Cheapo joystick FOR STAR CITIZEN

[Corwin111]

Hey peeps, looking for a joystick till the SC stuff comes out REEEALLY don't wanna spend a lot of cash on one so pretty much leaves me with this:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GC-052-SK&groupid=702&catid=288

Seems OK and a good secondary joystick once I upgrade, can't find much else about it tho.

Or I could buy some more RAM for my build

 

The potentiometers on the cheap Saiteks will give out after about two months of heavy use. Believe me, I've gone through several! 

 

The Logitech 3d pro that was suggested above is a sturdy and accurate stick, whose potentiometers will last at least a year.

 

However, if you are willing to pay just a little bit more, I strongly recommend you take a look at the Thrustmaster T.16000m. It doesn't use potentiometers at all, but instead senses movement with magnetic sensors, which are contactless and frictionless and do not degrade. Ever! You will see button switch problems after a while but those are easily fixable.

 

I can't recommend the t.16000m enough. It may look ugly as hell but most people who have tried all relevant brands agree that it is the most accurate and overall best stick in its price range and quite a bit above it. I currently have two and am not planning on buying anything else, unless TM decide to finally grace us with a T.16000m MK2.

 

P.S.: yeah, now that I read the thread further, I see it was already suggested, lol.

[rentaspoon]

The potentiometers on the cheap Saiteks will give out after about two months of heavy use. Believe me, I've gone through several!

The Logitech 3d pro that was suggested above is a sturdy and accurate stick, whose potentiometers will last at least a year.

However, if you are willing to pay just a little bit more, I strongly recommend you take a look at the Thrustmaster T.16000m. It doesn't use potentiometers at all, but instead senses movement with magnetic sensors, which are contactless and frictionless and do not degrade. Ever! You will see button switch problems after a while but those are easily fixable.

I can't recommend the t.16000m enough. It may look ugly as hell but most people who have tried all relevant brands agree that it is the most accurate and overall best stick in its price range and quite a bit above it. I currently have two and am not planning on buying anything else, unless TM decide to finally grace us with a T.16000m MK2.

P.S.: yeah, now that I read the thread further, I see it was already suggested, lol.

Always value your opinion Corwin, just need something to last me a few months, replacing switches and potentiometers is common place for me anyway but when the v1 gives out I'll look at buying that.

[Napper198]

Is that worth it? What's your thoughts on it after using it?

 

Still in the mail. I have to wait until Monday to get my hands on it.

[gojira]

Always check your local flea market. I got an ancient enthusiast Thrustmaster from the late 90s/early 2000s for $7. It's so old in fact there was no information or drivers online, but it actually worked. Operates beautifully with Battlefield 4, would like to try it with Star Citizen sometime.

[rentaspoon]

Always check your local flea market. I got an ancient enthusiast Thrustmaster from the late 90s/early 2000s for $7. It's so old in fact there was no information or drivers online, but it actually worked. Operates beautifully with Battlefield 4, would like to try it with Star Citizen sometime.

Yeah, we don't have a flea market here

[gojira]

Yeah, we don't have a flea market here

 

You're missing out man

[rentaspoon]

You're missing out man

Yeah it sucks, got no shops round here either

[Nit3Rid3R]

Still in the mail. I have to wait until Monday to get my hands on it.

You should do a mini review of it once you've used it for a certain time! 

[Northmountain]

Hey peeps, looking for a joystick till the SC stuff comes out REEEALLY don't wanna spend a lot of cash on one so pretty much leaves me with this:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GC-052-SK&groupid=702&catid=288

Seems OK and a good secondary joystick once I upgrade, can't find much else about it tho.

Or I could buy some more RAM for my build

I got that stick.

 

Edit: no I don't but it looks very similar. Cheapo Mad Catz, works fine though until I can upgrade..

[rentaspoon]

I got that stick.

any good?

[Northmountain]

any good?

I edited my post, as I thought that was mine, but it wasn't. I got this:

http://store.madcatz.com/categories/flightsticks-pro-flight/Mad-Catz-FLY-5-Stick-for-PC.html

 

Cheap, and works fine. There's a review of it on YT here which I found pretty useful:

[Corwin111]

I edited my post, as I thought that was mine, but it wasn't. I got this:

http://store.madcatz.com/categories/flightsticks-pro-flight/Mad-Catz-FLY-5-Stick-for-PC.html

 

Cheap, and works fine. There's a review of it on YT here which I found pretty useful:

 

I use one as my left-hand stick. It has problems - mainly that its potentiometers start wobbling about after mere months of use. And Saitek's centering solution with that cone and spring on top of it is just inferior to pretty much all the others in terms of accuracy. Even their "high-end" stuff uses it and it sucks just as much there too. I have played with x-55 and x-52 Pro and they are both almost as bad at aiming because of it as the cheap Saiteks. It's nice for casual play of undemanding games. Not so much for SC. 

