Tank Controls with Dualsticks (HOTSAS, HOSAS) ?

[[_FLAPS_]RogoRogo]

Hello,

this might be a little indecent for a first post, but has anyone had any success with using dualsticks for Tank Control?

I vaguely remember some youtube video where someone suceeded (maybe via input files) - but cannot find it anymore.

The topic is neither urgent nor "we need this nowww..." but it does hold some merit, and Il2 does recognize 2 Joysticks (or even 2 Hotas sets) as joy0 and joy1.

And (ofc imho) using sticks for movement AND the turret rotation and gun elevation would make for a very immersive gameplay loop.

 

So far - what I was able to try via the normal keybind settings:

• assigning Tank movement fw/bw, l+r on the left (joy1)stick on x and y axis 
• assigning Tank movement fw/bw on left stick throttle as an alternate keybind, fw/bw works via throttle (joy1_axis_z) works but throttle even in neutral overrides the sticks y axis (joy1_axis_y)
  (This might be because Il2 has very precise stick input controls, DCS shows the same behavior where you cannot clone sticks for parallel behavior - they neuter each other)
• assigning Tank movement fw/bw on right stick throttle as an alternate keybind, fw/bw works via throttle (joy0_axis_z) works and throttle in neutral does NOT override the sticks y axis (joy1_axis_y)
• assigning Tank control functions to any buttons on both sticks works (fire gun and coax, ranging, reload, ammo change, gunsight nestle, hatches, coolie hat view aso)
• assigning Turret and Gun control to right stick (joy0) via camera bindings seems to NOT work, I tried everything I could think of.

 

Tested with: 2 Saitek x52 HOTAS, no signalstutter, minimal deadzone for test safety

 

Thank you for any feedback!

 

P.S. And as mentioned in another post on this forum - a separate TANK/VEHICLE control tab would be a very organized feature in the future.

[AldoUSMC]

RogoRogo, see my post in "Since Somebody needs to collate a controls thread" by "thenorm" for feedback on X56 and pedal usage I tested.

[[_FLAPS_]RogoRogo]

7 hours ago, AldoUSMC said:

RogoRogo, see my post in "Since Somebody needs to collate a controls thread" by "thenorm" for feedback on X56 and pedal usage I tested.

Thank you.

I read your post there, before I made this one (I also did not want to derail that thread because it has a different topic).

And your solution overcomes the problem of overwriting Aircraft controls by binding Tank functions quite nicely (but should be adressed by the product in more finished state nonetheless... aka it must be possible to assign keybinds on an n:1 ratio, and not only 1:1 or they must be separated by vehicle class in the controls)

 

But my main query/problem/interest.. and maybe even feature request.. or thought still remains:

• Getting the tank turret and gun movement controls assigned to a stick

It seems that those controls are currently bound to the player camera movement (freelook) - and as soon as you apply the "T" (or your keybind of choice) toggle - the turret, gun, coax (and hull) MG seem to follow the freelook inputs (you can even get the turret and gun to move somewhat with a coolie hat...it just snaps back because of the coolie hat default control settings in IL2).

So the turret rotation and gun elevation seems to snatch on player cam movements when the control toggle is applied.

So I tried (just for finding out) assigning the camera controls to the joy_axis_ z and y as an alternate keybind. But even that did not succeed (either the input neutering effect or some other input queuing or hardcoded effect).

 

Since I would like to very much keep the mouse for freelook camera controls (or Track IR) I think this is an issue worth adressing - so we have at least the option to assign turret controls separately.

 

@Thad had success using "Joy2Key" for getting a joystick to perform as a mouse.... that does not work reliably in my setup unfortunately.. (also.. this is about how controls might be mapped desirably and workable in the future by the product itself). This forum does not provide a function to crosslink specific posts.. but here is the threadlink: 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2018 by [SWG-HH]RogoRogo
some but not all typos and Joy2Key

[[_FLAPS_]RogoRogo]

a little update about using the NATIVE controls...

On multiplayer servers you can assign the right stick (joy0) to act as a camera mouse... but when taking control of the tank turret this still does NOT move the turret or the gun.

When you nestle into the gunsight it swivels away from the black outline overlay.. yet the turret and gun do not move.

 

Using the coolie hat (joy0_b) strangely DOES move the turret and the gun once you have nestled into the gunsight/taken control of the gun.

 

[SAG]

i know that to use aim the turrets in this game you have to bind two different sets of controls to each axis.

 

one is bow pilot head horizontally in pilot head controls and the other one is something like aim turret left/right (this would only be for Y movement)in some other tab on the controls sections. Setting controls for turrets and controlling turrets in ILGB is extremely clunky right now and i hope they fix them with tank crew

Edited August 7, 2018 by 19//SAG

[[_FLAPS_]RogoRogo]

very good point.. since they are somewhat "latch-layer-tied" to the camer movement they work with absolute movement.. and not relative movement... that is why the turret rotation and elevation currently works with native controls when:

• bound to a coolie hat
• bound to mouse

and only does work with a stick via a 3rd party program (like joy2key or other)... you can get the binding even to work on axis natively.. but it swivels the viewpoint away into the black framing.. and as soon as you let go.. it snaps back.. the turret and gun never move...

For a fix -- IMHO ofc - they need to define separate optional actual controls on the codelevel (expand their control scheme)... they should also really bundle vehicle controls in a separate tab... and maybe also allow an n:m binding 

[[_FLAPS_]RogoRogo]

A small update so this thread is not mistaken....
The original content of this thread is by now somewhat outdated.

 

Tank Controls in the meantime were thankfully moved to a separate "Vehicle Controls" tab.

The issue with the turret axis yet remains unchanged - the turret/gun control when activated via Ctrl+T is still bound to the player's headcam (bow head vertically/horizontally) and works with a mouse (track solutions are read via the TrackIR protocol in the client and do not move the turret/gun).
 

As it is not clearly separated - you cannot assign your "right stick" in a dualsetup (because it overrides your headtracking or mouselook when moving the stick when flying a plane) - the current workarounds via vjoy emulation or key assignments or separate input files remain workarounds - they are not applicable fe when you are in a multiplayer server (simply takes to long).

Well.... actually is is even more weird (when you test it out):
Let's ignore all the combined arms itinerary (aka act as if planes did not exist save for the input files) and just try to figure out where tank controls are right now.
You can assign all your necessary head movements (pilot, gunner, turret sight aso) to your stick axis - and the viewcam will be moved by your (in this case) "right" stick.

When you "nestle to gunsight" you can still move your viewcam via joystick around and "into the black filter".
As soon as you "take control of the weapon" via keybind.. your stick axes no longer function... only your MOUSE (even if you have UNassigned all your pilot and gunner headcam movements from your mouse).
So maybe this is a sign of progress that 1Care starting to separate these controls - to type a positive note.
You can still assign forward backward movement on your "left" stick on both the throttle and the y-axis (joy1_axis_z, joy1_axis_y) - but your z-axis (as a plane throttle clone on the input control layer) does not override but MUTE the y-axis.
You can still move the y-axis to the "right" stick and they will still work. So that remains unchanged (but still interesting from a codeline PoV)

 

So - we have to hope that just like the vehicle tab the separate turret/gun controls become a reality as development progresses -because of "WIP".

Edited February 5, 2019 by RogoRogo
a litte more testing.. more weirdness