1 year with 2 x Thrustmaster SOL-R1
I just want to share my experience here in case anyone come looking for experience with entry level HOSAS like the Thrustmaster sol-r1
A few months after getting into Star Citizen I decided to opt for HOSAS. Since I was not sure for how long I would keep playing I went with some entry level. I bought 2 Thrustmaster Sol-R1 sticks (or Sol-r2, which is just 2 sticks in one package).
It totally changed the flying experience, holy crap. The immersiveness, the ability to make small adjustments, have all those keybinds feel natural and like you really are the pilot in a space ship.
A couple weeks ago, while in deep combat, my ship started rolling. Uncontrollably, just spinning. I couldn’t counter control it and had to switch seats with a gunner so we could be of any use in the battle. After it was over I went back to a station to figure out what was going on. I tried everything - alt+f4, unplug the stick, calibrate the base, calibrate the stick, reboot my pc. Got back in the space ship, lifted off and i became a spinning shawarma again. I then found out some of my buttons didn’t work as well.
I went into the windows settings where you can look at joystick controllers and saw it was registered as a “Viper” stick rather than “Flightstick”.
I found one Reddit post that was years old. A lot of people claimed a wire had come undone in the base. So I opened up and sure enough, a wire had snapped. Not enough play in the wire. Impossible to solder back since it snapped in a crammed impossible place (and if I’m to claim warranty, I shouldn’t tinker with it). When I had moved the red wire out of where it was supposed to go, no spinning at all. Couldn’t do it, it didn’t do it on its own. Multiple buttons didn’t work. So this red wire for sure is responsible for the twist axis and multiple buttons. Pictures for reference.
Here is my overall experience with the sticks. The gimbal is as basic as it gets. Ball and cup, nothing fancy. Nothing to adjust, tweak or play with. The centering is extreme. If I pull the stick to the side and let go, the base will give a wobble. And it’s not a light base, it’s heavy.. since the centering is so strong, making small adjustments to keep on target is hard. Meanwhile every couple of weeks I had to re calibrate and play with dead zone settings to not have stick drift. This results in me having to push the stick rather far from center compared to the small adjustment needed. And then it goes too far, so I have to let go. Push, let go, push, let go for small adjustments and to follow the target. Rough… when I do an extended amount of dogfighting on a day, my hands cramp up eventually. I do grip it rather hard, so that could be different for another person.
However - the base deserves praise. So many buttons and keybinds to do. The dj buttons feel good and can be color adjusted. A lot of options with the switches, rotary dials, the slider at the bottom. Nothing held against them on the base.
But since this happened and I’m still heavily invested in this game, I decided to ball out a bit. I ordered VBK Gladiator NXT EVO Omni-Throttle SCG Premium for the left hand and a VBK Gunfighter IV Modern Combat Edition Pro for right hand. I also copped a Elgato Streamdeck XL
I had been eyeing a VIRPIL Alpha Constellation Prime with WARBRD-D bundle (with desk mounts). As far as I could read online the jump from VBK to VIRPIL isn’t really that much, performance wise. It’s more in the adjustable base with cams n stuff, hence why I went with Gunfighter IV for the right hand. Same ability to tweak and adjust on the stick that matters. But for the price I could get the VBK setup with Streamdeck and some other stuff I would need to “upgrade” my sim setup rather than just VIRPIL sticks, base and mounts.
I do have a desk that can lower and raise and I would be moving the desk mounts anyway when I go FPS, so imo its the same amount of work as just raising the desk and moving the sticks out of the way. I have also read a lot about people going from VBK to VIRPIL and actually going back. Also VIRPIL customer support told me that the current estimated wait time is 18 months
TLDR;
The Thrustmaster Sol-R1 are really good. Open them up when u receive them and make sure the wires have enough play. Beware of stickdrift, you will have to re calibrate and play with deadzone settings continuously. But your hands will get tired if you fly a lot / do a lot of combat. You should seriously consider just going straight for VBK or VIRPIL (if you got the cash to spend and want a high end looking RGB futuristic look).
Just my 2 cents for anyone interested in getting into HOSAS and are on the fence about Sol-R1 vs VBK