A joystick suitable for Arma 2/Arma 3?

I had enough of Battlefield 3 and its garbage, so I decided to buy this game.

Sadly I found out that if I want to pilot my beloved helicopters then a joystick is a must.

The problem is that I am not using a joystick since 10 years...

Can you suggest me one suitable for Arma 2/Arma 3 please?

I’m surprised you think you need a joystick.

KB & mouse do a great job, or like myself now, its Nostromo & mouse, which is perfect for me. However, the last time I used a joystick for a video game was with the Atari 2600, so its been a while, around 36yrs I suppose.

No doubt many on here use a joystick for flying and should be able to point you in the right direction.

Welcome, not been here that long myself..

:)

Not really answering your initial question, what joystick I recommend: X360 controller, but you can perfectly learn how to fly with mouse and keyboard and do stunts like this:

I use XBOX 360 controller for flying helicopters and flying vehicles. Works out pretty well.

Hmmm I see... so you are saying I can continue using KB + mouse like I always did?

Alright I will keep training then 'cause moving from BF3 controls to Arma 2 is so different.

What steps do you suggest to improve my piloting skills?

I mean what helicopter should I start from?

Oh and btw I will be wearing a big 'L' label so don't shoot me down if you see me on the servers. ;)

I'm using the Saitek X52Pro HOTAS together with Rudder pedals to fly in ArmA 2. But as it has been said, you can use any controls. If you're good at flying isn't a matter of the used control hardware but training. If you're used to mouse & keyboard to fly a chopper, you can get some really mad skills over time. So use whatever you feel comfortable with.

A good chopper to start training with is IMHO the Blackhawk. It is forgiving for small faults, not so nervous to handle (compared to a Littlebird) but still maneuvrable enough to not think you're flying a beton brick. ;)

Myke;2205292']A good chopper to start training with is IMHO the Blackhawk. It is forgiving for small faults' date=' not so nervous to handle (compared to a Littlebird) but still maneuvrable enough to not think you're flying a beton brick. ;)[/quote']

I would agree with that, good choice.

Grab yourself a Blackhawk and go sightseeing for a while on any of the great islands available for this game, I would think myself, maybe for training, something like '51km Desert' island/map by 'snake man' decent fps so nice and smooth to run and not much to bump into, landing skills can easily be learnt in the open area, plus of course you can open it up and get a really nice feel for it..

Just a thought..

:)

Edit:

Once you get the hang of flying, try ‘dbo_afghanistan_deluxe’ terrain/island. Again its great fps so will run really smooth even at full 10000vd and the mountains and valleys are a superb backdrop for learning the more difficult air manoeuvres. Try staying below 150ALT and run from further East to West, only allow yourself to go above 150 for a timing of say 10seconds before returning to below 150, you could reduce this as you get better.

That’s a mission in itself..

The terrain.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/846/arma2oa2012081112171437.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/593/arma2oa2012081112174503.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/98/arma2oa2012081112185423.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/51/arma2oa2012081112193639.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/arma2oa2012081112183947.png/

Micro Jet is great for this; 'BD5J' mod..

;)

I've tried flying with keyboard (and mouse to look around) and just can't get the hang of it. I find using my joystick (Thrustmaster Hotas X, about £30) much better as it allows me to use one hand for the throttle and the other for the stick, which just seems to work better for me and gives me much better control over collective/altitude. Plenty of people do seem to use keyboard/mouse though, so I guess you should see how you get on with that first.

I've used the Xbox360 controller as well and that works fine (not as good as a proper stick/throttle though in my opinion) too as you can use one stick for cyclic, bumpers (or the other stick) for collective and if not used for the collective, the second stick for looking around.

For flying I use a 6DF 3DConnexion Space Navigator + mouse for headlook. Only thing I can't get to work with it is twist for rudder, so I use left and right push for that. Tilt forward/backwards/left/right for normal joystick axis, up/down for throttle (up/down in helicopters), and the two buttons for countermeasures.

Tried using it for infantry movement as well, but too used to the cursor keys, however analog leaning works well with it.

Thanks for all your suggestions guys (and girls?), very appreciated.

I am tempted to give a try to that Thrustmaster Hotas X joystick (wth it costs me only 30 Euros on Amazon).

By the way, do you all agree that TrackIR 5 + TrackClip is a good choice? :)

I saw some videos and I regret I didn't used it in the golden days of Battlefield 3.

I use this:

http://flyawaysimulation.com/news/3624/saitek-cyborg-x-flight-stick-now-available/

Dorph;2205412']I use this:

http://flyawaysimulation.com/news/3624/saitek-cyborg-x-flight-stick-now-available/

I have seen it can easily be broken when used at war flight.

