Do you guys fly with a joystick?

[guitarxe 10]

I'm quite comfortable flying with the mouse in keyboard in other games, because I'm either able to set up my mouse and keyboard independently for vehicles and infantry (like in Battlefield 2), or the flight is simple enough not to bother (like in Battlefield 1942). But for a more simulated game like this, I find that without at least being able to have different mouse settings (inverse, sensitivity, etc) for aircraft and other vehicles and infantry makes me very ineffective when flying.

Do you guys use a joystick when flying? I'm interested into getting more into Arma2 (I've only bought it this week), and thinking if I should start looking into buying one. What do you guys recommend? Something very cheap, but gets the job done?

Thanks in advance!

[archer-brad 10]

Hi im new to the forums but I thought I would answer your question.

I do use a joystick as I think it adds a bit of realism to the game, if you were flying a real plane you wouldnt use a mouse. I have a saitek x52 joystick and I love it because it has a throttle with it =D, I think it makes flying alot more fun and interactive, for example I have set my switches at the bottom for flaps and landing gear. and come on it even has a safety thumb catch so you dont accidently kill your buddy =P

[Dynamic Echo 10]

I personally use a wired 360 controller. If you set it up properly it is very good, not as good as a joystick but I find it easier (but I use my 360 a lot, so...) Can also be used in lots of other games, especially useful in things like driving games. They're also a lot cheaper than a good joystick, so that is what I personally would recommend.

[Psycho78 10]

I'm just starting out, but found myself not doing very well flying the helicopters. I hooked up a PS3 joystick and now I'm MUCH better at flying. My config is:

Left stick: Roll left/right, Pitch up/down

Right stick: Look around

L1 and R1: Rudder Pedals

X: Fire

O: Switch weapons

Triangle: Exit Vehicle

I did have to run a special driver to get the PS3 controller to work in WinXP.

[Gunter Severloh 4064]

if you were flying a real plane you wouldnt use a mouse

Dont really think it matters, I mean its a game, but ideally joystick is the way to go if you

are really into flying, I personally like to fly but with mouse and keyboard, and am used to it,

i do have a joystick, i just find it easier with mouse & keyboard.

What do you guys recommend?

Whatever floats your boat, if you want more immersion when your flying then joystick

is the way to go, you can fly a plane, and chopper with mouse and keyboard too, really up to you.

[celery 8]

Mouse and keyboard is easier and more effective, at least for me.

[DeathXEagle 10]

Just to put it out there, if you don't want to clutter up your desk with a joystick, you can use a wired Xbox 360 controller. Pretty cheap alternative and easy to set up. I use the left and right triggers for rudder, since ArmA recognizes those as the yaw-axis you would see on a joystick.

Took me about 5 minutes to get setup correctly, and about the same amount of time to get used to.

I did this since my faithful old Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 finally met it's end. :'(

[b00ce 160]

Keyboard & Mouse:

Increase Thrust: W

Decrease Thrust: S

Left Pedal: A

Right Pedal: D

Nose Down: Mouse Forward

Nose Up: Mouse Backward

Roll Left: Mouse Left

Roll Right: Mouse Right

It's a lot easier like this, might as well be Joystick.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

I'm with b00ce - keyboard and mouse only. I only fly choppers though.

I have sidewinder stick, pluss CH yoke/pedals/throttles, but I don't use any for Arma.

[S7_Mega 10]

I prefer using a joystick...with TrackIR. :)

[Vixente 10]

For relaxed flights keyb+mouse is fine. But when things get hot, you really need a joy, at least me. I can't seem to be able to do very fast turns (heli) with keyb+mouse without putting myself or others in danger, but with the joy i am "da mastah" in turning-crazy and other lunatic-flying-stuff.

I use Thrustmaster T 16000 joy, that is cheap but very sensitive. More than the others with same price. (~30€)

[JojoTheSlayer 35]

Joystick.

