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Quick question about joysticks


Deputy276

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I'm kinda used to the old W,A,D keyboard controls for controlling a tank and mouse to control the turret. I was wondering if a joystick improves the control in SB or if it is not really a big difference? I have a CH Products F-16 Combatstick that I can use.

I think its a personal choice thing.

I recently tried a Xbox1 controller found it to be excellent.

and being able to program the keys speeds up target tracking and engagement for me anyway.

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There is really no "right" answer to this.

It boils down to user preference.

Some already have a joystick as part of an investment to support a flight sim.

Others swear that a mouse is smoother.

Personally I do have a joystick but usually only really use a mouse since as I travel from venue to venue I know there will be a mouse there but not necessarily a joystick and the training I provide needs to be based on what the group in the room uses (not me out the front using a joystick and everyone else having a mouse).

If your budget is limited I'd suggest using a mouse and then if you find it wanting, invest in a joystick.

If you already have a joystick and intend to only play at that machine then you can choose one or the other.

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Thanks guys. I tried the joystick. It's "okay". Smoother movement than my mouse. But it doesn't respond in some tanks. Works great in the M1A2. But not at all in the T-72. Those are the only two I tried it with. Still have to use A,W,D for movement. That's no sweat. I'm gonna keep futzing around with it and see if its worth using.

I have a whole different problem now. I kept missing with HEAT using the auto-tracking with the M1A2. Then I remember another post where someone had the same problem because they weren't indexing the load. I did the indexing thing, still kept missing. But I hit better with MPAT. Is that correct? :confused:

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Also, keep in mind that you can switch between joystick and mouse 'on the fly'. That is, you can use the joystick when it suits you and switch over to using the mouse whenever you like.

As for the joystick not working in the T-72: does it not work at all, or can you slew the turret but not fire? Remember, in the T-72 you need to hit the 'V' key to tell the auto-loader to load a round each time.

Regarding the M1A2, one procedure is:

  1. Make sure you have the correct round indexed.
  2. Dump any previous lead by hitting the 'P' key. (Joystick button 3.)
  3. Track the target for about a second and a half.
  4. Lase the target.
  5. While still tracking, and up to a half second after lasing, fire.
  6. Repeat the whole procedure as necessary.

Another procedure is:

  1. Make sure you have the correct round indexed.
  2. Dump any previous lead by hitting the 'P' key. (Joystick button 3.)
  3. Lase the target.
  4. track the target for about a second and a half.
  5. Fire.
  6. Repeat the whole procedure as necessary.

You also need to pay particular attention to how you're lasing. If you're in 'last return' mode and the target does not fill the center of the reticle, you need to lase a little low, so that you don't get a bad return from any objects beyond the target. If you're in 'first return' mode and the target does not fill the center of the reticle, you need to lase a little high so that you don't get a bad return from the ground between you and the target. In either case, you need to put the center of the reticle on the target when firing.

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Thanks Lt. I'll give that a try. Yeah, T-72 wouldn't shoot, but I could turn the turret. I got pissed and unplugged the joystick. Everything was fine with mouse. Weird. Gonna try the joystick with some vehicles tonight and see how it works. Funny, but Sabot with the M1A2 works perfect for me. Soon as it switches to HEAT, it is either over or under.

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In the American tanks the gunner (you, someone else or the AI) must index the correct ammo. Remember the hand crank on the 'A1 balistic computer? AFAIK most western European tanks the loader does this for you.

The T-72 is also indexed by the gunner with the requirement of having to do it before you hit "v" to reload.

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I am always using joystick. It improves accuracy a lot for me as i found mouse uncomfortable for me. Also i have all important actions bound to joystick and it makes engagements a lot easier. I cannot imagine playing SB without joystick today just like it is with flightsims :-)

Fire, lead, palm, TIS, mag, laser, ammo type, coax and much more within a reach of my fingers!

And joysticks works perfectly with T-72M1! You have to configure joystick buttons in your software that came with joystick (i have X-52PRO and i am using software that makes fire button emulate spacebar), if you don't have such software you can configure joystick buttons trough a controls menu in SB!

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I use a joy stick all the timea (x55). It's most useful features is the fact that you can make fast and accurate rotation corrections, like moveing from one moving target to another. Also if your joy stick as many buttons, you can program them to all of your most important controls. Fortheremore you can push all of these important buttons with one hand. Leaving your other hand to do other things. If you have a joy stick I recommend using it.

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You've got to take your hand off the stick to use the map, etc., and then move back to the stick to aim, and back and forth. Clearly, using the mouse is the better alternative. :tongue:

Not necessarily. The Saitek X-52 has a built-in mouse-stick-thingy and any buttons can be programmed for left/right click. :bigsmile:

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Argh, I think I'm permanently crippled from trying that! ;)

Seriously though, for the rare occasions where I use a joystick I've even got a piece of plastic tapped across the pinky switch to make it work better as a palm switch. I set SB to "control handle" mode so that I have to hold the palm switch down to aim, feels better that way.

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As most have said: personal preference.

Personally - I prefer a joystick.

I use a Saitek X-52 Pro and have it programmed to do most things straight from the stick and rarely have to touch the keyboard at all except to switch back and forth between the map and 3D. That said it's set up for an M1A2. Haven't tried it with any of the other playable tanks so might not work too well with them. One advantage of the Saitek is with the profile editor you can program all the buttons to emulate keyboard keys which gives it even more power. You can set up 3 profiles and switch back and forth between them at will so you could for example have a LEO setup with a profile for the TC, a profile for the gunner and even (I imagine) one for the driver. I've not gone to that level of control for the M1A2 but... Yeah - it could be done I think.

If I could just get the throttle function to work it would be perfect - still have to use the keyboard for that.

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