Trim Control Increments

[Warpig]

I own a VKB MCG Pro joystick and use the analog ministick (Mode 1) for my elevator and aileron trim controls. The problem arises on how fast the trim controls increment. I'd like them to be a lot slower.

 

When using the VKB software, I tried adjusting the curve to start off with minimal input, then progress a lot at the end. However, this did not work. It only disabled the axis control all-together. I suspect this is because the way I had it setup, the end of the curve didn't fully progress. The curve stopped at 48% of the entire curve. This brought me to the conclusion, that the ministick is only inputting the actual command at the very end of the curve, rendering any curve settings useless for IL-2's trim controls.

 

Has anybody else come up with a solution to slow down trim control increments when using an analog stick?

[Remontti]

In my MCG I use ministick in 8-way hat mode, not as axis. If I remember correctly you can't use trim on a axis in planes where it is controlled with push buttons. Using ministick in 8 (or 4) way hat mode allows trim to be used in all planes. You could try it and see if it suits your needs better.

 

I think you know how to use VKB software. Your hat is in relative mode, calibrated with VKB and works correctly in test page? In case you want to use axis mode.

 

You didn't say what plane is in question. The problem might be in what kind of trim is in the plane, trim wheel or buttons.

[Warpig]

Yesterday, I just learned that different planes are using axes verse switches for trim controls.

 

Your suggestion about changing the stick mode sounds like a good one. I'll play around with it tonight.

Edited October 26, 2021 by Warpig

[Warpig]

So I did some experimenting yesterday. I was mainly comparing the elevator trim intervals between the PE-2, HE-111, FW-190, and P51-D to compare axis vs switch trimming.

 

Controls reference:

Spoiler

 

My original MCG Pro setup uses the default config for the POV Mode 1 analog stick. In the IL-2 control settings, I have the POV axis directly assigned to the trim axis and switches.  I can trim all planes with this stick whether it's an axis or a switch. When comparing its behavior on an axis vs a switch, the axis increments a little bit faster it seems. Using a cockpit with switch trimming still increments faster than I'd like though.

 

I then decided to reconfigure the POV stick to act like the mode 2 stick with relative controls. I created 4 inputs so I can assign keyboard controls to the stick in the VKB config. In IL-2 settings, them same keyboard controls are then assigned to the trim axis and switch settings. The resulting trim increments felt the same as using the POV method. I did try playing with the stick curves a bit, but my curve settings made no difference to the trimming increments.

 

In the end, both setups resulted with the same trimming behavior on both axis and switch trimming. I think what I need, is to be able to manipulate how fast the trim command pulses, rather than trying to manipulate axis curve settings. Even if I could manipulate axis curves, it still wouldn't make a difference on planes with trim switches.

 

Does anybody know if there's a setting in the VKB config to slow down how frequently it pulses a keyboard switch?

 

I can live with how these settings work, I'd just prefer them to be a little more refined. In it's current form, it's hard to do small trim increments of +/- 1.

 

I feel an overall better solution would be for the IL-2 Dev team to eventually implement configurable relative control steps to trim switch and axis settings. An even bigger problem exists for me having my rudder trim assigned to a slider, where fine control is even harder to achieve. This solution would fix that as well.

Edited October 27, 2021 by Warpig

[Remontti]

I'm not at computer at the moment so I can't check it out, but can you make macros with VKB? 

 

One option is to use Joystick Gremlin and make macros in your virtual button 

[Warpig]

2 minutes ago, Remontti said:

I'm not at computer at the moment so I can't check it out, but can you make macros with VKB? 

 

One option is to use Joystick Gremlin and make macros in your virtual button 

How would macros help me in this case? The problem isn't assigning the keys, it's the speed at which the key presses repeat.

[Sokol1]

2 hours ago, Remontti said:

I'm not at computer at the moment so I can't check it out, but can you make macros with VKB? 

 

Can, enabling keyboard emulation in DevCFG, can adjust keypress speed, duration (Tempo functions), no idea if is possible slow the action.

[=FEW=fernando11]

I only use elevator trim on the vkb MCG pov ministick. What Ive found is that you can keep the button pressed to change "rapidly" the trim. Or make momentary "pushes/clicks" to make fine adjustments.

IIRC the fw190 is a particulary "fast" trim wich is hard to adjust just by 1%. But if you do the "clicks you should be able to... also sometimes the tecnochat doesnt update on every single increment, but you can check that the trim is changing looking at the cockpit gauge.

[Remontti]

Yes, I think Fernando11 is correct and you can do smaller adjustments with quick taps and bigger adjustments by holding. I've found this to be enough for my needs.

 

By macros I meant that if you could record a quick tap and then a small pause what would be then repeated while button is pressed. But if this worked it might also mean that you would not be able to make faster adjustments.

[Warpig]

35 minutes ago, =FEW=fernando11 said:

I only use elevator trim on the vkb MCG pov ministick. What Ive found is that you can keep the button pressed to change "rapidly" the trim. Or make momentary "pushes/clicks" to make fine adjustments.

IIRC the fw190 is a particulary "fast" trim wich is hard to adjust just by 1%. But if you do the "clicks you should be able to... also sometimes the tecnochat doesnt update on every single increment, but you can check that the trim is changing looking at the cockpit gauge.

Yea, that's what I was doing. And you're right, the FW 190's trim progresses very fast!

9 minutes ago, Remontti said:

Yes, I think Fernando11 is correct and you can do smaller adjustments with quick taps and bigger adjustments by holding. I've found this to be enough for my needs.

 

By macros I meant that if you could record a quick tap and then a small pause what would be then repeated while button is pressed. But if this worked it might also mean that you would not be able to make faster adjustments.

Ahh I see.

 

I like the fast trim when needed, other times it's too much. I just want to find that one little trick that'll make it perfect. ?

Edited October 28, 2021 by Warpig