 

I use the F.L.Y 5 as the left stick in my dual setup just for strafing (with 50% dead zones) and for its, admittedly, nice and well-placed buttons. But its potentiometers got impossibly wobbly at the center after about 2 months of use. And the Cyborg before it had the same issue. Any fine aiming with Saitek sticks is pretty hard. But with their cheap ones - it is near impossible.

[drewjn]

@Corwin111 , have you tried the warthog or any of the ch sticks yet?

[Northmountain]

I use one as my left-hand stick. It has problems - mainly that its potentiometers start wobbling about after mere months of use. And Saitek's centering solution with that cone and spring on top of it is just inferior to pretty much all the others in terms of accuracy. Even their "high-end" stuff uses it and it sucks just as much there too. I have played with x-55 and x-52 Pro and they are both almost as bad at aiming because of it as the cheap Saiteks. It's nice for casual play of undemanding games. Not so much for SC. 

 

I use the F.L.Y 5 as the left stick in my dual setup just for strafing (with 50% dead zones) and for its, admittedly, nice and well-placed buttons. But its potentiometers got impossibly wobbly at the center after about 2 months of use. And the Cyborg before it had the same issue. Any fine aiming with Saitek sticks is pretty hard. But with their cheap ones - it is near impossible.

That seems to be the general consensus, Saitek sucks balls. Thanks for the illuminating reply. :-)

 

I don't have anything to compare with, so I'll stick with it (no pun intended) for a while. Can't justify buying a new one right at the moment, especially not when I don't log that many flying hours, and only trying the SC demo.

[Corwin111]

@Corwin111 , have you tried the warthog or any of the ch sticks yet?

 

Yes, I've tried them both. Simming, (and space simming in particular) is one of my greatest passions and I have been doing it for a considerable chunk of my life. In this time I have managed to borrow, swap, sample and otherwise test most of the relevant sticks on the market, although I don't really own that many.

 

The Warthog is undoubtedly the reigning monarch of flight simulation gear - no two ways about it. Its metal body, purely frictionless sensors and industrial-grade button switches and components make it pretty much indestructible. It more than compensates for its hefty price by the mere fact that once you purchase it, you will pretty much use it for life. What kills it for me, personally, is an unfortunate matter of deeply ingrained habit and personal preference - I like my sticks to have a rotational (twist) axis and the Warthog does  not have one. I can fly with pedals, but I just don't like it at all. If, however, you do not come into this with my inhibitions, I strongly recommend considering the Warthog above all other alternatives.

 

The CH Fighterstick is also a very sturdy and reliable stick. Although not using magnetic sensors, it comes equipped with the best potentiometers that will last for years of heavy use without any degradation. My problem with it is that it ALSO does not have a twist axis. And also one other small snag I have with it is the centering solution that it uses - two small tension springs, handling x and y movement respectively - it results in small (but still noticeable) deadzones in each of the four points of movement where one spring is at its maximum tension and the other at its minimum. In contrast, the single fat compression spring, used in the Warthog and other TM sticks does not have this problem.

[rentaspoon]

Yes, I've tried them both. Simming, (and space simming in particular) is one of my greatest passions and I have been doing it for a considerable chunk of my life. In this time I have managed to borrow, swap, sample and otherwise test most of the relevant sticks on the market, although I don't really own that many.

Pretty much what I played growing up were military flight sims (Comanche, A10 warthog and F22 being my fav).

TBH if this stick is as bad as you say it is but is comfortable in my hand , it'll end up like my mouse which is a cheap targus mouse with switches and sensor from different gaming mices as I struggle to find things that just work for me off the shelf.

Apparently they have fixed the issues with it but we will see

[drewjn]

I think I may get a warthog stick at some point of beta stage, or when squadron 42 comes out.

Just can't spring for a stick as well as pedals at this moment of time, nor vindicate the reason for doing it at the current iteration of the game.

[Napper198]

I finally got to test out the Logitech Extreme 3D. Right now I'm not 100% sold. Me and the z-Axis will not become friends and I'll probably just deactivate it. Sensitivity curves need more fine tuning and the weapons menu is completely broken, but man, dogfighting became way more intense. My right hand hurts because I kept gripping the joystick so hard.

 

Edit: @Corwin111 how do you handle weapon groups? Do you just fire all guns at once?

[Corwin111]

I finally got to test out the Logitech Extreme 3D. Right now I'm not 100% sold. Me and the z-Axis will not become friends and I'll probably just deactivate it. Sensitivity curves need more fine tuning and the weapons menu is completely broken, but man, dogfighting became way more intense. My right hand hurts because I kept gripping the joystick so hard.

