Joystick recommendations?

[capnq]

I'm in the market for a new joystick. Any recommendations for manufacturer or model?

My last joystick was a Thrustmaster Millenium 3D Interceptor. My only complaint about it was a bit of disappointment in the durability.

Parameters:

Can't really justify spending over $100 (would prefer $50-70)
Needs to work under Win98se
Primarily used for a flight sim, would prefer a trigger grip.

[PvK]

I inherited a Logitech Wingman Extreme Digital joystick from my dad quite a few years ago. It's big and heavy but has several programmable buttons and a "hat" control and a throttle slider (which works alright but is sort of a weak point). It works fine in Win98SE and I have no real complaints. It worked well with Independence War (fairly complex starship sim), combat flight sims, and I even had decent success using it with Need for Speed (car racing game) with it. It seems quite durable. Has a trigger and was a mass-produced model so I imagine it can still be found cheaply (e.g. I see one on eBay for $9.99).

[Atrocities]

I miss my Microsoft joystick. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif IT was a good joystick.

[President_Elect_Shang]

Semi-OT: I am thinking about getting into flight sims. So far the only sim games I have played are racing on the PS2. Fun but consoles only seem to provide half the thrill of a computer game. Well, for obvious reasons though. Anyway what joystick and flight sim would any of you recommend?

[PvK]

IL-2 Sturmovik
Falcon 4.0
Independence War

[capnq]

A computer mishap put me offline for a week, and prevented me from reinstalling my flight sim and new joystick. I'd forgotten that I hadn't posted the results here.

I ended up getting another Thrustmaster, the Fox 2 Pro USB, which a friend recommended. It cost less than I expected to have to pay, and so far my only complaint is that it looks rather anachronistic controlling a World War I flight sim. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif I would recommend Red Baron 2, if it were still on the market. When I went looking for patches for it, I discovered that it had quite an active mod community.

Most of the recommendations I got from threads like this one were for Logitech, Gravis, or Saitek, but all of those models that I looked at reviews for were about half positive and half negative. The Thrustmaster's reviews were about 80% positive.

[President_Elect_Shang]

The Thrustmaster; I will have to look for it. Thanks for the advice; however, if Red Baron is out of print what else would you suggest?

P.S. never mind the attachment. For some reason I can't get my new avatar to upload.

[capnq]

The only Windows[1] flight sims I've played are Red Baron and Red Baron 2, so I don't have another recommendation. I've never been interested in any post-WWI flight sims.

[1] I don't think Wings was ever ported over from the Amiga.

[President_Elect_Shang]

I had an Amiga but I don't recall Wings. Can you describe it a little, maybe that will jar a memory. I have never been much into sims, in fact GT3 and 4 for the PS2 is my first real dedicated sim. I had like one or two before them but never played much. Now that I am older I am really starting to enjoy the more peaceful games more. The ones that take longer to play and require more dedication to detail; you know?

[Kana]

Thrustmaster is the only Joystick I will ever buy. I had one of the original FCS=Flight Control Sticks. It had a steel and aluminum main case, many metal pieces in the guts, and a really hard solid plastic for anything else. It also had springs that made you press at least 10+ pounds of pressure to get the thing to move...also when I broke one of the springs, there support sent me like 3 new pairs of springs free of charge. I don't know if they still have that kind of support, but they still make good products. I still have my FCS, and I bought it in like 1996, and its still kicking...I also own a TM Firestorm Gamepad.

My current new choice is the Thrustmaster Cougar, and its throttle.

http://www.thrustmaster.com/product.aspx?ProductID=11&PlatformID=5

Next choice after that would be some logitec, or Saitek joystick...

[President_Elect_Shang]

That thing looks great, and if you are recommending it than it must really be worth its salt you know. What about flight sims; which ones do you play?

[capnq]

Here's the first page that I found which had a screenshot from Wings (http://eager.back2roots.org/DATA/W/WINGS.HTML). It was put out by Cinemaware, and had "silent movie"-style narration cards before each mission.

The most noteworthy thing was probably the cockpit view; you were looking at the back of the pilot's head, which would turn to look towards the nearest threat.

[President_Elect_Shang]

I can't remember Wings. I recall having Gauntlet2, Galaga and a few others. Man looking over that list sure does bring back memories.

[Kana]

Good 'Simulations' are:

IL-2 http://www.pacific-fighters.com/en/screenshots.php
Falcon 4 http://www.f4hq.com/default.php?page=default
Flight Simulator X http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulatorx/
Combat Flight Simulator 3 http://www.microsoft.com/games/combatfs3/

There are a pletheroa of other 'arcade' like flight games. One I have, but havent' had time to play is Pacific Storm, it combines, RTS, strategy, and a flight sim all in one...

http://www.pacificstorm.net/gallery/

If I could find a up to date WW1 flight sim similar to Red Baron or Red Baron 2, I would buy and play it...

[President_Elect_Shang]

Flight Simulator X definitely. Later I may try out a combat sim or two but what I am looking for is the non-combat type.

[Kana]

Id still recommend the cougar even for a commercial plane...and then you will have it when you want to play a combat game...all of the buttons don't just have be used for weapons, you can set them up to whatever you may need to fly a non-combat plane.