Crap stick + tir or good stick no tir

[uhoney]

Hello there fellow pilots..

 

I just wanted to ask for an opinion about bying sticks and tir. ATM money is tight, and I just have to get flying again. I owned a msffb2 when IL2 was released and I absolutely loved it. ~10 years later, I have no idea where the hell it is. Maybe in the bin or sold it, I don't remember. Anyway, I need a stick (= hotas system), and also would like to get trackir with it. But I can't buy them both at once, so.. I haven't played in a really long time, so most of my time would be practicing the basics all over again. Do I really need tir for that?

 

Would you buy a crappy stick and trackir, or good stick and no trackir ?  I can't think about it logically, I just have to get flying. You know the feeling, you buy crap you regret later on. What would make sense? I'm leaning towards buying a really good stick and just leave tir alone for now. Buy it later, when can afford it. But then again.. with a crappy stick, I could just practice and enjoy tir at the same time, then just upgrade hotas when have the money. aghgh i don't know.

[=LD=Hethwill]

You can get a good stick for little money, even a HOTAS setup is as low as 40 € ( T-Flight Hotas X is quite solid )

 , so good stick + TIR

 

 

Link added for reference

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B001CXYMFS?ie=UTF8&tag=thrustmaster-21

Edited December 18, 2013 by =LD=Hethwill_Khan

[Matt]

I wouldn't want to miss TrackIR anymore. But it also needs some time getting used to.

 

You should probably try to find a TrackIR 4 or 5 used, an FFB2 if you liked it and supplement it with a throttle if you really need one (for instace, atleast for the German fighters in BoS, a whole throttle quadrant is not necessary).

[dburne]

Get a decent stick, Track IR is very nice and I would not want to fly now without it, you can also add TIR later when you can.

[uhoney]

So definitely get trackir, then buy whatever stick I can afford after that. ezpz. Now all I have to do is come up with a plan to explain it to the mrs.

[=LD=Hethwill]

Good luck then with the mrs

 

Seeing you from finland i always remember this sketch

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUyFg9xoPKk

 

 

 

Salute and welcome.

[M4rgaux]

T16000M is inexpensive for the quality, you can have a homemade trackir for less.

[Allons]

1st TrackIR then any kind of stick, Saitek X-cheapest may work. In a WWII-sim there is no need for excessive buttons & stuff, but proper view is king..

 

Best, Allons!

[Lusekofte]

In clod the absence of TrackIr is deadly. My guess it will be in this one too. You cannot do flightsims without it I do not fly without it. The matter of fact I got one spare just in case. But that was bought when I thought my old one was gone

[Wombat]

My option would be Trackir and a cheap stick with twist for rudder. The next bit of kit I would suggest rudder peddles. I tend to buy second hand with the more expensive bits of my computer and controllers.

[Bearcat]

In clod the absence of TrackIr is deadly. My guess it will be in this one too. You cannot do flightsims without it I do not fly without it. The matter of fact I got one spare just in case. But that was bought when I thought my old one was gone

I disagree with that. If the stick has mouse input you can fly any sim quite well view wise. It just takes a little practice but TIr is definitely a better option.

[uhoney]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm reading on freetrack atm, exploring if I'll try that. Would be cheap..

[Georgio]

+1 on the Thrustmaster T1600m stick if money is tight. Throw in a track IR 4 and you're good to go.

[keet]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm reading on freetrack atm, exploring if I'll try that. Would be cheap..

 

Freetrack is good, but you need a decent webcam, and you might need to tweak it (remove the infrared filter, add a visible light filter, make a clip or hat with infrared lights), so it might still cost you some money and a significant amount of time.  On the other hand, FaceTrackNoIR uses a plain webcam and the shape of your face to detect head movement, so if you already have a webcam, it's free.

 

I would say, try FaceTracknoIR and have some patience to tweak it and adjust your room lighting.  If that works, great, spend your money on a hot-a... H.O.T.A.S.  If not, you could consider whether it's worth it to make a FreeTrack clip or hat and possibly modify a webcam to use with it.  If FreeTrack doesn't work for you, then you can finally face your original question of TrackIR versus good joystick.  Thus your options might be:

 

1.  FaceTrackNoIR and an expensive joystick

2.  FreeTrack and a decent joystick

3.  TrackIR and a cheap joystick

[Zmaj76]

TiR5 and thrustm T16000M

[uhoney]

Freetrack is good, but you need a decent webcam, and you might need to tweak it (remove the infrared filter, add a visible light filter, make a clip or hat with infrared lights), so it might still cost you some money and a significant amount of time.  On the other hand, FaceTrackNoIR uses a plain webcam and the shape of your face to detect head movement, so if you already have a webcam, it's free.

Well.. ~15€ ps3 eye (used), ~1€ ir-ledx3 from retailer next door, I already have soldering iron, parts, modified alternators/chargers, resistors.. so about 20€ and few days to compile, ezpz. I would say that is worth investigating   Besides, I like making stuff. So I am going for the freetrack, and if that turns out to be a disaster, then 20€ is not a big investment. A bottle of scotch costs more than 20€ and I tend to consume that quite alot

[SR-F_Winger]

TIR wopuld be my recommendation as well. Youre just no match against someone with one if you have none. Well, there are exceptions but mostly having a TIR gives you a BIG edge over non TIR pilots.

 

Then maybe a Thrustmaster T16000 is a very cheap and very precise stick that i can recommend as well.

[LLv34_Untamo]

S!

 

Happy Freetrack user since 2008 here. Make yourself a fancy (and cheap) LED-hat and save your money to joystick

[Zmaj76]

S!

 

Happy Freetrack user since 2008 here. Make yourself a fancy (and cheap) LED-hat and save your money to joystick

you would be even happier with TiR as it has a better hardware and is much faster.....