BruceALMIGHTYY 18 Posted June 23, 2013 I thought I was a decent but pilot in A2, but no more. When cycling down now, there is a insane pitch to the nose down. I have practiced, and I get get it. I met a guy named Baron, who could land anything on a DIME! I want to be half that good. SO, a few questions chopper pros>>>> Keyboard or Joystick? If Joystick, What kind? 1st person or 3rd person flying? Auto hover ever or when? Yea, flying is easy, but landing strategically to drop off your team is NOT! I dont want to be a autohover noob, hell I cant even land properly with that on! Help, and suggestions............... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
byku 13 Posted June 23, 2013 Joystick(i'm using Logitech Extreme 3d). Depends. I'm using 1st person. Never. ;) When landing... try to land like a plane a bit, i mean slowing down and lowering down. So that they when you reach the earth :P you'll have around 0-10kmh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sneakson 1 Posted June 23, 2013 I don't think keyboard or joystick makes any difference other than for immersion. Unless you can bind analog cyclic and twist to it but tapping the keyboard is pretty much the same. 1st person but in some choppers you have zero visibility and pretty much have to be psychic to make some landings. Autohover when you’re already still, close to the ground, trying to land in a tight spot and afraid of tilting too much and making her drift away. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
byku 13 Posted June 23, 2013 OH MATE, it's a HUGE difference. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ezcoo 47 Posted June 23, 2013 (edited) Here's nice and cheap HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) joystick: Speedlink Black Widow Used it during year in Arma 2 and it was great for its price. The feeling of controls is great and the throttle control is pure luxury at that price (I got mine 2 years ago for about 35 euros), it even has the rudder control behind the throttle control. In addition, it has the Force Feedback vibration that actually did work somehow with A2 at least. There are just enough buttons for Arma and the silky coating on stick finalizes the feeling of quality. Very cost-effective stick, I'd give it 10/10. :) As a bonus, you can feel a little twitch when you're pulling or pushing the stick from negative to positive side or vice versa in X and Y axises, that is probably unwanted effect (but not very disturbing one, even helpful in some circumstances) with jets, but really helpful with choppers especially to newbies of flying with joystick, because you can make very accurate corrections eg. during landing or hovering. You kind of know very accurately how much you're pulling or pushing the stick, because you can feel the small twitches that work as reference points, letting you feel accurately where the neutral points of axises are. :) Joystick makes great difference when you learn to fly with it. On the other hand, there are many pilots out there who fly like pros with keyboard... :p I see no reason to not to use auto-hover if there is a risk of damaging or wrecking the chopper and/or people inside it that can be reduced by using auto-hover. It's better to use it and survive than think "Only noobs use it!" and then crash because the task was too demanding. Edited June 23, 2013 by Ezcoo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KeyCat 131 Posted June 23, 2013 Keyboard or Joystick? If Joystick, What kind? I can higly recommend flying with joystick. Start with a cheap one and see if you like it then you can add rudders and maybe Freetrack/TrackIR. One thing that is critical is that you spend some time in the joystick setup screen and tweak the joystick curves to your liking. Every joystick/pilot is different and you have to experiment a little to find settings that works best for you. 1st person or 3rd person flying? 1st person Auto hover ever or when? Whatever floats your boat, use auto hover when you start out if you need to then when you becomes better practice hovering/landing without it. That beeing said, current flight model in A3 Alpha/Beta will hopefully improve alot until release so prepare to relearn otherwise fly helis in A2:OA instead which IMHO feels/works better than current version of A3! /KC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kocrachon 2 Posted June 23, 2013 I am a flight sim lunatic. I have a Saitek X-52 Pro. I fly every flight sim from take on helicopters, to LOMAC and the entire DCS series, as well as FSX. However, this game does not have the flight dynamics where I find it worth using the flight stick for helicopters. I fly them via keyboard and mouse and I find it much easier to maneuver. Jets I still use a flight stick, but helicopters are better with mouse and keyboard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KeyCat 