homepage Forums Technology Flight Sim Controllers Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog Discussion Thread

IIRC 15 degrees.

Thanks Panther!

Im concerned I am on the fence about picking a warthog up. However I am fearful the damn thing will turn into a paperweight for me.

It's nowhere (near) "initial" compression - the spring is like 80% compressed already even when the stick is at dead center.

The mechanism is just set up such that the stick at center is kinda like a soda can on your desk. I mean that in a literal, physical sense, not just a "it feels like..." - that's very close to how the mechanism looks. As a result, the movement is just like if you tip that soda can around. There's an obvious center spot where the can will stand on its own and it's a bit of a bump to move the can through the pure vertical position.

Yes...A flat bottomed soda can. If the can were rounded let say like a "ball joint" the break out pressure would be far less severe. Thrustmaster blew it when they didn't make the centering spring adjustable. I've also found the software and/or hat switches on the throttle flacky. I've boxed my Warthog up for return, maybe I'll buy a later version if its improved. Hopefully I've finally learned my lesson and will never again be an early adopter.

You know what I have learned from this product and its anticipation by many people in this genre....you can't EVER make most of the people happy.

Me I am perfectly happy with my Warthog...not just because I won the thing in a small essay contest here but simply because I know that it ISN'T a real stick and I am not flying a REAL aircraft but I am happy that I have the best controls I have ever used...still can't understand TARGET to save my life though.

Actually I liked the Target software its intuitive to use once you understand the first couple of steps of Selecting a game, and naming the profile. Building and editing the configuration(profile) is quite easy.

Maybe you can loan me your brain for a bit or try to hook me up to it via the intardnet somehow so I can download that knowledge. Having spent over 12 hours during this holiday break with it alone has caused me to loose a bunch of sleep in not understanding some of it.

Perhaps a TARGET for dummies book would be in order here.

Here's a quick starter, hope its what your looking for.
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Double click the Target GUI

click on "New Configuration"

Name the configuration ie "IL-2 409"

Select Type "Basic or Advanced"

if necessary type Location C:\Documents and Settings\Warthog Profiles

click OK

Select Controllers you want to configure

click Next

Here you can configure axes mapping, which you can do later if necessary. I left this section alone for now.

click Next

Double click on the button you want to assign and it will appear opposite Control

Name the Event Name ie "Brakes"

click on Virtual Keyboard, select ie "B", and save input

Select Type etc

Add Event

Save Event

etc etc etc


To Fly highlight configuration you want to use

Select Go by "Fly NOW"

At this point you may have to type the Title of the game you want, enter is path, and the associated configuration(profile)

Highlight the game under Select Software and click on Fly NOW

The game you selected should start with the configuration(profile) you selected
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This should get you flying anyway.

Honestly,i only notice the center when I'm staring at the stick. Don't notice it at all when flying.

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for ya...but no one stick will ever please everyone.

Perhaps changing out the main spring for a lighter one would smoothen out the transitions through center? (Good luck finding a spring that fits, though.)

I still haven't had a chance to touch the Warthog, but I think I understand what Chivas is talking about since the spring force with the RCS and stock F-22 Pros and Cougars also feels kind of detent-ish. Going through center feels jarring as the spring force eases up and suddenly presses on again. CH sticks don't do that, probably because of the very light springs. The MS SWFFB2 doesn't do that, which is probably why people like it so much for a force-feedback stick; a lot of the other ones get the jarring detent feeling because the centering force deadzone is rather large, and then when the stick's moved just outside of it, the motors kick in full force. Saitek sticks still kind of do, but that may be more closely related to that disc between the stick spring and the base having too much friction.

While I see what you guys mean about the center detent on the stick, I really love the way there is not much resistance if you push along the X and Y axis. On the Cougar, it takes a bit of force to hold the stick on the X or Y axis -- if you wanted somewhere between X and Y, even more force is needed and exactly how much was hard to gauge and I used to end up over-maneuvering the aircraft. With the Warthog stick setup, the amount of force needed to move the stick in any direction past the detent is constant so I can get more control now.

Dear Chivas,

Have you tried removing the stick's default hardware dead zone? Up until the new T.A.R.G.E.T. release (RC3) this wasn't possible.

I did, and found heaps of difference. At the moment, I'm using the WH exclusively to fly RoF, so I had to set small negative curves in the X & Y axis to make the stick more sensitive through the "bump"; needless to say, this hampered stall fighting somewhat. Well, no need for curves anymore (mind you, I transitioned from an NXT modded Cougar, with which I had to use positive curves, as it required increasingly higher force to move the stick to the extreme offsets).

P.S.: Don't be alarmed by the unstable values reported in the device analyser when the stick is mechanically dead-centered; resolution is so high that in the sim this doesn't matter in the slightest.

Happy new year everyone!

I'm pleased with my new Warthog but what I can't understand is that :

I've flashed it to latest firmware with instructions from the fimware update .pdf that i found on the Thrustmaster site and I have no problems post firmware update ;

but several people at different internet sites complain that their hotas is dead (especially the throttle part)...

How can it be that for some it's a joy and for some it's a disaster ?



I did have firmware issues with my cougar (afterburner throttle position would only give me 66% throttle) and I had to replace a pot.


Did anyone hear anything official from Thrustmaster relating to the Warthog firmware issues ?

I doubt you'd hear a thing from Guillemot...

It seems though that major problems have to do with plugging/unplugging the thing... USB current spikes (a whooping 5V!), just might be the cause of trouble from what I gather.

Be sure (as Oleg would say) to keep TCS connected till after shutdown and before power up. At least this is what I do and, while keeping my fingers crossed, has me going for ~2 months.

Plus, I had a good horoscope; what about you?

Happy New Year lamarax

I don't think changing the deadzone would have any effect on the very large force change required moving thru the center of travel. Although I would have tried your option, but the Warthog was returned yesterday. My particular Warthog Throttle also had a hat switch that didn't work properly. It's a beautiful piece of kit and I hated to let it go.

First let me say thanks for the thoughts on how to get into adjusting/creating a profile. I still have trouble with the software but its just my mind.

Now on to your quoted statement above. I honestly have not noticed a "large force change" in order to negotiate (for lack of a better phrase) that center section of the stick. In fact having working with ball joints on dozens of different applications they are all limited by the directly up and down point that you try to have there. Anything mechanical like that will have a flat feel to it but this is honestly 100% better than anything I have ever felt with a regular joystick and it is not noticeable at all when I am playing any games.

Its not the ball joint causing the problem its the decompression and recompression of the spring thru center. The Warthog has a fairly hefty spring to keep the heavy joystick upgright. Maybe my particular joystick had a stiffer spring than yours, but thats not likely. I figure someone soon will have some sort of mod for users who find that aspect of the Warthog annoying. Other than that I love the Warthog. Its great for Jets, Bombers, Boom and Zoom, but not as accurate for taking snap shots while Yankin and Bankin.

As I said...it _IS_ the "ball joint" and its flat spot and not the spring being "decompressed". The spring never gets anywhere near decompressed.

Note this shot courtesy of Frazer...

Interesting....Obviously the spring isn't fully decompressed while in the cylinder. Is there a shot of the ball joint showing the flat spot. If the ball joint does have a flat spot on the bottom, a mod should be quite easy to build to smooth out the movement thru center and still have the joystick center vertically. Or my particular joystick may have been lacking some grease on the flat spot increasing breakout pressure required.