Author Topic: finally getting an x-52 (Read 407 times)

falcon23 · « **on:** May 10, 2007, 10:07:49 PM »

The wife has allowed me to get an x-52..

which I will be getting friday..

And I have a question or two..Should I just go and set all my switches in aces high,or should I download the program that comes with it??

I have been reading on the x-52 for quite awhile about the x-52 and am approaching info overload..

<~~~~just saw this sentence..LOL,see what I mean about info overload..

I had an st-290 and can map buttons just fine on it,will it be any different in mapping the 52?

I want to be able to have different modes,can this all be done in the AH mapping? Will I be able to map my zoom in and out on a single rotor all within aces high without the saitek 52 program?

Can I map everything I want without the saitek program loaded into my comp and it work efficently?

Thanks,
Kevin

And HORRAY!!!! to an awesome,understanding wife!!!

hubsonfire · « **Reply #1 on:** May 11, 2007, 12:06:19 AM »

The AH programming is good, but the SST allows you to do some things which I don't think are possible with the game programming alone. I use both the ingame and the Saitek software, and while it took some effort getting used to the software, and shuffling things around until I had everything where I wanted it, it's amazing what you can do.

In game, I have 2 control modes (1 fighters, 1 GVs/buffs with stick scaling), and with the SST I have 2 stick modes, plus shift key function for all buttons in both modes, all the commands I use in game, and then some. The only thing I can't do on the stick is type.

The only drawback is there's so much **** programmed that I forget where things are.

there's a few things you can do in AH that you can't do with the SSt, like mapping the button on the throttle with an I on it. Also, the second or third day I was fiddling with it, I downloaded the most current drivers. That changed the way the game recognized some functions, but made programming with SST a good deal easier. If you'd like, I could send you my profile. I looked at half a dozen AH profiles from various players when I was trying to set mine up. I hated all of them, but learned a good deal from them.

falcon23 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 12, 2007, 08:04:50 AM »

So hubbs,when I get the stick,should I go first to saitek and download the drivers before doing any mapping?

Thanks,Kevin

hubsonfire · « **Reply #3 on:** May 12, 2007, 12:24:35 PM »

You might, I don't think it can hurt. When I first got mine, I used the drivers on the CD. I then mapped the stick in game. A short while later, I downloaded newer drivers, which changed my mappings ingame. At that point, I started using the SST primarily, with just the buttons on the base of the throttle mapped in game, along with the stick/rudder/throttle axes.

I sent you another email, btw. If I didn't explain anything clearly enough, you could probably get some better directions here on the boards.

GL.

TinmanX · « **Reply #4 on:** May 12, 2007, 08:19:48 PM »

Like Hub, I use both the Profiler and in game mapping. I use the Profiler mainly for macro's like my squlech list and other commonly typed phrases like salvo's and such.

After using a 290, when you first get it you're going to find the stick a little slack or loose. The 290 is a much stiffer stick.

Once you've installed the drivers, I'd suggest you go into your system devices and disable Saitek magic keyboard and Magic Mouse. They're just plain annoying.

hubsonfire · « **Reply #5 on:** May 12, 2007, 11:01:37 PM »

I actually do make use of that damned mouse emulator. I shut the saitek stuff down completely as soon as I log off, but the ability to both navigate the clipboard, and to use mouselook without taking my hands off the stick has proven quite useful.

TinmanX · « **Reply #6 on:** May 13, 2007, 03:09:42 AM »

Mine was always dodgy as hell, it'd just start wandering around the screen of it's own accord - though this was probably the stick's fault. I have a new X52 now (my second - first was looking kinda threadbare (2.5 years old) and I was offered a brand new one by a squaddy for cheap) but I haven't yet turned the mouse back on to see.

Probably it was just mine.

falcon23 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 13, 2007, 08:25:53 AM »

Well after fiddling,and reading,and fiddling some more,And then reading,I believe I have finally gotten the hang of this stick..I was actually able to go in and get a few kills..It took me a little while,but I have it programmed with the sst program,and programmeed a bit in AH..

I wanty to thank you hubs for your support in emails,and of course I have a few more questions.

I have the pinky switch programmed as a button,but will change it to pinky switch function so that I can double program some buttons,but I am not a bit confused(go figure) on how the pinky switch works..I mean when I hit the pinky switch,the buttons will change to what I have double programmed,but will it stay on this button even after I let off the pinky switch?

I guess I can go into programming in SST,and switch to mode2 on the stick and this will allow me to program the stick and throttle to do bombers seperatly from mode one?

and another question,what exactly is the i/clutch button for?

Alos,I do not see myself really needing the mouse operation at this time,so how do I program the mouse scroll to be mapped to a control?I cannot seem to get its function to show up in the aces high sticvk profile when wanting to set it to something.

And one more,how would/do I program the rotors on the throttle,kind of giving me the same problem as the mouse scroll...