An old Logitech Wingman joystick, VACbuilder voice program and Track IR5.

[Infam0us 10]

PS2 Pad

[Killerwatt 0]

I use a microsoft sidewinder joystick for flying and a logitech g25 wheel for driving. both work great along with my trackir.

[HyperU2 11]

I do.

[My Fing ID 0]

The big problem, atleast with the helicopters, is that they fly like cars. You have to increase the throttle deadzone on your aircraft because it's either up, floating, or down with no inbetween. I really don't like flying in this game, which is a shame because the helicopters are well modeled and work well with the TrackIR. Be nice if they spent a bit on changing the flight engine. A little attention could go a long way. Then again this is mostly a combined arms sim/game, so it's more about what pieces are where than how each piece is controlled.

[boneboys 0]

I prefer using a joystick...with TrackIR. :)

Same here !

[Vixente 10]

You have to increase the throttle deadzone on your aircraft because it's either up, floating, or down with no inbetween.

The throttle thing i think it was done like that to ease the flights. Mainly to be able to fly straight without having to worry about the throttle. It's really annoying for people who are used to play sim games, but it's easier for people who don't. Or when yo have to take a peek at the map.

[TinManNFO 10]

You have to increase the throttle deadzone on your aircraft because it's either up, floating, or down with no inbetween.

The throttle thing i think it was done like that to ease the flights. Mainly to be able to fly straight without having to worry about the throttle. It's really annoying for people who are used to play sim games, but it's easier for people who don't. Or when yo have to take a peek at the map.

Well, the workaround that my brother and I use for this is that we map the "Thrust (Analog)" binding to the throttle axis' desired + direction, and we leave the "Brake (Analog)" binding mapped to a button. At least for the equipment we use (we have these old Thrustmaster Top Gun Fox 2 Pro USB joysticks that just have worked well enough for the less serious simulations that we haven't gotten anything newer yet), this seems to make the helicopters' collective control fly and feel basically the same as in any other helo sim I've messed with (Microsoft FS, Longbow 2, etc.).

BTW, I seem to be one of those weird guys who likes to map the throttle forward direction to increase thrust with fixed-wing aircraft but likes to map the throttle back direction to increase collective pitch with rotary-wing aircraft; though I'm a fixed-wing guy in real life and haven't ever actually flown rotary-wing other than in simulation, it just feels more like pulling up on the collective to me to pull back (if you just go through the motion sitting in your chair, you'll notice that both involve pulling your left elbow rearward).

On another side note, I've found the bane of flying helicopters in practically every program I've tried other than Longbow 2 (and IIRC Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum) is the lack of a "Force Trim" button and a "Hover Hold" mode.

Once I feel comfortable spending the money on it, I'd really like to try flying in ArmA 2/OA and other programs like FSX with a combination of Track IR and Nvidia 3D Vision (or similar technology). The main problems I find in flying helos in ArmA at the moment are the lack of depth perception and not-quite-adequate attitude/horizon indications, especially when I'm trying to land/drop off/pick up in a tight LZ in lots of trees or buildings. If I'm in the cockpit, without depth perception it's hard to get an intuitive sense of how far away those obstructions are; to try to compensate for this, I generally have to switch to 3rd person/external view to get SA, but then I lose my horizon reference and have to guess the position of my nose by from the apparent pitch of the aircraft (the camera tilt is based on the ground and not the aircraft) and seeing what's happening with the speed and altitude readouts. IIRC, in some of the aircraft with weapons, I can use the crosshair to see where the nose is pointing relative to the horizon, but I'm often flying the helos that don't have forward-firing weapons. With 3D depth perception and being able to quickly scan around by just using my head, I could probably do everything almost as well as I would in real life, minus the reduction in peripheral vision.

[Nicolai 10]

yeah I have a microsoft sidewinder "something something" with software for windows 98. The software itself didn't work for vista but I just plugged it in and Arma inmediately knew what to do :)

I also use FaceTrackNoir when flying, it's a free version of trackIr which you can set up with only a webcam.

