Do I need all this expensive hardware to be competitive or enjoy the sim?
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Seems pretty much like what I did. I use the same curves for BMS and the others.
I prefer the cabled one, though I would prefer “antlers” as I have a 30" screen, placed high.
I’ve overcome the cable thing with a small power bank that can also feed my headset. [emoji4]Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk
I was thinking in a powerbank like that. Which one do you have?
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Oh wow. Thanks for the offer. I live in South Africa. Maybe I will work with what I have and see what happens. Investing in something like a Logitech G Saitek X52 Pro?
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:shocked: Setups like THAT is what got me worried. Thanks for the advice. I will keep it in mind.
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I was thinking in a powerbank like that. Which one do you have?
Oh, just a “no” brand one, that was small/light enough to velcro on my headset. [emoji4]
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:shocked: Setups like THAT is what got me worried. Thanks for the advice. I will keep it in mind.
Yeah, don’t get “smitten” mate. That’s expensive. Even my GF got hooked now. Sheeet… Thanks to the BMS team, things are not so hard here, but even ALL the DCS modules, twice, fades in comparison to all the hardware. [emoji4]
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I’ve seen some crazy hardware setups and just wondering if someone with a Aruco setup and Thrustmaster T-flight X will get anywhere? At the moment it looks like to fully realize the sims capabilities you need at least a X52 (more buttons) and TrackIR (more responsive?). Anything added on top of that like extra mfd’s, monitor or whatever will give you more of a edge. This isn’t quite like CS:GO. Your skills are hardware dependant right?
In short, will someone with a Thrustmaster T-flight X and Aruco setup be a handicap in a multiplayer game?
In short, it is not your hardware that will make you a handicap in multiplayer.
What would I say is essential for BMS multiplayer?
1: Any HOTAS. Sure, there is a whole range of options out there, with widely varying capabilities, quality, and price, but you can become a very good pilot with even the most basic HOTAS. I started flying way back when Falcon 4.0 was first released and had a Logitech joystick where the throttle was a tiny little thing built into the base of the stick. It only had a few buttons, but it was most certainly “good enough”. Some people have claimed to fly, and fly well, with keyboard and mouse, but I find that very hard to believe. So, as I said “Any HOTAS”.
2: Head tracking. This really makes a massive difference. I used to fly without head tracking, using a hat-switch to move the view around. It was very difficult. I got the Delanclip Gamer and after a couple of weeks of tweaking the settings, it is a world of difference. Being able to look around “naturally” is a game changer, and very important when flying multiplayer to keep your eyes on your flight/package, and regularly glance back at the FCR/RWR/HSD/TGP etc.
3: Nope, that is it as far as hardware is concerned.
I would suggest you add voice control to your setup. I use Janjan’s plugin for VoiceAttack. This can really compensate for having a basic HOTAS without many switches and buttons. You can control just about everything with your voice. Need to change UHF frequency? Need to set Master Arm On? Need to request picture from AWACS? Need to change the QNH? You can do all that and more without taking your hands off the HOTAS.
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I just signed up today so I’m new to BMS and this may be a little late, but I’m in a similar boat. I found that Joy2Key keymapping software can really expand the capabilities of the T-Flight X (I’m using the same). I 3D printed a part to fix the center bump to make it smooth which worked beautifully BUT….there is a built-in dead spot over the bump area and without it I found it really hard to tell when I entered and exited the dead spot. I may try making a new piece that has a tiny bump in it at both ends of the dead spot so at least I can feel it without having to look. You might consider that before filing off the “bump” permanently as others have recommended. I can provide STL files for printing the part if anyone’s interested.
I’m also using FoxVox voice recognition to handle all the menu commands and supplement the game - very nice and something I plan to offer free for the BMS community (since I designed it just for BMS). It works so well I may add joystick mapping into it to replace the Joy2Key completely and have everything in one package, but we’ll see. Just let me know if you’d be interested in it as I don’t have a website yet to distribute it. I think if you check out my profile you can see pics and info about it.
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I just signed up today so I’m new to BMS and this may be a little late, but I’m in a similar boat. I found that Joy2Key keymapping software can really expand the capabilities of the T-Flight X (I’m using the same). I 3D printed a part to fix the center bump to make it smooth which worked beautifully BUT….there is a built-in dead spot over the bump area and without it I found it really hard to tell when I entered and exited the dead spot. I may try making a new piece that has a tiny bump in it at both ends of the dead spot so at least I can feel it without having to look. You might consider that before filing off the “bump” permanently as others have recommended. I can provide STL files for printing the part if anyone’s interested.
