It kinda depends on what kind of aircraft you want to fly.
Thrustmaster t16000m is more geared towards military aircrafts.
If you want to fly Airbus, TCA Officer Pack Airbus Edition (which under the hood is the t16000m) is very good and works well with FS2020's Airbus A320 (even better with the free FlyByWire A320 mod)
If you want to fly general aviation aircrafts, the Logitech Yoke is pretty good. The Honeycomb Aviation stuff is much better but cost double your budget.
I fly gliders and helis (for which, btw, x-plane is excellent), and none of the sticks I’ve tried feel right for these, neither of which have center return springiness. I’ve tried to clip the springs off of various sticks but just ended up breaking them. Any advice for a stick that doesn’t have center return dynamics?
The selection of available force feedback joysticks hasn't changed much over the years. (A company hoarded the patents)
The patents expired in 2019, so it's possible that newer models will start coming to market at some point... but for the moment your best bet would probably be a second-hand Microsoft Sidewinder joystick off of eBay.
How is the feel of the Honeycomb yoke? The pitch axis on the Logitech is so sketchy especially in the flare. I’m
most flight regimes you can trim away the mechanical imperfections, but in the final bit before touchdown it’s a nuisance.
If you want both a stick and throttle for under $200, you'll likely want the Thrustmaster T.16000M FCS (~$150). If you're willing to add another ~$150 to the budget, I highly recommend the VKB Gladiator NXT EVO with the SCG Premium grip (~$210 with US shipping) and picking up the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle alone (~$130).
Either way, the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle does have some stiction and you might want to clean it up, or even better 3D print/buy a slider replacement for about ~$40 on Etsy.
> Either way, the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle does have some stiction and you might want to clean it up.
It really does, I opened mine up and cleaned off all the factory grease, replacing it with a bog standard lithium grease (sparingly!) and the difference is night and day.
Some people swear by the fancy silicon grease and I see a lot of good things but I'm fine with regular old lithium.
If you're a light player an T.16000m will work but they all die with hardware issues at some point. The matching TWCS throttle has similar issues. I'm a heavy space sim player and went through 2 T16000Ms and 3 TWCSs before switching fully over to VKB sticks.
VKB sticks last longer (no issues after 2+ years heavy use), are repairable and VKB will sell you parts. Much nicer if you can afford it. Take a look at their youtube channel if you are curious about the repairibility. https://www.youtube.com/c/VKBSim
Just a VKB stick isn't actually as functional as a cheaper T16000M HOTAS with separate stick and throttle quadrant, so I'm not sure I'd recommend VKB unless you're getting the rest as well.
A VKB setup is about $800 (dual THQ+SEM+FSM+stick+rudders) so... don't look at VKB until you've flown with a <$200 HOTAS for a while and actually know what you enjoy flying (and whether that kind of flying even justifies buying into the whole "real controller" thing =)
The OP was just about a joystick and the VKB's Gladiator NXT EVO is a very nice one within their budget (<$200). It has a simple analog/throttle wheel on the base. IMO one of those is a much better investment than the thrustmaster HOTAS setup as it will last much, much longer and is still in their budget.
They've also never fired a up a flight sim, so they don't know that they don't want just a joystick but a HOTAS. Just a joystick is not enough to determine whether you're going to like a flight sim or not, and both the standard Thrustmaster (T16000-M) and Logitech-Saitek HOTAS (X52) offerings are <$200
I play DCS and I'm using T.16000M FCS + HOTAS (you don't really need paddles unless you're flying helicopter). I'm primarily flying F-16 and these gears are really good. I only have minor complains so far, for example there is only one D-pad on the stick and the grip is too big for my tiny hand to sit on the palmrests
BTW, both FS and xP are excellent. I use them both in various setting - mostly w/gliders and helis. xP (at least 11) is way slower to boot and a bit harder to use. For casual flight, FS is my go to. BTW, I use them both on a Rift, and they are both very good. (I actually would use FS more, because of the boot time, but the thermal sim in FS is way too weak, so it’s too hard to climb a glider. FS is actually a bit more realistic this way, but giving up a little realism for the ability to get to thermal more easily and to a higher altitude is with it. If I need to be scratching around for lift I wouldn’t be flying that day!)
I use a quite old MS Sidewinder Precision 2 joystick from 2008 or so. Works fine with the X-plane 12 demo. Look for something that support rudders by twisting. I spent nowhere near 200$ at the time for this. I'm sure there are better options than this on the market right now. But I must say, this thing was pretty good value for money.
an xbox controller, until you've actually messed around in them and have a feel for what you want to fly, because that's going to determine what controller you want more than anything else.
An XBox controller works great. I have a yoke (honeycomb) that I paid a good bit of money for but is annoying to mount for just a quick flight around...so it sits in the corner of my office.
Whatever you get, make sure it has a twist axis. You can control the plane's rudder with it. Most do - even the basic Logitech Extreme 3D Pro is fine - but some don't.
Thrustmaster t16000m is more geared towards military aircrafts.
If you want to fly Airbus, TCA Officer Pack Airbus Edition (which under the hood is the t16000m) is very good and works well with FS2020's Airbus A320 (even better with the free FlyByWire A320 mod)
If you want to fly general aviation aircrafts, the Logitech Yoke is pretty good. The Honeycomb Aviation stuff is much better but cost double your budget.