Emulate analogue axis with buttons - vJoy+Joystick Gremlin (possibly plugin?) help needed

[laachta]

Hello there,

a new DCS wannabe here. Having just one joystick and nothing else I'd like to be able to control some analogue axis like throttle or trim with +/- keyboard buttons. I've gathered something like this can't be done in DCS directly and some sort of an external help along the lines of the vJoy+Joystick Gremlin combo is needed. am I possibly right here?

And if yes, can it be done just by using Joystick Gremlin in-app features or would a special plugin be needed? So far I'm inclined to an answer of "an extra plugin is needed" but I'd be gladly proven wrong.

I've actually tried playing around with the plugin feature there using that Keyboard Controlled Throttle example over at https://whitemagic.github.io/JoystickGremlin/user_plugins/#4_6 but I haven't been able to get it to work somehow (as in react to my key presses). Would anyone be able to help me out here, please?

Thanks.

 

[speed-of-heat]

Most of the functions you mention already have a keyboard mapping natively in game

[Beirut]

3 hours ago, laachta said:

Hello there,

a new DCS wannabe here. Having just one joystick and nothing else I'd like to be able to control some analogue axis like throttle or trim with +/- keyboard buttons. I've gathered something like this can't be done in DCS directly and some sort of an external help along the lines of the vJoy+Joystick Gremlin combo is needed. am I possibly right here?

And if yes, can it be done just by using Joystick Gremlin in-app features or would a special plugin be needed? So far I'm inclined to an answer of "an extra plugin is needed" but I'd be gladly proven wrong.

I've actually tried playing around with the plugin feature there using that Keyboard Controlled Throttle example over at https://whitemagic.github.io/JoystickGremlin/user_plugins/#4_6 but I haven't been able to get it to work somehow (as in react to my key presses). Would anyone be able to help me out here, please?

Thanks.

 

 

What kind of flightstick are you using? 

[laachta]

6 hours ago, Beirut said:

 

What kind of flightstick are you using? 

It's the VKB Gladiator NXT EVO - premium version (with that analogue mini-stick).

6 hours ago, Beirut said:

 

What kind of flightstick are you using? 

Alright, thanks, I'll have a look again. It's just that I'd like to be able to reproduce the same setup that I've been using for the past x years in War Thunder as much as possible.

[Beirut]

6 hours ago, laachta said:

It's the VKB Gladiator NXT EVO - premium version (with that analogue mini-stick).

Alright, thanks, I'll have a look again. It's just that I'd like to be able to reproduce the same setup that I've been using for the past x years in War Thunder as much as possible.

 

At the risk of being predictable, get a proper throttle. or at least a second cheap flightstick to use as a throttle. Makes all the difference in the world in DCS. I flew with two of the same cheap flightsticks for years, one as the flightstick and the other as a throttle. Tons of fun and infinitely better control than just one stick and a keyboard. 

 

This is a long winded way of saying I'm too dumb to properly answer your question. Sorry about that. But really, a second dirt cheap flightstick - if funds are limited - as a throttle will absolutely be more enjoyable and give you better control. 

 

And don't forget Voice Attack. If you have a limited HOTAS setup, it makes 1000% difference in your flying.

[laachta]

5 hours ago, Beirut said:

 

At the risk of being predictable, get a proper throttle. or at least a second cheap flightstick to use as a throttle. Makes all the difference in the world in DCS. I flew with two of the same cheap flightsticks for years, one as the flightstick and the other as a throttle. Tons of fun and infinitely better control than just one stick and a keyboard. 

 

This is a long winded way of saying I'm too dumb to properly answer your question. Sorry about that. But really, a second dirt cheap flightstick - if funds are limited - as a throttle will absolutely be more enjoyable and give you better control. 

 

And don't forget Voice Attack. If you have a limited HOTAS setup, it makes 1000% difference in your flying.

Alright, thanks, I'll think about that. I don't think I'd ever heard of Voice Attack before so that's certainly something to consider, too.

[Beirut]

1 hour ago, laachta said:

Alright, thanks, I'll think about that. I don't think I'd ever heard of Voice Attack before so that's certainly something to consider, too.

 

Voice Attack is a solid gold must-have for DCS. And it's not expensive at all. About $10 US on Steam. It lets you use your choice of voice commands to replace keystrokes. Pretty easy to set up and a pleasure to use.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, you can get a free demo on Steam. I think it only lets you do one profile but that will still let you do lots of stuff.