131 Posted June 23, 2013 Another cheap joystick that I've heard good things about... Uses Hall effect magnetic sensors for X- and Y- axis. http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_UK/products/t16000m /KC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sneakson 1 Posted June 23, 2013 OH MATE, it's a HUGE difference. Nah, I tried it with my 10 year old stick and it sure became more of an experience but the only difference to the mouse is the massive resistance, vibration, shaking and all that depending on the joystick you use. Mouse is light as a feather in comparison. The joystick didn't have any analog buttons or anything so I still had to raise, lower and twist using buttons on it and hey, that's just like tapping the keyboard buttons anyways. Unless you at least get analog twisting I’d say it doesn’t make much of a difference. Combat flyers may disagree but I’d still say it’s a matter of what you’re used to. I’m considering getting a somewhat cheap, stylish Cyborg FLY 5 joystick though for the immersion both as a helicopter pilot and jet pilot though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naizarak 4 Posted June 23, 2013 1. keyboard+mouse works well enough with the arma engine. trackIR is a big plus, a lot more useful than a joystick 2. third person is obviously better, but it's considered "easy mode". besides if you get too used to it, you'll have trouble in 1st person servers 3. auto hover never Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arziben 23 Posted June 24, 2013 I'd say joystick obviously but certain people prove to be quite efficient with a mouse (Dslyecxi for example), I'm always in 1st person unless I'm looking around because you can't really see much from the cockpit, and finally I never use the auto hover. the advice I'd give you is that you can approach at any speed you want if you are able to make a full stop quickly and that you know how to control your speed near the ground, if you learn to do that, you'll land wherever you want Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dark6-6 10 Posted June 24, 2013 Yeah trackir is amazing for driving and flying. Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kocrachon 2 Posted June 24, 2013 Track IR is a must if you fly keyboard and mouse, because its the only way to look around efficiently. Where as a lot of flight sticks have HOTAS. But unless they make the flight dynamics more like ToH, I really find it more precise and easier using a mouse and keyboard. Because of deadzone and sensitivity. I feel like I can make tiny adjustments easier with a helicopter, than I can with my flight stick even with a really small dead zone. Still requires more arm movement for each tiny adjustment. With out using auto hover. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scrim 1 Posted June 24, 2013 Joystick for Arma is just overkill, and more likely to make you a worse pilot. All air frames in Arma are designed around being piloted with mouse and keyboard, so the only improvement you can add is TrackIR and training, lots and lots of training. Just fly around in the editor, push the limits, and anyone can learn to become a very good pilot in Arma. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harzach 2505 Posted June 24, 2013 Mouse+keyboard+rudder pedals. First-person. Autohover only if I am in the map for more than a few seconds or standing by for tasking, both of which I only do if I'm in a safe area. ---------- Post added at 17:58 ---------- Previous post was at 17:51 ---------- Joystick for Arma is just overkill, and more likely to make you a worse pilot. All air frames in Arma are designed around being piloted with mouse and keyboard... I don't think this is true at all, given the option to assign analogue axes. It's an issue of preference. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sneakson 1 Posted June 25, 2013 By the way how the hell do you bind a joystick? Mine's got like two-three buttons on the face and one under the thumb, then six on the base of the joystick and naturally a hat-switch which I guess should be bound to temporarily looking in 8 directions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rtek 10 Posted June 25, 2013 I use a Saitek X52 Pro. Use my hatstick to look around. For me using a joystick is best. I want to get some pedals and trackIR someday when I can afford them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harzach 2505 Posted June 25, 2013 By the way how the hell do you bind a joystick?Mine's got like two-three buttons on the face and one under the thumb, then six on the base of the joystick and naturally a hat-switch which I guess should be bound to temporarily looking in 8 directions. Without TrackIR, the trim hat is indeed ideally suited for looking around. As for the other buttons, that's really up to you. I'd stick to the essentials for aircraft, like next weapon, countermeasures, zoom/optics, etc. Also, PTT keys for VON/TS/ACRE if necessary. If you find you need more buttons, use one of the pedestal keys as a modifier, effectively doubling the number of buttons available. Still, when I've tried joystick in the past, I've always had buttons left over, both with my HOTAS and my far simpler Logitech stick. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hud Dorph 22 Posted June 25, 2013 Joystick for Arma is just overkill, and more likely to make you a worse pilot. Nonsense Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
