Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Help and Training => Topic started by: roach on October 19, 2006, 07:53:10 PM
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Most flight controllers are too tall, the measurement from the base of the fightstick to the top where the hud and other buttons are. The Logitech Wingman is 6 1/2 inches tall from the base to the top of the hud controls, which is much taller than I prefer. (note: the quality of this controller also leaves much to be desired.) I think about 4 inches from the controller base to the top would be ideal.
I don't have foot rudder controls so I also like the twist option in the controller. As a student pilot IRL I think the foot rudder controls would perhaps be more realistic, but since I am sitting at a desk to use this simulation, sometimes for a few hours, I need to be comfortable and like to put my feet up.
Please post your recommendations for such a flight controller, brand model and if you can, where to buy. Thank you.
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Logitech Extreme 3d pro is pretty small sized. But not very reliable. Mine right now the back hud switch is broken and calibration is never right. Also the side buttons sometimes do not work. But its very cheap too.
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roach, you are going to have a tough time finding a stick under 6 inches, but a word of advice, stay away from logitech sticks, they are crap.
For the same price you can get a Saitek Cyborg EVO. Twisty stick, ergonomically not bad, and it will last longer and give you way less grief than the logitech stick.
cheers,
RTR
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I knew a girl that worked at Detroit Metro control who was only 4'11" would she do?...:rofl I'm sorry couldnt help myself :)
shamus
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I have a Saitek Cyborg Evo Force. It has an adjustable hand rest (for height). It has three positions from 6.25" to 5.5" below the top of the stick. The top of the stick is almost 8" above the top of the base but that shouldn't matter if the issue is small hands. I think the none force version is the same. I've got big hands so I went to a CH stick. I also didn't like the twisty stick. The Saitek is also configurable for left or right hand use and and somewhat for button location. See it here:
http://www.saitekusa.com/usa/prod/cyborg_evo.htm (http://)
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this is a very homoerotic post. does size really matter?
if you are able to fly this game successfully and leave your feet up, i will be impressed. but regardless, theres nothing wrong with using twist rudder. I have microsoft sidewinder precision pro and have had no problems with it whatsoever (been flying more than a year with it.) it's cheap and easy to set up, that's what i recommend. but i havent measured it so i dont know what to tell you about that.
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the X52 from saitek has an adjustable joystick grip
(http://img.hexus.net/v2/gaming/x52/x52_proshot.jpg)
note the grooves in the back, those are the increments you can shorten the grip. also note it is a twisty stick.
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Also, with a little plasticine or balsa and tape, you can always create a higher handrest that molds your indivudually :).
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Welcome to the flock, Roach
You might want to take a look on Ebay for a Sidewinder Precision 2 Joystick from Microsoft...now out of production, sorry to say.
Elevation from hand rest to top of stick is 5". It's a twisty stick with throttle lever, 8-way views hat and 8 programmable buttons. Best of all, this is an incredibly smooth a nose-bounce free joystick.
I'd pay $50+ to replace the one I have but you'll probebly find one out there for less than $25. This is ONE GREAT JOYSTICK!
Oh yeah...you want the USB model. earlier version were Gameport based.
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Roach
Read close what Max said , that will work for u the best IMO .
gl
spro
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I appreciate all of the responses, and to trotter I did attempt to choose my words very carefully to avoid the all but inevitable witticism that could be correlated to this thread.
Just to clarify, it isn't really an issue of "hand size" but more of precision. I am an old school gamer, and in the early days (back when I played Star Control I) I had a game controller that was only 4" high. It was way more precise, and requires a lot less hand movement, lending itself to quicker response time and agility. Adjusting the handrest doesn't address the issue, I am better with small precise movement and prefer smaller game controllers.
Consider the circumference of an imaginary circle drawn in the air by the top of the stick when moved around its 360-degree range of motion (like when you calibrate it). The larger that circle, the more movement, and time to make such movement required. I do much better when the circumference is reduced. Maybe the reason is that I work with electronics a lot, and must make very small, precise movements with the iron when soldering electronic components.
Remember the first Atari 2600 game controller? It was a very tall unwieldy thing and not very precise. Later they introduced controllers, mostly third-party, half the size and I was a lot better with them. It seems like the PC game industry has taken a step back going to big tall unwieldy game controllers again. I have tried used my Logitec Rumblepad which has to very short analog controllers, but they are too small, and spring loaded in a way that completely interferes with flight in AH2 (although they work okay for Bf1942 flight which is far from being an accurate flight sim.) The rumblepad lacks a throttle control also.
On my old Nintendo I had a game controller called The NES Advantage. The stick on that was just about right. It has long since worn out as well as the little adapter that allowed me to connect it to my PC, which is no longer manufactured.
Anyway, it is the measurement from the base to the top of the flight stick that I prefer reduced to about 4".
I will take a look at that Microsoft model recommended by Max, although I do cringe at the thought of paying for a Microsoft product… but when there's only one option then what has to be done, has to be done. lol
My wife also enjoys the flight sims and she has tiny hands - I often wonder what female gamers use - but there just isn't enough of them for the manufacturers to worry about producing a flight controller for.
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Originally posted by roach
I will take a look at that Microsoft model recommended by Max, although I do cringe at the thought of paying for a Microsoft product…
This is one of those products that M$ got right. The M$ Precision Forced Feedback stick also had a huge following.
If you find and buy a Sidewinder Precision 2 and don't like it, I'll buy it from you :D
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Actually, the longer the stick, the more precision. This is the reason that sticks in real aircraft were several feet in length. The wider the circumference, the fewer degrees per inch. Let me put it this way; if you've got a one inch stick, and you accidentally move it half an inch, you've probably made a mistake of around fifty percent deflection. If you have a two foot stick, and you accidentally move it half an inch, your airplane will barely deviate since you've only made something like a two percent deflection error.
Unfortunately, with the way gaming joysticks are put together (and with the usual location on the desk), longer sticks tend to be at a disadvantage. I've found that since gaming joysticks are cheap and fairly imprecise compared to real sticks, the gaming joysticks have more of a deadzone the taller they are. The solution would be to build your own that doesn't pivot at the bottom of the stick but well above it.
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Thrustmaster Aftrburner aint bad, cheep too..twisty and separate thrtol
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Originally posted by RedRadr
Thrustmaster Aftrburner aint bad, cheep too..twisty and separate thrtol
Had one a few years ago....lasted less than a lunar cycle. :cry
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Schutt had one too. Laster well over a year and was a good throttle.