DescentBB

I've held off for a long time now buying a new stick because of the 8-way hats. 4-way hats seem to be a much better fit to me in descent because you can map each of those four buttons to a function. However, with an 8-way hat, the diagonal directions become deadspots, and that was something that I could never get used to. I'm sure that lots of you folks are using the 8-way hats, but how are you mapping the diagonal buttons? The one stick I did have with an 8-way, I tried mapping my left diagonal positions to just slide left, and my right to slide right, but even then it just felt wierd. Any thoughts?

map the 8-way hat the same way you map a 4-way hat.

I can't really see how you could complain about an 8-way hat if you use it to slide, considering that with only a 4-way, you'd be unable to do something as fundamental as trichording. (If you weren't aware, mapping your side controls to the four primary directions of an 8-way hat automatically enables the diagonal positions for sliding in two directions at once.) If you are using the hat for something other than sliding, then all I can really suggest is to get used to using the hat of whatever stick you buy.

Physically there's no difference betw. a 4 way and an 8 way hat. Both have 4 switches. The difference is if the hardware is capable of passing the information that two switches are actuated at the same time. It's a limitation rooted in the IBM joystick interface. Check this for practical background.

As for downgrading an 8 way hat, just use the software provided w/ the stick to map the diagonal directions to nothing.

Top Gun: I wasn't aware of that. It's just that with the 3 8-way hat sticks I've owned (Gravis Firebird 2, Gravis Blackhawk Digital, Logitech Wingman 3D), it hasn't worked that way, or at least I couldn't get it to work that way. All I would ever use the hat for in descent is sliding. Any suggestions for sticks that actually work this way?

Grendel: I was always under the impression that an 8-way hat had 8 switches instead of four, probably because the first one I tinkered with with a Firebird 2, which was in the early days of 8-way and seemed a bit odd. But if I do get another 8-way stick I'm sure it will be USB, and I assume the limitations of the gameport interface will not be a factor. As for mapping the diagonal positions to nothing, that presents a problem in descent because I have a tendency to hit those positions on accident when sliding left or right. And when that happens, I tend to die.

bobo wrote:As for mapping the diagonal positions to nothing, that presents a problem in descent because I have a tendency to hit those positions on accident when sliding left or right. And when that happens, I tend to die.

Won't happen w/ a fully enabled 8 way hat

Any recommendations on a joystick with an 8-way hat that works well with descent? Preferrably a USB stick.

I personally like my Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Has the 8-way hat, six buttons on the stick, and six on the base. It also has six buttons on the base of the joystick. Mine is old, so I have to recalibrate it like crazy, but a new one should be good.

I'm a big fan of the Saitek Cyborg Evo myself. Good button placement and a nice feel.