On_Sabbatical 11 Posted June 25, 2013 Arma flight model is not sophisticated enough to require a joystick ,let's say it this way ... i know people (including myself) who can do crazy maneuvers with mouse and keyboard ... Like a racing simulator ... as long as you can play it with something else than a racing wheel ,it's not a simulator ^^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
karbiner 11 Posted June 25, 2013 1: Joystick is the best, don't let any keyboardnoob tell you different! If you become good with a joystick you will laugh at people who fly with keyboard + you need analogue inputs especially for rudders to fly smooth ;)(which keyboarders JUST CANT!:D) So I recommend getting a joystick with a twist-grip or get a normal joystick but with rudderpedals! I use a Thrustmaster T16000, cheap but VERY cheerfull! 2: 1st person no matter what, not only can you better determine if your chopper is level you can also see better ahead of you and it learns you to better eye your LZ before you go there. 3: Autopilot takes away ALL the controll you have so when flying normal just never use it! :) You will learn soon enough how to land without it and if you mastered it you will hate autohover!:) I only use it if I need to stay in the air but have to go to the toilet or something. And above all > Practice makes perfect! Get in that editor and fly arround non stop and get those settings into your liking! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
byku 13 Posted June 25, 2013 Yes... but to perfect landings you need a joystick. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harzach 2505 Posted June 25, 2013 Arma flight model is not sophisticated enough to require a joystick... It isn't a matter of requirement, it's a matter of preference. Like a racing simulator ... as long as you can play it with something else than a racing wheel ,it's not a simulator ^^ Nonsense, and the guys who fly DCS with mouse and keyboard will tell you the same. 1: Joystick is the best, don't let any keyboardnoob tell you different! . Though I do agree that a set of rudder pedals can make a huge difference.Yes... but to perfect landings you need a joystick. I don't want to sound like a Dslyecxi fanboy, but when it comes to the matter of flying a helo, he's simply the best. That said, .Now, I'm sure a well-setup joystick is great for flying helos in Arma, but there is just no way a stick is inherently better than mouse and keyboard. And if I sound like I hate joysticks in general, be advised that I have a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro and a Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog sitting here next to me, both with many, many hours on them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spanishsurfer 58 Posted June 25, 2013 I use a joystick with a twist grip (rudder) and a thumb control on the joystick to look around while I fly. The joystick also has an analogue throttle. I play strictly in 1st person view (3rd person to verfiy everyone is out or in) I play on PVP CTI servers and I typically rule the skies. I've seen decent keyboard+mouse pilots but they typically can't hang for very long in a dog fight. My biggest threat is ground based AA, not other pilots. Also, for quick landings where finesse is required, you just can't beat the analogue inputs a joystick can provide. I can land on small buildings with ease to drop troops off, I've even landed on a tower and balanced the heli out just right so it would stay. The joystick is the preferred control input for most attack aircraft around the globe, need I say more? If some of you need any help/guidance on what equipment to buy, how to bind your controls, and/or how to fly Arma 3 aircraft send me a PM or look for me on Steam, SpanishSurfer. I'd be glad to get you on your way. We can chat in game while playing CTI. The way I see it, the more skilled guys/gals out there that can competently fly, the more challenging Arma3 skies will become, which is a good thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
karbiner 11 Posted June 25, 2013 Dslyecxi always over-adjusts when landing making it look spastic ;) becuase of keyboard which only knows 100% input Share this post Link to post Share on other sites