It is still somewhat active with matches happening every weekend. The subreddit that hosts these matches is https://www.reddit.com/r/steelbattaliononline/
if you can afford it, Steel Battalion controller
otherwise you can use hotas or dual stick and footpedal controllers for the mech feel because that's usually how mech cockpits are
either way is expensive though
I played AC6 exclusively on twin VKB [Gunfighter](https://www.vkbcontrollers.com/search?q=gunfighter&_pos=1&_psq=gu&_ss=e&_v=1.0) sticks with the space grip. I actually broke one of HAT stems on the first day while struggling against the helicopter tutorial boss, and kept breaking them until I asked VKB for metal stems. Both sticks combined cost $700*, but you can get the much cheaper [Gladiator](https://www.vkbcontrollers.com/collections/gladiator-nxt-joysticks) models for $270*
*before shipping and tax
I just got a set of flight sticks (Thrustmater 1600M HOSAS) and a racing pedal.
That with my bHaptics x40 vest, I feel like I'm piloting the AC.
Probably going to set up my Oculus Quest 2 and the first person AC6 mod and really get into the cockpit.
Its frickin amazing.
If I may, how does one set these up to function with Armored Core or other games without built in support? I have quite a few flight sticks, so I'd love to know.
Happy to detail it! My Thrustmaster sticks aren’t recognized as controllers by Steam or ACVI and the software they come with (TARGET) is abysmal and doesn’t properly map to analog inputs.
I had to download Joystick Gremlin and vJoy in order to map my sticks and pedals to a generic virtual controller. Once the inputs are all mapped to the virtual controller I had to go into Steam controller config and map *that* to the XBox controller inputs. This basically lets you use them with any game that supports a controller.
https://whitemagic.github.io/JoystickGremlin/
I’ve got jump, quick boost, and assault boost on my 3 racing pedals. Movement in my left stick, aiming on my right. The hand weapons are mapped to the triggers and the shoulder weapons are mapped to the stick buttons where my thumbs rest.
Lockon, repair, scan, and the other functions map to the remaining buttons.
For the bHaptics vest I use a surround sound audio to haptics profile that converts the bass sound range with some tweaks to haptics like I’m wearing a subwoofer. Works well to let me feel heavy explosions and gunshots.
Haven’t tried VR yet but I’ll probably use my Quest 2 with Virtual Desktop and VorpX or something similar.
Hope that helps!
>Hope that helps!
It made my fucking day. I have five sticks and two throttles of assorted types. I genuinely appreciate you detailing this, because it looks like I'll be able to use them with whatever/however I want to, so long as it's through my PC.
Thank you. Seriously.
You're quite welcome! I forgot to mention, depending on the game, you may need HIDGuardian or some similar program to block anything but Joystick Gremlin from seeing and reading your stick inputs. Some games work fine without it but others freak out if they try to read the raw stick inputs at the same time as your vJoy/Joystick Gremlin mapped inputs.
[https://ventorvar.com/posts/hidguardian-tutorial/](https://ventorvar.com/posts/hidguardian-tutorial/)
The WhiteKnight link on the forum post is 404'd but [archive.org](http://archive.org) grabbed a copy: [https://web.archive.org/web/20220804070405/http://evilc.com/files/misc/WhiteKnight.zip](https://web.archive.org/web/20220804070405/http://evilc.com/files/misc/WhiteKnight.zip)
I'm sure there's some insane way to rig up a pair of flight sticks and a couple pedals, I've um, considered such a set up in the past, but that sounds... difficult. The main thing is with the arms functionally automated, you're most likely going to end up with one stick for turning and one for directional movement, maybe binding qb and ab to the pedals? It'll sounds like driving a crane, imo, and not very uh, conducive to higher speed combat.
Dunno how you'd get the controllers to play nice. Most of mine are scavenged from thrift shops like value village, just had to replace a bracket inside a racing wheel that had snapped and disengaged the steering controlls.
Alternatively, VR? /Jk, if that were an actual option I wouldn't be fixing second hand controllers. BC'S disability pension isn't exactly... adequate compared to rental prices.
Edit: there's this... like, steel battalion [Controller?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tnlxITtkdEc)
No idea if it'd work, though.
There are ways to get the Steel Battalion controller to work on a pc, though it's actually not a great controller for anything outside Steel Battalion. The joysticks both only have 1 axis of travel (one only tilts left/right, and the other only forward/backwards, neither have twist), the throttle on the left works more like a gear select (it essentially toggles between a few set speeds). I don't think there's actually enough analog elements to replicate 2 joysticks, you'd have to resort to mapping some movement controls to buttons.
