Looking to buy

[kllr101]

Hello.

 

I've been watching DCS:A-10 for a while now, I've not had a sufficent 'rig' to be able to play the game, hence why i've not bought the game.

 

Soon, I will be spending my saved up cash on a new machine to be able to play games (ArmA II etc).

 

I'm not a good pilot, and if I do get the game. It'll still be a month away. But, I've been playing games like Lock On and Falcon 4.0 for a while. And looking forward to shooting up some targets in a proper hog. (The one in games like LOMAC was never fullfilling).

 

What kinds of extras do you suggest? I know things like TrackIR and HOTAS systems will come up here, but those have gone to the back of my list. Are there any other little things that help out.

 

I am also a total, newb, at things like Joysticks, HOTAS and TrackIR stuff. So if anyone can recommend brand names, or places to buy (In the UK) at a good price, would be much apprechaited.

 

Thanks, Hope to be your wingman one day.

- kllr101/Ben. :)

[connos]

Thrustmaster Hotas and Saitek pedals are the best in my opinion. Also TrackIR version 5. 64bit windows is a must and 8gb ram will be good. Also an SSD will help a lot with Arma 2 and DCS sims. I buy most of my PC stuff from http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

[Cibit]

Hi I hope you get the rig you want and then DCS A10.

This is my priorities list for this game.

Track IR

HOTAS of some description

Peddles.

 

I could not play/fly any aircraft game/sim without Tir

HOTAS because there are so many systems/functions I would find it hard to map to a stand alone stick (IMO):)

Rudder pedals are great but are used very rarely by me in flight, handy for nose wheel steering though

 

CAUTION Once you get this sim your life changes dramatically:P

[MTFDarkEagle]

Hi and welcome :)

 

What I suggest, in this order:

- HOTAS system (preferably the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS: it's a replica of the A-10C's hotas. You can find it on the thrustmaster website, and it's also available on amazon, but for cheaper prices, someone else will have to step in on that).

- TrackIR (You won't ever fly without it when you've tried it :) )

- Rudder pedals (If your going all out full quality: Simped's, but if not I hear the rudders from CH are pretty good, and the combat pedals from Saitek).

 

Cheers!

[sofie_59]

Hotas warthog :thumbup:

Track ir 4 or 5 :thumbup:

 

A good simped :thumbup:

 

And you are good to go

 

http://www.dhs-electronic.de/index2.php?id=215&lng=en

 

http://www.naturalpoint.com/

 

And a good pc ofcourse !

That*s all you need

[636_Castle]

TrackIR is something that really should NOT be benched in this sim.

 

I've had it for years, and only touched it a few times, until A-10C came out. Now it's an absolute necessity, for so many reasons.

 

With SO many HOTAS functions like DMS, TMS, CMS, Coolie, NWS...you'll likely not have any keys left for a view HAT. That'll mean going hands OFF for vital hands ON functions.

 

It also helps out tremendously with SA. Sometimes you spot new targets on a strafe. With TrackIR you can just keep eyes on your target the entire time until you circle back around. "Padlock" is considered a cheat AFAIK, so I don't think you can use it in many multiplayer servers.

 

Seriously man, do yourself a favor and put TrackIR 2nd on your list, right underneath a good HOTAS so you can control weapon sensors on the fly, without going heads down and hands off just to simply change your SOI.

 

Here's what I'd go with if I were you.

 

1) HOTAS with either a twisting stick for rudder, or pedals. Lots of buttons/HATs.

2) TrackIR

3) Time and patience.

 

Anything else you need, you'll get from this great community. This sim really only requires those two pieces of hardware. PLEASE don't sideline a good HOTAS and TrackIR! I know they're not wallet friendly, but without them, you might as well be tieing your hands behind your back.

 

Edit - I don't know about the UK, but The Find and Newegg have always been my go-to places.

Edited April 12, 2011 by 636_Castle

[kllr101]

Thanks all for the welcome,

 

I've bumped up TrackIR, as that's gonna help in more than DCS. But I have no idea about HOTAS' setups.

 

Where can i get a HOTAS, for a good price. I'm not looking for a full blown A-10 replica, I guess even a decent Joystick would do. (Without throttle, I can just use keys for that). The buying the actual system part will take up most of my money, and am streching myself.

 

What other brands of Josticks/HOTAS' are there? Preferbly budget ones that will still do the job. As i will most likley use them for games like IL-2, Falcon, LOMAC and other games (ArmA etc) as well. So it wont need to be top-of-the range.

