Who cares how old the hardware is? Age has nothing to do with it!
The Force Feedback interface is simple, practically standard and is only a matter of calculating the force data and sending that out the USB.
It’s all about getting us to purchase new stuff. That’s OK when we want faster CPUs and GFX cards but no one has improved the FF joystick.
Marketeers will eventually ruin capitalism. 
This has nothing to do at all with any ancient hardware. Supporting FFB is about using the proper API to create forces, and let that API dealing with the joystick on its own. Whether 2 decades old or brand new doesn’t change anything in this case.
If you do happen to find an older version of the DirectX SDK you can still verify that using the Force Feedback demo/sample program included with it is still working perfectly with the SW FFB2 Joystick plugged in Win10 without having to install any particular driver.
It is just a matter of using the DirectInput Force Feedback API, not the XInput API. The former supports force feedback in the form of actual forces and effects, the latter supports Xbox controller rumbles only (and they call it “force feedback”…). In my opinion this illustrates how Xbox version is not good for the PC version for this particular case.
None of the currently available sticks are an upgrade to a FFB2 it leaves them all for dead.
My fulcrum yoke is probably a touch better for civilian sims but that is a $US500 Yoke versus a 20 year old $US100 flight stick.
(sorry to pick out just one of your lines for quoting, i got the yeast of your posts, and you are slowly realising there’s more to it than just some forces acting on a joystick, it’s big m8, when it works… it’s so much help with flying like a natural rather than watching the screen do wobbly stuff before you react)
The thing is, MSFS2020 is quite a big deal, lots of sales!.. i’ve already seen one guy who made his own FFB joystick from his own 3d printed materials. I’m VERY sure, that as soon as proper FFB-support hits MSFS2020, the flightsticks will be more widely created, as creators want to create and make some money on the side. (look at honeycomb, who jumped in feet first, also thrustmaster have had a go at recreating feel with their epic rudderpedals, yeah, the expensive ones… i’d love 'm if theyd fit my rig).
But to the point, as soon as proper force feedback is introduced, at least we’ll have something to work with, even with our old joysticks… (and for your information, my G940 flight system by Logitech was first released 2009. The rubbers have sheared, wires have been rerouted (as there was a production failure) and Firmware has been edited by a lovely chap on the DCS forums… but it’s still working. Just not supported… )
That’s why i’d hoped one of the devteam’s members would have an old ffb joystick laying around for natively supporting FFB, recreating the forces from the wings/controlsurfaces… Oh well, one day, when this whole MSFS2020 build is completed… sigh
(and we all know by now, if it’s upto Jorg’s team, it will always be refined!)
Have a great day, and thanks for keeping the post alive 
Woof ~ Woof
Yes that’s your opinion. But to prove you wrong it doesn’t work with FS2020, so any other stick that does blows the FFB2 out of the water. It’s not about what it used to be. It’s about what it can do now. And in FS2020, it’s a paperweight.
The above is proof that even when confronted with verifiable facts, some people will refuse to believe them.
Total nonsense it works fine with XP Force. Which is not to say it could not be even better with a bit more data coming back from the game about turbulence etc.
If your not happy with your FFB2 and want to sell it I am after a spare just in case 
Sadly most of the current sticks on the market are cheap plastic toys with super short quick action and lots of LEDS and unnecessary extra buttons designed for teenagers flying combat sims and space games. Look cool and awesome but not really suited to actual flight sims.
try thrustmaster warthog, best stick ever, it cost a bit yes.
Yeah there are some OK sticks around, just the cheaper sticks and yokes are rubbish. Some mid price stuff like the Warthog and the Honeycomb seem quite reasonable. My Fulcrum Yoke is actually very good for the money, step up from the Honeycomb and more expensive but not the crazy price you pay for the Yoko and Brunner units.
Same for me. XPForce might not be the ideal solution but it works fine with my FFB2 most of the time. The only problems I occasionally have are due to the way XPForce connects to the sim but that’s neither XPForce’s nor the joystick’s fault.
It works so good that I almost can’t fly without it anymore. It provides so much valuable haptic sensory information. Just the inertia of the control surfaces and the more realistic trim feature alone would be worth it.
for me this tool works the best with the MSFS2 and is updated regularly https://directinputmanager.com/airforceplayer
does it not work for you?
What are you talking about?
My Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 Joystick works
fine in Windows 10 and FS2020.
It just does not have the Force Feedback.
Why use a 20 year old stick that only has some functionality? The main reason for having the FF2 is the FORCE FEEDBACK!
In my opinion, the main reason for having a force feedback joystick is for the force feedback. However there are many reasons for having a SWFFB2 and here are few I personally like:
Optical precision which never loose calibration
Fine precision which makes it really working precisely for helicopters
All in one joystick + throttle making it handy when you don’t want to plug the entire setup (for flight testing the Reality XP GTN/GNS during dev it is very convenient)
Enough buttons on the joystick and the base to map the most essential controls.
Yep.
Bearing in mind you get 95% of FFB functionality with addons like XPForce anyway … even without FFB it uses digital sensors which means it still is as precise as when new even 20 years later. The FFB motors (unlike bungie cords and springs) seem indestructible.
The digital sensors combined with longer stick with long throw give you a precision most cheaper modern sticks cannot match. (yeah my fulcrum is better but it has 8" of travel on the elevator axis)
The only issue you ever get with these things is if they sit unused for a while the rubber grip gets “sticky” but after a few hours of normal use that goes away of it’s own accord.
I have come to the conclusion some of the posters in this thread are actually employees of CH or Thrustmaster
Fully agree, I was wrong
Thanks for giving all this context.
I also simrace and FFB is mandatory, you simply can’t play without it, but since I never had a joystick for flightsim that supports FFB, I assumed it was not the same thing.
Now I am excited about trying it in the future!
Are there any manufacturers that make force feedback yokes?
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There are a few of which the best known is Brunner, but they are enthusiast/professional items and priced accordingly.
When people say there are “no FFB Yokes” they actually mean there are none in the lower end sub $500 price range any more. You cannot just walk into a main street games store or Walmart and buy a FFB flight stick or Yoke anymore (the way you can just pick up a FFB racing wheel). It is all high end stuff.
Diy’ers can build their own ffb yokes using the Microsoft FFB2 guts.
XP force is acceptable software and for $10 its cheap. Most of the 2 springs in a box yokes can be modified to ffb. Its a bit of work but I really enjoy the enhancement it provides.