Thank you everyone. With assistance from your input and watching Youtube tutorials I have in the meantime managed to get the throttle working as well as the yoke itself. I have programmed buttons for flaps, gear, reverse thrust, the hat switch, and brakes, but although the buttons reflect in the controller interface, except for the hat switch, most of them do not light up when pressing the corresponding button after programming it and in flight of course do not work as a result. I will however follow the advice " to look over the default keyboard and mouse settings and figure out (through trial and error) which ones to use". I really do hope in the meantime that support for the CH Products system and others are on a wish list with Microsoft. I will advise later whether I was successful. Regards
It’s so you can have 2 separate keys or buttons for the same command. Some folks find this convenient.
Welcome aboard and to flightsims in general! Sorry you’re having trouble.
I’ve never used that type of stick so can’t help from personal experience. I just tried searching for it and apparently it’s very old (10+ years) and no longer supported by Logitech (nothing on the support page, not even the specs). So it could be that’s your main problem–it’s so old the game doesn’t really know how to handle it. Maybe consider getting modern?
That said, from what I can gather it appears this is an FFB joystick, which is a whole additional can of worms in itself (regardless of make/model/vintage). I don’t have an FFB stick but I’ve got an FFB wheel for racing sims and while it’s ultimately worth all the trouble, it’s a nightmare to get set up right (which is very subjective anyway) , on top of whatever problems you have just getting the basic control functionality going.
But anyway, FFB definitely affects sensitivity because motors inside the controller move the handle and thus send inputs to the game different from what you intended. Not having an FFB stick, I’ve never been through the FFB set-up process in MSFS but I do note that there seems to be only 1 slider for it (somewhere on the menus, can’t find it now) that defaults to 100% force. This might be part of your problem.
Otherwise, you might check some other things:
- Make sure your stick is firmly mounted on your desk. This makes a LOT of difference
- Find the newest software/driver you can for the stick, then calibrate it in Windows. It could be that your over-control is merely a calibration issue. See this guide for details:[HOW-TO] Calibrate your Joystick / Yoke
- Really have a go with your sensitivity settings. Make sure your deadzones are no more than 1% for the flight control axes and consider going somewhat negative on the sensitivity if you can’t fix the problem by other means first.
For my yoke, I use the same custom profile for all planes, however for the throttle quadrant, I have separate custom profiles that I created for different types of planes. My throttle quadrant has 3 levers. For the Cessna 172, one lever is throttle, another is mixture, and the 3rd lever is unmapped.
For planes that have 3 levers for throttle, prop, and mixture I have the levers mapped that way. For planes like the TBM 930, I only mapped 1 throttle lever and left the other 2 levers unmapped. Twin engines and twin props I map two levers. For triple engine airliner, the 3 levers are mapped for each engine. Also for planes that have reverse thrust or reverse via feathering the prop backwards like the TBM 930, I mapped the bottom area past the throttle detents to toggle the throttles into reverse.
Bottomline, you can create separate profiles for each plane or just categorize planes into groups if they have the same set up in terms of throttle, prop, mixture, number of engines or propellers, reverse.
My throttle quadrant also has 6 buttons and depending on the plane some of the buttons are mapped for different things. For example, on planes with landing gear, I use one of the buttons to toggle landing gear. On planes with flaps, I use 2 buttons for flaps increase and flaps decrease. On all planes, I use a button to toggle the parking brake.
I have now managed to successfully program my CH Controls Assigning buttons on the Yoke. The trick is not to “search by input” and not to “select an input”. Just click directly on the “search by input” block, press the button you need to program and then “VALIDATE”.
Thank you for answering and you have given me a great advise. The Logitech FFB stick is indeed a disaster. I have changed it to the Logitech Freedom 2.4 (wireless normal joystick) and now the plane is reacting much easier and smoother. At this moment nothing changed at sensitivity.
I have done now one small flight and succeeded to land (do not ask how, but…) Now I have a little bit confidence in discover more.
Is there any article which gives advise about a very good joystick for THIS game.?
Thanks
Well, controllers are a very subjective thing–what you like might be hated by others, etc. So there’s no “best” thing out there.
I myself am a fan of HOTAS systems where you have separate controllers for stick and throtle, both of which are covered with knobs and buttons you can set up for commands you frequently use (views, trim, mixture, reverse thust, etc.). Such systems (along, of course, with separate rudder pedals which are SO much better than twisting the stick for rudder) are useful for ALL flightsims, plus also space games, even tank sims. And what’s really convenient about a HOTAS is that you can put your keyboard between the stick and throttle, and there’s nothing stick up in the middle between your eyes and the monitor.
Now, few real planes have controls like this, so folks who want aesthetics, home cockpits, or just prefer yokes for some reason, don’t like HOTAS. But from ergonomic and practical utility POVs, they are IMHO the best.
I reported the issue with CH products over two months ago. Never heard back from anyone at MS. No quality control , this is not for the serious GA.
ShadowChase910, how did you do this? A detailed explanation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Robert
Nicely done. I needed this info. I see that the good folks in this forum haven’t put this guide front and centre where it belongs.
I would like to know this as well.