Before spending hundreds on TrackIR, you might want to look at FaceTrackNoIR http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/home/default.htm which is free and should work with most webcams (I use a PS3 Eye I got for £8) http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/compatibility/webcams.htm or Freetrack, which requires buying some cheap components and building a clip or hat http://www.free-track.net/english/hardware/point_model.php?PHPSESSID=560f21435fe37e34e429069e4c7d154f but will undoubtably work better in low-light or at longer distances, such as if you play on your TV from your armchair (I have trouble with FTNoIR in the evenings because I don't have suitable lighting in my room so I'm going to try Freetrack but it works fine for my Dad, as he has better lighting).

Before spending hundreds on TrackIR, you might want to look at FaceTrackNoIR http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/home/default.htm which is free and should work with most webcams (I use a PS3 Eye I got for £8) http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/compatibility/webcams.htm or Freetrack, which requires buying some cheap components and building a clip or hat http://www.free-track.net/english/hardware/point_model.php?PHPSESSID=560f21435fe37e34e429069e4c7d154f but will undoubtably work better in low-light or at longer distances, such as if you play on your TV from your armchair (I have trouble with FTNoIR in the evenings because I don't have suitable lighting in my room so I'm going to try Freetrack but it works fine for my Dad, as he has better lighting).

Thanks mate, will definitely give a try at those solutions first!

Omg guys I spent my latest days at trying to pilot helis with kb+mouse, but it's definitely a no go for me. :)

I will try today and see how it works with a X360 ctrl.

Anything I should be aware before using it?

On the other hand that FreeTrack stuff looked great!

Yeah, same for me mate. Some people love it so it's just a case of what suits you I guess.

With using the Xbox360 controller (or any controller/joystick) you might need to tweak the sensitivity settings for it in ArmA but I'm afraid I can't suggest any particular settings as I asked in another thread and never got any advice about this. I can only suggest you try with the defaults and if you feel it might help, then tweak one of the sensitivity settings and see if that's better.

I actually am finding the 360 ctrl fair enough, I only cannot understand how to use (if I can) chaffs/flares with it.

I am very happy with my Logitech 3D Extreme, helicopter and fix-wing flying has never been so easy

http://www.logitech.com/en-au/gaming/joysticks/291

I actually am finding the 360 ctrl fair enough, I only cannot understand how to use (if I can) chaffs/flares with it.

Assuming the helo/plane you're in has Countermeasures, you just need to map one of the controller buttons to that in Controls. Or if you're using something like Xpadder, just check what key is mapped to Countermeasures (probably R) and assign that key to one of the controller buttons with Xpadder.

Assuming the helo/plane you're in has Countermeasures, you just need to map one of the controller buttons to that in Controls.

Alright thanks mate. :)

I've been fine piloting helicopters (where I don't need to aim) with pure keyboard controls. Though my (cheap) Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas X has made the experience better.

Suggest the Saitek X52 Pro Flight as well, or any older version of this flight stick and throttle units. Sadly, the X52 no longer has the integrated rudder controls embedded within the throttle controller.

Be aware, the older versions will have quirks and bugs, such as the Saitek X45 will have a very stiff joystick spring, and Saitek X36 only works on 32 bit versions of Windows.

I've picked up the x52 pro setup, did the magnet mod on it as well. I tried briefly trying to take off with my setup and couldnt quite figure it out, once I turned on auto hover, I was able to get going.

Are you using a profile, or did you just assign your own controls rogerx?

Just to document my latest mod for anyone thinking about a similar fix.

Bought the Thrustmaster T16000 as someone said its a good stick for allround stuff in Arma 3. However after I had bought it its obvious its way too stiff for accurate helicopter flying. I searched around and found this mod with zipties:

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/2708331/#Comment_2708331

Its a fairly easy mod to do but for some reason I could not get the zipties not to interfere with the movement of the joystick. After tinkering around a bit I decided to give ducktape a go... and based on two days of flying it seems to work perfectly! The spring needs to be shortened so that it only retains a little bit of power after the four base screws have been screwed to the bottom.

Heres a pic:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=25ab7836790f136b%21122815

The spring needs to be about 1 cm shorter than in the pic. I had to try a few times before getting it right. You can use zipties to set the length of the spring while putting the ducttape on.

I have the Saitek x55, it's great for all kind of flying in Arma, both helicopters and jets. Although the throttle works better for jets.

Only con is that it's really annoying to configure (Arma doesn't like dual throttle).

Edit:

I fly better with mouse and keyboard in a helicopter. But I fly better in a jet with hotas.

If you want to improve you flying, buy trackir 5.

If you want more immersion and fun, buy hotas and trackir 5 (and maybe some rudder pedals).