Flight Controls - a primer from the flight sim world
Posted: 14 Nov 2014, 11:48
Common controls in the flight sim world, which should translate fairly well, may be a tempting investment to those interested in Star Citizen. This is especially true if you're considering engaging in combat. Today, everything I have works, save Track IR which I understand is definitely on the feature list for a future release.
These include the HOTAS (acronym for Hands on Throttle and Stick) which is composed of the throttle and stick. Common examples are the Thrustmaster Warthog - like pictured, Saitek x52 & x52 Pro (which was good when I had it, except the quality was not so great), Saitek x55 Rhino (I think Hammer has this one and can comment if people are interested in it), Logitech 940 (comes with pedals too), etc. The throttle will typical be used to control throttle (go figure) and you can find some with split throttles to control two engines, while others have a single throttle axis. The stick will control pitch and yaw, on a plane by moving ailerons and elevators, but in a space sim I guess we get thrusters. Both will have a pile of extra hats, switches, dials, knobs, buttons, and so on to do whatever you can dream up without taking your hand off the controls.
There are also flight pedals, which typical control yaw by moving the rudder(s) and controlling taxiing on the ground by turning nose wheel or other means (I had never seen other means until I flew the MiG-21, which is an insane contraption, where turning the pedals moves the force of compressed air to do differential braking.) I guess this is a thruster thing in a space sim too. You also get brake pedals for ground breaking, but I guess they might be useful for something else in Star Citizen... fire group 3 and 4?
Saitek makes a range of pedals. Logitech sells some in the 940 setup; not sure if they're available separately.
Finally, there Is also Track IR, which is composed of two parts. The first is an IR sensor you see on the left of my monitor (the center serves a similar purpose, but for Oculus Rift, which is another can of worms that may put Track IR out of business). The second is a reflective clip you attach to a ball cap, or a IR emitter you attach to your headset as in the photo. This allows for you to look around on screen without using a hat switch. It's of huge value in keeping track of targets when dog fighting.
Then there are other things, not pictured, like MFD panel cut outs, switch panels, throttle quadrants (though I guess these could be conceivably nice for 3+ engine ships), trim wheels, and other esoteric things that are likely to be less useful, but may find purposes by people that have them.
This is a picture of my controls.
These include the HOTAS (acronym for Hands on Throttle and Stick) which is composed of the throttle and stick. Common examples are the Thrustmaster Warthog - like pictured, Saitek x52 & x52 Pro (which was good when I had it, except the quality was not so great), Saitek x55 Rhino (I think Hammer has this one and can comment if people are interested in it), Logitech 940 (comes with pedals too), etc. The throttle will typical be used to control throttle (go figure) and you can find some with split throttles to control two engines, while others have a single throttle axis. The stick will control pitch and yaw, on a plane by moving ailerons and elevators, but in a space sim I guess we get thrusters. Both will have a pile of extra hats, switches, dials, knobs, buttons, and so on to do whatever you can dream up without taking your hand off the controls.
There are also flight pedals, which typical control yaw by moving the rudder(s) and controlling taxiing on the ground by turning nose wheel or other means (I had never seen other means until I flew the MiG-21, which is an insane contraption, where turning the pedals moves the force of compressed air to do differential braking.) I guess this is a thruster thing in a space sim too. You also get brake pedals for ground breaking, but I guess they might be useful for something else in Star Citizen... fire group 3 and 4?
Saitek makes a range of pedals. Logitech sells some in the 940 setup; not sure if they're available separately.Finally, there Is also Track IR, which is composed of two parts. The first is an IR sensor you see on the left of my monitor (the center serves a similar purpose, but for Oculus Rift, which is another can of worms that may put Track IR out of business). The second is a reflective clip you attach to a ball cap, or a IR emitter you attach to your headset as in the photo. This allows for you to look around on screen without using a hat switch. It's of huge value in keeping track of targets when dog fighting.
Then there are other things, not pictured, like MFD panel cut outs, switch panels, throttle quadrants (though I guess these could be conceivably nice for 3+ engine ships), trim wheels, and other esoteric things that are likely to be less useful, but may find purposes by people that have them.
This is a picture of my controls.