Thanks,
Kevin

hubsonfire · « **Reply #8 on:** May 13, 2007, 09:15:42 AM »

That I clutch button thingy has 2 functions. One, is that it allows you to use the hat switch that starts blinking to navigate through windows, so that you can load alternate profiles without having to exit or tab out of the game. I have found no use whatsoever for this (I mean, really, do you need more than 1 profile with 3 different modes for a single game? ). The second use is that you can hold the clutch down, and press the buttons on the stick, and the display on the throttle will display the description for the command mapped. This is kind of useful, but requires a little more work in setting the profile up initially (as an example, if you load my profile and have a look, I think I created a label for all the controls). Useful if you programmed so much stuff you can't remember where it is.

The pinky switch just acts as a shift key- you've got to hold it down to access the shifted functions, but it does not "latch".

As far as modes for fighters and bombers, that's exactly what I did. Commands like fire position, fire all positions, open doors, the calibration macro, 5 keys for gun positions, etc aren't useful for fighters, so I set mine up as 2 separate modes.

The mouse nub, I don't think can be mapped as a button. Windows recognizes it as a USB mouse, so I think it's mouse functions or nothing for that one.

The rotaries on the throttle, can be set as banded keys, or axes. I programmed those within AH (RPM controls for 1 and 2 engines). I believe you can set those up as keys (by rightclicking and going through the options in the Profile Editor, IIRC), but I didn't like that setup much. I often use the engine controls, so that was much more convenient for me (as well as being simpler to program through Aces High instead of the SST).

It takes some tinkering to figure out how everything works. I would have taken a lot longer to get all that stuff set up, but my ISP went down one night, so I killed time setting up my profile.

Everybody does things a little differently, but once you get used to that
Editor, changing things around, or adding complex commands gets easier.

Spikes · « **Reply #9 on:** May 13, 2007, 11:55:49 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by hubsonfire
The AH programming is good, but the SST allows you to do some things which I don't think are possible with the game programming alone. I use both the ingame and the Saitek software, and while it took some effort getting used to the software, and shuffling things around until I had everything where I wanted it, it's amazing what you can do.

In game, I have 2 control modes (1 fighters, 1 GVs/buffs with stick scaling), and with the SST I have 2 stick modes, plus shift key function for all buttons in both modes, all the commands I use in game, and then some. The only thing I can't do on the stick is type.

The only drawback is there's so much **** programmed that I forget where things are.

there's a few things you can do in AH that you can't do with the SSt, like mapping the button on the throttle with an I on it. Also, the second or third day I was fiddling with it, I downloaded the most current drivers. That changed the way the game recognized some functions, but made programming with SST a good deal easier. If you'd like, I could send you my profile. I looked at half a dozen AH profiles from various players when I was trying to set mine up. I hated all of them, but learned a good deal from them.

I have an X-52 as well, with SST and it seems I can't save my modes.

falcon23 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 15, 2007, 05:47:20 PM »

That was going to be my next question..If I program one switch in-game,and then go into my saitek programming and prgram that same switch for something else what happens??? I am thinking one would be overridden...

And I am a bit confused about how to use modes on the stick...I guess that only has to dow ith SST programming???

I printed out the SST user manual,about 22 pages,and took a good look at it,and I do like it..

Spikes,do you mean,saving profiles,or actually saving modes? I have not yet gotten far enough to worry about saving modes...YET!!!..

Thanks,
Kevin

hubsonfire · « **Reply #11 on:** May 15, 2007, 07:06:51 PM »

There are 2 different types of modes in this context. In AH, through the ingame control mapping, there are 3 or 4 possible modes, allowing you to setup joystick scaling and other controls, so at the press of a button, you can change them around. As an example, I have the joystick, throttle, rpm, and rudder axes mapped through AH, and also the Reset button button on the throttle display. I have 2 modes set up in game, with no stick scaling for one, and scaling enabled on the second one. I use one for fighter, and one for buffs/gvs/gunning, to get a little smoother aiming.

In the Saitek software, when you've got the profile editor up, there's a menu bar that says "Shiftstate", and in the bar, it displays the Mode you're currently programming things in. Clicking on that bar lets you select different modes to program, and also the Shift modes (which let you use the pinkie switch as a shift key, instead of a button, effectively doubling the number of commands available without having to change modes or profiles). Might be easier to load my profile up in the editor and look through all of this than it is for me to explain. It accomplishes basically the same things as the AH mode, but has a little more flexibility (and more complexity) than the ingame programming.

Similar to the AH Modes, it allows for different button mappings to be loaded. These, you can toggle by using the rotary button with the LED on the top right of the stick. Just like the game, these can be changed at will by simply rolling the knob forward and back, with the LED changing colors, and the display on the throttle base also displays which Mode you're in (1,2 or 3).

I just checked, and the 1 reset timer button on the base is the only key press I have mapped through the game. It's not mappable in SST (since its dedicated to the MFD function) so I mapped it in game. None of my other stick buttons register in the game controls setup when I have a profile loaded. I'm not sure if you can double up the controls.

Anyways, when you're in the SST Profile Editor, when you get your commands where you want them, at the top of the screen, File, Save As, name it so you remember what it is, then hit Save. The modes in SST are part of the profile itself, so you won't have AH2profileMode1.dta, AH2profileMode2.dat, etc. You'll have the single profile with all 3 modes and all 3 shift stats, selectable with the twist of a knob, all in the same profile. This is different from the AH ingame programming where the different modes are the equivalent of different profiles. Hope this helps a bit.