I expected. Anyone else have a similar experience, and if so, have any pointers to get me out of the purgatory faster?

<S> and good to be back!

[SPKmes]

yes it did..but I sucked then anyway...but you on the other hand will probably feel a little set back..but some of that will be from time off......I'll see up there mondego ....I might just be able to score a kill on you for the next few days    ....welcome back

[mondego]

Haha! I doubt you'll get the chance - I'll probably auger into the ground before you even get a shot off!

[SPKmes]

I'm not proud...i'll take proxies   

[JunkyII]

Stick with it, you will end up shooting alot better after you get used to them.

 

[MajWoody]

I am going through the same pains. I feel like chucking the whole mess out the window. I have augured & lawndarted more times this tour than when I was a 2 week newb. 

I keep losing sight in quite a few of my fights. Hopefully I'll get used to the hotus & peds soon. If not, I'll go buy another twisty stick. 

[FLS]

Practice aerobatics.

[morfiend]

Yes the transition from twist stick to pedals was difficult for me,for some reason I kept imputting the wrong rudder when looking back. I susspect it was the mirror image thing,where you do the opposite of what you see!

 Then I noticed I over used the pedals and it cost me a loss of "E",so I tried not resting my feet on the pedals.

 I'd suggest you remove your shoes and try to keep your feet off the pedals,I now just rest my toes on the edge of the pedals.

 As FLS has mentioned,it would be a good idea to fly ACM and practice with the new pedals,this is best done in the TA as you dont have to worry about being shot down and can consentrate on what your doing.

   

[FLS]

Not to nitpick Morfiend but there are aerobatic figures that are worthless for ACM but they require footwork that can help to reprogram reflexes. Of course practicing ACM is also a good idea.

[mondego]

That's some good advice from everyone so far. I will give it all a try. Thanks! <S>

[HighGTrn]

Haha my friend.  I just posted an exact thread like this shortly after Christmas because I got some pedals as a present.  I was really excited when I saw the box and had visions of grandeur as I thought I would slip and slide my way to everlasting victory.  NOT!!!

I got so frustrated that I actually boxed them up and was about to sell them off on ebay when my stubborn side kicked in.  Also, there were so many guys on the board that egg'd me on to stick with it, I stuck with it.  Well, I'm glad I did stick with it.  I'm not saying that I'm a better stick now than before because of the pedals (at least not yet anyways) but I think I'm back to where my abilities were when I was using the twisty stick.

I hope I can save you a lot of heartache so that you can concentrate on getting better with the pedals by revealing to you the epiphany that was came to me light from a light house on a dark ocean night.  And here it is.

The reason you feel the way you do is because you are more worried about getting kills than learning how to use your new tool. That's it. Plain and simple.  I got so frustrated because I was losing fights I would normally win, missing shots I would normally not miss and crashing when I normally don't.  Once I really thought about it and boiled it down, I was getting frustrated because I was getting shot down ALOT more than I normally do.  This is what was PO'ing me off.  So, what do you do then?  I checked my ego at the door (once again) and pretended like I was learning this game all over again.  With this attitude, patience grew and with patience, I was really maximimizing my learning curve (cause I was logical about my analysis instead of being so emotionally charged with the moment). That's it!

Stick with and it will be "kings to you" Mondego.

Pappy

[steely07]

As has been said, stick with it, you will get there.

I feel your pain however, the first few weeks are frustrating, but your muscle memory will get remapped soon enough

Good Luck! 

Steely

[morfiend]

Not to nitpick Morfiend but there are aerobatic figures that are worthless for ACM but they require footwork that can help to reprogram reflexes. Of course practicing ACM is also a good idea.

      No offence taken,I hadn't noticed you wrote aerobatics and with my spelling,well, ACM was just easier.........

   

[MajWoody]

I find myself having to think about which pedal to push. In the brief moment that it takes to remember, boom, I'm in the tower or I just missed a shot on someone that was hanging there like a weather balloon. Today I nearly put my fist through my monitor after hours of dieing to noobs repeatedly.  Thankfully I didn't do that.

[1701E]

Didn't have any problems when I transitioned, but that may be my mind is younger then you old farts and can get use to it quickly.

While it's not realistic, one thing I've noticed helped was reversing the pedals.  By this I mean the Right pedal turns you Left and vice versa.  Seems more natural for me, so I don't have to stop and think about which one to hit.  Think it may be I'm use to hitting Left and seeing a Right reaction and such, as with Racing games, watching a car at the starting line, pressing the gas pedal (right pedal) makes the car tilt to the Left, the Brake/Reverse (Left pedal) tilts it to the Right.  It applies to other things, take a box for example:  Press the Left back corner with your hand and it turns the front to the Right.

Just something to try anyways.  The option for reversing them is:  Clipboard>Options>Map Controllers>Highlight Rudder Axis>Advanced>Check "Reverse Axis".