Wing Commander Dos 1 + 2 Joystick Problems

S

Sonntag

Spaceman
Forgive me if this thread has been asked before, but I have problems with my CH Flightstick when trying to play the old WC 1 and WC 2 for DOS on my old 486 DX 4 100 (which I slowed down by deactivating the internal Cache, so the Speed is OK)
The Joystick is connected to the Pc via the Creative Labs SB 16 Midi Port.

The Problem I've encountered with both games is that if I move the Joystick too fast, my aircraft starts moving like it is crazy or I just simply lose Joystick control. The same problem appears also while I am still on the Tiger's Claw or Concordia, if the stick moves too fast, the Joystick vanishes, and I am only able to control the game with the mouse. Obviously, this is not very good when flying a Mission, as having to stick to the mouse is inappropriate for using the maximum power of the fighter.

Has anyone experienced the Same? The Joystick is otherwise working perfectly with games like Privateer, WC 3, WC 4, WcP (this one on another PC, though) or games like Tie Fighter, X-Wing or Microsoft Flight Simulator, so it seems to be ok.
 
Originally posted by Stinger
hmm
Try calibrating the joystick in-game (ctrl-j, I think; it's been a while).
Click to expand...
I've tried that, but this does not work. Until I've lost the Joystick Control, there's no need for calibrating as it works just fine (but I've calibrated a few times, works good). However, when the failure has happened, ctrl j does not work anymore, as WC does not find a joystick anymore... Only solution is leaving the game and restarting...

But thanks for your quote
 
This is an extremely old post, but just in case anyone else happens upon it, I think the reason is the joystick and sensors (POTS?) are starting to go.

I had this happen in Wing Commander 2 with a CH Flightstick (the 2 button) and resolved it by replacing that stick. Recently, it's started to happen again, and I noticed the stick is a little bit looser with a bit more play in the axis (for example, there tends to be a little bit of bounce when moving the stick to the left and back - it's not too bad, but there). I also got ahold of a really bad shape stick (didn't know it at the time and thought I'd try it) and that does it every time almost immediately. Conversely, I have a Flighstick Pro (4 buttons + hat) that's in great shape and pretty tight feeling, and that doesn't seem to do it at all. If I had to guess (and it's only a guess), if the stick is getting less accurate, these games might "lose" them if it detects two points on an axis too far apart for it to reconcile properly, as it does seem tied to fast movements and or bounceback.

Different games have different sensitivities to whatever is going on. Privateer doesn't seem to lose the stick. Even the "bad" stick I mentioned doesn't stop working - it just does odd behavior (generally a much bigger bounceback behavior like I mentioned).

Anyways, sorry to necro a thread, but I thought this might be useful for someone if they're working with a vintage-esque DOS rig. I first worried about the gameport or slowdown utility I was using (SlowDOS), but neither ended up being the culprit.
 
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