VR controllers in microsoft flight simulator 2020 are rough (most helicopters do not support them, moving knobs and dials often require non-intuitive movements*). i like helicopters so i have been working on some way to control the collective (a stick that moves kind of like an emergency brake). i've looked at controllers, microcontrollers, tons of software, all of it with downsides like taking up physical space, cost, possible incompatibility with bazzite
well i remembered yesterday i have WearMouse, an app for smartwatches to pair to devices and control a mouse and it's incredible. i mapped the Y axis of the mouse to the collective and moving my arm translates to almost exact movements of the collective. i say almost because in typical microsoft flight sim fashion, there's a forced deadzone and movement is limited to one speed (so whipping my arm up barely moves the collective).
luckily a kind person made https://github.com/matiaspedelhez/msfs_mouse_yoke which directly translates mouse movements to a virtual gamepad axis (which feature more functionality for tweaks in microsoft flight sim) and now it's perfect.
before, i had a lot of trouble maintaining a hover near the ground because i'd always have too much or too little collective. immediately after switching to this, i'm landing delicately and purposefully. i still need to get some real pedals for the tail rotor because i want realism in a practical package and a thumbstick on the quest controller isn't realistic enough, but i feel so much more immersed and accurate.
one day, hopefully, i'll get my vive ultimate trackers working in bazzite.
* for reference, the two helicopters in 2020 I found that fully support VR controllers are the Guimbal G2 and the Chinook (that I think is a bonus from buying 2024). i checked 2024 premium deluxe and the list was:
Robinson R66
Bell UH-1H
Guimbal G2
Airbus H125
and possibly the one that looks like a biblically accurate quadcopter angel drone, but i don't care about that one.
#WearMouse #vr #msfs2020 #msfs2024