TQ just bought his very first evar flightstick!

[The Question]

I just recently "acquired" Combat Flight Simulator 3, and have discovered that unlike the very rudimentary flight sim featured in Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Vietnam and Battlefield 2, the old keyboard/mouse combo just won't do the trick in hardcore deep-realism flight sims. SO! I have just bought my very first flightstick. The features:

- z-axis rudder control
- throttle
- lots O' pretty buttons
- full-tilt-boogie force feedback (something Logitech sticks are apparently famous for.

 

[Mandi]

um yah!

Is that the game you were trying to play the last time we talked and you could get the plane off the ground?

 

[The Question]

No, that was Battle Of Britain 2. But same problem -- there are so MANY damn functions that you just really can't play either game without a decent flightstick and throttle, and since I don't feel like shelling out $200+ for a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) setup, this is a good compromise.

 

[Mandi]

You and your toys....

 

[Big Dick McGee]

DooD, just get a PS2 or Xbox already!

 

[The Question]

Bah! SCREW that without lube! My hands are too big for the PS2 controller, and the XBOX is gonna be practically obselete once XBOX360 hits the stores. Maybe I'll think about it in a few months, when the new consoles are out and have a decent list of titles.

 

[Big Dick McGee]

I have, literally, the largest hands of anyone I've ever met. My hands have alwasy been bigger than my woman's feet.

And I have no problem using a PS2 controller. Stop making excuses, you FUCKING ANTI-JAPPER MOTHERFUCKER!! GO SONY! GO NISSAN! GO HONDA!! GO SUSHI!!

 

[The Question]

Hey, I like to smash the crap out of a Yamaha with a shinai same as anybody, but my favorite kind of games are first-person shooters, and using a tiny-ass thumb-stick to control POV is just an exercise in frustration, man.

I will say this, though -- consoles do handle racing games better than PC, and I LOVE racing games. But I'm not plunking down cash on a console that's only got a year of market life left, so I'm waiting on XBOX 360, and I'm not getting one of those until there are at least 2 good racing titles for it.

SO THERE NYAH!

 

[Mandi]

Yeah well, i've got a flight stick too!

 

[Frank B. Parker]

Whoa!

 

[Mandi]

Dual?

 

[The Question]

Okay, the Force 3D Pro arrived this morning, so here's a little mini-review.

The Pros:

--Excellent, Ah say, EXCELLENT force feedback. I gave this puppy a whirl in Combat Flight Simulator 3, and I could feel everything from subtle turbulence when slicing through clouds to the pull of an inverted dive to the rattle of firing machine guns to harsh jolts when taking fire. NICE!

--The thing is so fully configurable, I'm not 100% sure I couldn't program it to reheat my coffee in the friggin' microwave.

--Overall, good button placement. Just about everything you want in-flight is right there under your thumb.

--Base doesn't slip'n'slide around thanks to being nice and wide, with sure-grip little rubber feet. Makes me wish I had sure-grip little rubber feet.

The Cons:

--Button placement is ONLY "pretty good", and it's only "just about" everything you want in-flight on the stick. Throttle control and an extra six buttons are on the base -- not too big a problem, but some people might have room to complain.

--Throttle has no detent for idle, which means a lot of guesswork when you jump into an aircraft.

Overall, it's a damn good toy.

 

[Big Dick McGee]

You should be playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006, not some namby-pamby "War" game. Real Men play golf simulations.

 

[The Question]

Pfah! I think someone should combine the two. Think that sand trap's a bitch now? Throw a Panzerkampfwagen Ausf. III-J in that puppeh! 9-iron? FUCK the 9-iron, HAND ME MY B.A.R. M1918, I'll get a HOLE IN ONE! I'll put a hole in THAT one, and THAT one, and THAT ONE OVER THERE!

 

[Big Dick McGee]

So far, I've carded 8 or 9 Aces in the Tiger Woods game. Sadly, in real life, I've never had a hole-in-one, though I had a ball skip just over the hole on TWO occasions!!!