This post has a few good setups
Re: Joystick and Gamepad options for DOS Gaming

Personally I just have a CH Flightstick (not the Pro) does fine for my arcade style gaming

Back in the days I used to play Tie Fighter with the classic MS Sidewinder 3D Pro.
Although you might need this fix: https://archive.org/details/TIECDJOY_ZIP

I understood it was quite popular to just play the game with a mouse or trackball back in the day.

Ultimate setup for pretty much any DOS flight / space sims would be a Thrustmaster HOTAS setup.

Add the rudder pedals for bonus points.

Anything less is just uncivilized 😁

That way you get a fully programmable setup and you get to have fun with the configuration files which you upload to the controller, specifically the Throttle controller and the Joystick via the DOS utility.

You have your hookups to the joystick port and the keyboard port.

Even if the game doesn't support all the controls from the setup, you configure it as keyboard commands. The Mark II Throttle can also switch between 3 different programs so you can have different controls for different ships, etc.

I had this setup back in the day minus the rudder pedals. Now I have the rudder pedals as well.

Names of the controllers are:
F16-FLCS (Mark II though Mark I would work as well)..
WCS Mark II
Elite Rudder Pedals

I was always under the impression that the WCS Mark II handled all of the programming, but it looks like the FLCS might handle some of it as well though I don't remember seeing anything to that effect when I had my old system.

Been hoarding thrustmaster gear for the past few years to get the setup that cyclone mentions.

This is the goal 😁 but a warning it might make you spend a bit more then $100 and lack wife approval :

https://www.wcnews.com/news/update/11465

CH Flightstick was my fav. It works well for left-handers unlike many other options.

You guy ever use the Quickshot masterpilot?

It came with a Tie Fighter card, and I have the programmer add-on for making cards for newer games.

Yep got two boxed and the programmer itching to setup like above.

A LCD or dare I say small CRT mod would be wild.

I was watching the Tie fighter controls in Star Wars: Squadron and noticed it's a Twin stick style control.

Maybe a crazy setup with one of Sega's Twin arcade stick is the most authentic.

Thanks a lot guys.... Never even knew The MasterPilot existed. Now I have one on the way as well as a programmer on the way. Both NIB. Offered the sellers a bit less than the BIN price and they accepted.

Good finds, always ready to help open wallets. I think there are a few things to learn about the programmer and PS2 voltage when hooking these up.

I'm thinking of doing: Retro computer -> Capture card -> Computer B -> Zoom to instrument panel -> Output to LCD (same size as the masterpilot).

Now your ready to Foxtrot India Romeo Echo

^^Hahaha, now we're talking! <ree!ree!ree!Eject!Eject!SPROOING!crashesintobedroomceiling>

Thanks a lot guys, great suggestions and info.

I think I'll start with either a Thrustmaster FCS stick, or a Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro. Tie Fighter is a bit of an anomaly in that I don't play flight sim games in general, so I probably can't (for example) justify buying the military uniform and helmet in the shot above.

Any opinions to sway my direction between those two sticks for a one-off game? Cost between the two isn't much of an issue, given they're both in the 10-50 price range. The MS is cheaper but has optical rather than mechanical sensors, however Thrustmaster is a more prestigious (and flight-oriented) controller brand afaik, so potentially a better quality experience (???), that's all I know - which isn't much.

Revisiting this, now a couple of months later.

So far, I have only obtained the Sidewinder 3D Pro for this project.

I have found, in summary :

The stick's smoothness and feel of movement - not "world-beating", but a solid couple of leagues above your average $10 2axis 4button cheapstick - is the main, and perhaps only, pro. It makes the game significantly better/more fun to play. It's good.

However, no other extended features of the stick seem able to be utilised by Tie Fighter CD (DOS), such as the throttle or most of the buttons. Just a basic few. Searching Vogons finds the following reference from 2014: "TIE Fighter CD has the disadvantage of not having configurable button setup. It will only take advantage of the first few buttons of any modern joystick and they can't be reassigned natively. For the Dos version of this game a simple 4 button joystick is all that's needed, there's no appreciable advantage to a more modern one".

I may obtain a proper Thrustmaster stick some time in the future for similar casual testing, and will report back if so.

TIE Fighter is a bad example for showing off cool joysticks since it only knows 4 buttons. I used to play it way back when with whatever joystick I could pick up cheap with my allowance at CompUSA. They would wear out in just a few months but they were cheap enough that I didn't care.

Starting to go down the same hole as you are now that cost isn't really an issue anymore (though availability of equipment in decent shape is hit or miss). The benefit of the fully integrated programmable HOTAS+rudder setups is that they could map the buttons to keyboard controls and you could just about play TIE Fighter and barely need the keyboard.