Oolite Bulletins

My laptop has become my primary computer for the foreseeable future, and my old desktop joystick works fine with it. . . if I can find a large enough surface to put it on. This problem persists at home as we are using folding "TV" tables as our work surfaces. This comes from living in a 28 foot (8,5 m) long trailer. As a result, I'm looking for a compact replacement joystick. What I'm using right now is a Saitek ST290 which gives X, Y, (twist for) Z axies. as well as throttle, 5 buttons and a hat along with trigger, with a USB interface. The problem is that it takes up a fair bit of real estate, and is hard to tote along. Do you fine people have any recommendations on a more compact unit?

Gnudoll wrote:

My laptop has become my primary computer for the foreseeable future, and my old desktop joystick works fine with it. . . if I can find a large enough surface to put it on. This problem persists at home as we are using folding "TV" tables as our work surfaces. This comes from living in a 28 foot (8,5 m) long trailer. As a result, I'm looking for a compact replacement joystick. What I'm using right now is a Saitek ST290 which gives X, Y, (twist for) Z axies. as well as throttle, 5 buttons and a hat along with trigger, with a USB interface. The problem is that it takes up a fair bit of real estate, and is hard to tote along. Do you fine people have any recommendations on a more compact unit?

This is actually a tough one. I travel quite a bit, and have been searching for a "travel joystick" for quite some time. I have had no luck so far, and have ended up converting to a game-pad. Probably not the answer you want. If you find anything please post, as I would be very interested.

I bought a converter to let me use a PS2 controller with my laptop. It has so far proved to be the best joystick/controller ever. Compatible with damn near everything and very customisable!

Selezen wrote:

I bought a converter to let me use a PS2 controller with my laptop. It has so far proved to be the best joystick/controller ever. Compatible with damn near everything and very customisable!

I use a Logitech Rumble pad 2, near identical to the PS2/3 controllers. Very happy with it so far, as long as I turn the vibration off.

I find my trusty nostromo to be quite handy. It is for the "off hand" however.

That's going to be tough, if you want full function and a definite fighter stick. They only come so small. There certainly are sticks from like CH or Saitek that are a bit smaller, but not a lot smaller.

The limited space on the tv tray you might be able to get around if you have something smaller around that you could put on the floor so you can place the joystick in the center rather than off to the right. But that won't make it any smaller to pack along. Well, unless maybe whatever you set the joystick on could double as a carry case for the stick and some other stuff.

Another possibility might be to mount the joystick to your computer chair, like in this article:
http://www.flightsim.com/main/howto/mac.htm

Sure there are other types of controllers that are smaller, but if you want a joystick like in planes or actual current spacecraft (like the NASA or Virgin shuttles and etc), the feel wouldn't be the same.

ClymAngus wrote:

I find my trusty nostromo to be quite handy. It is for the "off hand" however.

I just got a Nostromo, ClymAngus. Neat little device! I hadn't thought of using the directional pad/stick on it for Oolite, or rather I hadn't thought of anything to use it to control yet, since my usual stick has a top-hat switch for changing views. In another space game I play, I have an alien ship that can use 3 axis of thrust as well as 3 axis of attitude, and I figure the nostromo may work better than using two full joysticks. I've managed it before with setting up a Saitek cyborg stick for left hand, but using both joysticks and being able to hit any buttons is a bit tricky. Well, it's an alien ship, so it stands to reason it's not necessarily designed to be convenient to beings with only two hands. LOL

The nostromo is a nice comfortable controller, though.

What's a Nostromo? Makes me think of Alien...

The Nostromo is a speedpad made by Belkin. AKA a Belkin n52 or n52te. Basically it's about 15 keys, a scroll wheel, and a "d-pad" style joystick with a hand rest. But like a ps style controller, it's more of an alternative input device than a joystick in the aviation style. The thumb joystick on it is not analog.

It's definitely an odd/unusual looking little controller, and I think that a bit of association with the Alien movies might be what they had in mind with naming it. But to be fair, the Alien movies also likely were alluding to a book from the early 1900s called "Nostromo, A Tale of the Seaboard".