New generation joystick

http://www.guru3d.com/article/paccus-fluid-head-force-feedback-hawk-joystick-interview/

 

:joystick: Interesting ha? What you guys think?

"What kind of controls will the user have to it's ability.

The Paccus Hawk we are working on now is the basic version, but it still has three axis, a horizontal mouse wheel en two buttons on the head of the stick and a precision trigger. On the base of the stick there will be a small keyboard. All keys you are free to designate to any key or combination of keys. Next to that the firmware is upgradable and tweakable."

 

I hope their advanced version is geared more to flight simmers. I suspect that basic version as described is not going to satisfy many serious flight sim folks.

 

Of course, Urze and others may find it worthy of grafting a Thrustmaster or Saitek grip on to it...

The reason why they developed this is simple. All other sticks suck ?

 

The best thinking I have heard in a long time. The stick looks brilliant. Not holding my breath though, any idea of a release date? I don't speak Dutch, which was on the link.

 

Edit: apologies, missed this

 

The final product will be called Hawk and will be demonstrated at the Gamescom in Köln

Germany, Augustus 2009

Edited February 17, 2009 by CE_Mikemonster

If it was HOTAS and as good as they claim for FF along with a throttle and pedals then it would be truly awesome.

After 10 hours spent on a real simulator (with 20 kg forces on controls), I'm inclined to say that the hydraulic force feedback may really be the best thing for a good simulation if it's able to produce the same forces as you encounter in real aircraft. Unless, of course, you're simulating an F-16 and other airplanes with tensometric sidesticks, control forces there are not an issue. Bottom line, for simulations of non-FBW aircraft this will be a great thing. Oh, and sturdiness etc. - two thumbs up for that! Never was a fan of planned obsolescence...

Forgot to mention an analogue hat would rock too! Want to move the camera up front a bit easier :)

I know its not much of a concern to most of us, playing a flight sim and all. But I find it interesting that they seem keen on the idea of a replacment mouse for FPS games etc. I could never see a joystick being better than a mouse for that sort of application. However, For flight sims it may be very good. I reckon a bit out of my price range though and expect it will be closer to 400+ than 250 euros.

We assume your interface is managed through DirectX, but how do you control and replicate something like a force feedback ?

Although we can enable all kinds of keystrokes to the stick, for some features to work we still need input from the game designers.

Isnt force feedback part of the whole DirectX package? The other thing that is peculiar is the fact that they have chosen a system that isnt 100% sealed and has a sump! Sounds very interesting though.

 

-op4

Would be good if they made a floor mounted version with longer stick, in fact the simulator customer group that this targets (i.e. sim nut with 250-400 Euro to spend :smilewink:) might actually prefer a floor version. I know I would.....

 

/Oakes

It doesn't appear to me to be targeting the simulator customer group... If it was, I would dare say it would have hat switches and more buttons on the stick grip. A wheel and 2 buttons on the grip is a serious miscalculation on their part, IMHO.

I think they'll stick more buttons on it, the difficult bit being the force feedback aspect.

 

I've never driven a fork-lift truck or a digger, but they (luckily) seem to have similar or more complicated hotas setups than fighter planes!

 

EDIT: well .. sort of..

 

Edited February 18, 2009 by CE_Mikemonster

Yes, for that kind of money I want a long stick and lots of buttons + analog hat. Also a more ergonomic stick handle than what's pictured.

Compared with the force feedback machanism, functions like povs, buttons and analog axises are much easier to add. Don't worry about electronics and software, folks, they will be worked out.

I'm not concerned about their ability to add hats and buttons. The more likely source of disappointment is their apparent intention. They seem to be largely targeting this effort toward being a solution for FPS games, and choosing the switch configuration with that in mind.

 

On top of that, intentionally allowing the hydraulics to leak sounds a bit questionable. It may not be an issue at all, depending on how it gets implemented (ie. a sealed sump, dialectric fluid), but it could be. For instance, if they design the thing to be used with the base sitting level, and someone puts it on a motion platform that can reach significant angles...

Oh that would be disappointing indeed. And if they were to target this product toward FPS solutions, it would not be as easy to prototype a new model for flight sims as simply adding a few buttons and hat switches, because the mechanical characteristics will vary as well.

They need to make it similar to the Cougar, in that the joystick handle itself should be easy to detach, and they should produce multiple quick change handles. The owner can then go for something more along the lines of what they want to use it for.

Yeah im sure it will catch on with the FPS crowd like wildfire like every other FPS specific controller released in the last 10 years..... :music_whistling:.

 

-op4

What you guys think?

 

I think... HOTAS COUGAR, anytime!:pilotfly:

I'd like to see some RL HOTAS replicas, twin throttle, like F/A-18 HOTAS or F-22 replica...

Yeah im sure it will catch on with the FPS crowd like wildfire like every other FPS specific controller released in the last 10 years..... :music_whistling:.

 

-op4

 

Hehe, that's what I thought..