If you prefer a video, then please visit our Youtube channel to see how to configure your joystick.

Proper configuration of your joystick is a must. Taking your time here will be very beneficial to your enjoyment of the game. If you have not calibrated your joystick(s) in Windows, please do so before continuing. You will find the Windows calibration tool in the Control Panel (Start->Settings->Control Panel). It may be named Gaming Controllers, or Joysticks or something along those lines.

We will start from the clipboard with you located in the tower.

Do exactly what it says. Move all your wheels, rudders, and joystick through their full range of motion.

Release all the sticks back to their default positions and then press the OK button.

After you press the OK button, the panel will clear and you will see the terrain map reloaded on the clipboard. Your joystick should now be calibrated in the game.

If you check the "Auto select mode at start of flight", the game will switch between "Mode 1 (Planes)" and "Mode 2 (Vehicles/Boats)" automatically. You will see a text message in the radio text box indicating which mode your joystick will be using.

Auto select mode at start of flight:
Checking this option causes the game to switch your joystick intput command mode from Mode 1 (when flying) to Mode 2 (when in a vehicle) automatically at the start of a sortie.
For this to work properly, you must map commands in both Modes 1 and 2.

Modify:
The Modify button is used to change/assign a command to an input. You can also double-click, using your left mouse button, on the input and it will bring up the commands/functions you can assign to it.

Controller Input:
This is the list of input items available to program. These labels are presented exactly as the joystick gives them to the game.

Mode # Function:
The Mode # Function lists (replace # with the appropriate number based on which mode you are working with) ithe commands associated with each input.

OK:
The OK button is used to exit and save the changes you have made.

Ok, so all this is neat, but how do you map a function or command to the various joystick inputs? Good question!

Select the command or function (Analog Inputs) from the list, then press the OK button.

When you return to the Map Controllers panel, the new command is shown next to the input you selected to map.

Pretty neat, huh?

Note, in many cases the actual name of the stick input does not correlate to what you may think it should. In this example the "Slider" is for the throttle, but it could easily be a "Z-Axis" or "Z-Rotation" input as well.

To determine what axis may be assigned to the throttle, simply move the throttle to its extremes, repeatedly, and watch the number in parentheses change. The numbers are the raw input from the stick.

It is then a simple matter of assigning "Throttle 1" (from the mapping window under Analog Inputs) to the selected input of the joystick.

If you prefer a video, then please visit our Youtube channel to see how to configure your joystck.

Let's talk about what you are seeing here. On the left we have a mess of buttons. If you press a button on your stick, or move a hat, you will see the corresponding button/hat light up in the panel. Pretty neat!

See the check boxes in the upper right side? Those represent command groupings in the game. Makes it easier to get a handle on and find the command you want to map.

Let's map a button to show you how simple it is. Notice we are on the Global commands listing. The first command in that list is the Check 6 Call. This command allows you to send a Check 6 Call to a friendly pilot warning him/her there is an enemy plane on his/her tail.

Find a button on your joystick, other than the triggers and press it. Look at the panel on the left and you will see a button light up when you press a button on the stick.

After lighting up a button, take your mouse and select the Check 6 Call. Once it is highlighted, press the Set Button button and the button will be mapped!
Wasn't that simple?

Now, what about those Set 1, Set 2, Set 3, and Set 4 columns?
Those allow you to map a different set of commands to the same buttons. For instance, you might map all the flight commands in the Set 1 column. Then map all the vehicle commands in the Set 2 column.
To access the Set 1 mapping, you would issue the Select Set 1 command. This would select the mappings in Set 1. Use the Select Set 2 command to change the mapping to Set 2 and so on.

NOTE: The Select Set # commands are not mapped at all, by default, so you must map them to either a keyboard key, or joystick button, or both.

Individual forces are set by highlighting the force name in the list box, then adjusting the feedback percentage with the Force Scale slider. Unchecking the Enabled check box will disable the force highlighted in the list. Once all forces are set, click Apply to save the configuration.

GLOBAL

VIEW

PLANE

CHUTE

GUNNER