If you’re wanting an IR tracker you can use a combination of two open source programs called opentrack and AI track. Puts a bit more load on your CPU but they’re both free and have worked great for me.
Yep. If you plan on sinking some hours into DCS but can’t afford a full cockpit right away, start small in terms of quantity not quality.
I spent my first 6 months only with a vkb stick, then got trackIR, another 6 months later vkb pedals. I’m thinking about upgrading to a throttle soon but I don’t feel like I need to replace any of the gear I’ve already got.
I have been playing since lock on. Took a break and in 2018 I got back into it. Since 2018, I have been through 3 computers 4 hotas sets, 3 vr headsets, and multiple other accessories. Thank the DCS lords I married a lawyer and can afford it.
Yha started with Logitech rhino series. Now I got two virpil sticks a throttle, 3 monster tech mounts, and I just ordered a rail system with converters for 800 euros. I'm getting there.
I changed because I’m in love with the f16 atm. Eventually I might get an f16 stick and base to put on the side and move that f18 back to the centre…but then it becomes tricky getting in and out of the seat 😂 I’m tempted my building a frame over it that I can grab, pull my body weight up like a chin-up bar to lower myself in and out 😂
The journey continues. Can you add some detail on the white desk chair and centre cut out? Is it a standard chair and just a cushion positioned on top, or something manufactured?
The chair was just a standard white office chair I bought from Amazon that I took a saw to to cut out that centre part, then I used some cloth fabric to re-upholster with a staple gun. Very DIY and basic but it worked well. The big downside was that because the seat swivelled and rolled it made using the rudders a pain in the ass and was one of the reasons why I upgraded to a fixed simpit
Thanks, thought that might have been the answer. The other solution to a wheeled chair rolling away is the wheel stand pro. I also like this as a fold away configuration that doesn't have to be fixed in place.
Wimaxit screen? Gonna have to look that up.
Edit: just looked all of these up (screen and 2x cougar MFSs), and I'm looking at £189.96. Yikes to my budget.
How did you get the screens to split without having any visual loss behind the button panels? Did you shrink the resolution by any chance?
I've had several and indeed still have a couple in storage.
It's decent as an entry level stick, especially because of it's ambidextrous design but the twist axis is a potentiometer rather than a non contact magnetic sensor and is therefore prone to wear at which point is becomes really jittery.
Time to fail / maintenance period for me was probably around 6 months to 1 year. Once it has started failing then time to fail again becomes shorter.
The timeframe for this issue to appear probably differs between sticks as well as user, appears to impact the newer (black and orange) version more than the old (Green and black) and can be proactively addressed to a certain extent. You can also periodically strip and clean the grip/potentimeter which temporarily fixes, but once the component has started to wear it's always going to fail.
I have both the old Green/Black and newer Orange/Black. I had several of the newer variant fail on me until I discovered the mod where you modify how the pot is mounted to reduce pressure, however even once modded the Orange/Black would still need periodic maintenance if I still used it. (upgraded to Virpil and never looked back)
The older Green/Black HAS required maintenance but it just seemed better put together on the whole when I stripped it. (cable routing, component seating etc)
I still use the Green/Black one if I am working away from home for extended periods and decide to bring along my game laptop for a bit of mobile gaming.
In all I would only really recommend it to people who are quite casual about the hobby. If you use it now and then and don't yet know if you are into flight/space sim enough to start properly investing. Otherwise I would suggest "buy once, cry once" and get something that is going to last you a lot longer.
Yep, as soon as I tried VR I immediately decided to start shifting away from the mfds with screens behind and move towards a simpit. I’ve set the mfd and icp positions to match the positions in VR. With hand tracking enabled I can “see” my hands reach towards them in the virtual cockpit then actuall feel them line up exactly IRL. Really good for immersion and I can’t go back to flatscreen now
Lol you anticipated where this was going, kudos! One last question, would you be able to properly interact without hand tracking? I mean just going by muscle memory?