 

If you want to see your plane fly by, for example, instead of hitting F3, you can just say "Flyby"  or whatever you choose, and you get that view. To get back to the cockpit view, instead of hitting F1, just say "cockpit" and there you are. And you can get it to do some pretty complicated things if you spend a few minutes with it. I couldn't/wouldn't fly DCS without it. It saves me from having to map all kinds of stuff onto my HOTAS that I don't have room for. And if you're on a single flightstick, it will be a great help.

 

You don't have to have it respond the way he does in the video. It can stay quiet, give a short sound as a response, or read text you wrote out. 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Beirut

[laachta]

13 hours ago, Beirut said:

 

Voice Attack is a solid gold must-have for DCS. And it's not expensive at all. About $10 US on Steam. It lets you use your choice of voice commands to replace keystrokes. Pretty easy to set up and a pleasure to use.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, you can get a free demo on Steam. I think it only lets you do one profile but that will still let you do lots of stuff.

 

If you want to see your plane fly by, for example, instead of hitting F3, you can just say "Flyby"  or whatever you choose, and you get that view. To get back to the cockpit view, instead of hitting F1, just say "cockpit" and there you are. And you can get it to do some pretty complicated things if you spend a few minutes with it. I couldn't/wouldn't fly DCS without it. It saves me from having to map all kinds of stuff onto my HOTAS that I don't have room for. And if you're on a single flightstick, it will be a great help.

 

You don't have to have it respond the way he does in the video. It can stay quiet, give a short sound as a response, or read text you wrote out. 

 

 

Thanks a lot for the detailed write-up. Now that I think of it I remember seeing a guy on YouTube playing War Thunder sometimes saying "check six" to send that text string into the team chat. Guess that might've been him using the app as well.

I wonder if you can use it to control analogue axis as well, then. Saying "trim/throttle up/down" and stuff. These are right now my main worry making the transition to DCS. The regular key binds I'm kinda confident to be able to get under control using the vJoy+Joystick Gremlin combo. For starters in any case as I'd like to go kinda chronologically through the planes getting the Sabre module first. Which I don't expect to be THAT key binds-heavy. I'm certainly gonna have a closer look at this VoiceAttack thingy later on today...

 

[Beirut]

1 hour ago, laachta said:

Thanks a lot for the detailed write-up. Now that I think of it I remember seeing a guy on YouTube playing War Thunder sometimes saying "check six" to send that text string into the team chat. Guess that might've been him using the app as well.

I wonder if you can use it to control analogue axis as well, then. Saying "trim/throttle up/down" and stuff. These are right now my main worry making the transition to DCS. The regular key binds I'm kinda confident to be able to get under control using the vJoy+Joystick Gremlin combo. For starters in any case as I'd like to go kinda chronologically through the planes getting the Sabre module first. Which I don't expect to be THAT key binds-heavy. I'm certainly gonna have a closer look at this VoiceAttack thingy later on today...

 

 

Not sure about analogue axis, but it works on any keystroke. So in the A-10A, just for fun, I just bound the lower throttle key to the word "slow" and raise throttle to "fast", each with a two-second hold down time. So you're flying along and you say "slow" and your throttle goes to zero and then you say "fast" and your throttle goes to max. You can change the timing and get smaller movements as well. You could say "faster... faster..." and "slower... slower..." and of course anyone listening to you in the next room will either question your state of mind or ask who is in there with you.  

 

The Sabre is good fun. The cockpit textures are looking a bit old, but it's a nice plane. Try it for two-weeks for free with the free trials. 

 

 

 

[laachta]

5 hours ago, Beirut said:

 

Not sure about analogue axis, but it works on any keystroke. So in the A-10A, just for fun, I just bound the lower throttle key to the word "slow" and raise throttle to "fast", each with a two-second hold down time. So you're flying along and you say "slow" and your throttle goes to zero and then you say "fast" and your throttle goes to max. You can change the timing and get smaller movements as well. You could say "faster... faster..." and "slower... slower..." and of course anyone listening to you in the next room will either question your state of mind or ask who is in there with you.  

 

The Sabre is good fun. The cockpit textures are looking a bit old, but it's a nice plane. Try it for two-weeks for free with the free trials. 

 

 

 

Right, haha. I think I'm getting there - throttle and trimming you can really do just by using in-game binds (as the gentleman above correctly pointed out).

One thing I'm still struggling with is when I do "Center View" (naturally, I don't have head tracking either so looking around and stuff is all joystick + keyboard buttons with me as well) and then zoom in, I'm not actually looking through the cross hair as I'd kinda expect to but like at the tip of my plane. So that's annoying me a little bit and I'm not sure if this is something that can be altered somehow or just to live with.

