Hi Guys,
I don’t own a FFB stick but have a Fanatec racing setup. FFB is the bomb. I saw where some guys have made and shared their build logs of a FFB yoke using a MS:SW FFB2 stick. It looks easy enough to do. Has the FFB support or workorounds reached a point in MSFS that building one would be a worthwhile endeavor?
There is no native support but the XPForce program works fine for basic functionality (it says XPlane but has a MSFS version in the downloads).
It is fairly cheap but not free.
I generally leave the alternate trim function that moves the stick with trim OFF as even though it works OK, it can mess up as the game does not provide feedback on stick position in game. For some aircraft (the G91 for example) I also tend to keep the stick shaker OFF as the MSFS stall warning is generic based on AoA and not tuned for particular aircraft.
Otherwise though, it gives good ground roll rumble and vibration if gear, flaps or spoilers are out at too high a speed and a reasonable amount of control over stick forces (by winding stick force up I was able to use a linear sensitivity without dead zones on the pitch and yaw axis) . You get a bit of feedback on turbulence but it does not really kick the stick about it is subtle.
Nothing worth having is free…
I mainly fly the steam gauge Cessna 172. That new part 103 ultralight that just came out is fun though. If I can tune it to one aircraft I’d be fine with that. I’m just finishing up my button box and need to have the next project waiting in the wings.
Geeeez I do own that thing for 20y or so and never failed me, I want it on MSFS !!!
I got my Microsoft Force Feedback 2 configured like this, and it works well. Still no Force Feedback though.
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Did you plug in the AC power.
You also need a plugin like XPForce, the game does not support Force Feedback natively.
you can try xpforce, air force player, or FS Playground.
Yes. I plugged in AC Power. It does not have Force Feedback, but it works great as a flight stick. You can add a plugin to get the Force Feedback if you have to have it.
I have been trying to fix my sensitivity settings, and they are still very screwed up for the force feedback 2 joystick, I have tried everything with sensitivity, does anyone know what the sensitivity should be for this joystick?
That will partly depend on whether you are playing with no forces or are using something like XP Force to get a reasonable amount of force back on the stick.
With no FFB it is going to behave like one of those fast notchy combat sticks and you will need to dial the sensitivity back. With more force you can stay closer to linear.
You might want to start by removing any calibration in the Win10 settings app so that is not interfering.
Hi everyone.
I managed to get one of these sticks at a thrift shop for the grand total of 10 canadian dollars. I immediately recognised it for what it was and since it superficially appeared to be in good condition, I grabbed it.
It seems to be working so far, but the movement feels slightly rough; almost like the ball joint has little nothces. Is this normal, or should the movement be perfectly smooth? I normally use a Thrustmaster T.16000m, which is has remarkably smooth and precise travel.
Ohter than that, the stick seems perfectly fine; except the trigger button needs some force to register. I’m reasonable with a soldering iron though and I have a lead on the type of switch it uses. So I may try to repair that myself.
The movement in mine is perfectly smooth. I have had mine from new.
Ah ok, thanks. I’ll open it up tonight and try to figure out what’s causing the roughness. It would be really cool to get it working smoothly.
Question 2: I’ve tried XP Force as suggested previously in this thread, but it causes MSFS to hang during startup. Has anyone got it working? It actually worked the first time around during the 10 minute (seriously?) demo; but after that, it hangs. I’ve managed to get AirForce to work, but XP Force felt much better to me. I’ve looked around the internet, but couldn’t find a solution to this (I’ve found lots of complaints about the developer, however).
Thanks everyone.
You need to calibrate the FF before adding it in the MSFS.
I had to do it yesterday and it was quite involved using Windows 10 settings…
Thanks @Kaptajnen1583. If you mean going into the USB game controller settings, pressing all the buttons and cycling all he axes, then yes, I did that. I also programmed all the buttons and axes in the sim and the all work fine (except the trigger, which works intermittendly).
Is there anything more to the calibration process than this?
Wow, nice to see this topic here! And it hasn’t auto closed.
I had a FF2 back in the 90s and it’s shocking it died off and there has been nothing like it since. It’s one of the few consumer products that ever blew me away at how good it was. Sadly I sent mine to a thrift store about 15 years ago. My t-16000m feels like a toy in comparison.
With the hacking and 3rd party software required, does it live up to it’s performance in the “old days”? Can you feel air pressure on the control surfaces, bumps in the runway, touchdown, etc.?
Integrating force trim to the throttle FF2 would be an amazing thing to have. Lack of any feel has me thinking it may be more realistic to just use auto trim.
YES !!! and of course, trimming the plane is far more realistic 
I see them on ebay. Back when I got rid of mine there were no easy USB conversions and poor software support.
A few posts up I saw mention the forces were not as pronounced as they were back when we had native support.
There is 3rd party software that works pretty well. There’s also a resistor mod that doubles the force. Many people are modding 2 together to run a single longer stick or nodding the stick into a yoke. I’m finishing my yoke now.
Someone should do a consumer product though.