Sidewinder 2 force feedback with Xpforce

Hi,
I just bought a sidewinder 2 and XPForce for FS2020 and although I am happy that the force feedback works, it operates at a bare minimum.
Mostly centre forces are felt and with take off or landing some shaking.
Better something than nothing I think.

The force feedback native support in FSX however is great, as it is supposed to be.
No XPforce is needed with FSX.

Did someone by any chance find a way to improve force feedback in FS2020 with XPforce?
I already maxed out most of the XPforce settings for FFB.
I read somewhere about better FFB with the BETA version of XPforce, I did not try that yet, somebody did?

Thanks.
Martijn.

First thing I did was to turn all of that centering off in the spring and friction tabs. That improved it for me.

The best thing is being able to feel trim forces. Let the aircraft get you in the groove and not the stick and then you will start to really enjoy things. Best aircraft for me? Islander, Arrow and the Hawk. All of these are sublime with FFB.

I’m just starting to fly, training missions etc, so I’m still flying a Cessna.

Are you using the BETA version of XPforce?

I’m not sure what you mean by feel the trim forces, can this be experienced by disabling the center frictions?

Well, If you go to basics on an aeroplane there are four primary forces of thrust, drag, lift and of course gravity. Flying is a state of equilibrium where these forces are balanced by the aircraft and changes to attitude and power act upon the aircraft and you can sense these forces though the stick and exercise control over the aircraft.

This is such a hopelessly potted version of things and I really recommend you look at Google or YouTube to get more of a feel for the basics. If you can understand or visualise these primary forces you will take this knowledge forward and enjoy your flying much more.

I use the standard version of XP Force by the way.

Can you explain, please. Thank you

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In XP force in the config tab for main controls, turn the two settings down as for me anyway, it is the airflow over the control surfaces that I want to feel.

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you don’t have problem witf xpforce and SU8 ?
For me I have problem with the AP not working sometime in the kodiak
The joy move very fast and the plane don’t follow the AP.
It seems broken
Any news of the developpers ?
What is this beta version ? why do we need an other license

Ah hah, I have seen the same with Flying Iron P-38, the auto pilot seems to not engage but works fine without xpforce. All my other a/c work ok with AP so something is going on here. I might try the beta version on the xpforce site and see if that resplves the issue.

Brian

anyone know how to validate the Beta version, I have the normal with licence but when I tried the Beta it just asks for a new licence whilst saying the old licence is valid but for an older version. Any idea?

Brian

Old post but there are 8 settings, do you mean pitch and roll strength?

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First flight I was a bit disappointed as it felt more like a shaker/rumble experience than what I remember from 20 years ago.

I was also having issue with the stick overriding the auto pilot. Going to see if tape on the sensor helps

Firstly, I use the Logitech G940 and this has stronger motors that either of my Sidewinders but it has less subtlety, so I set up with this as a consideration. First thing I ditch, would be the first two settings. All the way back to zero. Pitch and roll strength are where I make the most alterations and I look for weight in the flight model and the sensation of leaning the aircraft into the turn. I do have a good bit of dead zone as well, since all of the aircraft that I fly are cable actuated surfaces and these wear over time and mean that you have to actually fly the aircraft thaat bit more. I am not at the PC right now, so can only give an overview of how I use it. On e you have it zeroed in, you forget it :slight_smile:

PS I have always taped the stick and in so doing, get none of the flailing about that can happen. It is worth noting that Jim Keir recommends that you dont do this.

I had to disable the alternate trim to prevent a catastrophic AP incident. I think it was getting into a feedback loop and causing violent oscillations. They were making my whole desk shake.

The tape seems to help too. I’m not sure how it would work without tape.

I can move the trim and see the stick physically move! However, I can’t really trim by feel. Something about it just isn’t natural.

It’s working okay now but it’s nowhere near what native support was like back in the old days.

Flying left handed is also tough, I’d like to try a different grip.

I know your last point well. I am left handed but had to learn like much else in life, to go right handed :slight_smile: The reason Russ from FS force gave up on MSFS was that there was much that the sim wasnt sending out and so he decided to sit it out for now. With XP force, this is as good as it gets at the moment. With the G940 it trims beautifully by feel alone.

Are you using a physical trim wheel?

I’m right handed but taught myself to fly left handed as that’s a common configuration in most airplanes. It helps flying in VR since I need my right hand free to use the mouse for cockpit interaction.

My Logitech came with a L/R configuration but I was able to put it into an unofficial neutral configuration so I could use either hand.

I might give Xplane a try to see how FF is there. Not that I want to change up sims, lol. I just have too much invested in MSFS.

I just know FF can be 100x better with the Sidewinder. I see people saying FS Force was a little better.

One irritating thing I get now is taxing on the ground, instead of feeling natural movement, I get random vibrations and an occasional jolt, like I just ran something big over.

I do get ground thumps from airfield surfaces but not grass! Regarding the trim wheels, I actually have three. Buttons on the G940 which I almost exclusively use, one on the HC Bravo which I might only use for ultra fine adjustment on things like the JF PA28 and a third on the Logitech multi panel which I have reprogrammed as a variable vertical speed control, though even there, I use the Streamdeck in preference.

We can only hope for a renaissance in force feedback. For me, it is priceless.

Hard to believe the G940 has stronger motors. With tape on the Sidewinder it can get quite violent with tape on hand sensor. It’s like a mini Earth quake.

I’m debating now the tape off. Without hand pressure to dampen the stick it can get into a bad feedback loop.

For a good flight sim stick, I think it needs a mode to move still but not provide the inertia with hands off.

I can see where you are going with your settings. Most of the XPForce settings/effects feel gimmicky/fake. Like why does the stick occasionally bang around when the airplane is off, in calm weather and parked?

I downloaded X-Plane 12 for a comparison but haven’t gotten too far yet. It’s startling how bad the visuals look in comparison.

I’m using a sidewinder and XpForce, I find it’s very erratic and sometimes just seems to give up so that you get take off wheel bumps etc but on landing nothing at all even though the stick still is providing forces. It’s not a very good app but I think its pretty much all there is at present.

I tried the tape bit and it seems better but on start up the stick goes mad!

That and tape doesn’t play well with auto pilot.

As much as I love FF I had to give up. I think it just requires native support in the sim or an APi that isn’t there.

Unless a controller is on the market that supports Xbox I don’t think we will ever see FF support in MSFS. And for that to happen MS and the hardware manufacturer would need to collaborate. I just don’t see that happening.

Sadly I think you are probably right, MS are not interested unless there is a big enough market and I guess you can’t really argue against that one.

Thing is the FSX code they imported had support, they just decided to turn it off.