[MTFDarkEagle]

What you can get, which is a full hotas system, but still very affordable is the Saitek X52. If you're just looking for a simple joystick: have a look at the Thrustmaster T.16000m, or the CH joystick.

[Avatar72]

If money is really an issue, dont forget to look for a HOTAS with rudder control. The previously mentioned Saitek X52 has this. This way you dont have to throw down another 100-200 for a single axis controller.

[Zenra]

Agree with everything said here, but just want to add: you will probably not want to limit yourself to using the keyboard for throttle control either. You need to adjust throttle setting a lot, including pretty much anytime you turn and of course during AA refueling. The X52 will probably be your lowest cost choice.

[StrongHarm]

I would recommend the X52pro to save money as well. If you decide on this, take a look at my prepared profile for that HOTAS here.

 

Be aware that DCS is very CPU dependent. The better your CPU, the more performance you'll get. Also an SSD drive to run DCS from is a great idea. You don't need a huge one that also runs your operating system.

 

Don't feel that you have to acquire all the best gear on day one. I personally have an upgrade schedule that still includes a new CPU and Warthog HOTAS.

[Cowboy10uk]

Hi Kllr101 welcome to the community, as you have already stated you know that Track IR and Hotas will be mentioned, well this is because they while not essential to fly and enjoy the sim, I would say are essential to get the most out of the sim.

 

However you dont have to break the bank when first setting up. Your first port of call is of course finding somewhere to purchase from. Myself I have always found the best store by far in the Uk, is RC Simulations. http://www.rcsimulations.co.uk The owner Bob is a fount of knowledge when it comes to flight simming, There is nothing this guy dosnt know and he is passionant about our hobby, Be warned though, Ive never managed to get off the phone from him within 30 mins, even if it was just a 2 min order. :)

 

Otherwise your options in the UK, are really the flight store, http://www.flightstore.co.uk/ These guys have pretty much anything you want to start flight simming at fairly decent prices as well, or Good old Amazon. They normally have good prices that are hard to beat and you can normally pick up the odd bargin here if they misprice the item, which they do sometimes, Quite a few of us here thought it was xmas early when they put the warthog on at the silly price of £200 and then still honoured it :)

 

After that you need to think what to get, In order of importance to using A10 I would say.

 

1. Track IR - You can get either the 4 or 5 model, Of course the 5 is the latest and is about £120 or £140 if purchased with the track clip pro which I highly recommend to get whichever Track IR you decide to get, You can also still find the 4 about for a good price, I would do a search on Ebay as well for this

 

2. Hotas - The best for this sim if you can afford it is of course the Thrustmaster Warthog which you can pick up for around £300, using it on this sim just makes it for me, just feels great. A cheaper option though is to go with the Saitek X52, most of us I guess started with this Hotas setup and its so good I still have mine as back up, certainly in my Sqn alone, Every single member either started with this stick OR are still using it.

 

3. Pedals - as far as im concerned there is only one choice - Saitek. there are other manufactors out there but for the cost these are the best and as a bonus One of the cheapest to buy :)

 

Another place to look for good bargins when just starting and of course advice is a flight sim show. I know we dont have many in the UK these days, BUT the best and by far the one worth going to is the Weston flight sim show and the Hele Musium next month http://www.fscweston.co.uk/ If you live near there I would highly recommend it, You Will certainly find DCS Pilots there including myself on the Sat, But I do believe that some may also be showing the sim as well. At least I hope they do :) you can pick up some great advice and community spirit at the show and can also find some great bargins hiddern away sometimes. If thats too far then there is always the Cosford Flight sim show later in the year although be warned that is really FSX only. in fact that was the only sim on display although the normal shops were there.

 

Hope that helps

 

Cowboy10uk

 

By the way I dont work for Weston in anyway shape or form, But I Love the show. I cant recommend it enough to everyone.

[636_Castle]

I can't say much about Saitek. Many people here strongly back them up. I've personally had nothing but frustration with them. (See my sig. when you need to fix your rudder ;)) But unless you're friends with the federal reserve system, I have to admit the X-52 Pro will give you a stick, throttle, programming software, tons of buttons, AND a twisting stick for under $200. Ideally a CH Fighter Stick and Throttle with pedals would be kick a$$, but they don't bundle their HOTAS which massively increases price. You can forget about Thrustmaster products if you're on any sort of a budget at all. Yes it would be epic. But I have WAY better things to spend $500 on in my opinion.

