Hotas cougar

[Inuzuka.Kiba]

Hello i wonder how to configurate an hotas cougar with this nice game.... Apparently only take in count fire next previous target.... no way to have rudder on a button.... Any help around.

[Yellowjack]

I haven't got my copy of TC yet but I have been using Cougar with X3R since it came out. I will have to review my TMM & TNJ files when I receive TC. I won't be able to help with your rudder issue as I have Ch rudder pedals attached to my Cougar for Flightsimming.

[Italiano86]

I finally got my cougar in the mail today. Setup was a pain, but it's detected and calibrated now.

Few big problems for me though is I can't map the rdr cursor to act as up down left and right buttons for strafing.

I also have no rudder pedals now, and I was trying to figure out how to use the ant elev as the rudder trim, if possible.

Does anyone know how to go about setting up the man rng and ant elev knobs to act as an axis in the game?

[Yellowjack]

It is possible to Map say the Range Slider to the rudder axis using the HOTAS Cougar Control Panel . I can't give exact details because I have never had need to do this but basically you use the COUGAR control panel and it is just a couple of clicks to reassign the axis then save the new axis profile.

The microstick can be mapped to strafing although I use Hat button three for strafing myself. I did mine as follows:

From TMM:
StrafeLeftOn = KD (d)
StrafeLeftOff = KU (d)
StrafeRightOn = KD (a)
StrafeRightOff = KU(a)
StrafeUpOn = KD (w)
StrafeUpOff = KU (w)
StrafeDownOn = KD (s)
StrafeDownOff = KU (s)

From My TMJ:
BTN H3U /P StrafeUpOn
/R StrafeUpOff

BTN H3R /P StrafeDownOn
/R StrafeDownOff

BTN H3D
/P StrafeRightOn /R StrafeRightOff

BTN H3L /P StrafeLeftOn /R StrafeLeftOff


All you need do is replace the BTN H3 statements with the equivalent Microstick statements which will be digital axis statements . I thought of using the Microstick myself but I didn't think that it was intuitive movement (Right for right, Up for up etc).

[Italiano86]

I just read the manual from start to finish, but really got lost about 3/4 of the way through, it gets insane! I need to go to bed before my head explodes, lol.

I finally understand how your setup works. One thing though, will this treat the micro stick as a digital or analog input? Digital would be ok I guess, but not sure if it would have increased sensitivity like in analog (ie a scale as it is moved further from center position).

Any ideas which it is set as, or what the differences would be?

Still not sure how to replace your H3 keys with the microstick, and then set it to analog, is it MiX/MiY?

I tried changing the + icons in the control panel to no results, I made sure ant elev went under the Z# then went in game but nothing happened when mapping z for roll.

Thanks again for your reply. Am going to try again tomorrow to figure this out, but your input would be greatly appreciated.

This stuff is damn fascinating but quite complicated, but it sure is fun, lol.

[Yellowjack]

You can use all the analog controls in the HOTAS as either analog or digital or both at the same time.

However, the strafe commands in TC as far as I am aware are purely on or off so you only need to worry about setting your microstick to digital.

Rather thn read the manual I suggest you use the help file in Foxy it is very good.

So you could use something like:

MIY 3 Strafe_Up_Macro Strafe_Off_Macro Strafe_Down_Macro
MIX 3 Strafe_Left_Macro Strafe_Off_macro Strafe_Right_Macro

Check out Type 3 digital axis statements in Foxy help .

I hope that this points you in the right direction.

BTW all the experts in TM Cougar programming hang out here:
http://cougar.frugalsworld.com/news.php.

[Italiano86]

Ok, I was looking at that earlier and thought I was on the right track.

My macros are basically:

StrafeUpOn = KD (w)
StrafeUpOff = KU (w)

StrafeDownOn = KD (s)
StrafeDownOff = KU (s)

StrafeLeftOn = KD (a)
StrafeLeftOff = KU (a)

StrafeRightOn = KD (d)
StrafeRightOff = KU(d)

I bound wsad in the game to use that. Only part I'm confused about is how to translate those macros into the commands.

Would it look like: MIX 3 StrafeLeftOn StrafeLeftOff StrafeRightOff StrafeRightOn and MIY 3 StrafeUpOn StrafeUpOff StrafeDownOff StrafeDownOn?

