I sure hope that turns out to be not true. I would think that a high profile company like Moza would want to be above board to maintain a good reputation. Stealing code would not in any way conductive to that.
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Then of course in this day of AI stealing everybody’s everything, it could be that…
As allways in these cases it’s hard to tell up from down for outsiders, but it does look a bit fishy. It is open source as I understand it, but it seems they don’t play entirely by the rules.
Link to post on Edforums, by VpForce creator Walmis: EdForums
I hope for the sake of the industry and FFB that this is not true. And if it is, I hope MOZA comes clean. Lets see how that plays out.
So far as my experience goes, I say that Moza has left too much to the customer. The Software is so immature. Last night in the Jug the stick was pulling my hand so hard. YES, I’m the problem, it’s me. I need to learn how to make profiles. That takes time. Eventually there will be a flood of them. For now, there are a few. Guns felt great on the Jug, mechanical transitions work their way through the joystick to your hand. Air brake (yes, jug has one) Flaps, Landing gear etc…
There needs to be more profiles and I wonder if MOZA will step to the plate.
Home last night and a box was waiting. Inside a needed extension. Now the stick sits right.
And then… The Magic Happens… I chose the Mustang Profile to Fly the 109… Mustang is the Only Warbird Profile that ships with the Moza Software. I didnt want to fool around with software. Left it as is and hit FLY.
I had some 109 buttons wrong, My aircraft felt muted and awful. Of course I am cursing the Base. That is till I noticed what is happening. My aircraft cuts off when the mission starts… LOL. Ok, reprogram some buttons and go again.
WHOA, NELLY! Damn, this stick feels good. I have authority over my aircraft. I can feel Everything! I climb above the Mustangs. I know how much power I have and how much is in reserve. I dive from above and pull back the power. We tangle, his wingman jumps me but Im not having it. The fight is desperate but I manage to avoid all attacks and down a Mustang with 30mm. The Mk 108 feel is amazing. Then we are low over the Chanel map. He turns, I dial in some flaps and bring him into the sight. I can feel exactly where the edge is. A burst of 13mm and he climbs… I think, " Noooo, climbing is MY thing" As he stalls, I take off his tail with a burst of MG131. He is cooked.
We make it easily to Dunkirk. I have never landed the 109 so easily. Everything is there in my hands… The feeling of the flaps, the gear going down, the wind under my wings… Jeeeze where have you been all my life MOZA? This weekend project is to screw it into my little wooden pit. The Moza base STAYS!
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I’m glad you finally got it working to your liking! As an old-school FFB user (G940), I agree - you get so much information about the airplane from just a basic control loading setup…
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Guys,
I have really hit my quota of Hardware changes in the last two months. As you can see. Here are some observations in case you are looking to buy stuff.
Virpil. It is great hardware. The Mongoose T-50M2 has been an outstanding base that has been my daily driver since the Summer of 2020. I have the Mongoose Stick but have used it very little because I used the TM A-10 and F-18 grips. These two cover a LOT of aircraft in DCS. The fact that the TM grips could be used with Virpil Bases was the Main Reason to keep using the Virpil Base for years.
I also used their Throttle and Joystick Desk Mounts for years. This year I found out that they no longer make the TM adapter to their base. Im not pleased at All. Please bring this back VIRPIL. I am yet to use the AH-64 collective. I am not a fan of Virpil Throttles. Virpil uses a Special cable for the Joystick base. Not a fan… but its never given me any trouble. By the way, I changed this T-50 base to No Center and loved flying the OH-6 and other helos with it. SO MUCH EASIER
WinWing. I bought their Throttles for the way they look and amount of buttons and Switches. They are extremely versatile. I recomend to start out with an F-15 or F-18 handle set. These will get you going with just about any DCS aircraft. I love the F-16 setup but only use it with F-16 or Warbirds. These have proven their worth. On to the F-16EX Stick then. I found the base to be outstanding straight out the box. But there is something I just simply dislike. WinWing does not want to play nice with others. The Joystick and base does not work with Virpil, TM or even MOZA. They are doing their own thing. So how is it to own WinWing Ecosystem? I think it is a darn good product. Tie it in with the software and it is outstanding. The Joystick quality is better than the Virpil and TM. This is the best Joystick I own. But be aware… they dont work with any other brand.
The F-16EX base is better quality too. The extra cams must be purchased separately for about 45 bucks. But The kit is outstanding.
The Ka-50 Collective is a great first collective. It has a throttle and plenty of buttons. Nothing compares to having a collective for helos. It is just so natural. Thanks to you guys who would not let me push for power when flying helos. PULL FOR POWA!!! LOL
MOZA, So we finally come to the MOZA base. I was intimidated by its size. I thought it would destroy my fiberboard IKEA desk. These fears were unjustified but… You got to mount this securely. If you can live with a desk mount, that is good for you. I think this mount needs to be on the floor. It will shake and vibrate.
You will need to raise it about 200mm and you’ll need 165mm to 200mm of extension. (I have 165mm, too short still). I bolted mine to a piece of wood. I am receiving the new baseplate next. I will use that to raise it again when it arrives. At that time, I will also share my feelings about the MH-16 stick. I’m hoping it gets here soon. In the meantime, any joystick that worked with TM, will work with MOZA. Just not the WinWing stuff.
There you have it. There is my hardware summary on this last few months.
Good Day!
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That is also my only regret about Winwing’s stuff–their ecosystem was never designed to cross with other’s stuff.
For people who didn’t have any TM or Virpil stuff already, it’s a non-issue because you have nothing to mix with. However, it also means you can’t use their stuff later either if you saw something you liked more outside of the entire unit (ie Winwing throttle and TM/Moza FFB).
WW is making an FFB base, though, so I’m waiting for that.
The only other thing about WW that I’m not a fan of is their proprietary stick/base interface is a cable to a plug as opposed to a male/female plug design like TM. As the cable is very short so it can be pushed into the grip handle without pinching up, it can be a real pain to connect/disconnect from the base when switching grips.
I got around this by getting a 2nd base for my grips. I have the original Hornet/Orion 1 and F-16EX with Orion 2. I don’t care about the FSFB base for the EX, I have flown with the “unrealistic” movable stick for the F-16 for over 30 years now so I don’t care about strain gauge for it.
So while I don’t begrudge them making their own plug (for business reasons I’m sure as opposed to technical), I am miffed they didn’t do a plug like the TM design. One thing it DOES allow (and I don’t know if current TM/Moza/Virpil allows this) is because the plug is a flexible cable, you can orient that grip on the base any way you choose. So if you want to center mount it and then twist that grip say 15 degrees counterclockwise so your fingers reach the buttons more naturally, you can. Even with side mounting mine is about 5 degrees off dead center.
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If you want to rotate the TM, Moza or Virpil, you will need to put the stick on an Extension. So it is very much worth keeping a short one around. That 15 to 20 degrees makes a world of difference.
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I prefer the mechanical connection of Winwing compared to Thrustmaster, but yeah - it’s painful that there’s no easy way to even route the cable outside the mechanical interface to use a separate usb controller as the grip interface.
Fortunately they seem to be doing their own FFB joystick base.
Edit: re stick angles, most of the Virpil stuff since the CM2 can be rotated without an extension but of course if you’re rotating the grip you’re probably using it in a way you’d benefit from the extension anyway.
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