Mouse as joystick?

[fsmfsm]

I know this has probably been asked and answered before but tried a quick search of the forums and couldn't find anything on it.

I have CFS1 reinstalled but no longer have a joystick. Just want to know if it is possible to use the mouse as a joystick temporarily until I can purchase a joystick?

Thanks for any help.

[Pratt&Whitney]

Personally, I never mastered the use of flying by mouse, although I hear it can be done, and sometimes well.

As far as flying keyboard... it is a real pain, and fairly difficult. I found I had to make corrections constantly. It is helpful to have a HUD screen with aileron/elevator/rudder position indicators. There are a few around the net, but I believe I got mine courtesy of smilo.

[winslow33]

To use the mouse, go to a freeflight game and when you are sitting on the runway right click the screen. Click "use mouse as stick". As P&W said, it will take some getting use to. Good Luck. If you are looking for a good joystick, I don't know if you can find one, but I bought a Logitec Attack 3 for $30 and it's the best I've ever used.:d

[smilo]

did I hear my name dropped?
as P&W and w33 said, yes it is possible, and keyboard flying works, too.
but both are a challenge, to say the least.
at the risk of sounding like a broken record,
check Goodwill or the pawn shops and second hand stores.
last week, I was in a Goodwill and there were at least 20 joysticks of various brands and quality.
I now have 3 MS Sidewinder Precision Pro's (my favorite), 2 CH Fighter sticks, and a ThrustMaster something or other. CH pedal and a set of ThrustMaster pedals.
each of these items sells for no more than $5,
a real bargain in my book.

so why am I collecting all of this stuff anyway? :isadizzy:

maybe I should open the Joystick Emporium,
except shipping would cost more than the item :icon_lol:

[humbles]

you have the answer then fsmfsm.But nobody here has said they all use the mouse ,when using tail gunner or TG2.Ofcourse you will not be able to use this if you do not have another means of of steering your aircraft .

[Pratt&Whitney]

did I hear my name dropped?
as P&W and w33 said, yes it is possible, and keyboard flying works, too.
but both are a challenge, to say the least.
at the risk of sounding like a broken record,
check Goodwill or the pawn shops and second hand stores.
last week, I was in a Goodwill and there were at least 20 joysticks of various brands and quality.
I now have 3 MS Sidewinder Precision Pro's (my favorite), 2 CH Fighter sticks, and a ThrustMaster something or other. CH pedal and a set of ThrustMaster pedals.
each of these items sells for no more than $5,
a real bargain in my book.

so why am I collecting all of this stuff anyway? :isadizzy:

maybe I should open the Joystick Emporium,
except shipping would cost more than the item :icon_lol:

I'd like to know how your Goodwill and Salvation Army get so many of those... I went to Jefferson City today, and went to both, and found a couple burnt out joysticks... I don't know what they were, other than the basics... two axis, and a few buttons, no rudder twist, nada. What's more, they were $6-$15???\

So I bought a Logitec Extreme 3d Pro for $30 from Hastings. FINALLY!!!!!!!!

Back to fsmfsm, you may or may not be able to find these bargains that smilo speaks of, but there are still some good sticks for relatively little.

I think they are well worth it, especially if you want to fly online, or in those tough missions. Can't tell you how many strafing runs have ended with me plowing fields with my airplane and pushing daisies as a result of flying with the keyboard. :isadizzy:

[Johnny]

~S~ All,

Last Saturday I picked up a like new Microsoft Side Winder Precision Pro for $ .50. It works like a charm and I needed a backup anyway.

Off to fly with Frankydog down under at the ACP.

j:running:

[winslow33]

There's this shop kind of like Salvation Army called Rebuilt Resources where I live and there's TONS of good joysticks for $1.

[smilo]

There's this shop kind of like Salvation Army called Rebuilt Resources where I live and there's TONS of good joysticks for $1.

if you see a Flight Yoke, let me know.
the Emporium could use one.

[humbles]

Nice reading about your joy stick bargains .It really is a shame as the joystick king is not allowed here as he is not allowed ,If you were looking to be getting a new second hand stick then really he was the one to be talking to.Just in case you do not know who , I am talking about he was the founder member of the Allied air corp squadron or the AAC..

[humbles]

I suppose you could look him up on the other flight simulator sites

[Willy]

Humbles, if you're talking about Ed, it was his choice to leave. It was his immature behavior that got him into trouble here and he was given a chance to make amends but he decided that leaving was preferable. Don't be trying to pass it off on SOH about his leaving. When you don't know what you're talking about, it's best to not bring the subject up.

[Ivan]

The local thrift stores are really a good resource. I think I have about a dozen working Sidewinder Precision Pros at the moment. I probably have at least 6 Sidewinder 3D Pros (stopped looking for those), a Sidewinder Precision 2, A Sidewinder Force Feedback, a couple generics, etc. Average price is probably about $3 to $4. Yesterday I passed up a Logitec Wingman Extreme 3D or something like that because I thought it was too expensive at $10. One of the Precision Pros is a touch weird because it seems to need recalibrating a lot, but other than that, everything works better than the one I paid full price for. (That one is centered slightly off. If you don't touch it, it periodically seems to apply rudder to one side.)