I’m also using FoxVox voice recognition to handle all the menu commands and supplement the game - very nice and something I plan to offer free for the BMS community (since I designed it just for BMS). It works so well I may add joystick mapping into it to replace the Joy2Key completely and have everything in one package, but we’ll see. Just let me know if you’d be interested in it as I don’t have a website yet to distribute it. I think if you check out my profile you can see pics and info about it.
Welcome! FoxVox sounds interesting as a free Voice-text app, saw some mention of it online but from what I read it’s a Firefox extension yet Firefox doesn’t list it… Is it comparable to VoiceAttack? All online links seem bad, not on GitHub… ?
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Hi Icer,
I did see the Firefox plugin but that’s not this. My app isn’t out yet…I’m just gathering a few beta testers before putting it out to make sure system compatibility is good first. If you’re interested I can add you to my list and send you a link, just send me a private message and I’ll get it out to you. Requires 64 bit windows with .net 4.7 or later installed. I’m planning to compile and share the beta msi today.
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Hey Jc1, Just popping in for a moment. I live in Roseville, CA as well!! Good to know there’s another Pilot in town.
Gavel1955
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I just signed up today so I’m new to BMS and this may be a little late, but I’m in a similar boat. I found that Joy2Key keymapping software can really expand the capabilities of the T-Flight X (I’m using the same). I 3D printed a part to fix the center bump to make it smooth which worked beautifully BUT….there is a built-in dead spot over the bump area and without it I found it really hard to tell when I entered and exited the dead spot. I may try making a new piece that has a tiny bump in it at both ends of the dead spot so at least I can feel it without having to look. You might consider that before filing off the “bump” permanently as others have recommended. I can provide STL files for printing the part if anyone’s interested.
I’m also using FoxVox voice recognition to handle all the menu commands and supplement the game - very nice and something I plan to offer free for the BMS community (since I designed it just for BMS). It works so well I may add joystick mapping into it to replace the Joy2Key completely and have everything in one package, but we’ll see. Just let me know if you’d be interested in it as I don’t have a website yet to distribute it. I think if you check out my profile you can see pics and info about it.
Instead of Joy2Key, consider Joystick Gremlin and vJoy.
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Hello,
1/ I have no head tracking device
2/ I switched from Cougar to T16000
3/ I have no MFDAnd I’m very happy with the game !
Radium
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I’ve seen some crazy hardware setups and just wondering if someone with a Aruco setup and Thrustmaster T-flight X will get anywhere? At the moment it looks like to fully realize the sims capabilities you need at least a X52 (more buttons) and TrackIR (more responsive?). Anything added on top of that like extra mfd’s, monitor or whatever will give you more of a edge. This isn’t quite like CS:GO. Your skills are hardware dependant right?
In short, will someone with a Thrustmaster T-flight X and Aruco setup be a handicap in a multiplayer game?
I upgraded recently from laptop and T.Flight Hotas to a good gaming rig and Warthog. I have TrackIR. Your experience will improve for sure. That said, T.FLight is pretty good for its price and served me well for several years in BMS (2 shift states) and even DCS (4 shift states).
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I find that having physical switches in the form of MFDs and button box really lightens the workload.
For eg. With just a flick of the autopilot switch, I can fly off to a preset heading, beaming a SAM site.
No more fumbling around with the mouse, HOTAS shifted states and getting disoriented/shot down. -
The other route is to go with a virtual touchscreen cockpit. I went away from button boxes as it’s more flexible.
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Suddenly I understand the value of Helios… nice. How do these touchscreen peripherals work … are they USB devices, or do they plug into HDMI/DP? (Do they show up as a second monitor, in Windows?)
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Suddenly I understand the value of Helios… nice. How do these touchscreen peripherals work … are they USB devices, or do they plug into HDMI/DP? (Do they show up as a second monitor, in Windows?)
Most are HDMI/DP for the display and USB for the HID touch. Or like the one I use supports a single USB-C connection for both display and touch. They are just as any regular monitor in windows.
So for smaller projects 10’’ touch displays for RaspPI are a good starter as they are really cheap and work just the same as HDMI/USB under windows -
+1 for Helios
I find myself mashing the MFD buttons ALOT
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I have a crappy old Thrustmaster T.16000M and use mouselook – and I find the experience super enjoyable.
Although I probably spend a lot more time massaging my keyfile and cfg settings, than most people with a few-hundred-$ hotas and head-tracking setup…
And I will surely lose any 1:1 dogfight vs a human with better headtracking and hotas. But I can hold my own against AI migs.
Do you use just the stick or throttle and/or pedals too?
