Multiple grips and different airplanes

[DutchCoolHand]

I have the Warthog setup, stick and throttle and got the F18 stick. I fly the A10, F18, F14, F16 and just got the harrier.

I am trying to understand the functionality of the controls page of DCS.

 

- every plane has their own list right so switching between planes ensures you have the correct setup loaded.

- if I change grips DCS sees this will load the saved setup for that grip with that airplane right?

- can I hot swap grips, meaning change them while in DCS? Or should I exit unplug stick, change grips, plug it back in and restart DCS?

 

I have a bombing practice mission where I put different planes on the tarmac so I can pick them as a slot, trying to figure out how I can switch from the F18 to A10 without getting out of DCS

[VpR81]

- every plane has their own list right so switching between planes ensures you have the correct setup loaded.

 

Exactly

 

- if I change grips DCS sees this will load the saved setup for that grip with that airplane right?

 

From my experience, yes. Never had any issues with that.

 

- can I hot swap grips, meaning change them while in DCS? Or should I exit unplug stick, change grips, plug it back in and restart DCS?

 

I always quit the game and swapped grips, then restarted DCS. But i'm using TARGET for a while now, so i stop my F/A-18 profile, swap grips and just start the F-16 profile while DCS is running. Works for me, but i don't know how this is without TARGET.

[DutchCoolHand]

It has been a long time since I ran Target, what is the reasons you use it? It used be important as the sims did not have a good support for Hotas.

[Harlikwin]

So I do this with 3 different sticks. But I have 3 different bases and 2 different throttles.

 

In a nutshell, you gotta map each stick to a plane. But if gets a bit hinky if you have 2 different warthogs for example since you can't use the same "shift" button. Otherwise its just mapping all the planes right, and then remembering it.

 

I never did what you want to do, i.e. hotswap sticks, let us know how it turns out, seemed like a bad idea to me. I know vipril sticks can't do it.

[BlacleyCole]

With the tm grips if you run different profile thru target I believe you would need to reload the profile thru target for each grip but if your using the default tm profile for all three grips then I’m thinking that the only profiles are those mapped to the module so you should have a problem. My problem is that the throttles are what I need to swap so I have to swap out the complete hotas system since the cougar throttle plugs into the stick base using a serial connection. Otherwise I would plug both throttles in to the hub and use the warthawg stick since I believe it has a better gimbal setup.

[Weegie]

It has been a long time since I ran Target, what is the reasons you use it? It used be important as the sims did not have a good support for Hotas.

 

I'm not sure about hot swapping the grips, if not running TARGET it might or might not, it depends if Windows sees the new grip as a different device, that should be easy enough to check in Windows Control Panel. If Windows doesn't the new stick will have the same profile as the old one which will probably mess up the switch binds on the new stick

 

Like VpR81 I use TARGET as well, but the Script Editor which is much more powerful than the GUI but there is a little bit (but not so much) of a learning curve to get going with it.

 

With TARGET you can do more with the profiles than just using the DCS stand alone menu. It assigns commands to keybinds or Dx as you prefer (the GUI only Keybinds I think), you can have long and short press commands, or the same button do different things when in different configuarations (example, Autopilot disengage on the paddle when the gear is up and nosewheel steering when it's down etc) and just too much here to list.

 

I beleive Joystick Gremlin is the same or better but I've not got around to learning it. I must at some point as it's big advantage is that it doesn't lock you into TM

 

TARGET is sorta Marmite, a lot on hear hate it with a passion and tell you it's the seed of Satan, but I'm a fan.

 

Lots of threads and members in here who would be only too willing to help, if you want to get going with the Script Editor and TM's Script Editor Basics Manual is pretty well written

[some1]

The grips have simple electrical connection to the base, they are not visible by the game. DCS only cares about joystick ID, and which button number on that joystick is pressed. You can hot swap grips without issues.

 

DCS also allows hot swapping joysticks, so you can change TARGET profile or connect different joystick without exiting DCS.

[VpR81]

It has been a long time since I ran Target, what is the reasons you use it?

 

TARGET is way more versatile than DCS ingame mapping and provides more options. It allows you to map every switch position without beeing dependant on DCS "Joystick special" commands. Like Weegie said, GUI is more basic than the script editor, but does enhance the WH functions significant compared to DCS. Easy to use and provides a lot of options for your hotas, but to tap the full potential of the WH, you will need the script editor. There are some good tutorial vids on Youtube for both.

 

If you re not willing to get into the SE, just try GUI. It will let you hot swap the grips without issues. Just make sure to exclude TM paddles (if you have some) from your profile, because TARGET morphes your hotas (and your paddles) into one virtual controller. Windows only allows 8 axis per controller and the WH hotas w/ paddles does have 10 axis. GUI is only used to map keys, axis are still set in DCS. So excluding the paddles doesent make much of a difference.

 

cheers

[BlacleyCole]

Will target work with the cougar

[VpR81]

Will target work with the cougar

 

When creating/editing a profile, the cougar is listed as choosable device in TARGET GUI. I cant test it since i dont own the cougar, but i think this should work.