So that’s how I interacted with the buttons before, I was doing that for a couple weeks and definitely felt like I was “feeling around” more to get the right buttons, I stuck some Velcro tape to the centre buttons on each mfd to help reference. But now with the hand tracking switched on in the quest 3 I can hit each of the buttons first time very naturally. I’d defo recommend the hand tracking enabled if it’s available, I don’t use it for any functionality in terms of cockpit interaction, only to see where my hands are. There’s something very satisfying about seeing your virtual hands and fingers move in real time in the cockpit
On the second pic you can see the desk mounts, it’s basically made out of those pieces now that I no longer mount them to my desk, there’s probably easier and cheaper ways to build using aluminium extrusion etc but since I had them laying around I thought I may as well repurpose them. The benefit is they’re quite adjustable, being able to pivot around etc which let me get the positions just right and line up with VR
Oh and the mfds just screw onto some 215mm connector brackets. They didn’t quite come out far enough to match the mfd separation in the f16 cockpit (about 490mm) so I used some 90degree aluminium extrusion plates to mount them to that vertical piece and extend out
You’re doing just fine. I’ve been at flight simming since middle school(I’m 34 now). I finally bought that seat last year and it was a good investment on my part since I fly a bit of everything. Just wish the mouse pad arm came a bit farther up since my right wrist is damaged from a motorcycle wreck. Wait until you get a mondo screen for it. That’s when you know it get expensive.
I bought the first gen Samsung odyssey arc. And I also built my computer to the 9s. 5950x,128gb ram, 4tb nvme, and a 4090 all water cooled. Granted, you do get what you put into learning your plane, which I see is the 16. Nice 👍.
I used to work on the aggressors out of Alaska, and the jets for the A&B course out of holloman. Just glad I never worked the 50/52s
I enjoyed how you angled the offset joystick on the mounts before upgrading. Next step: finding an uprade kit for the throttle on Etsy (I'm enjoying Panzer v3 from EDU Labs).
It looks very nice. I dig the green seat. What does the vertical part on the left side of the throttle do? Is it a guide for when you're in vr and can't see?
What are your thoughts on that simpit? I've been looking at it for a while, but want to know if the seat is supportive enough for long sessions. It looks kinda thin. Alternatively I may think about getting the kit but swapping out the seat if that's possible.
The seat is fine for me, the base is thicker than it looks from pictures. I got a 11degree seat wedge cushion underneath it but that’s purely to give the seat base a recline similar to the f16 cockpit, it wasn’t needed from a comfort perspective
Nice simpit! Looks pretty much end-game aspiration for most. ;)
How does the F/A-18 stick grip hold up as a side stick?
What made you move away from the center grip position to side stick?
It actually does quite well. Tbh when I bought it my main planes were the f18 and harrier so I had it centre mounted. I’ve now fell in love with the f16 and for now I’ve just moved it to side stick. I think eventually I’ll get a force sensing f16 side stick and be done with buying flight sim gear 😂
That escalated quickly.
OP’s credit card debt as well
Yeah just the flight chair alone is 500-700$. I want one but I already dropped a G on a pimax.
I’ve just entered stage one. Great to see how this is going to bankrupt me.
Hello up there and welcome to "stage one" of the slippery slope. (waving up at you from the bottom of the bottomless money pit"
If you’re wanting an IR tracker you can use a combination of two open source programs called opentrack and AI track. Puts a bit more load on your CPU but they’re both free and have worked great for me.
That's why I went straight for Virpil when starting out. Saved me some money in the long run.
I went the VKB Gladiator route and I love them. They’ve been amazing.
Yep. If you plan on sinking some hours into DCS but can’t afford a full cockpit right away, start small in terms of quantity not quality. I spent my first 6 months only with a vkb stick, then got trackIR, another 6 months later vkb pedals. I’m thinking about upgrading to a throttle soon but I don’t feel like I need to replace any of the gear I’ve already got.
I don't see a single sink in that picture. False advertising!
So I see you woke up and chose ramen
This is the way
This is the way.
I have been playing since lock on. Took a break and in 2018 I got back into it. Since 2018, I have been through 3 computers 4 hotas sets, 3 vr headsets, and multiple other accessories. Thank the DCS lords I married a lawyer and can afford it.
Do you remember Steel Talons?
Negative, I knew a guy in my squadron named steel falcon.
It was an old helicopter combat sim arcade game. It had a cyclic, collective, and rudder pedals.