 

Edit: @Corwin111 how do you handle weapon groups? Do you just fire all guns at once?

 

Yup, all at once at this time. My Cobra M5 joystick has a dual stage stage main trigger and an additional pinky trigger that come in really handy for weapon groups, unfortunately it can not match the accuracy of the t.16000m so I prefer to use the 16000 and just boat the same weapons wherever possible or t least equip weapons with similar projectile velocities like badgers and Mantises for example.

 

I could use my left hand sticks trigger for a 2nd weapon group but I am too used to it being my afterburner by now, it will only get confusing.

 

My dream stick will be invented at some point - rotational axis, magnetic sensors, trackball, dual stage trigger and NOT bloody Saitek, crappy cone-and-spring centering! The official SC stick almost went there and then fell off the mark on the last and most important count. So I'll wait for someone else... hopefully Thrustmaster,

 

Or I'll just give up and order or try to make a custom one. :-/

[The_Strict_Nein]

I still would be worried. The x52 stick is far less accurate than competitors models at cheaper value, and the x55 had bad orientation of buttons that was less ergonomic. The x6* series was the stiff force sensor based stick.

Quality aside, that makes me wonder how the sticks feel and how well they work.

Any who buy(after release), please give detailed reviews on how they worked for you.

 

They say they're working closely with CiG and that CiG will only put their branding behind something they feel is good for the players.

 

Seeing the way Chris Roberts talks and acts, I can believe this.

[Guest]

I have the Extreme 3D Pro and it does the job. It doesn't even compare to the Microsoft Sidewinder 1 and 2 Pro that I had before, but it does the job and is cheap. To my hand, it has a good feel to it. But my brother hates it.

[Maciek]

I have the Extreme 3D Pro and it does the job. It doesn't even compare to the Microsoft Sidewinder 1 and 2 Pro that I had before, but it does the job and is cheap. To my hand, it has a good feel to it. But my brother hates it.

 

Agreed. It's a superb stick at this price.

The spring is better than in most HOTAS systems. Both my x-55 sticks are terrible compared to the Extreme 3D.

[drewjn]

Agreed. It's a superb stick at this price.

The spring is better than in most HOTAS systems. Both my x-55 sticks are terrible compared to the Extreme 3D.

 

Well, discounting buttons, hats and other points, if we speak specifically about accuracy and quality of the spring and sensors, the Extreme 3d is the best priced, CH sticks are the best rated quality and warranty, while the higher quality thrustmaster sticks have the smallest deadzone and usually use hall effect sensors, which is the most accurate currently.

 

The Saitek/MadCatz brand is just pathetic in that case. Deadzone is ridiculous and even when modded with more magnetic sensors, the x52 can't even compare to the logitech 3d pro.... What Saitek does have is affordability and button placement. If they could fix their horrible quality issues, and perhaps better sticks, they would be far better.

[Guest]

Well, discounting buttons, hats and other points, if we speak specifically about accuracy and quality of the spring and sensors, the Extreme 3d is the best priced, CH sticks are the best rated quality and warranty, while the higher quality thrustmaster sticks have the smallest deadzone and usually use hall effect sensors, which is the most accurate currently.

 

The Saitek/MadCatz brand is just pathetic in that case. Deadzone is ridiculous and even when modded with more magnetic sensors, the x52 can't even compare to the logitech 3d pro.... What Saitek does have is affordability and button placement. If they could fix their horrible quality issues, and perhaps better sticks, they would be far better.

 

I would like Logitech (or is it Logi now?) to make a new version of the Extreme 3D Pro.

[drewjn]

I would like Logitech (or is it Logi now?) to make a new version of the Extreme 3D Pro.

I'd honestly consider the next step up to be the t16000m from thrustmaster.

 

Unlike other peripherals, when it comes to hotas, sticks and other such points, these companies don't really bother bringing out new models as it generally isn't worth it. These types of peripherals don't sell as often due to it being very niche, so they can't really change or upgrade their product line that often. They can increase quality and change around a few features, but it usually doesn't become a new line.

 

So what you see out there are normally models that have been out for a while. For instance, the x52 has had at least 4 different iterations, two of which came before MadCatz acquired Saitek, and two after. The x52 and x52 pro. Outside of the x55 (which quality is pretty much batch based), you still have the x6* models, which are force sensing (meaning stick doesn't move). MadCatz comes out with more varied products, but they rarely are worth getting.

 

The CH models have barely changed in decades, most notable changes were actually changing of connections when they moved toward usb, perhaps a decade back. Thrustmaster, like logitech, just keep what works and keep producing them. Every so often they might try out something new.