2 Joysticks On 1 PC

[PlaneMan653]

Is it possible to have 2 people piloting the plane on 1 pc as if someone is pilot and the other is copilot? Thanks!

[TinManNFO]

Basically yes, just make sure you verify the axes in the control options. I’m pretty sure it’s last input goes, so if one of your control devices has jittery potentiometers or some similar issue where it puts out sporadic uncommanded/unintended signals there might be a non-optimal user experience.

[EdamllamaB]

You can enable both at once.

Just remember without Force Feedback, moving your stick/yoke will have no effect on the physical position of theirs. This is problematic because, when they later move their device the controls will suddenly jump from your position to theirs.

The most elegant solution might be to have a switchable USB hub and switch off the joystick that is not in control. Then when that person takes over switch the other stick off and theirs on.

[GONEFLYING1234]

Probably yes, if you create a sturdy physical connection between the joysticks or yokes.
Master and slave principal that is.
Same with the rudder pedals.
As long as both devices are being recognized over USB you should also be able to use all the buttons and/or sliders on it.

[SwiftTugboat430]

@TinManNFO

a non-optimal user experience

I love that!

[MeridianOwl4306]

Will MSFS actually acknowledge the “second” flightstick movement ? What if the flightsticks are identical ? What if they are NOT identical. Will MSFS engage 2 different setup files if the sticks are different ?
This is an interesting concept. I have not seen any posts where someone is actually using 2 flightsticks at once… I do like the concept because almost ALL planes have 2 control sticks or yokes.

[EdamllamaB]

@MeridianOwl4306

This is an interesting concept. I have not seen any posts where someone is actually using 2 flightsticks at once… I do like the concept because almost ALL planes have 2 control sticks or yokes.

I have both my FFB2 and Fulcrum yoke connected.

The game registers whichever one was moved the most recently.

[Jimrh1993]

I would like to do something like that.

I would like to use my Saitek joystick/throttle as my main flight controls and a “gamepad” type device to control the drone/external views.

[EdamllamaB]

Lots of people do that. it is a common setup.

[GONEFLYING1234]

I use something like that.
In the beginning I had a Saitek-X52 pro set and it worked like a charme.
But, the flightstick got sick , lost it’s accuracy and died…
So I purchased a Thustmaster T16000 M ( stick, thottle, rudders) and found out that the throttle was a horror to operate so I plugged the spair Saitek throttle back in.
Everything works together and as a bonus I now have tons of extra buttons
Happy

[MeridianOwl4306]

Interesting… thank you for the reply.
If using 2 different flightsticks with different set up configurations, the setup file associated with each stick is used whenever input from that stick is detected ? So the MSFS flip flops back and forth with configuration files upon a movement of the stick… Wonder what happens if a simultaneous movement is detected or one throttle is set to 50% and the other is set for 80%.

[EdamllamaB]

@MeridianOwl4306

So the MSFS flip flops back and forth with configuration files upon a movement of the stick

No each device uses its own configuration. The game polls each device for changes and responds to any change.

@MeridianOwl4306

Wonder what happens if a simultaneous movement is detected or one throttle is set to 50% and the other is set for 80%.

The game will use whatever device it detected last as the current setting.

TLDR

• if both devices are mapped to different things there are no issues at all.
• As far as I can see, if both devices are mapped to the same axis, the game potentially polls both devices and updates based on the most recent changes - however I have never really tested it properly to know for sure.

Using two different joysticks for different things (flight control and drone control for example) is fine. Mapping two joysticks to the same axis, the game will indeed recognise both but the results are a bit hit and miss and not optimal.

If you have two devices plug them both in and see what happens and let us know

[MeridianOwl4306]

@EdamllamaB

The game polls each device for changes and responds to any change.

If the game is polling each device and responds to any change, does that mean the throttle may fluctuate between 50 and 80 percent after each polling ? I suspect not but it does make me wonder what throttle setting will be valid if both are changed at approximately the same time.

[barbra6456]

I’m using two rudder pedals and two control yokes at once. There’s really no issues (run joy.cpl before you start up the sim to make sure they’re both working okay). The data rates from the controllers are pretty low, so the only issue is the same as real life- two people giving different commands. So as long as everyone does a proper handoff to the other pilot/copilot, it should be good.

I’ve been thinking of a couple of rack-and-pinions to slave one control to the other, with a bell crank for the left-right on the ailerons. In a few months, maybe.

But two, 3, 4 controllers, it’s the same as with 2 keyboards and mice on the same computer (which I also have set up). Works fine as long as the two people cooperate. To the computer, it’s just bits coming over a wire.

NOT the same as web cams - the data rate is too high to share two webcams on a single USB port. And the USB protocol doesn’t have error correction, so web cams running at 1080 need better wiring if you’re going to lengthen the cord - use USB3 for cable extensions, they’re better built.

[MeridianOwl4306]

Great Answers ! Thank you for that reply.
This is why the MSFS Forum is so great… Lots of nice folks sharing very good info.
Thank you !