museumsteve's project

Back to it last night. PIcked up some 18mm MDF and 44x44 baton. Made a base to fit the corner for mounting the rig on.

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=432[/img600px]

At first I put the GT Omega complete frame on the base and fixed it, it seemed a great option as it caters for everything (wheel, pedals etc) and is solid..but once the universal joint was fixed it became apparent that the nature of the seat itself wouldn't be much good for motion. The seat definately needs to be rigid..so back to the OMP.

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=434[/img600px]

I gave up at 2am but got most of the framewrk on the seat, so this evening I'll fix the pivot and see how it looks. I'm looking at various options for dampening, does anyone have pointers as to where to get them from? I assume we could use steering dampers or something similar, as well as the usual rubber mounts.stops etc.

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=435[/img600px]

I have no hesitation in saying already I wish I had not started the motion stuff and just ordered a Simxperience kit, but the shipping/customs charges were horrendous

:clap:
Finally I'm driving and moving at the same time, it's heading in the right direction

I have a long way to go but at least I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

My first questions are about the actuators, profiles and noise.

Assuming I have set up everything right, I have yet to sort dampening, I have 100mm SCN5's, how do I allow for them if I'm trying out profiles for 150mm?

Noise...these actuators really do make a noise...all of the time. I realise they have to make a noise because they're mechanical and sitting right behind me but constant crackling type noise is really rough.I'm not sure if it's a trait of the profiles and based on revs or road surface ( i found it on rfactor when rolling backwards as well as sitting with engine running)

I couldn't see a wiki tutorial on writing your own profile :?

and lastly...is there a fool proof way to convert old profiles to the latest version ?

Thanks in advance for any pointers

After spending time with the OMP (blue) seat I changed again back to the GT Omega simply because it is so much more comfortable.

Anyway..at least I'm moving now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC061JncVbU

I do have plenty of questions if anyone can help.

My questions as posted above more than anything..but also, do people fix the rear bar(that holds the actuators) to the seat or simply rely on the fixing to the base?

And with regards to changing others profiles, I look at the various options and see things like Percentage Limiter etc but if I make any changes it doesn't seem to reflect in the profile. It's hard to say whether the changes actually make it across to the game I'm playing but when I go back into the settings they're the same as they were before so I'm not convinced anything changed.

Good to see it moving, looking good!

Can't help you with your questions though, sorry for that

Thanks Flo..and thanks for your help

How did you fix the actuators to the seat? Did you just fix to the bottom and then the upright to the actuators or did you fix the top cross member/bar to the seat. It seems that even when fixed properly, there will still be some natural movement by the seat if not fixed top and bottom.

I'm not running actuators As a matter of fact I'm not running a sim yet at all, currently in the proces of building a wiper motor one

Sorry for not being much of help :tape: just wanted to show some interest in your project!

have you tired setting the motion using these steps?

Making a motion profile – example GTR Evolution
Go to the force sender, and on the plugin drop down list, select “race07” plug in. On the game exe tab, click this and look for the game exe file. This can be found in this example being computer > program files > Simbin > GTR Evolution > and look for race07 exe. Click to select.
Now go to the math section of profiler, and add a force form the 1:1 force section for each axis – motor that you would like, example “lateral” side to side body roll, “longitudal” braking and acceleration. And vertical force for bumps, if you like as well. You can add as may forces as you like on each motor. Usually 3 is enough though.

Right click on the force on the list and click “edit” and another screen should appear. Look for “automatic maximum adjustment” click this. This will allow the program to “look” for a motion setting number out of the game. Do this for each force.


Once this is done, go back to the force sender and click “play game” then quickly click “start” on the profiler. Once the game starts, select a race, preferably a test time trial. Now, gently drive the car braking and accelerating and turning from side to side and avoid going off the track at high speed, just do it a bit slowly. The motion may be inaccurate, do not worry, it can be fixed later. Go for a drive for a bit until you feel the motion lessen.
Then exit the game and go back to the math section, and then right click on each force setting and you will see a number in maximum and minimum. Now un-tick the “automatic maximum adjustment”. Once this is done, you have now created a motion profile. Also here, you can select the “invert input value” tick box, so you can tell the motor to move in the right direction, so as body roll is correct as well as the other forces you may have entered.
From here I suggest increasing the number by 10% amounts, as well as reducing the percentage intensity level from 100% down to suit how you like the motion. Go back into the game using force sender – profiler, check and test and adjust and re-test, until you have a “feeling” of motion that you like.
Note: some big motions may cause errors in JRK utility because of the extreme nature, adjust the motion down or up in increments until it stops errors. I know this from personal experience.
Also save the motion setting, in case you need to start again and re-fiddle with the numbers.
This applies to any game for getting motion. It will take time, but that is the fun of setting up individual motion.

