[sigh]
If TECS is dead in the water in any regard, it'll either be because:
- VKB have run out of money to finish the development/set up a new production line/pay their staff
- VKB have hit a problem with the electronic detent that they just can't get round, it's just not working or not working well enough
- VKB have got so bored and irritated with this thread they've decided to piss us all off by cancelling the throttle
a is pretty unlikely, I suspect they've sold a few Gladiator NXTs recently
b is not impossible in and of itself, but it would be a pretty perfectionist (AKA foolish) company that would cancel the
base model (which, lets face it, any decent peripheral manufacturer could manage; hell, even
TM managed to make a decent fist of the TWCS) just because they couldn't produce their higher tier models. They wouldn't even have to mention the cancellation of the models with the electronic detent, they could just say "Here's the base model, we're still working through some stuff for the other models"
c frankly is the most likely of the three. From what I've seen of this thread, if I was the main human at VKB, reading this thread,
I'd be tempted to say "Fekk 'em and their whiny asses, they don't deserve our genius"!
It's not going to be down to the chip fabs not being able to keep up.
Just for a second, put some
actual thought into it. They're knocking out Gladiator NXT's just fine. What would be in the base model that wouldn't be in the NXT? No electronics for sure, the sensor will just be one of their MARS sensors, switches and buttons, eh they're still available. A throttle is a device just like a joystick but with one main axis instead of two.
What magic sauce would be unavailable for the throttle that they don't already use in the NXT or even the Gunfighter bases?
The delay (and that's what it almost certainly is) is almost certainly due to COVID disruption, partly in terms of supply, partly in terms of ability of engineers to get to China (they mentioned that in a previous post) and partly in terms of personnel losses (they mentioned that too and I feel for them very much in that regard)
And yes, probably some of it is also due to VKB being their perfectionist (but not to the extent as option b) selves. That's why their kit is as good as it is.