- Ivan.

[Johnny]

~S~ Ivan,

All this time I thought it was the torque of the engines doing that.

j:costumes:

[fsmfsm]

Thanks all for your comments. Haven't had a chance to post since my question.

I agree that keyboard flying is difficult - have been doing it in FS9 w/some success but very difficult to do in a combat sim. I was hoping the mouse might be a little more intuitive but probably will need to get around to getting a joystick again. I gave up the hobby for a while and sold the one I had that worked very well (MS Sidewinder w/force feedback). Oh well....

Again, thanks for all the input. Hope to be around a little more often again.

Scott

[Pratt&Whitney]

Thanks all for your comments. Haven't had a chance to post since my question.

I agree that keyboard flying is difficult - have been doing it in FS9 w/some success but very difficult to do in a combat sim. I was hoping the mouse might be a little more intuitive but probably will need to get around to getting a joystick again. I gave up the hobby for a while and sold the one I had that worked very well (MS Sidewinder w/force feedback). Oh well....

Again, thanks for all the input. Hope to be around a little more often again.

Scott

You are welcome anytime :wavey:

[humbles]

No willy.I am not talking about old Ed . I am talking about a person who did a lot of trade selling second hand joysticks. I know for a fact he is a few years my junior and as Ed is a few more years my senior it could not be him. I suggest you try to hold off a bit before you jump in with both feet.

[humbles]

Humbles, if you're talking about Ed, it was his choice to leave. It was his immature behavior that got him into trouble here and he was given a chance to make amends but he decided that leaving was preferable. Don't be trying to pass it off on SOH about his leaving. When you don't know what you're talking about, it's best to not bring the subject up.
Willy. NO I am not talking about Ed .You are wrong, you do not know what I am talking about. I am talking about a person who used to deal in second hand joy sticks and this person was not Ed .However If any one would like to know the persons name I suggest they send me a personal memo ,

[Henry]

Methinks there could be another bye bye in the offering
H:banghead:

[anbu]

~S~ All,

Last Saturday I picked up a like new Microsoft Side Winder Precision Pro for $ .50. It works like a charm and I needed a backup anyway.

Off to fly with Frankydog down under at the ACP.

j:running:

johnny my man.. you are one smart shopper. :ernae:

right now i have the saitek ST290 pro but i'm thinking of getting the saitek X52 flight control system.
heres a link to it if you want to see the beauty.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7424511&st=saitek&lp=9&type=product&cp=1&id=1122655672294

[Johnny]

~S~ a,

WARNING!

That is what I use, as do many other. Once you get use to it you never want to go back. But you can go forward.

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/proflight.htm

j

[anbu]

~S~ a,

WARNING!

That is what I use, as do many other. Once you get use to it you never want to go back. But you can go forward.

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/proflight.htm

j

O_o you use all of that?

[Johnny]

~S~ a,

No just the X52, but I can dream.

j

[anbu]

thats what i want is the X52. so you say its worth $99.98?

[Johnny]

~S~ a,

That is what they are selling for but you can try ebay, $10.00 up:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1311&_nkw=x52&_sacat=See-All-Categories

[anbu]

seems like all the ones for bid are the cheapest, but used and the "buy now" ones are around $90-$150

[Johnny]

~S~ a,

I saw one that was refurbished for $30 or $40.

Get a Best Buy Card and save on your purchases.

j

[anbu]

i prolly wait a month and get one with some christmas money.

[anbu]

something just dawned on me. i'm left handed and when i fly, i use my left hand for the joystick and my right hand is on the throttle lever.
is the X52 designed for right handers? it looks like its shaped for the left hand to control the throttle controller and the right hand on the stick. i've tried flying with my right hand and its nothing pretty.

[Johnny]

~S~ a,

You could use it with the left, but it may be a bit strange. See if it comes in left handed. I had an older Saitek that was interchangeable. The X52 is not, so there may be a 52L. You could go for the yoke.

J

[anbu]

the woke would be neat...but its just not the same.
how many p-51's had a yoke?
*ps, did you check out area 88 johnny?*

[Johnny]

Yes, I did check it out, it was not bad. I think that section was 34 minutes long, but it went by quick. Everyone looks European, but speaks Japanese. I have problems when I read a lot, I get tired and it detracts from the animation.

I have a movie, I think it is "The Blue Book" a great action packed movie, but it is in Dutch with English subtitles. I keep falling asleep. I am not sure what language it was in at the end, but I did not need to read the subtitles to know what they said. WEIRD.

j

[anbu]

hahaha, are you sure they just didn't have a heavy accent at the end?

[Johnny]

a,

I think it was about three hours long and I kept nodding off and backing it up to the last part I remembered. I could have learned to understand Dutch while I was sleeping. Actually I think the Englished actors arrived at the end and the language changed.

Old age is not for sissies.

j:costumes:

[anbu]

haha, that would be amazing if you learned dutch like that. I always watch subed anime in hopes that i will learn japenese from hearing it enough.... still hoping.
i think i learned about 4 words. :applause: