Newbie pilot + Question about Deadzones

ChazFox · Post by **ChazFox** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:39 pm

Hi there ^^ The name's Chaz, I'm just a guy in Scotland who's been looking for some fun Space Trading/Combat simulators to play. I figured I'd give Oolite a shot, and although I haven't been very far into it yet, I have to say I'm quite liking it.

I was going to be asking whether there was any deadzone adjustment option for my joystick (I'm using a Saitek Cyborg Evo and it just doesn't want to find a good centre point, as a result my flying in Oolite is a bit hard to control), but I did a quick search on the boards and saw it had already been discussed back in 2007. As such, I was wondering if anyone had actually taken the reins on implementing deadzone adjustment, or if that had been called off for anything.

Sadly there's no way to adjust the joystick's default deadzone via the control panel, and although I've heard there's a deadzone utility for Saitek controllers, I haven't been able to find it at all.

Whatever way of it, I'm considering getting an X52 Pro Flight Controller stick in a couple weeks' time, primarily for Flight Simulator X, but also for some space trading/combat games. I've got X2, X3 and Evochron legends, all good games, but I took an interest in Oolite partly because it's free, and partly because it's a remake of what could be considered the grandaddy of space trading/combat games. XD

pagroove · Post by **pagroove** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:47 pm

Welcome to the boards commander. Can't answer the questions about the joystick as I'm flying with keyboard. I'm used to that probably from the original Elite and Elite plus.But soon someone drops by to look into the case.

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:52 pm

Hi ChazFox,

are we talking about Windows as your OS of choice?

I may have the Saitek deadzoning software at work - I'll try and dig it out.

I can recommend the X52 (that's the separate stick and throttle - yes?) I've used it at work on Oolite - lots of buttons to map keyboard controls to - excellent.

ChazFox · Post by **ChazFox** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:04 pm

Yep, I'm running Windows 7. Sorry about that, forgot to mention what OS I was running. ^^;

Cmd. Cheyd · Post by **Cmd. Cheyd** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:15 pm

I can also recommend the Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS setup. VERY nice, smooth setup - Albeit rather expensive.

ChazFox · Post by **ChazFox** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:19 pm

Yeah, my eyes are currently set on the Saitek X52 Pro Flight HOTAS setup. Partly because of the LCD Multi-Function Display on the throttle section that can be programmed to display information regarding the game you're playing. (I don't know if anyone's implemented MFD compatibility for Oolite, but that would be neat. I know it's compatible with Flight Simulator X by default, and someone's implementing it for Evochron Legends.)

Overall though, it just looks like a good HOTAS setup, and it's not too bad for price (£139.99 direct from Saitek's shop, but I saw it on Amazon UK for £109.99 so I might get it from there. If anyone else has any suggestions as to where I can find it for a good price I'm all ears.)

For now though, I'll work with my Cyborg Evo. Once I can set a deadzone on this thing I'll be good to go. (Manually docking is a pain when your X axis wiggles about. XD)

EDIT: I found the Saitek Cyborg Evo drivers, and was able to set deadzones on the controller! Now I should really be good to go. ^^

EDIT 2: Or maybe not. Despite setting deadzones and recalibrating the stick, my ship continues to want to drift to the left on a regular basis. This is getting pretty annoying.

Zieman · Post by **Zieman** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:16 pm

Try this:
"calibrate" your joystick ingame
- meaning that once you have your 'stick drivers & associated software running, start Oolite, launch and do a full roll (left and right), yaw (if possible/charted right and left) and pitch (up and down).

I'm on XP 32 bit with Logitech X3D, and even with Logitech software running and Oolite profile with suitable deadzones enabled, the controls behave just like you described when I start Oolite. But after performing "ingame calibration" the stick works fine.

ChazFox · Post by **ChazFox** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:40 pm

Thanks for the advice. Sadly, even after performing ingame calibration, my ship continues to turn to the left.

I can correct it easily, although it does require me to keep a hold of the stick at all times.

Switeck · Post by **Switeck** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:31 am

Almost needs to be a temporary disable/enable joystick key just to remove that problem...

Cmd. Cheyd · Post by **Cmd. Cheyd** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 3:18 am

Check to see if you have the Precision mode engaged for your joystick. There used to be a bug... (wanders off to go check his install)

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:59 am

Cmd. Cheyd wrote:
Check to see if you have the Precision mode engaged for your joystick. There used to be a bug... (wanders off to go check his install)

I has the same thought over night - there was an "issue" that the precision toggle caused the ship to yaw to the left on some OS /Stick combos - you may have found another one. I thought it had been fixed though.

ChazFox · Post by **ChazFox** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:40 am

Thanks for the suggestion. I set a button on my joystick to toggle precision mode. It's normally off from what I can see, but turning it on actually helps slow the "Yaw to the left" thing.

Some of the confusion here might be arising from the axes that I'm using on this stick to control the ship. The setup I have going is:

Tilt the stick forward and back for pitch.
Tilt the stick left or right to yaw.
Twist the stick left or right to roll.

So that's Axis 1 for yaw, Axis 2 for pitch and Axis 4 for Roll, according to the Evo's axis setup. I don't know if that's how other players do it, but it's the setup I'm most used to so I went for it. Since my Evo's off-centre on Axis 1, that means I yaw to the left.

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:32 am

ChazFox wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion. I set a button on my joystick to toggle precision mode. It's normally off from what I can see, but turning it on actually helps slow the "Yaw to the left" thing.

Some of the confusion here might be arising from the axes that I'm using on this stick to control the ship. The setup I have going is:

Tilt the stick forward and back for pitch.
Tilt the stick left or right to yaw.
Twist the stick left or right to roll.

So that's Axis 1 for yaw, Axis 2 for pitch and Axis 4 for Roll, according to the Evo's axis setup. I don't know if that's how other players do it, but it's the setup I'm most used to so I went for it. Since my Evo's off-centre on Axis 1, that means I yaw to the left.

I use a two analogue stick gamepad (Thrustmaster Dual Firestorm 2) - one thumb stick for roll/pitch the other stick for yaw - works nicely under both Windows (XP/7) and Linux (Karmic).

Your set up is probably not unique.

I suspect the slow down in yaw when precision toggle is used is precisely that - movement is slowed/dampened.