Issues with Razer Turret K&M on Xbox Series X

User Support Hub Hardware & Peripherals
1

I recently picked up a Razer Turret from the Microsoft Store in preparation for the launch of Microsoft Flight Sim 2020. After playing the game, I figured it would be much easier to use the game with a K&M due to all the small knobs and buttons in the aircraft.

It’s a peripheral listed on the official Xbox website as a recommended peripheral for MSFS and the “go to” Keyboard and Mouse combo for the game.

However, it has a major compatibility/accessibility with the game, as the Keyboard is a TKL (TenKeyLess), meaning it does not have a numpad. The issue is the entire aircraft is controller by the numpad on the keyboard as set by Asobo, meaning the game is virtually unplayable, as you cannot control the aircraft in anyway (rudder, ailerons, yolk, pitch/yaw etc). There is always key rebinding, but it’s a massive undertaking with a game this massive with hundreds of different bindings, and due to the missing keys, will always render some features obsolete, and makes rebinding an absolute nightmare.

This is a massive oversight considering it’s listed as an official accessory for the game on Xbox.com, but in this state it’s virtually unplayable. I hope Asobo and/or Microsoft can add a preset for the Razer Turret, or any TKL keyboard for that matter, so that players don’t have to go through the mess of trying to rebind the entire Keyboard’s functionality. This should be a plug and play accessory without the need for buying another additional accessory (Wireless Numpad).

2

Let me be honest with you:

You are better off not being able to use it.

You do not want to be trying to actually fly the plane with a keyboard. A keyboard can indeed be helpful to have an abundance of buttons at your disposal for all of the various systems in a complex aircraft. However, a binary input like a keyboard key is totally unsuitable for the primary flight controls. Even the regular Xbox gamepad will be infinitely superior.

3

I mean, people have been playing this with K&M since the games inception, and without issues. I do know many PC players have HOTAS and Yolks, but those aren’t widely available yet for the consoles. The whole reason I got the K&M was because the autopilot in the game was so bad, that whenever I tried selecting things within the taskbar, like ATC commands, on a controller you loose entire control of the aircraft, and with autopilot half the time it sends me into a complete nosedive. I realized it was impossible to control all the buttons and knobs in the aircraft, or interact with the task board without a K&M.

This is why I needed at the minimum cursor support. I do plan to get an actual yolk, but the problem is all the good Certified Xbox Yolks won’t be available till later this year, so the K&M is all I have.

Regardless, since it’s on the official list of Xbox compatible accessories for flight sim, I’d expect the keyboard controls to work out of the box, and not missing something as important as the numpad. Their needs to be a setting in the game for TKL keyboards, or a preset for the Razer Turret since they are selling it at such a high price point direct from Microsoft.

I had bought a lot of equipment in preparation for this game, I bought the 1TB expansion card for the Series X since I needed more space, I bought the premium deluxe version of the game, bought marketplace items since the game felt lacking with planes and airports, and a keyboard and mouse that was supposed to work with the game, as Xbox advertised. I really don’t want to have to spend more money on now a numpad, and then a yolk later this fall once they are available. I was hoping the K&M would ween me over until then but I guess not.

If anything, I simply just want to return the product now, and not buy a Steering Yolk in the future, because who knows when those release, they may not actually work either. This simply makes me want to drop the game entirely.

It’s just disappointing man, like there wasn’t any QC done, nor testing to make sure the product actually worked with the game. But Microsoft and Xbox will advertise it and sell them to you directly.

I’m just angry, and you’d be angry too if you just spent $400 on a peripheral for one game for it to not work as advertised. Sorry to vent, it’s just frustrating that these small issues ruin what is otherwise a very amazing game for me, and I hope that these problems get fixed in the future.

4

I agree it was dumb for them to list the Turret as a recommended peripheral. However, it would have been been nearly as dumb to list any other keyboard, with or without a numberpad, if they were going to give the impression that you could handle primary flight controls with it. You will not have a good experience trying to do that, at least you won’t think it’s good if you’ve ever experience sim flying any other way.

My recommendation in your situation would be to use your controller for doing the actual flying (ailerons, elevators, rudder) and have the KB+M nearby for secondary controls and systems.

If you want something better than the gamepad without spending a ton of money I would look at the T-Flight HOTAS One and skip the pedals for now.

5

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now TBH. Use the controller for flying the aircraft, and the mouse for cursor selection and moving the character around the aircraft controls. It’s working nicely, but again, if they are going to be advertising this as a compatible K&M for the game, it needs to have support for the basic aircraft controls with a preset for TKM M&K’s like the Razer Turret, wether it works great or not.

6

For what you’re using the Turret for, a $25 bluetooth keyboard with built in touchpad like the one I use for my home theater/emulator PC would work just as well. Sadly I don’t know that the Xbox would be able to connect to it.

7

Yeah, wish I knew that before I spent the $400 on the one that Microsoft advertised on the official peripheral list. It seems like all the “official xbox” peripherals are having some major compatibility issues worth the game on console.

You recommended the T-Flight HOTAS, and looking here on this forum literally the first thread is a massive thread about some major compatibility issues with the T-Flight HOTAS, so there’s no way in heck I’m going to be buying another peripheral for the game until Asobo/Microsoft get there act together and get the official peripherals working as they should.

Would have been nice if Microsoft actually tested the products beforehand to make sure there weren’t these major issues, but nah Microsoft will gladly sell you broken peripherals and then not even acknowledge that it’s a problem.