Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Yankee67 on November 09, 2013, 08:55:29 AM
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Couple questions:
1. How do folks scan your environment from the cockpit during a dogfight? Thumb button, mouse? I bought a small, cheap pistol grip mouse with a thumb track ball. I hold that in my left hand, on the throttle, while flying, and it augments my joystick's hat switch. It's kind of a clunky way to do it, but I haven't been around gaming long enough to know what's available out there. My joystick set up is a Thrustmaster. What do other folks use to pan around?
2. Does anybody have experience with separate keypads, for more common control functions?
Thx
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i use snap views. hat switch for all forward and back views then throttle button + hatswitch for all up views.
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Depending on your budget there are many options.
Cheapy joysticks come with a minimum amount of buttons and so you are dependent on the keyboard. Many "old timers" who flew with out a thumb switch/hat switch on their joystick years ago got very good at using the the number pad and is still something you can do.
Better sticks today $30-70 have hat switches and most use these to scan around, but again the number of buttons are limited.
High end sticks $75-200 have more buttons so that using the hats to look around doesn't take away what you have available. My CH products stick has 3 4-way hats and an 8 way-hat as well as a few buttons, all programmable. Add to that throttle units and you can have all kinds of options. I have a hat on my throttle that has all the views like my stick so if that hand is busy I can STILL take a quick look around.
The newest option is to get TrackIR. It's a head monitoring system that translates your small head movements to the ingame movements of looking/moving around in the cockpit.
Also in the game is setting to change hoe the views are displayed. Snap view means that the view "snaps" to which ever view you are signaling through your mouse or stick. Instant goes from one view to another instantly with no panning, and panning slides from view to view.
There is no "best way", you use what works for you. I use instant when I use my joystick buttons, but I love the panning TrackIR uses. :rolleyes:
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I use my num pad. I've used it since 1996 so it's second nature now. I think it offers the greatest flexibility as I get all the up, down and level views (26 total although only 17 are truely useful) while my thumb can reach the arrow keys to make up/down/left/right adjustments to every view.
It helps that I'm left handed so my stick is on the left freeing my right hand to control views with an occasional jump to my mouse scroll wheel to adjust throttle. It also frees my hat switch for various other functions.
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baldeagle, wait till you get trakir. then you really will have more buttons than what you use.
semp
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I have used the NaturalPoint TrackIR (http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/) 3 Pro and the 5 for several years, and have come to prefer using a head-tracker. The thing I really like about the latest TrackIR s/w is that in addition to rotating around all three axes, I can move in a straight line along each axis, which allows me to "lean" around the canopy framing in planes like the 109. Really glad that HTC supports the TRackIR "6 DOF" like that. :aok
Back in WarBirds, I always used the numeric keypad for views, and never got the hang of the hat switches on a joystick.
YMMV
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TrackIr here too. Not sure I could go back to a hat view setup. TackIR is a GVs worst enemy. Spot your GV. Pull up keeping your eye on the spot then turn back in for the shot without ever loosing sight of the target.
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I have used the NaturalPoint TrackIR (http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/) 3 Pro and the 5 for several years, and have come to prefer using a head-tracker. The thing I really like about the latest TrackIR s/w is that in addition to rotating around all three axes, I can move in a straight line along each axis, which allows me to "lean" around the canopy framing in planes like the 109. Really glad that HTC supports the TRackIR "6 DOF" like that. :aok
Back in WarBirds, I always used the numeric keypad for views, and never got the hang of the hat switches on a joystick.
YMMV
pffft 20th century tech :devil
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I use 3 different kinds of setups depending on the budget available every time I build a system, but for views, I ALWAYS use the tried-and-true, standard system based on the numeric keypad.
Here are some photos, narrated video clips, and a writeup showing all 3 of my setups:
http://askmisterwizard.com/FlightSimMovies/General/ControlsAndCockpits/JoysticksControlsAndFlightSimCockpitsFullPage.htm
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I still use the keypad on my keyboard to look around. I like that best.
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pffft 20th century tech :devil
You, sir, are just a show-off, with your Oculus Rift (http://www.oculusvr.com/). :neener:
And I can't wait for the commercial release of the blasted thing! :x