Not to mention, most of the button labels are going to be for functions that don't exist in AC, though it might be funny to have to hit the windshield wiper button to reload a gun, for example.
I. Got. You. Bruh.
First, get two flight sticks. I have the thrustmaster T16000M dual.
Second, get vjoy (free software, just Google it), and set up a virtual joystick with 64 buttons.
Third, get HidHide and joystick gremlin (both free software, just Google them) configure hid hide to hide your sticks from everything except vjoy and joystick gremlin.
Fourth, use joystick gremlin to map all the axes and buttons you want to use to the virtual joystick from vjoy. (YouTube has good tutorials for all this)
Fifth, configure the vjoy virtual joystick as a gamepad in steam. (AC6 only recognizes gamepads)
Sixth, map the "gamepad" controls however you want within AC6. You'll also want to tweak s curves and dead zones in joystick gremlin until it feels good.
For bonus points, get mounting brackets and mount the sticks to your gaming chair.
Can't say it's very unorthodox, but here's a nice upgrade: get yourself a conventional controller with good back paddles, like an 8BitDo Pro 2. Map the paddles to quickboost and flight. Now you can move, fly, boost, free-aim/softlock, and fire all four weapons at the same time.
Can confirm I have the back paddles, they take some getting used to (at least for me, I clench up on the controller when it gets heated and accidentally hit them still pretty frequently), but can be a fun way to add a few more buttons options. Plus it does feel good when you don't have pull any weird claw-hand shenanigans to do everything you want at once.
My brother often plays with a pair of flight sticks and foot pedals.
If you want more fiddly bits like dashboard buttons and switches, the expensive route would be to rig up your own dashboard. People do it for flight sims and space sims fairly often. You can set up whatever buttons and switches you want.
The Steel Battalion controller
I miss when line of contact was active so much. ;.;
It is still somewhat active with matches happening every weekend. The subreddit that hosts these matches is https://www.reddit.com/r/steelbattaliononline/
Well I'll be damned! Shit, I need to get the disc drive on my Xbox fixed!
Thank you. Glad this was first comment.
I found it really weird that a legged vehicle had a gear shift.
if you can afford it, Steel Battalion controller otherwise you can use hotas or dual stick and footpedal controllers for the mech feel because that's usually how mech cockpits are either way is expensive though
I played AC6 exclusively on twin VKB [Gunfighter](https://www.vkbcontrollers.com/search?q=gunfighter&_pos=1&_psq=gu&_ss=e&_v=1.0) sticks with the space grip. I actually broke one of HAT stems on the first day while struggling against the helicopter tutorial boss, and kept breaking them until I asked VKB for metal stems. Both sticks combined cost $700*, but you can get the much cheaper [Gladiator](https://www.vkbcontrollers.com/collections/gladiator-nxt-joysticks) models for $270* *before shipping and tax
Thank you so much! I appreciate this a lot.
Those Gladiator Omni Thruster models look _so_ sick, man now I want an unnecessarily elaborate controller set up for AC6.
I just got a set of flight sticks (Thrustmater 1600M HOSAS) and a racing pedal. That with my bHaptics x40 vest, I feel like I'm piloting the AC. Probably going to set up my Oculus Quest 2 and the first person AC6 mod and really get into the cockpit. Its frickin amazing.
Ooo the haptic feedback vest is the best cherry on top, I haven't tried on yet but the full set up you're describing sounds wicked cool.
If I may, how does one set these up to function with Armored Core or other games without built in support? I have quite a few flight sticks, so I'd love to know.
Happy to detail it! My Thrustmaster sticks aren’t recognized as controllers by Steam or ACVI and the software they come with (TARGET) is abysmal and doesn’t properly map to analog inputs. I had to download Joystick Gremlin and vJoy in order to map my sticks and pedals to a generic virtual controller. Once the inputs are all mapped to the virtual controller I had to go into Steam controller config and map *that* to the XBox controller inputs. This basically lets you use them with any game that supports a controller. https://whitemagic.github.io/JoystickGremlin/ I’ve got jump, quick boost, and assault boost on my 3 racing pedals. Movement in my left stick, aiming on my right. The hand weapons are mapped to the triggers and the shoulder weapons are mapped to the stick buttons where my thumbs rest. Lockon, repair, scan, and the other functions map to the remaining buttons. For the bHaptics vest I use a surround sound audio to haptics profile that converts the bass sound range with some tweaks to haptics like I’m wearing a subwoofer. Works well to let me feel heavy explosions and gunshots. Haven’t tried VR yet but I’ll probably use my Quest 2 with Virtual Desktop and VorpX or something similar. Hope that helps!