Give that a whirl.
:

thanks mate...that's exactly what I wanted to hear

I'm running Profiler on a seperate laptop so can I pause the game and 'STOP' profiler, make adjustments and then start again without coming out of the game?

I'll give it a go this evening..

Glad to help, I still run one pc and two screens, one for game, one for profiler.
Cheers, David.

Thanks for the pointers David, was a great help and has given me a start on getting a couple of profiles in place to start messing around.

On other stuff, I spent last couple of evenings playing with profiles mainly so didn't do a lot of work n it, but I have hit a snag..and that's whether I should be making the wheel and pedals move with the seat. I think with Dirt games if it all moved I may need to get the co-driver to hold a sick bucket
At times I was completely engrossed in Dirt2, so much so I really felt I was in a car racing..then I'd get pulled back in the seat and almost let go of the wheel and it put a downer on it.
I may make something up to try it this weekend..

This morning I picked up some steel angle to allow me to free up some aluminium from the actuators, which I'll change tonight and then wednesday I plan on changing the projector stands for a new solution and hopefully by then I'll have other bits for adding dampening etc.

One question..do you guys with motion play racers without motion? If so do you have to leave the actuators turned on to hold them or do you have something in place to hold the seat?

I am in love with motion though

I tried driving without motion the other day, and it felt really weird. I had started to get so used to the motion and started to think it wasn't doing much for me, but I guess it's a testament to how good it works when it doesn't feel alien, and you don't know what you're missing until you turn it off.

I only really asked because I do want to keep playing Forza (just spent £85 on an interfaceone unit to use my TH8 shifter with it), although I'm sure it will die a death, so was keen to know how people keep their actuators from moving.

Just adding some finishing touches and I'll be finished.
Tonight I ordered a dampening kit from simxperience cos I think it will finish things off nicely
Here's a video of Dirt 2 I took this evening. The quality isn't great and I had to turn the room lights up a bit so the screens look a little washed out but it really isn;t

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvkIn9wabwQ

The end is in sight at last.
I've ordered a Damper kit from Simxperience, with red actuator covers...
I've sorted the gantry and all cabling and everything is sweet.
[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=442[/img600px]

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=443[/img600px]

This week I had a brainwave as I was walking round a store..I saw a red shiny bread bin and quickly decided it would be great as my housing/.box for actuator PSU etc

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=438[/img600px]

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=439[/img600px]

Tonight I sorted it and was very pleased with the results

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=440[/img600px]

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=441[/img600px]

It will look much nicer when the red actuator covers are either side of it I've ordered some racing stickers to jazz it up aswell

Looking much nicer now

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=445[/img600px]

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=446[/img600px]

Just about finished my room now
Only small things to do are change some of the cable tidy to black from grey, sort out what dash system I'm using and a button box, but I'm not rushing to do any of that...so I think I declare the room done 8)

I decided to get a banner made up, not sure where I'll have it permanently but it adds to the racetrack feel of the room for me

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=447[/img600px]

I finally changed the fittings for the actuators etc and set the measurements and angles as per the 'setup' thread on here and the difference is incredible and I never hear a 'beep' from the actuators. It meant moving the pivot under the seat, moving the anchor points and fitting the new ball joints that arrived with the simxperience actuator cover kit. The ball joints are much smoother than the ones I previously had.
Once I fitted the actuator covers the actuators were noisier than before, I thought it was the rubber dampers in the covers them,selves but it seems it was the covers amplifying the actuator noise..solution was to fit some kind of dampening/deadening material inside the covers, so I cut up a chunky mousemat and it works a great
The difference overall is immense

[img600px]http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/gallery/image.php?album_id=119&image_id=448[/img600px]

nice setup there! Lucky you, that you have a spare room. I will have to wait at least 6 years before i get that luxury.

Nice setup indeed!

That breadbin is a genious solution

I finally bought a fairly decent camcorder so I can now get better videos
Here's one of Game Stock Car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5qnkbYMYf0

On another note, I failed miserably at trying to make a damper bar. I think the bobbins/rubber I got were too flexible so when fitted in place they just bent half way over.
So back to the drawing board for that one

Hello Museumsteve, good to see you are having fun.
Profile writing is a tricky one, it took me over a year and I still havent messed with all the forces.
As for sims and comparisons of movement on dirt2, I built a seat mover with some the 12 v winch motors with one gear, so they can spin at over 200 rpm unloaded. The profiles are nasty in bumps and lateral and longitudinal is set to toss me around, mainly because of the short, sharp tracks and heavy braking. I really do feel I have to hang on to the wheel.
My main ride is a frex with wheel and pedals moving. For myself, I like everything (not the screen) to move, especially with games like dirt 2,3 because of the bigger motion needed.
Although with games like rfactor and gtr evo, both are just as good with a right profile set up.
It will be a matter of profile fiddling until you can find a happy medium . I still mess with profiles during a game, I cannot help myself.
Go Hard!