Thrustmaster T-16000M Flight Stick

[Gman]

I have a set of every HOTAS made pretty much since the 90s and the early TM stuff - including the VKB and Virpil units.  The Gunfighter is the most accurate stick I've used, period, and it does make a difference particularly right on the edge - when I fly it's often in the Ki43 which is usually flown right to the edge of its envelope in order to survive and pull in 10-12 kills per hour with it.  While CH was forever the stick I'd recommend for AH (since 1999) over the TM WH, all the Saitek stuff, etc, that ended with the newer tech sticks, which allow you to change out springs and cams to emulate that very soft CH movement, and increase accuracy BIG time over the older sticks.

I sort of understand the idea that it may not seem a "huge" difference, especially without comparing 16/32/etc side by side, but as Gale Boetticher said in Breaking Bad - "that 3% may not sound like a lot...but it is".  And it is.

[icepac]

Unless you can accurately state the "resolution" of a 16 bit vs a 32 bit controller and translate that into the throw of each axis, you can't argue it.

A 16 bit controller should have around 65,000 values per axis or  -32767 to 32767 for a centered x or y axis.

Then your operating system would have to be capable of resolving those 65,000 values.

Then your game would have to be capable of resolving those 65,000 values.

Then your hand would have to be capable of feeling all 65,000 of the possible increments of each axis.

Half that, twice that..............I'll venture a bet most games have significantly less "steps on an axis" and it's probably 256 or less for aces high.

Can your hand differentiate between pulling the stick to a value of "234 out of 256" and a value of "235 out of 256"?

[Gman]

Unless you can accurately state the "resolution" of a 16 bit vs a 32 bit controller and translate that into the throw of each axis, you can't argue it.

A 16 bit controller should have around 65,000 values per axis or  -32767 to 32767 for a centered x or y axis.

Then your operating system would have to be capable of resolving those 65,000 values.

Then your game would have to be capable of resolving those 65,000 values.

Then your hand would have to be capable of feeling all 65,000 of the possible increments of each axis.

Half that, twice that..............I'll venture a bet most games have significantly less "steps on an axis" and it's probably 256 or less for aces high.

Can your hand differentiate between pulling the stick to a value of "234 out of 256" and a value of "235 out of 256"?

Fair enough, you could be correct that the difference in effect in terms of the "numbers" might be difficult to distinguish, but unless you've physically tried both side by side, it's difficult to explain the increased precision in words.  I had a local sim/DCS player buy my first T50 from me he was that impressed with it compared to his former 16 bit hotas - my 2nd T50 should be here next week, I'm going to do some tests such as Blade did before with the VKB and Virpil sticks vs the T160000 (which I'll have to buy still, as I just bought the TWCS throttle and not that stick).  Like I said though, the numbers and graphs only tell a part of the story, you truly can't appreciate the difference until you'll using it, and for example trying to hold that rope/rudder or tight bank riding a possible stall.  I'll compared the other commonly used hotas around here like the X55, Cougar, Warthog,  and CH Fighter/Combat sticks as well.

IMO the new 32bit controller sticks do have other attributes which affect their increased precision and accuracy, most of which resides in the design and operation of their gimbal/movement system. Take apart both the Virpil T50 and the VKB Gunfighter, and you'll see why the sensors and boards they use are part of a team, and while no doubt provide an improvement, the materials, design, and care put into the hardware bottom end of the sticks - the most important I think - is pretty apparent.

Blade did some tests a few years ago with earlier VKB Black Mamba units, they've only improved since then.

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