Well, I’m not who you were asking but it’s been a while and you deserve an answer, so here goes…
This requires using your controller’s own software. This requires having a controller/software combo sufficiently advanced to allow you to break an analog control axis into segments, so doesn’t work for everything. And where it does work, the exact method varies. But the general idea is, you break the throttle’s range of motion into 3 segments at a point of convenience, such as the aft detent. Forward of there, you have 0-100% engine power. Immediately aft of the detent, you have a very short segment for the key command that toggles reverse thrust. And from there to the bottom end of the throttle’s travel, you have a reverse axis that starts at 0 power and increases to say 25-30% power when you hit the aft stop of the throttle’s motion. This enables realistic throttle/power lever movement without having to press any other keys or buttons.
This is mixing of control axes and key/button inputs on the same controlLER motion is not always possible even with a fairly complex controller, however. So the next best thing is to divide the throttle’s motion into 2 segments at the aft detent, which is 0. Going forward from there, you get 100%, going aft from there, you get 25-30%. Then you need a separate button or keypress to toggle reverse thrust (NOT reverse PITCH, but THRUST, don’t ask me why).
Either way, the result is that if you move the throttle to the aft detent, you have forward pitch and idle power. As soon as you move aft of the detent, you get reverse pitch (or have to push a button/key for this). As you continue to pull the throttle back, engine power increases, only with reverse prop pitch. Pushing the throttle back forward reduces power to 0, then toggles forward pitch (or you do this manually), then you’re in the aft detent at 0 power with forward pitch again. From there all the way forward, you increase power with forward pitch.
My own X52 can do the split-axis but can’t have a keypress in between, it’s either all axis or all buttons. But I haven’t been bothered to go to this level of complexity just for the sake of the power lever being in a position on the quandrant as shown on the Caravan. I just pull the throttle fully aft to idle, hit a key to toggle reverse THRUST (not pitch), then push the throttle forward again.
The main reason for this is that, graphically, the power lever in the TBM appears properly. When you pull the throttle handle all the way back, the in-game power lever stops moving at the top of the beta range. Then when you push the button to toggle reverse thrust and push the controller throttle forward again, the in-game TMB power lever moves backwards into the beta range. IOW, there are inconsistencies in graphical power lever movement vs. controller inputs between the TBM and Caravan. The TBM is CLOSER to being right than the Caravan, but trying to make the Caravan look right hoses the TBM.
Best solution: NEVER look at the in-game throttle quadrant. If you’re going to idle, let alone beta, you should be looking out the window, either on final or taxiing.
Thanks so much for the detailed explanation of how this is done. I thought the poster was referring to how he did this within FS 2020, and I couldn’t see how one could do that. Now I know you can’t. My PFC Turbo TQ has no software and is programmed via fsuipc where I can setup the various zones quite easily. There’s a beta version for FS 2020 and I’ll give it a try. Thanks for taking the time to explain how you do it.
Typical MS, you have to look at forums to figure out how things work.
I read online this game was relaxing but I don’t want to spend hours trying to figure out how this works. This is not relaxing. Devs can throttle this complexity, people don’t need to battle settings to figure out how this should work.
Well, then you’re in the same boat as me. I CAN, if I so choose, divide my throttle axis into 2 parts to make engine response V-shaped, low at an arbitrary point (like the aft detent) somewhere in the middle and higher at both ends. But I choose not to. Given the different implementations in various turboprop planes, it’s just simpler to make them all use the same system. That is, fully aft to idle, a button to toggle reverse thrust, then back forward again to increase power with reverse pitch. Never looking at the power lever but only out the window to fly/taxi the plane. You can’t mistake when you’re in reverse pitch (which for some reason actually works on the the “reverse thrust” command) because of the different sound.
Typical EVERYTHING intended to work on anybody’s unique PC hardware/software configuration rather than everybody’s identical console configuration.
Keyboards are not unique, WinX is not unique. Controls are the issue. PS4 / XBOX / PC / Atari / iphone / garage door opener all the same issue. The people that push the games don’t play them.
XboX management - FS 2020 is the best FS sim ever because you can look out the window and see your house and your uncut yard in real time.
The sim recognizes CH products, but default settings are not included in the sim as they are for many logitech and Thrustrmaster controllers. Microsoft controllers are not included either.
It depends. Look at a random sample of experiences posted by numerous folks. Some folks have no problems, some folks can’t get the game to work at all, and there is no consistent pattern with regards hardware. Some folks running minimum specs or lower have better performance and experiences than some folks with top-shelf systems. There’s a lot of stuff going on under the hood inside computers, various settings, different drivers, how the parts are connected, etc. Most of this is totally non-obvious to the average person–only real geeks grok it. And a fair amount of this stuff impacts game performance or even if it works at all. Some of it also impacts how well your controllers work.
So yeah, the game itself has issues with how it handles controllers, no argument. But even with that said, some folks with the same controller have problems and others don’t, and that’s due to either operator issues or differences in their rigs.
Thank you so very much for all the work you put into your post. Outstanding! I do have one question which you may or may not be able to answer. I removed and reinstalled the game because of some control issues I was having. The main profile that has hours flown, number of flights…etc, returns as if I never re-installed the game. Is there any way to do a clean install that reset that profile? No worries if you don’t know. I will probably post under general later on. Again, contributions like yours are so welcomed and appreciated
Hello Orig, can you tell me if the Logitech Attack 3 Joystick works with the simulator please Thank you.
I’m afraid I can’t. I’ve never had that stick. You might start a thread in this Self-Service/Peripherals topic and ask the whole community. I’m sure you’ll get an answer.