M$ SideWinder 3D Pro Mini FAQ
Detlef Mueller
if you're having trouble getting your new joystick to work with Descent, you
may find some help in this little article.
Please note that I don't use/have/will get Win95, so all info is in DOS scope.
1. General information:
-----------------------
Descent can be controlled by your 3DP in 'analog mode' only (ie. you can't use
the 4 base buttons and the hat-switch operates 4-way only), emulating a CH
Flighthstick Pro series stick or a Thrustmaster stick depending of the position
of the little switch on the bottom of the 3DP (pos I => CH, pos II => TM).
Because CH and TM use different methods of passing hat positions to games,
there're differences how the slider, hat and buttons are handled during
gameplay:
- in CH mode you can't press more than 1 button simultanousely, eg. if you
press the hat up, the trigger won't react until you release the hat
- in TM mode the slider will be disabled, 'cause the hat positions are
mapped to fixed Y2 values
Just a note lifted from the 3DP's README: 'The Sound Blaster 16 SCSI-1 (SB 16
SCSI) game port is incompatible with SideWinder 3D Pro in both analog and
digital modes.' ...
2. How to configure Descent or Descent ][ ID for use w/ the 3DP in CH mode:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- set the mode switch to pos I, turn on your comp and start Descent
- in Options.../Controls... move to the CH Flightstick Pro check box and
press space to activate it
- in Options.../Controls.../Configure Above move to the throttle field in
the Axis section, press enter and move the slider -- the field should now
read Y2
- assign the rest of the controls, I, eg., use the twist option of the
stick to Bank l/r
- when leaving Configure..., you'll be asked to calibrate stick #1, do so.
For stick #2, upper left = slider up/wrist turn left, lower left = slider
down/wrist turn right, center = slider center/wrist center
2. How to configure Descent ][ ID for use w/ the 3DP in TM mode:
----------------------------------------------------------------
- set the mode switch to pos II, turn on your comp and start Descent ][ ID
- in Options.../Controls... move to the Thrustmaster FCS & Wingman Extreme
check box and press space
- in Options.../Controls.../Configure Above move to the Bank l/r field (or
whatever you want to assign) in the Axis section, press enter and turn
the stick -- the field should now read X2
- assign the rest of the controls
- when leaving Configure..., you'll be asked to calibrate stick #1, do so.
Now you'll be ask to calibrate X2, do so.
3. How to configure Descent for use w/ the 3DP in TM mode:
----------------------------------------------------------
- execute all steps described at pos 2.
- leave Descent and TYPE DESCENT.CFG -- search the lines starting with
'Joystick....', eg. mine are reading
...
JoystickMin=11,11,12,12
JoystickCen=286,290,286,286
JoystickMax=550,565,557,557
...
- write down the 3rd value of each line (eg. 12, 286, 557)
- unplug your 3DP, set the mode switch to pos II, replug the 3DP and start
Descent again
- in Options.../Controls... move to the Thrustmaster FCS & Wingman Extreme
check box and press space
- in Options.../Controls.../Configure Above move to the Bank l/r field (or
whatever you want to assign) in the Axis section, press enter and turn
the stick -- the field should now read X2
- assign the rest of the controls
- when leaving Configure..., you'll be asked to calibrate stick #1, do so.
- leave Descent and EDIT DESCENT.CFG -- search the lines starting with
'Joystick....', eg. mine are reading
...
JoystickMin=11,11,0,0
JoystickCen=261,292,0,170
JoystickMax=550,566,0,340
...
- see that the 3rd value of each line reads 0 ? Ok, now replace these 0's
by the values you wrote down:
...
JoystickMin=11,11,12,0
JoystickCen=261,292,286,170
JoystickMax=550,566,557,340
...
- save the modifications
Bye,
Detlef
--
`What a depressingly stupid machine' Detlef Mueller
-- Marvin det...@dmhh.hanse.de