Joystick questions for WC games in DOSBox

Good call on needing a point of comparison for responsiveness. How about this: If you try to put your reticle on target, and it's just a few pixels off, can you reliably get it on-target quickly, or are you likely to overshoot and have to correct back?

The answer depends on a lot of variables; what ship I'm flying, what the enemy is flying, how violent or gentle my stick inputs are, etc. As I said, it generally feels OK to me, but definitely not as responsive as newer games. It's not clunky enough to be frustrating though.
 
Update!

I just started using a Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog Flight Stick. The deadzone is definitely still there, but it's much less disruptive. Whiplash, my experience is now completely in line with your assessment: good enough joystick control that the game can be enjoyed, though not remotely as good as in a newer game.

I really think the problem depends on the joystick's axis response ramps combined with its mechanical behavior around center. The stronger the response when you move the stick off-center, the easier it is to punch through the game's programmed-in deadzone and start turning the ship. But if the stick has a high effort barrier to move it off center, it'll suddenly "click" into a strong response and you'll end up turning more than you want. If your joystick's software lets you reduce the axis response near center, you'll get less of that over-response effect, but then it'll take more stick travel to get through the deadzone and you're back to square one.

The Cougar is okay when relatively new and broken in, or when freshly greased. But with all the axis play mine had, moving it around center was decidedly NOT linear and intuitive. That made it impossible to get good in-game response.

The Warthog stick is buttery smooth and has ZERO play with a minimal effort barrier around center. The game now plays fine -- still clunky, but no clunkier than one would expect.

FWIW.
 
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