Joystick apparent Miscalibration looks fine on the game configurator

[Silence]

my joystick appears find on the in game calibrator but it drifts in game to the lower left when I'm actually in the cockpit (in training or in the game proper, constantly) the Joystick is a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro the version of the game is EM 1.208 my OS is windows 7 64 bit Ultimate, I got 12 gigs of Ram, I got a Intel Core I7, I got a Nvidia GTX 296 w/ Windows Drivers,



[Edited on 7-8-2011 by Vice]

[SeeJay]

Hi and welcome to a great sim.

have you set any Deadzone for the stick in the games config?
I use an X52 with deadzone set to 1 and it works perfectly.

Good luck and hope to see ya out there in MP!;)

[Silence]

Hi and welcome to a great sim.

have you set any Deadzone for the stick in the games config?
I use an X52 with deadzone set to 1 and it works perfectly.

Good luck and hope to see ya out there in MP!;)

I would rather not have to set a deadzone, but I may consider it, I just had massive issues with this with my expensive joystick, and now I'm having similiar issues with a cheapo joystick. it is upsetting, and right after I wrote that I decided to take a look at it will deadzone 1, and it does disguise the problem, I wonder if this is a game bug, or something sinister going on in my PC.

Edit I had some other equipment hooked up that I have unhooked maybe I need to flush the config file, where ever that is kept?


Edit 2: I should also note I'm battling periodic freezes and rare blue screen's from a issue cause by my graphic card driver issue, or it could be a bad ram stick.

[Edited on 2-3-2011 by Silence]

[Edited on 2-3-2011 by Silence]

[SeeJay]

Great you got it working.

I don't think it's a bug in the game. Different games might have a different sensitive setting
for reading Stick inputs. I prefer a high sensitive and then adjust it with a deadzone.

The "size" of the deadzone might be different for different games. (That's my experience).

[MMaggio]

I use a Saitek X45 and have to use a deadzone while in other games it's just fine.
I don't fight it, I just go with what works.

[Ravenfeeder]

I too use the Logitec 3d Pro, got the deadzone set at 1 and no problems.

[Vice]

The game uses a very sensitive input structure that reacts very precisely, so devices that are not exact in their tolerances will not provide exact center inputs. The easiest way to resolve this is to (as you did) simply bump up the Joystick Deadzone setting in the Options menu to 1 or 2 (depending on how loose the device is with its center tolerances). 1 or 2 usually adapts to most devices that use potentiometers. Another option is to set the sensitivity to Medium or Low which can also sometimes offset inputs that aren't perfectly centered.

[Silence]

The game uses a very sensitive input structure that reacts very precisely, so devices that are not exact in their tolerances will not provide exact center inputs. The easiest way to resolve this is to (as you did) simply bump up the Joystick Deadzone setting in the Options menu to 1 or 2 (depending on how lose the device is with its center tolerances). 1 or 2 usually adapts to most devices that use potentiometers. Another option is to set the sensitivity to Medium or Low which can also sometimes offset inputs that aren't perfectly centered.

Normally I wouldn't be so sensitive about this, especially with a cheapo joystick but, I have to return a high priced joystick because of this issue, so I'm kind of worried this is a bigger computer issue. And my Saitek X-52 Pro never needed one.


[Edited on 2-3-2011 by Silence]

[Vice]

Probably good that the flaw with the device was discovered then if it's something that effects you in a such a way. Were there no calibration options for it? They should be able to exchange it, although not all 'high priced' joysticks are perfect either.

When you have the game set to 0 deadzone and High sensitivity, it will respond to just about any imperfection in the centering, even down to about 1/1000 units off. That's a level of precision not a lot of game control devices can probably provide (even some high end ones). And some may just not be calibrated precisely or some may have unique factory flaws not present in other devices of the same make and model. They can also wear out over time. But that's why the game provides fine tuning options to reduce the responsiveness.

[Silence]

Probably good that the flaw with the device was discovered then if it's something that effects you in a such a way. Were there no calibration options for it? They should be able to exchange it, although not all 'high priced' joysticks are perfect either.

When you have the game set to 0 deadzone and High sensitivity, it will respond to just about any imperfection in the centering, even down to about 1/1000 units off. That's a level of precision not a lot of game control devices can probably provide (even some high end ones). And some may just not be calibrated precisely or some may have unique factory flaws not present in other devices of the same make and model. They can also wear out over time. But that's why the game provides fine tuning options to reduce the responsiveness.