I'm confused about the center area, do I just use (^) to null those, or keep it the way I typed it in?

I finally figured out the rudder part so that's all good. Thanks again for the reply.

Edit: I figured it out and it's working good now. One major problem, right now only the axes work on the throttle and joystick. All the keys that I bound in game to the cougar won't do anything right now, but oddly enough the strafe drive works on the microstick.

[Yellowjack]

If you buttons don't work a possible reason is that you have the Cougar control panel set to 'Emulation Off' it shows as a red flag in the control panel. It must be green for your programmed buttons to work as you want. If it is green then all I can suggest is that you re-download your TC TMJ file.

With respect to your suggested Mstick statements. If an mstick push/pull causes a keystroke down action then you should release any keystrokes when you return to the centre position. You could code it with X buttons and logical programming but if you don't want that bother then each Mstick movment should cause a key down macro to operate like this:

MIX 3 StrafeDriveLeftOn StrafeOff StrafedriveRightOn
MIY 3 StrafeDirveUpOn StrafeOff StrafeDriveDownOn

The centre position could have a macro that looks like this:

StrafeOff = KU(w) KU(A) KU(s) KU(d)


This will ensure that any KD action is negated when the Mstick returns to the centre position.

Hope this helps.

[Italiano86]

No luck with anything. Basically, when I launch the game with or without foxy, the microstick bound controls work, ie strafing, but anything I programmed through the game, which is all the other joystick buttons will not function except for the axes.

Do I have to go and setup all the in-game buttons through foxy? That would be such a pain.

Beyond that, I have set emulation mode to green in control panel and through foxy with no luck.

[Yellowjack]

Italiano86

Oh dear you don't seem to have got the basic gist of the HOTAS COUGAR.

It has two modes one is Windows mode where the Cougar acts like a standard windows joystick or Console control and the buttons act like those mapped in TC. The other mode is Button and Axis emulation mode. In the latter mode the HOTAS Cougar buttons act like a keyboard and "Yes" you have to write a TMM macro file that relates a macro name to the keyboard keystoke(s) that you would press if you were using a keyboard for input. Here is a bit of my X3TC TMM, the rem (remark) statements are ignored by the compiler:

Rem ------------------
Rem Targetting Actions
Rem ------------------
Track_Target = t
Target_Nearest_Enemy = SHF t
Target_Next_Object = PGUP
Target_Previous_Object = PGDN
Target_Next_Owned_Object = INS
Target_Previous_Owned_Object = DEL
Target_Next_Enemy = HOME
Target_Previous_Enemy = END

Rem -------------------------
Rem Information Actions
Rem -------------------------
Actions_For_Selected_Object = i
Info_About_Selected_Object = u
Info_On_Current_Ship = y
Personal_Information = p
Sector_Map = ,
Galaxy_Map = .
Selections_On_Galaxy_Map = g
Owned_Property = r
Message_Log = SHF m

Here is a bit of my TMJ file showing the macro names in use:

BTN S1 /I Dock_With_Target /O Target_Nearest_Enemy

BTN S2 /I Message_Log /O Select_Missile

BTN S3 DoNothing

BTN S4 /I Eject_From_Ship /O Toggle_Autopilot

These macro names are then used in a TMJ file which is compiled and sent to the stick. The stick must be calibrated in the HOTAS Cougar control panel either automatically or manually (both are available). No TM Cougar calibration should be undertaken in Windows. Window will find and identify the Thrustmaster stick.

Yes, writing a Macro file can be a little laborious but you only have to do it once. As I have had a macro file since the X2 days I have only needed to modify it for new versions of X. So it takes an hour. How many hours will you be playing X3TC for?

The mode that the stick is to use is decided in the Cougar Control Panel as I indicated in a previous post.

[Italiano86]

Nutty on frugalsworld gave me the command USE ALL_DIRECTX_BUTTONS. This basically allowed me to let the game program the majority of the hotas buttons, while letting foxy take care of the microstick which the game couldn't pick up on it's own.

I wouldn't mind writing in my own macros and a full profile for the game, I just wanted to play it after spending a few days just trying to figure out the microstick, haha.

Thanks again for all your help.

[Yellowjack]

Italiano86

I could always include my macro file here for a copy and paste or send it to you. It would then be a simple edit to your taste.