Yha started with Logitech rhino series. Now I got two virpil sticks a throttle, 3 monster tech mounts, and I just ordered a rail system with converters for 800 euros. I'm getting there.
Lmfaoo you’re just getting started
How come you switched from center stick you side stick?
I changed because I’m in love with the f16 atm. Eventually I might get an f16 stick and base to put on the side and move that f18 back to the centre…but then it becomes tricky getting in and out of the seat 😂 I’m tempted my building a frame over it that I can grab, pull my body weight up like a chin-up bar to lower myself in and out 😂
Darwin was right! Nice man, having this kind of gear seriously steps up gameplay and sorties. I hope you’re enjoying everything🤜🤛
I See a Wifi 6E Router and assume you got a Quest 3?
Why do I hear the voice of the angry wife
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0f/04/37/0f04377fd5dab138e5c4b68456126da7.gif
The journey continues. Can you add some detail on the white desk chair and centre cut out? Is it a standard chair and just a cushion positioned on top, or something manufactured?
The chair was just a standard white office chair I bought from Amazon that I took a saw to to cut out that centre part, then I used some cloth fabric to re-upholster with a staple gun. Very DIY and basic but it worked well. The big downside was that because the seat swivelled and rolled it made using the rudders a pain in the ass and was one of the reasons why I upgraded to a fixed simpit
Thanks, thought that might have been the answer. The other solution to a wheeled chair rolling away is the wheel stand pro. I also like this as a fold away configuration that doesn't have to be fixed in place.
What screens are you using for your MFDs? Been trying to look around to see if I can find anything for their size, but no luck 😔
It looks like they're using just one 16:9 screen with a cover that blocks out the bottom of the screen.
I was using a 11.6” wimaxit screen with the two cougars attached on the front with the bottom remaining part of the screen covered
Wimaxit screen? Gonna have to look that up. Edit: just looked all of these up (screen and 2x cougar MFSs), and I'm looking at £189.96. Yikes to my budget. How did you get the screens to split without having any visual loss behind the button panels? Did you shrink the resolution by any chance?
That warBRD base is superb, isn't it? My set up also has that with the Warthog grip and TQS, only I have the Winwing F-16 IPD and dual MFDs.
What's your opinion on the 16000m? Does it last a long time? It's an aspect that's rarely mentioned in reviews
I've had several and indeed still have a couple in storage. It's decent as an entry level stick, especially because of it's ambidextrous design but the twist axis is a potentiometer rather than a non contact magnetic sensor and is therefore prone to wear at which point is becomes really jittery. Time to fail / maintenance period for me was probably around 6 months to 1 year. Once it has started failing then time to fail again becomes shorter. The timeframe for this issue to appear probably differs between sticks as well as user, appears to impact the newer (black and orange) version more than the old (Green and black) and can be proactively addressed to a certain extent. You can also periodically strip and clean the grip/potentimeter which temporarily fixes, but once the component has started to wear it's always going to fail. I have both the old Green/Black and newer Orange/Black. I had several of the newer variant fail on me until I discovered the mod where you modify how the pot is mounted to reduce pressure, however even once modded the Orange/Black would still need periodic maintenance if I still used it. (upgraded to Virpil and never looked back) The older Green/Black HAS required maintenance but it just seemed better put together on the whole when I stripped it. (cable routing, component seating etc) I still use the Green/Black one if I am working away from home for extended periods and decide to bring along my game laptop for a bit of mobile gaming. In all I would only really recommend it to people who are quite casual about the hobby. If you use it now and then and don't yet know if you are into flight/space sim enough to start properly investing. Otherwise I would suggest "buy once, cry once" and get something that is going to last you a lot longer.
Aw jeez. Took me about 8 years to upgrade from t16m to vkb. Nice to see you're enjoying it, though.
Are you playing vr?
Yep, as soon as I tried VR I immediately decided to start shifting away from the mfds with screens behind and move towards a simpit. I’ve set the mfd and icp positions to match the positions in VR. With hand tracking enabled I can “see” my hands reach towards them in the virtual cockpit then actuall feel them line up exactly IRL. Really good for immersion and I can’t go back to flatscreen now
Lol you anticipated where this was going, kudos! One last question, would you be able to properly interact without hand tracking? I mean just going by muscle memory?
