This is something I've never understood--in particular Reactivity which some have described really sounds like Sensitivity in our controller sensitivities interface.  I have two new controllers and would like to optimize their setup now.

Cheers n thanks in advance

A very good question Noel. I've never really understood what the reactivity setting does either.  It was introduced as a part of one of the sim updates and was not there in the original version. Neither ASOBO nor MS really explained it in a way that made any sense to me.

Asobo needs to create an auto-recommended profile for all the popular controllers for these settings. It's too weird to try to figure it out on your own, though I guess some have some success. It's hard to even tell what effects what even if you are trying to test it, because there are too many variables. If they created "best for most people" settings for each controller, would be a world of difference I think.

 

Reactivity makes the axis less twitchy while maintaining linear input, while sensitivity creates a curve rather than a line, meaning more control input will result in a steeper increase in surface deflection (the input/deflection graph increases or decreases exponentially rather than at a steady, linear rate).

Realistically, what you want is a line (reactivity), not a curve (sensitivity), since the input/deflection relationship in real aircraft is linear and not a curve. I'm only using the reactivity and extremity dead zone sliders for this reason and it works well.

This is a bit simplified since input/deflection may not be linear in every aircraft (e. g. in a FBW aircraft) due to aerodynamic reasons requiring more surface deflection at certain pitch angles, but it's enough for adjusting the yoke in the sim. Basically, what you don't want is a pilot pulling on the yoke resulting in a particular increase in pitch angle and then pulling back further by the same margin but with pitch increasing at a higher rate than before. An example is the 737 MAX where MCAS is needed to counter an increased rate of pitch at high AOAs due to the large engine nacelles creating extra lift at high AOAs, resulting in the steeper rate of AOA increase even though the pilot is pulling the yoke the same as before (they would have to ease up on the yoke in order to maintain the same rate of pitch increase).

Not easy to put into words but I hope the explanation makes sense. 

Edited September 18, 20223 yr by threegreen

3 hours ago, Noel said:

This is something I've never understood--in particular Reactivity which some have described really sounds like Sensitivity in our controller sensitivities interface.  I have two new controllers and would like to optimize their setup now.

Cheers n thanks in advance

Hi Noel, 

Here's a very good youtube video, have a look yourself:

 

Micko: Thank you for posting this, I will have to watch this when my VKB Gladiator Joystick arrives.

Hopefully I will have better luck with this joystick than my previous cheapo. 

Edited September 18, 20223 yr by Alpine Scenery

15 minutes ago, Alpine Scenery said:

Micko: Thank you for posting this, I will have to watch this when my VKB Gladiator Joystick arrives.

Hopefully I will have better luck with this joystick than my previous cheapo. 

You will, it's high quality. I have the same one and it's well worth the money.

1 hour ago, threegreen said:

Reactivity makes the axis less twitchy while maintaining linear input,

I read something someone wrote that said Reactivity influences how fast the plane responds to a given input.   For example by reducing Reactivity in a big heavy plane it will act more like a big heavy plane in that takes longer to respond to the input. 

I don't know how you all pilots should want your controllers to behave. But I reduce sensitivity on every one of my control surface flight controllers in every MS flight simulator version going way back in years to FS2000. The reason is that it gives me finer adjustments, smoother flight, and prevents sudden loss of control. 

I have also set up extremity dead zones. FSX controller setup did not provide for that. But I was using CH controllers (first gameport and later USB). The instructions were to ignore the flightsim built in adjustments and instead use the simple slider buttons in CH Control Manager app. You could set up your sensitivity curve and create extremity deadz ones. Using both curves and endzone cuttoffs were the norm reported by most users in the CH forum and simHQ forum, etc. Especially in combat sims where you are on the edge in combat and need to be real careful on the stick.

Witness black box readouts after plane crashes. Sometimes the problem was too much control input by the pilot and done too quickly when in an unfamiliar situation and disoriented. In those cases the pilot should have done less, and done it more slowly.

"Take it easy on those controls" is sometimes heard in basic flight training. But in stunt pilot training, you might instead want snappier controls allow you to bomb around sky.

18 hours ago, Noel said:

I read something someone wrote that said Reactivity influences how fast the plane responds to a given input.   For example by reducing Reactivity in a big heavy plane it will act more like a big heavy plane in that takes longer to respond to the input. 

Yeah that's basically it.

Was going to start a thread on this but glad I found the posts in here.

So what settings do you guys use for both FBW A32NX and the PMDG 738?

Would -20 sensitivity and 75% Reactivity be a realistic place to start in terms of how the aircraft feels?

Would the settings be different for both planes? Maybe 50% reactivity for the PMDG?

thanks in advance!

Reactivity introduces lag into the response.  With high reactivity you pull the stick back and some time later the aircraft eventually starts to climb.

Sensitivity is not a single setting it is a response curve, you can make your aircraft really twitchy responding to the slightest stick movement (for aerobatics etc) or you can make it fairly unresponsive initially giving lots of finesse (good for those butter landings) with most of the response occurring at the extremes of stick movement.

I appreciate the response, Glenn. I understand the mechanics of both, I was looking for specific setting numbers for each aircraft that add to immersion.

Was just wondering if anyone had tried and tested any combos.

It is going to partly depend on your hard ware. On my Fulcrum Yoke for example tend to run flat curves (zero sensitivity) but on my old FFB2 I have the sensitivity set to more like -30% .

3 hours ago, El Diablito said:

I was looking for specific setting numbers for each aircraft that add to immersion.

Was just wondering if anyone had tried and tested any combos.

In the end you can only find out for yourself which settings feel best for you. It not only depends on the hardware and the aircraft type but also on personal preference.

However here are my settings for the Fenix A320 (Thrustmaster T1600, old Saitek pedals):

Elevator:

Sensitivity 0

Extremity Deadzone 33

 

Aileron: 

Sensitivity -50

Extremity Deadzone 0

 

Rudder:

Sensitivity 0

Extremity Deadzone 70

 

And for the PMDG 737 (Honeycomb Yoke):

Elevator:

Sensitivity 0

Extremity Deadzone 50

 

Aileron:

Sensitivity -25

Extremity Deadzone 0

 

Rudder:

Sensitivity 0

Extremity Deadzone 75

 

Anyway I would strongly recommend against setting any sensitivity curve for the elevator and the rudder. That will make the control feel different depending on the elevater/rudder deflection which makes the aircraft even harder to control during the flare and when rolling down the runway in a crosswind.

Regarding the Extremity Deadzone: Increase it until you just still have enough control authority to keep the nose up in the flare resp. to counteract the windvaning effect in the strongest crosswind you want your aircraft to takeoff/land in.

I guess the reactivity really is a matter of personal taste. Just test 0, 50 and 100 and see what you like best with your hardware and aircraft. I leave it at 100.

 

Edited March 9, 20233 yr by RALF9636