Solid joystick (X-45 or HOTAS quality) with a *twist*?

It seems like all the higher end sticks lack twist on the stick? The TM
AfterBurner seems like the most flight-sim like that still has a twist and I
love the TM software, but I've read a lot of reviews that the AB doesn't
hold up.

The main reason I want a twist instead of rudders is for some of the space
sims I play which "fly" quite a bit differently then aerospace flight. I've
got an X-36 and a Suncom stick, both are solid as a rock but are lacking
when I use them in space sims.

What I'd love is an X-45 that had a twist grip. Does anyone make something
similar? Is there a better "flight sim" type stick (mass buttons,
super-configurable software, accurate, etc) then the AfterBurner that has a
twist?

Thanks!

-Zenin

On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 20:36:37 -0000, Zenin enlightened
us by scribbling this gem of wisdom:

It seems like all the higher end sticks lack twist on the stick? The TM
AfterBurner seems like the most flight-sim like that still has a twist and I
love the TM software, but I've read a lot of reviews that the AB doesn't
hold up.

The main reason I want a twist instead of rudders is for some of the space
sims I play which "fly" quite a bit differently then aerospace flight. I've
got an X-36 and a Suncom stick, both are solid as a rock but are lacking
when I use them in space sims.

What I'd love is an X-45 that had a twist grip. Does anyone make something
similar? Is there a better "flight sim" type stick (mass buttons,
super-configurable software, accurate, etc) then the AfterBurner that has a
twist?

Thanks!

-Zenin

You're probably not going to find any high level stick with a twist.
The only sticks with a twist axis for rudders are usually 'mass
market' introductory sticks.

Have you tried using a slider or rotary knob as your rudder (if
available?)


Gibs When you kill 6 people in Unreal Tournament
it is "MonsterKill", In Quake3 it is "Excellent",
in Counter-Strike it is "Kicked by console"

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim Falkentyne wrote:
You're probably not going to find any high level stick with a twist.
The only sticks with a twist axis for rudders are usually 'mass
market' introductory sticks.

Have you tried using a slider or rotary knob as your rudder (if
available?)

The problem I'm having is that in the games (ok game, "Allegiance")
you'll be a pilot one moment and a turret gunner the next. The game
allows you to assign any stick axis to any game axis, however it does
not have a way to change the game axises used between flight and turret
gunning roles.

The game actually has yaw control assigned to the Y axis by default,
which in turret gunning mode makes sense and keeping the two modes
consistent is probably what they were looking to do. But because the
two modes are locked I can't assign the Y axis to roll in flight while
keeping it as the more logical "yaw" in gunning mode.

So it's more a problem with the software limitation then it is with the
hardware, but I can only change the hardware. :-P

Ok, what about a high end stick that would allow me to program it to
switch axis configurations with a press of a button? If I could simply
hit my "turret gunner" button and have the stick software switch the
axises without having to jump back to some external configuration app
that would probably work as well or better. -And it would allow me to
stop rolling my planes in flight sims when I really wanted yaw... :-)

-Zenin

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 23:16:08 -0000, Zenin enlightened
us by scribbling this gem of wisdom:

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim Falkentyne wrote:
You're probably not going to find any high level stick with a twist.
The only sticks with a twist axis for rudders are usually 'mass
market' introductory sticks.

Have you tried using a slider or rotary knob as your rudder (if
available?)

The problem I'm having is that in the games (ok game, "Allegiance")
you'll be a pilot one moment and a turret gunner the next. The game
allows you to assign any stick axis to any game axis, however it does
not have a way to change the game axises used between flight and turret
gunning roles.

The game actually has yaw control assigned to the Y axis by default,
which in turret gunning mode makes sense and keeping the two modes
consistent is probably what they were looking to do. But because the
two modes are locked I can't assign the Y axis to roll in flight while
keeping it as the more logical "yaw" in gunning mode.

So it's more a problem with the software limitation then it is with the
hardware, but I can only change the hardware. :-P

Ok, what about a high end stick that would allow me to program it to
switch axis configurations with a press of a button? If I could simply
hit my "turret gunner" button and have the stick software switch the
axises without having to jump back to some external configuration app
that would probably work as well or better. -And it would allow me to
stop rolling my planes in flight sims when I really wanted yaw... :-)

-Zenin

About the only stick that I can think of that would do what you want,
is the Thrustmaster Cougar. However, you should send an email off
to Bob Church at www.stickworks.com , and ask him. The CH Products
USB 2.0 Fighterstick + Pro Throttle might also allow you to do the
same thing. Why not ask him about it ?


Gibs When you kill 6 people in Unreal Tournament
it is "MonsterKill", In Quake3 it is "Excellent",
in Counter-Strike it is "Kicked by console"