Also thanks for the intel on the free trials - I didn't know they were a thing either.

[Beirut]

1 hour ago, laachta said:

Right, haha. I think I'm getting there - throttle and trimming you can really do just by using in-game binds (as the gentleman above correctly pointed out).

One thing I'm still struggling with is when I do "Center View" (naturally, I don't have head tracking either so looking around and stuff is all joystick + keyboard buttons with me as well) and then zoom in, I'm not actually looking through the cross hair as I'd kinda expect to but like at the tip of my plane. So that's annoying me a little bit and I'm not sure if this is something that can be altered somehow or just to live with.

Also thanks for the intel on the free trials - I didn't know they were a thing either.

 

If you mean when you re-center you are still zoomed in, I have that as well. Pretty sure you can get past it with one of the camera settings that lets you save a special camera position you choose. Once you set it you can use Voice Attack to access that view. 

 

In the F-18, for example, if I want to drop a bomb, I can say "control" and "speed", that sets the autopilot and auto-speed, then I set up and release the weapon, then say "weapon" for the F6 view of the bomb in flight, then "target" to see what is about to get ended, watch the fireworks, and then say "center" and I'm back in the seat. Never have to hunt on the keyboard and it keeps my HOTAS buttons and switches free for other things. I'm pushing this because if you have limited flightstick or HOTAS buttons, as many of us do, and you want to avoid having to type while flying, Voice Attack is the way to go. Keeps your eyes on the screen and on the fun. 

 

As for zoom, I have it on my HOTAS throttle in a convenient place, same buttons in all planes, so zooming in and out is super easy. I use the Thrustmaster HOTAS, good bang for the buck. I have the zoom in & out on the two red buttons. The little stick and paddle are analog, but they don't work in all planes for all things.

 

[laachta]

On 1/15/2023 at 8:01 PM, Beirut said:

If you mean when you re-center you are still zoomed in, I have that as well. Pretty sure you can get past it with one of the camera settings that lets you save a special camera position you choose. Once you set it you can use Voice Attack to access that view. 

No, I mean right after I spawn I see a view like this:

And when I zoom in I get this:

So it's like the line of sight seems to point a bit lower (towards the top of the engine cover, so to say) than I'd expect/want it to meaning parallel with the plane longitudinal axis (and towards the center of the cross hair). Perhaps it's like this only with the P-51 - I don't know yet.

One thing that puts me off of this Voice Attack app a little is the necessity (I assume) to wear a headset for the mike. I prefer to play on speakers with my head free of any weight. Then there is also this worry that the voice recognition might get impaired due to the background sound from the speakers. So I feel I'm still gonna try to stick to my super simple setup first and see where my stubbornness gets me (or more likely not). As far as I've been able to understand this Joystick Gremlin program lets you define several sets of key binds and then cycle between with one key press (or something along these lines, I believe). So I think I'm gonna give this approach a go first.

Thanks a bunch for all your tips and help so far in any case. And also for the Sabre review video - needless to say I'm completely hooked now, haha!

 

[Beirut]

44 minutes ago, laachta said:

No, I mean right after I spawn I see a view like this:

And when I zoom in I get this:

So it's like the line of sight seems to point a bit lower (towards the top of the engine cover, so to say) than I'd expect/want it to meaning parallel with the plane longitudinal axis (and towards the center of the cross hair). Perhaps it's like this only with the P-51 - I don't know yet.

One thing that puts me off of this Voice Attack app a little is the necessity (I assume) to wear a headset for the mike. I prefer to play on speakers with my head free of any weight. Then there is also this worry that the voice recognition might get impaired due to the background sound from the speakers. So I feel I'm still gonna try to stick to my super simple setup first and see where my stubbornness gets me (or more likely not). As far as I've been able to understand this Joystick Gremlin program lets you define several sets of key binds and then cycle between with one key press (or something along these lines, I believe). So I think I'm gonna give this approach a go first.

Thanks a bunch for all your tips and help so far in any case. And also for the Sabre review video - needless to say I'm completely hooked now, haha!

 

 

All the planes are like that. Maybe try raising your seat (in the plane). And as mentioned you can save a custom view to a keystroke or stick button.

 

[laachta]

22 hours ago, Beirut said:

 

All the planes are like that. Maybe try raising your seat (in the plane). And as mentioned you can save a custom view to a keystroke or stick button.

 

Yes, you are right - it's called "Save Cockpit Angels" in the controls. That's exactly what I was looking for - thanks again!