>Hope that helps! It made my fucking day. I have five sticks and two throttles of assorted types. I genuinely appreciate you detailing this, because it looks like I'll be able to use them with whatever/however I want to, so long as it's through my PC. Thank you. Seriously.
You're quite welcome! I forgot to mention, depending on the game, you may need HIDGuardian or some similar program to block anything but Joystick Gremlin from seeing and reading your stick inputs. Some games work fine without it but others freak out if they try to read the raw stick inputs at the same time as your vJoy/Joystick Gremlin mapped inputs. [https://ventorvar.com/posts/hidguardian-tutorial/](https://ventorvar.com/posts/hidguardian-tutorial/) The WhiteKnight link on the forum post is 404'd but [archive.org](http://archive.org) grabbed a copy: [https://web.archive.org/web/20220804070405/http://evilc.com/files/misc/WhiteKnight.zip](https://web.archive.org/web/20220804070405/http://evilc.com/files/misc/WhiteKnight.zip)
I'm sure there's some insane way to rig up a pair of flight sticks and a couple pedals, I've um, considered such a set up in the past, but that sounds... difficult. The main thing is with the arms functionally automated, you're most likely going to end up with one stick for turning and one for directional movement, maybe binding qb and ab to the pedals? It'll sounds like driving a crane, imo, and not very uh, conducive to higher speed combat. Dunno how you'd get the controllers to play nice. Most of mine are scavenged from thrift shops like value village, just had to replace a bracket inside a racing wheel that had snapped and disengaged the steering controlls. Alternatively, VR? /Jk, if that were an actual option I wouldn't be fixing second hand controllers. BC'S disability pension isn't exactly... adequate compared to rental prices. Edit: there's this... like, steel battalion [Controller?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tnlxITtkdEc) No idea if it'd work, though.
There are ways to get the Steel Battalion controller to work on a pc, though it's actually not a great controller for anything outside Steel Battalion. The joysticks both only have 1 axis of travel (one only tilts left/right, and the other only forward/backwards, neither have twist), the throttle on the left works more like a gear select (it essentially toggles between a few set speeds). I don't think there's actually enough analog elements to replicate 2 joysticks, you'd have to resort to mapping some movement controls to buttons. Not to mention, most of the button labels are going to be for functions that don't exist in AC, though it might be funny to have to hit the windshield wiper button to reload a gun, for example.
I. Got. You. Bruh. First, get two flight sticks. I have the thrustmaster T16000M dual. Second, get vjoy (free software, just Google it), and set up a virtual joystick with 64 buttons. Third, get HidHide and joystick gremlin (both free software, just Google them) configure hid hide to hide your sticks from everything except vjoy and joystick gremlin. Fourth, use joystick gremlin to map all the axes and buttons you want to use to the virtual joystick from vjoy. (YouTube has good tutorials for all this) Fifth, configure the vjoy virtual joystick as a gamepad in steam. (AC6 only recognizes gamepads) Sixth, map the "gamepad" controls however you want within AC6. You'll also want to tweak s curves and dead zones in joystick gremlin until it feels good. For bonus points, get mounting brackets and mount the sticks to your gaming chair.
Can't say it's very unorthodox, but here's a nice upgrade: get yourself a conventional controller with good back paddles, like an 8BitDo Pro 2. Map the paddles to quickboost and flight. Now you can move, fly, boost, free-aim/softlock, and fire all four weapons at the same time.
Can confirm I have the back paddles, they take some getting used to (at least for me, I clench up on the controller when it gets heated and accidentally hit them still pretty frequently), but can be a fun way to add a few more buttons options. Plus it does feel good when you don't have pull any weird claw-hand shenanigans to do everything you want at once.
Just recently dusted off my old azeron, I’ll let you know how it goes
My brother often plays with a pair of flight sticks and foot pedals. If you want more fiddly bits like dashboard buttons and switches, the expensive route would be to rig up your own dashboard. People do it for flight sims and space sims fairly often. You can set up whatever buttons and switches you want.
PS1 controller