I sent it back to the manufacturer but they said nothing was wrong with it, I'm tempted to call them back and ask if they were testing it on a game with a deadzone or something, it was even miscalibrated on my end in there own drivers, I paid good money to have it shiped back to the company around $30.00 give some extra dollars and change, only to get it back with the recommendation of using some 3rd party drivers because they tried it on multiple systems with no error, and I can't get the 3rd party drivers to work properly at all, I'm just going to return it to the vendor Amazon tomarrow, or rather send it back still got a couple of days to do that, though I'm cutting it close do to RL scheduling.

[Edited on 2-4-2011 by Silence]

[Vice]

By their standards, there may have been nothing 'wrong' with the device. If it's within their margin of error for the standards they want, they may determine it's fine. Many games have much looser tolerances for center than this game, so it would be no surprise if whatever they used to test it with did not encounter the same off-center results.

[Silence]

By their standards, there may have been nothing 'wrong' with the device. If it's within their margin of error for the standards they want, they may determine it's fine. Many games have much looser tolerances for center than this game, so it would be no surprise if whatever they used to test it with did not encounter the same off-center results.

It was new technology, I may slightly dissasemble it to see how it functions without the screwed on plate on the bottom, which was optional.

[Edited on 2-4-2011 by Silence]

[Vice]

Here is a program I put together a while back to help test/diagnose joysticks that you might find useful:

http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmerce ... Config.zip

Extract the file and place it in the save data folder for the game (default c:\\sw3dg\\EvochronMercenary). When you run the program, it will load your current joystick control profile you use for the game and lets you monitor the exact signal inputs from the joystick. If the joystick is centered but the values are not at 0 for roll, 0 for pitch, and 0 for yaw, then the joystick is not centering correctly.

[Silence]

Here is a program I put together a while back to help test/diagnose joysticks that you might find useful:

http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmerce ... Config.zip

Extract the file and place it in the save data folder for the game (default c:\\sw3dg\\EvochronMercenary). When you run the program, it will load your current joystick control profile you use for the game and lets you monitor the exact signal inputs from the joystick. If the joystick is centered but the values are not at 0 for roll, 0 for pitch, and 0 for yaw, then the joystick is not centering correctly.

If I had more time for my amazon return window I would give it a whirl but it had to be out today before 6:00 PM and I had to do a little dissasembly because I assembled some optional things that came with it.

[Edited on 2-5-2011 by Silence]

[tim23x]

Here is a program I put together a while back to help test/diagnose joysticks that you might find useful:

http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmerce ... Config.zip

Extract the file and place it in the save data folder for the game (default c:\\sw3dg\\EvochronMercenary). When you run the program, it will load your current joystick control profile you use for the game and lets you monitor the exact signal inputs from the joystick. If the joystick is centered but the values are not at 0 for roll, 0 for pitch, and 0 for yaw, then the joystick is not centering correctly.

Hello Vice, I have exactly the same problem as Silence reports... same direction too. I'm running your excellent joystick diagnostic and find that my yaw and pitch are at -0.11111... and 0.11111... respectively (with dots representing noise level). So both at exactly 1% of full scale deflection. If I move the joystick around sometimes it settles to zero and sometimes to the 1% level (always with the same direction). As with Silence, I'd prefer not to address this by increasing my dead zone. Can you think what might be causing this reproducible error? I have A Saitek Cyborg FLY5.

Cheers,

Tim

[Vice]

Hi Tim,

It's generally just the result of imprecision in the device. The game's control input system is very sensitive at its highest settings, resulting in it being able to pick up small variations in input. Devices that use potentiometers/contact sensors may have a higher degree of slightly inaccurate input. Devices that use 'HAL'/no contact sensors can have a higher level of accuracy and precision. So it generally comes down to how the device is put together and what kind of sensor technology it uses. Some controllers may also have flaws from the factory resulting in improper centering.

With that said, the game does offer some more precise ways to dial in/out the central input range of any device you use. To manually set the deadzone response range, open the SW.CFG file in notepad (the file is located in the default save data folder c:\\sw3dg\\EvochronMercenary). You'll want to edit line 12, which is set to 0 by default. When you change the deadzone setting in the Options menu, this value will change in intervals of 100 with a maximum value of 500. You can use values in between for a reduced deadzone effect and higher precision. For example, you might want to start with a value of 20 in that line and see if that eliminates any center drift without effecting the input range very much. Once you change the value, save the file and launch the game to test.