Thrustmaster Warthog & A-10C

Will the HOTAS Warthog work natively with A-10C. I have a Cougar from awhile back but getting it all setup to work with A-10C seems a little daunting to me (never got real in-depth with the programming). I heard that the Warthog was plug n play. So is it that simple to get setup.

Thx for any info on this.

I heard that the Warthog was plug n play. So is it that simple to get setup.

It is. :thumbup:

The exception being the trim hat, which controls cockpit views by default. If you have a headtracker, all you'll have to do is remap the trim hat to trim, and that should be it.

All the other buttons, knobs, switches and axes should be okay right from the start.

Ok, I think I get it. The trim hat that should be used for trimming the aircraft is setup by default for cockpit views. If you have a headtracker you can remap the trim hat to trim and the headtracker will change the cockpit views. One last question, What's a headtracker?

Thx for you help.

he is refering to a head tracking device such as this http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/

Its a device that follows your head movements in real time thus giving you freedom to "look around" with your head than by pressing buttons.

Ok, have the Warthog and tracker on the way. I think it might be cheaper just to buy the plane!

Will the HOTAS Warthog work natively with A-10C. I have a Cougar from awhile back but getting it all setup to work with A-10C seems a little daunting to me (never got real in-depth with the programming). I heard that the Warthog was plug n play. So is it that simple to get setup.

 

Thx for any info on this.

The Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS was basically developed alongside with DCS and all you have to do is plug it into two USB ports and start the game.

There are certain buttons, and the paddle switch as well, that are not mapped to anything in the A10c which come in very handy for use with TrackIR. I personally use the paddle switch as a shift, and map additional functions to the throttle and stick such as landing gear, light settings, etc. that make life a little easier. I'll spare the details at this point, as it will make much more sense once you have the stick in front of you and have explored the settings a bit.

Since I fly multiplayer with friends quite often and use TARS much more than the comm menu, I have my radios set up for normal radio switching to go to TARS, and shifted switching going to the comm menu. You may want to consider this if you find yourself in a similar situation.

Once you get used to it, you are going to love having both the Warthog and TrackIR! You will get to the point that you don't even have to think about looking around and using the HOTAS functions, it will just come naturally. There are plenty of threads on this board to help you get it all set up and tweeked, but don't be afraid to ask if you need a hand with any of it, this is a very helpful community.

Thx for the help and info guys. Just waiting impatiently (1/10) for the goods to show up. Sure I'll have at least a few more questions.

Thx again.

Ok, have the Warthog and tracker on the way. I think it might be cheaper just to buy the plane!

Yeah, we've picked an expansive hobby. But it's damn fun!

And if you spend hundreds of hours in the A-10C or the other modules, the bang-for-the-buck-ratio isn't all that bad after all. :D

Yeah, we've picked an expansive hobby. But it's damn fun!

 

And if you spend hundreds of hours in the A-10C or the other modules, the bang-for-the-buck-ratio isn't all that bad after all. :D

Yeah, haven't taken the wife out to a movie in years. Last time just the movie, popcorn, and drinks ran us $50.00. Plus gas, dinner out, etc. all in all one night out ran us roughly $100. That's just for one evening. I can't imagine what it must be now.

Fortunately, she is happy to stay home with Netflix (lucky for me, my wife is very frugal) and DCS has no monthly service charge, so once the gear is bought, the cost spreads out over time fast. I have never figured it up, but since it's now been a few years, I believe I can safely estimate that I am down to less than a dollar an hour by now, likely down to pennies an hour. Compared to some hobbies, DCS is about as cheap as it gets, only the upfront costs.

Next for the OP comes a good set of rudder pedals, and that's about it. (And if only flying the A-10c, pedals are not an absolute requirement.) Of course flight simmers are usually gadget-heads so it never stops there ...........:)

Hmm waiting for end of December then there should be the economics to buy the TM Warthog and start flying this bird...

Until then Sabre, F-15C and perhaps soon the Hawk...

Concerning the TM Warthog i remember to have read that its better to plug in a USB Hub than direct to the PC, is this correct, and whats gained or the advantage by this...

I haven't heard anything about the Warthog, but anyone using CH gear is much better off using a hub, it is much more stable and responsive. Back when I had CH gear I tried it, and the issues I was having went away immediately, so can attest to it.

I use one anyway with the Warthog, as I have so much stuff on this system that it's a necessity. My comp is used for a lot more than just flying. I have never used the WH without a hub, so can't vouch for any issues. I can say though, that TrackIR, despite being camera based, still works just fine when run through a hub, so no worries there, at least in my experience.

Somehow, my A-10c doesnt plug and play my warthog controls like it usually does/did. Does anyone know how to "force" it to do this or am I just out of luck? I seem to have to set up all buttons manually like with all other planes all of a sudden.. I have newest drivers and firmwares installed.

Hum not sure how that is even possible. Is it recognized and listed in windows controllers lists? Do they show up DCS controlers lists?

