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Steps to create a motion profile

The first thing to do is grab a copy of the SimTools manual and keep it handy for reference: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/rtfm-start-with-the-official-simtools-documentation.117/

After installing the game plugin select the desired game in the Axis Assignments tab of the SimTools Game Engine.

Game Engine has three different running modes to choose from. The mode you choose depends on the level of tuning you wish to do with your setup. You can change the Game Engine Mode at any time, so it is best to start with the Standard mode (Standard mode is strongly suggested for new users.)

1) mode is shown above and is the default mode for SimTools. You will only have one
Max/Min file per game plugin. In this mode you will only need to tune in a game one
time with the SimTools tuning center. This mode is strongly suggested for all new
users.
2) Advanced mode will allow you to set per “Game Manager Profile” Max/Min settings.
For every Game Manger Profile you have for a game, you also have a separate
Max/Min file that it is tied to. This can be helpful when you want to tune in each
vehicle separately with its own set of Max/Min numbers.
You adjust these settings in the Tuning Center. We will discuss this in more detail
in the Tuning Center section below.
As you can see in the image below we are tuning the Max/Min settings for the
“Default” Game Manager Profile. This name will change to the profile name you
have selected in Game Manger.
3) Expert mode will allow you to set per “Game Manager Profile” Max/Min settings. For
every Game Manger Profile you have for a game, you also have a separate Max/Min
file that it is tied to. Expert mode also allows you to have separate Max/Min files for
Axis Assignments (a) and Axis Assignments (b).

For racing select a mid range car and a reasonably accurate track, say Monza in AC, do a base profile, test it on some other tracks to fine tune, then tweak in Game Manager profiles. That way you have a reasonable range to tune harsher or softer in Game Manager profiles. Start with surge only, allocate 20% in the Axis Assignments. The actual Axis % needed for each axis depends on the design of the simulator and what force is being tuned and takes some experimentation to find and refine. In many respects total Axis allocation % is a bit like clipping in FFB settings, too much and you lose detail. Then do sway next, heave, then roll and pitch, one axis at a time.

Total axis allocation should be around 100% for race profiles, it can be a little over but do avoid huge allocations on axis that serve multiple DOF/forces, as clipping is likely: https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...-loss-moving-while-stopped.10397/#post-135974

Total axis allocation for general aviation flight profiles can be closer to 80-90% of both the available roll and pitch axis, as it is unlikely both will be at their extreme range at the same time. But be a bit more conservative in axis allocation for acrobatic and combat profiles that do use extreme maneuvers.

For flight profiles start with roll and pitch, or where supported by the plugin you can use Extra 1 and 2 in place of pitch and roll, as the later invert from one axis extreme to the other at 180 degree in-game inversion. You will also likely need to use the washout, gain and return filters for best flight effect.

If you do use Pitch and Roll in Axis Assignments make sure Axis Type is Advanced and in the FLT box of Roll and Pitch use the Anti-Rollover checkbox. Anti RollOver is designed to eliminate the 180 degree in-game inversion in rolls and loops. This setting returns the output value to zero when the input is at its max or min setting. For Instance, if we had a Max and a Min of 180°/-180° for an input and this setting was on, any values after 90° start counting back to zero. Making an input of 100° = 80°, 120° = 60°, and 180° = 0°. The same thing happens for the negative values also meaning that a -180° = 0°. (Note: This setting is only intended for the Roll and Pitch inputs from a game.): https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/simtools-v2-3-is-out.12483/#post-163409

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Next, you capture base settings for the Tuning Center: http://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/set-base-tuning-motion-values-in-the-tuning-center.122/

From there manually tweak the settings. Raising the Tuning Center values will soften the motion over a greater axis movement, lowering the value will do the reverse. See here for an expanded explanation: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/graphic-simtools-parameter-adjustment.9054/#post-113925

Test surge in game and manually adjust Tuning Center Values until surge feels right: http://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/tuning-center-entering-manual-values.210/

With surge the Max value is generally smaller than the Min value in the Tuning Center, to give the effect of a snappy gear changes: http://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/snappy-gear-change-motion.121/

Temporarily disable surge by setting is allocation to - (which effectively means none), that leaves the Axis Allocation % in place so you can easily re-enable it.

Do Sway next and follow the same procedure, then do heave the same way. Heave can in many cases be far less of an Axis allocation than 20%, while sway may be significantly more for best results. However, avoid allocating too much Axis % in total: http://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/axis-assignment-percentage-totals.120/

Once you have surge, sway and heave sorted then you can then try adding roll and pitch.

Once you are satisfied with each you can re-enable them all and SimTools will mix the results. You may need to do some minor manual tweaking in the Tuning Center with all enabled.

When you are satisfied with the generic motion profile you created then you can refine it even further by creating specific car/track profiles in the Profile Editor, located in the SimTools Game Manager. Copy the Default Profile in Profile Editor under the Editor tab, name the copy by the Car/Track then use the sliders in the Editor to further tweak the settings.

You can change the Main Level % for different Game Manager profiles, this applies smoothing to All of the data coming from the game. (its how it adjusts the strength if you will). When this value is at 100 %, it uses no smoothing at all, and you are riding the direct data supplied from the game. As you lower the Main Level % value you are applying smoothing to all inputs from the game plugin: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/simtools-v2-3-is-out.12483/#post-163173

Once the fundamentals are sorted you can use this handy tool by @perdixero to compare axis and analyze/refine filter settings: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/application-to-compare-axis-filters-etc.10695/

Check here for further SimTools Settings, Tips and Tricks: http://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/simtools-settings-tips-and-tricks.18/category

Credit @noorbeast
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Category:
SimTools Settings, Tips and Tricks
Published:
Dec 20, 2015
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