How to get your joystick or HOTAS up and running in MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries launched with only partial support for a limited number of peripheral devices. If you have problems getting your Flight Stick, HOTAS or rudder pedals right, you are not alone. Fortunately, the community has put together a number of workarounds for many of the most popular setups, including solutions for Saitek / Logitech, Thrustmaster, and CH Products devices that you may already own. Here’s how to get your PC up and running with the first simulated mech fighting game of its kind in nearly 20 years.

First, a few caveats. Even after long delays and a big patch after launch, MechWarrior 5 is still a bit difficult. Note that additional updates that are currently in the development pipeline mean that this guide may not be valid forever. Your mileage may vary. Write down exactly what you are changing so that you can restore it to its original state if necessary.

Also note that Piranha Games developers are likely to add more and varied standard controller settings. So keep an eye on the official website for more information as patches are still available. Hopefully your setup will be added to the catalog soon, and you won’t need these workarounds at all.

Task one is to find your local AppData file in Windows. You can navigate there directly by pressing the Windows key and entering the location manually (C: Users YOUR_USER_NAME_HERE AppData Local) or by typing% appdata% and going around a bit. Then go to the MW5Mercs> Saved> SavedHOTAS folder. There you will find a REMAP file with the title “HOTASMappings”. Copy them and rename them “HOTASMappings_old”. Double-click it, assign it to the Windows Notepad program and open it.

Next, you’ll want to go to the community’s Google Docs Guide. It’s a little intimidating right now and spans over 40 pages, but that’s because it contains instructions for everything from the Steam Controller to the old N52 Nostromo Speedpad. The instructions are fairly simple and only require you to cut and paste a few dozen lines of code. Follow the instructions for your specific setup, save your new “HOTASMappings” file and you should be ready to use.

If something goes wrong, you can delete the original version of “HOTASMapings” you worked with, reset the name of “HOTASMapings_old” and return to your original settings. Dead easy.

Note that there are likely to be a few different configuration options for your particular setup. So be patient and read everything that is listed for your device before committing to trying a configuration.

For example, I tried playing with Polygon’s Thrustmaster T.16000M flight control system, a retail product that comes with a flight stick and throttle in a box. However, there are several ways to set up the TWCS choke included in the set. It all depends on whether it is connected directly to the TFRP rudder pedals (which are sold separately) or whether they are themselves connected via USB.

I’ve made three different attempts, but now I finally have access to all the axes I need to safely drive a ‘Mech. That means I can match the legs to the pedals, the torso to the joystick, and the speed to the throttle to which it belongs. Compared to wrestling with a mouse and keyboard, playing is much more fun.

Finally, there is an ongoing error in the game when you use joysticks of any kind where MechWarrior 5 occasionally sets your control sensitivities to zero. If you find that your axes are not responding, simply go into the menus and make sure the sensitivity is not set to zero.

If you need additional help troubleshooting the instructions, the dedicated MechWarrior 5 Discord channel is your best bet. Piranha also has special technical support emails that can be found in the official FAQ.