Of course it is. There is nothing wrong, and it is working fine everywhere.. Its still in DCS. Somehow the profiles got lost. I found a solution, the default profiles are in the Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\aircraft\A-10C\Input\A-10C\joystick\ which I copied to C:\Users\name\Saved Games\DCS\Config\input\A-10C\joystick :)

i have my tm warthog for 3-4 years now plug on PC usb's and never had any issues

Thx for the help and info guys. Just waiting impatiently (1/10) for the goods to show up. Sure I'll have at least a few more questions.

 

Thx again.

Hi dbunger,

I have a Cougar by myself and yesterday I got the feeling during formation flying that it could be a little bit more accurate. Maybe I can adjust the axis inside of DCS to get it more precise but also would like to know the difference between the Cougar and Warthog handling wise. As you should be able to answer this question after you received your Warthog this question came up to me. Would be great if you share your impressions.

Thanks,

Xoxen

i have my tm warthog for 3-4 years now plug on PC usb's and never had any issues

Okay? :thumbup:

and beside the trackir and stuff :)

i recently bought 2 8" lilliput usb monitors to act as the mfcd's.

works like a charm ! super easy install and configuration in game. makes a ton of difference for an old guy like me (bad eyes these days :) ) having them displayed upon 8"

I have never figured it up, but since it's now been a few years, I believe I can safely estimate that I am down to less than a dollar an hour by now, likely down to pennies an hour. Compared to some hobbies, DCS is about as cheap as it gets, only the upfront costs.

In order for this statement to be "Logical" one must apply a "Dollar Amount" to the DCS software per. Hr. (I would assume) So what is this Dollar amount? I view it as priceless as it does save a lot of money in the long run. But a dollar amount would be interesting to know. Based on opinion of course.

Initial purchase costs divided by time. Not difficult. Varies with the individual as prices fluctuate. Comparison is to the cost of one night out, average, divided by the average time the night out lasts. Night out costs vary with the individual as well due to price fluctuations and average costs for the area in which they live. "Night out" cost used as comparison as it is a basic, though non-standardized, unit of measurement commonly used by the society in which I live. Nothing illogical about it, and is a pretty basic calculation similar to amortization.

Not worth doing a detailed cost analysis, and I don't maintain a statistical database or detailed log of my flying hours. Too busy enjoying life to worry about little details like that.

So far as comparing to other hobbies, I am a blacksmith. Much, much higher initial costs, with continuing costs for tooling, materials, and fuel. My anvil alone cost more than my flight gear. Plus transportation and storage costs, taxes, insurance and so forth. If I should choose to do historical smithing at, say, a Civil war encampent or craft fair, cost go up much further, as in addition to the above, I would have to maintain historically accurate tooling, clothing and camp gear, additional transportation and storage costs, indemnity insurance in addition to the normal workshop insurance, as well as merchant fees and additional permits. (One of the reasons you don't see a whole lot of people doing public demos) I do have the potential to make some of that money back by selling items or doing work for other people, but that is limited, as I am not a business. (My health will not allow me to turn it into a business, but I would love to be able to do so.) So yeah, DCS is a much less expensive hobby, even if one were to fly with all 1st class gear.

Maybe I can adjust the axis inside of DCS to get it more precise but also would like to know the difference between the Cougar and Warthog handling wise.

I've had a Cougar (unmodded) before going for the Warthog. The Warthog feels smoother all around. In direct comparison (which I've recently done before finally selling the Cougar), the Cougar stick axes are a lot stiffer.

Say you pull the Cougar stick all the way back to the lower left corner and then push it to the upper left corner, you'll notice quite some resistance around the left center position. With the Warthog, this type of movement is much less restricted.

Internally, the Cougar uses simple pots (potentiometers) that have to be cleaned or replaced every now and them. The Warthog uses contact-less Hall sensors that will probably outlive most other components of the stick while retaining an awesome amount of accuracy.

There are downsides to the Warthog as well, but IMO it is better than the Cougar in every way (except that the Cougar throttle was full metal while the Warthog throttle contains some plastic parts, and the Cougar throttle friction adjust worked better).

In order for this statement to be "Logical" one must apply a "Dollar Amount" to the DCS software per. Hr. (I would assume) So what is this Dollar amount?

I agree with Faelwolf; there's no "fixed" amount associated with it, but if you know how much time and money you've spent with/on DCS, you can calculate the hours-per-dollar-ratio.

The single player part for most AAA titles totally sucks in this regard. Some 10 to 15 hours playing time vs. 50$, that's a terrible ratio. Of course, going on multiplayer and spending hundreds of hours in-game drastically shifts the ratio.

As for DCS, it would be interesting to calculate and compare the bang-for-the-buck-ratio if we include/exclude time spent on the forum. :D

Basically, the longer you play, the cheaper it gets....

BTW, is it true that below the idle detent is outside the throttle axis?

Thanks Yurgon for your statement. Actually I´m doing fine with the Cougar but I started thinking about the Warthog last week when my "Radio switch" got broken. I was able to fix it as I still have some spare parts but then I figured out the impreciseness when doing formation flight, not even to think about air refuelling. I believe first of all I will adjust the axis and then start to put some money aside.

Thanks again and have a nice day.

Xoxen

P. S.: Und noch einen schönen 3. Oktober ;-)