rec.autos.simulators

> >That's weird. I have the same wheel and centering works OK here in GPL
and
> >N4.

> >I know what you mean about how mushy it feels on the straights with
> >centering turned off, though. I have read plenty of times that it's
supposed
> >to be more realistic with it off, but I like it on myself.

> >FYI: I have centering set to full and I'm using a profile to split the
axes
> >for accelerator and brake. Mine is the original FF wheel and it's hooked
to
> >the gameport on my SB Live!. Good luck!

> Hmmm, mine get's turned off in N4, GPL and Nascar Heat. It only
> happens when I enter the 3D part of the game, I can feel the centering
> force return when I leave the 3D part. It's on in F1RC and other sims
> though. I have the USB version of the wheel and I also use split axis
> and have tried it at full centering (which I find too strong), low
> feels good to me. I remember a couple of games doing this with the MS
> FF2 stick too. The centering force would be turned off in JF18 when
> entering the game. I took that stick back, but now I'm wondering if
> it's a MS issue with USB and certain games.
> --
> eFalcon keyboard chart in PDF format
> http://storm.prohosting.com/~nos146/ef4_keys.zip

> >Hi Jagg,

> >you really shouldn't need the centering spring. The centering comes from
> >the tires themselves when the car is at speed, as the suspension
> >geometry/aligning torque take care of that.

> Well, I don't get much of a feel for the road at all on the straights.
> Corner's I can feel fine though.

> >The forces may not be the same magnitude as in the real car, and that
> >comes from a few factors. As others have suggested, the steering ratio
> >might be different from your road car, and if you decrease that, more
> >centering will occur.

> Yea, decreasing the ratio helped a lot. But, I was able to control the
> car better on the straights with my previous non-ff wheel.

> >Also, on most high speed tracks, the default setup has caster set to
> >close to 0, which reduces the centering. Set caster to maximum and
> >notice the difference. But don't come chasing me after a 100+ lap race
> >when your arms will want to fall off :).

> OK, I'll try that too, thx.

> >You might also notice that in a real car you don't have all that much
> >centering force anyway (it tends to build up only when you corner hard,
> >although power steering may add some artificially - I've seen that one
> >happen as well!), however, in a real car, you feel the lateral
> >accelerations and perhaps it's this sensation that you are missing.

> Yes, that is it. My car has power steering and on the highway at high
> speed I don't really like it for the same reason as my complaints
> above. Rack and Pinion steering is much better for feeling the road.
> Which is what all race cars use, correct?

> --
> eFalcon keyboard chart in PDF format
> http://storm.prohosting.com/~nos146/ef4_keys.zip

> Yes, that is it. My car has power steering and on the highway at high
> speed I don't really like it for the same reason as my complaints
> above. Rack and Pinion steering is much better for feeling the road.
> Which is what all race cars use, correct?

> --
> eFalcon keyboard chart in PDF format
> http://storm.prohosting.com/~nos146/ef4_keys.zip

>as far as I can tell the mechanism of steering (rack and pinion etc.)
>doesn't have anything to do with the actual centering forces, as that is
>solely the matter of tyres and suspension geometry, but mostly with
>steering precision (slack etc.), and that's why rack and pinion is
>preferable.

>All in all, I don't think you'll be able to get much centering from the
>front tires themselves without compromising performance, but adding
>additional centering force will rob you of the feel you can get for the
>drift and understeer of the car from pure tire forces. I'd say your best
>bet is to deal with the loss of centering on the straights. Hey, you had
>to do that with your road car as well :).

>-Gregor

>Shane

>>In the LWFF control panel there is a checkbox labeled "Use Centering Spring
>>in Force Feedback Games". Look for a similar feature for your wheel.

>That's what I'm saying. I turn centreing spring on in the wheel
>properties and Nascar4 turns it off.

> >My FFB wheel is a pain in the azz in Q3A, Unreal & Half-Life :o(

> You need a FFB mouse then.

>> >My FFB wheel is a pain in the azz in Q3A, Unreal & Half-Life :o(

>> You need a FFB mouse then.

>Hehe, I got one of them.  A Logitech USB one, with a scrollwheel too.
>Pretty cool, you can feel all your browser buttons & desktop icons.
>;-))

> >Perhaps. Isn't there supposed to be a patch for the Sidewinder software
or
> >DirectX 8 that resolves an issue with USB? I remember reading something
> >somewhere, but since I don't have that version I never followed up.

> I think that was incorporated into DX8a. I'm using beta 8.1 anyway. I
> did look for a patch at MS, but saw nothing.
> --
> eFalcon keyboard chart in PDF format
> http://storm.prohosting.com/~nos146/ef4_keys.zip

>>You should turn off centre spring in N4, just like in GPL. Don't ask
>>me for a technical explanation, but N4 and GPL use ff in a different
>>way that most other racing sims/games do, and the ff works best in GPL
>>and N4 with centering spring turned off.

>>Andre

>Both those sims turn it off anyway, so it appears. Which should have
>been made optional, IMO.