[My Fing ID 0]

Well, the workaround that my brother and I use for this is that we map the "Thrust (Analog)" binding to the throttle axis' desired + direction, and we leave the "Brake (Analog)" binding mapped to a button. At least for the equipment we use (we have these old Thrustmaster Top Gun Fox 2 Pro USB joysticks that just have worked well enough for the less serious simulations that we haven't gotten anything newer yet), this seems to make the helicopters' collective control fly and feel basically the same as in any other helo sim I've messed with (Microsoft FS, Longbow 2, etc.).

BTW, I seem to be one of those weird guys who likes to map the throttle forward direction to increase thrust with fixed-wing aircraft but likes to map the throttle back direction to increase collective pitch with rotary-wing aircraft; though I'm a fixed-wing guy in real life and haven't ever actually flown rotary-wing other than in simulation, it just feels more like pulling up on the collective to me to pull back (if you just go through the motion sitting in your chair, you'll notice that both involve pulling your left elbow rearward).

On another side note, I've found the bane of flying helicopters in practically every program I've tried other than Longbow 2 (and IIRC Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum) is the lack of a "Force Trim" button and a "Hover Hold" mode.

Once I feel comfortable spending the money on it, I'd really like to try flying in ArmA 2/OA and other programs like FSX with a combination of Track IR and Nvidia 3D Vision (or similar technology). The main problems I find in flying helos in ArmA at the moment are the lack of depth perception and not-quite-adequate attitude/horizon indications, especially when I'm trying to land/drop off/pick up in a tight LZ in lots of trees or buildings. If I'm in the cockpit, without depth perception it's hard to get an intuitive sense of how far away those obstructions are; to try to compensate for this, I generally have to switch to 3rd person/external view to get SA, but then I lose my horizon reference and have to guess the position of my nose by from the apparent pitch of the aircraft (the camera tilt is based on the ground and not the aircraft) and seeing what's happening with the speed and altitude readouts. IIRC, in some of the aircraft with weapons, I can use the crosshair to see where the nose is pointing relative to the horizon, but I'm often flying the helos that don't have forward-firing weapons. With 3D depth perception and being able to quickly scan around by just using my head, I could probably do everything almost as well as I would in real life, minus the reduction in peripheral vision.

I'll have to try that out. I've got a X52 that I'm thinking about turning into a 'collective' after DSC a10 comes out (and that wonderfully expensive A10 controller). I saw a video where someone strapped a stick to the throttle and had a keypad at the end, looks like a good deal lol.

[tyler4171 10]

Joystick - Easier to keep a helo steady without autohover for me.

[Beagle 684]

Full X52 Pro HOTAS with rudder pedals, all Knobs buttons and sliders programmed. Can operate aircraft without even touching the keyboard and since I have a special SimChair (homebuild) its far more ergonomic.

I tinkerd aroudn for years with the right user.cfg settings and I think I now have found settings that make HOTAS controll as precise as Mouse aiming while beeing quicker and more ergonmic...since my sorties can take up to 1 hour in warfare with just the same plane, landing and rearming 4-5 times, this is the only way to go. You can also better do extreme aerobatis in all axis in dogfights and look around, release flares and lock targets with no hands on keyboars. I can even switch FOV with a slider on the fly and have a slider for trimming out Helos.

I removes ther braking axis from the throttle and put in on Brake toes...with my actual configuration flying in arma is not far from flying in midcore Sims like Strike fighters: Project 1, really not bad for a all around simulation.

Edited August 21, 2010 by Beagle

[kremator 1065]

Nope. Mouse and keyboard here. I do reverse the x axis though so that it works like a proper control column (push forward to dive etc)

The only hassle is having to go into options every time I want to fly a jet. Of course I don't change controls when flying helos.

[KeyCat 131]

Always HOTAS + TrackIR for me when flying in A2.

/KC