 

Bottom line though, don't intentionally not get a decent HOTAS and TrackIR if you're planning on getting into this sim at all. The Hog's mission is CAS. You're barely clearing tree tops, hiding behind hills, dodging AAA, trying not to lose control of your jet, trying not to lose situational awareness, all while handling the most complex and in depth military avionics and weapons ever implemented into a flight sim to date.

 

Honestly, the last thing you want to do is make things harder for yourself.

 

Linky 1

Linky 2

 

:)

[S77th-konkussion]

I can't say much about Saitek. Many people here strongly back them up. I've personally had nothing but frustration with them. (See my sig. when you need to fix your rudder ;)) But unless you're friends with the federal reserve system, I have to admit the X-52 Pro will give you a stick, throttle, programming software, tons of buttons, AND a twisting stick for under $200. Ideally a CH Fighter Stick and Throttle with pedals would be kick a$$, but they don't bundle their HOTAS which massively increases price.

 

 

 

psst...

 

[636_Castle]

Whoa nice price konkussion!!

 

I've never used a CH product, but I hear they're outstanding as far as build quality goes. It's a serious consideration for me right now. Plus an F-16 replica stick is literally an A-10C stick too. Second best thing to Thrustmaster. :)

 

Still nearly $100 more than Saitek, but from what I hear it's a damn nice setup.

 

[EDIT]

The CH Fighterstick doesn't have a dual stage trigger. That could be it's fate....

Edited April 12, 2011 by 636_Castle

[S77th-konkussion]

Whoa nice price konkussion!!

 

I've never used a CH product, but I hear they're outstanding as far as build quality goes. It's a serious consideration for me right now. Plus an F-16 replica stick is literally an A-10C stick too. Second best thing to Thrustmaster. :)

 

Still nearly $100 more than Saitek, but from what I hear it's a damn nice setup.

 

[EDIT]

The CH Fighterstick doesn't have a dual stage trigger. That could be it's fate....

 

 

Yes- a bit higher up front- one time. If Saitek breaks one time- well the math is obvious.

 

As far as dual stage trigger- I too would love CH to implement this physically. But as you can see below, it's not really a problem. With the right software- both stages of the trigger work perfectly.

 

[kllr101]

Thanks very much.

 

I found my old Attack3 joystick, and that will do (don't laugh) for now. Maybe later down the year I'll look at getting a HOTAS, Probably a Thrustmaster of some kind.

 

When I come around to getting my system, I will be purchasing DCS:A-10 and TrackIR with it. All I need to know now is how to fly the A-10, properly. :joystick:

 

On that note - Before I make a thread there, Does anyone know a good LOMAC A-10 mod, That'll help the gap between it and DCS?

 

Thanks for all your help. :)

[StrongHarm]

One thing.. and one thing only.. will truly bridge the curve when learning DCS:A-10C Warthog:

The Manual.

 

People will tell you they use the manual only as a reference, and learn from videos. Those are the people who ask questions for months before they get what another person gets in the manual in a week.

 

LOMAC is an entirely different animal and won't really give you any context to DCS.

[kllr101]

I have a second screen, why am I getting the feeling that the manual will be open perminantly on it.

 

Yes, I'm going to download that flight manual (as stickied at the top there) and learn it cover-cover before I begin.

 

A. Because then I might be able to actually take off when I get the game.

B. I get, very very bored with a computer that cannot play games well.

 

(I currently have a Pentium4, so I'm not even going to bother buying the game yet :p)

[jeffyd123]

hey kllr,

 

first off, what system are you looking at building?

 

how much do you have budgeted for it?

 

Are you gonna build or buy a new rig?

-if building do you have parts to re-use?

 

Im running a 20 month old rig (see sig) and with the latest patch its very smooth now... so the sim runs on a mediocre machine now.

You may want to compromise a bit on the PC investment and upgrade it in a year. I used to build gaming PCs and the latest stuff isnt that much faster for the extreme premium you pay. If you can, get an i7 CPU... they are awesome.

 

I would have to say that HOTAS of some kind is needed... there are a lot of HOTAS commands in the sim and it will suck trying to use a cheap, old stick.

I bought the saitek x65 and I like it but I really wish I looked at CH's stuff first as Konkusson showed me. They both have a lot of HATS that you are going to need... A-10 isnt like Falcon in that department. My previous stick was an X45 which was great for Falcon but sucked for A-10 (not enough Hats).

 

Track IR is must.

 

Good luck

 

Jeff