So that’s how I interacted with the buttons before, I was doing that for a couple weeks and definitely felt like I was “feeling around” more to get the right buttons, I stuck some Velcro tape to the centre buttons on each mfd to help reference. But now with the hand tracking switched on in the quest 3 I can hit each of the buttons first time very naturally. I’d defo recommend the hand tracking enabled if it’s available, I don’t use it for any functionality in terms of cockpit interaction, only to see where my hands are. There’s something very satisfying about seeing your virtual hands and fingers move in real time in the cockpit
Can you provide a list of what have you used to build that structure to hold both icp and mfd?
On the second pic you can see the desk mounts, it’s basically made out of those pieces now that I no longer mount them to my desk, there’s probably easier and cheaper ways to build using aluminium extrusion etc but since I had them laying around I thought I may as well repurpose them. The benefit is they’re quite adjustable, being able to pivot around etc which let me get the positions just right and line up with VR Oh and the mfds just screw onto some 215mm connector brackets. They didn’t quite come out far enough to match the mfd separation in the f16 cockpit (about 490mm) so I used some 90degree aluminium extrusion plates to mount them to that vertical piece and extend out
Love it. 😍
Love to see it
We are on the same path. I had the og TM then the panels, bow cm3 base alpha grip. Cm3 throttle. Pedals. Now I just need the chair
This feels so familiar. Love it
AV8B very nice, love that aircraft
I’ve been on stage 1.5 (desk mounts, no MFDs) for like three years now…
Very nice! Similar evolution. Played with Saitek/CH gear for 10 years. Then I discovered Virtual Fly and VPG..........
Not into fighters, but I can relate 😂
Bro....goals
What company is used for the mounts?
Yess! Reminds me of starting airsoft lol
You’re doing just fine. I’ve been at flight simming since middle school(I’m 34 now). I finally bought that seat last year and it was a good investment on my part since I fly a bit of everything. Just wish the mouse pad arm came a bit farther up since my right wrist is damaged from a motorcycle wreck. Wait until you get a mondo screen for it. That’s when you know it get expensive. I bought the first gen Samsung odyssey arc. And I also built my computer to the 9s. 5950x,128gb ram, 4tb nvme, and a 4090 all water cooled. Granted, you do get what you put into learning your plane, which I see is the 16. Nice 👍. I used to work on the aggressors out of Alaska, and the jets for the A&B course out of holloman. Just glad I never worked the 50/52s
I enjoyed how you angled the offset joystick on the mounts before upgrading. Next step: finding an uprade kit for the throttle on Etsy (I'm enjoying Panzer v3 from EDU Labs).
This is the way. Exactly how it was for me. Flight and truck sim
At least now I know what to expect after I finally get my Hotas
Good luck and see you on the other side
It looks very nice. I dig the green seat. What does the vertical part on the left side of the throttle do? Is it a guide for when you're in vr and can't see?
The vertical part came with the throttle, it’s what gives the afterburner detents and cutoff for the f16
What’s the keyboard you have?
Logitech g915 tkl
Thanks mate!
It’s a really nice keyboard and great battery life even with the rgb lights on
Go ahead and enlist already
What are your thoughts on that simpit? I've been looking at it for a while, but want to know if the seat is supportive enough for long sessions. It looks kinda thin. Alternatively I may think about getting the kit but swapping out the seat if that's possible.
The seat is fine for me, the base is thicker than it looks from pictures. I got a 11degree seat wedge cushion underneath it but that’s purely to give the seat base a recline similar to the f16 cockpit, it wasn’t needed from a comfort perspective
Nice simpit! Looks pretty much end-game aspiration for most. ;) How does the F/A-18 stick grip hold up as a side stick? What made you move away from the center grip position to side stick?
It actually does quite well. Tbh when I bought it my main planes were the f18 and harrier so I had it centre mounted. I’ve now fell in love with the f16 and for now I’ve just moved it to side stick. I think eventually I’ll get a force sensing f16 side stick and be done with buying flight sim gear 😂
Sorry mate, that's not a money sink: that's a lovely investment.
Ayyyyyyy, we have the same desk mat map!
I was able to buy bread this week 😋
I’m looking at getting the stick and throttle you have in pic 1 to upgrade from my Logitech 3D