Would you share your keyfile and cfg settings? -
Just the stick, no pedals, and no throttle … well I wrote and use https://github.com/arithex/DragWheel to use my mouse as throttle. But that really doesn’t affect much of anything else in the keyfile or hotas layout. Just allows one to use the analog slider for something else (eg. fov-zoom, or wheelbrakes).
I do use a five-button mouse (and I amended DragWheel to allow remapping those buttons to keys, like a poorman’s Joy2Key or AutoHotkey etc). But currently, I just have those extra mouse buttons mapped to [shift], [ctrl] and [alt] to make keyboard-accessibility easier.
Here’s the DX section of my keyfile. The weirdest feature is that I use trigger as dx-shift. It’s just too ergonomically prominent, to use as gun trigger… I don’t fire the cannon much. I get much better mileage using it as dx-shift.
(Also weird: using NW/SW and NE/SE hat to control antenna-elevation, and man-range (ie. TGP-zoom). I should probably take those out… I hit them by accident far more than I do on purpose.)
I don’t really use the base buttons for anything, as they’re no more or less accessible than the keys on my keyboard.
##================================================================== ## • DX Joystick Buttons and Hats ## ## for Thrustmaster T.16000M ## ## trigger -> 0 ## 2 3 <- stick ## 1 ## left -> 4 5 6 12 11 10 <- right ## base -> 9 8 7 13 14 15 <- base # # Trigger => pinky-switch/dx-shift # S1 => 3D-view # S2, S3 => look-forward, missile-step # Hat => FCR/TGP cursor slew, ant-elev and man-range # # -shifted- # S1' => pickle # S2' => trigger-2nd-detent # S3' => uncage # Hat' => TMS-up/right/down/left ##---------------------------------------- ## Trigger => DX-shift / pinky-switch SimHotasPinkyShift 0 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimHotasPinkyShift 256 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 ##---------------------------------------- ## Stick buttons OTWSelect3DCockpitMode 1 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 OTWGlanceForward 2 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimMissileStep 3 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 ##---------------------------------------- ## Stick buttons (shifted) SimPickle 257 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimTriggerSecondDetent 258 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimToggleMissileCage 259 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 ##---------------------------------------- ## Base buttons, left OTWStepPrevPadlock 4 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 OTWStepNextPadlock 9 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 OTWSelectF3PadlockModeAA 5 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 OTWSelectF3PadlockModeAG 8 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimTriggerFirstDetent 6 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimTriggerSecondDetent 7 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 ##---------------------------------------- ## Base buttons, left (shifted) OTWStepPrevPadlock 260 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 OTWStepNextPadlock 265 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 OTWSelectF3PadlockModeAA 261 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 OTWSelectF3PadlockModeAG 264 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimTriggerFirstDetent 262 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimTriggerSecondDetent 263 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 ##---------------------------------------- ## Base buttons, right AFBrakesIn 12 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 AFBrakesOut 13 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 AFDecLEF 11 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 AFIncLEF 14 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 AFDecFlap 10 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 AFIncFlap 15 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 ##---------------------------------------- ## Base buttons, right (shifted) SimDoNothing 268 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimDoNothing 269 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimDoNothing 267 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimDoNothing 270 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimDoNothing 266 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 SimDoNothing 271 -1 -2 0 0x0 0 ##---------------------------------------- ## POV Hat => slew cursor + elev/range ## ## NE => man-rng knob, zoom in ## SE => man-rng knob, zoom out ## SW => ant elev knob, down ## NW => ant elev knob, up SimCursorUp 0 -1 -3 0 0x0 -1 SimRangeKnobUp 0 -1 -3 1 0x0 -1 SimCursorRight 0 -1 -3 2 0x0 -1 SimRangeKnobDown 0 -1 -3 3 0x0 -1 SimCursorDown 0 -1 -3 4 0x0 -1 SimRadarElevationDown 0 -1 -3 5 0x0 -1 SimCursorLeft 0 -1 -3 6 0x0 -1 SimRadarElevationUp 0 -1 -3 7 0x0 -1 ##---------------------------------------- ## POV Hat (shifted) => TMS switch SimTMSUp 2 -1 -3 0 0x0 -1 SimDoNothing 2 -1 -3 1 0x0 -1 SimTMSRight 2 -1 -3 2 0x0 -1 SimDoNothing 2 -1 -3 3 0x0 -1 SimTMSDown 2 -1 -3 4 0x0 -1 SimDoNothing 2 -1 -3 5 0x0 -1 SimTMSLeft 2 -1 -3 6 0x0 -1 SimDoNothing 2 -1 -3 7 0x0 -1