rec.autos.simulators

I'm running (trying to run :)) ICR2 with a Logitech Wingman Extreme
joystick. When I choose 'Calibrate joystick 1' from the options/controls
menu, it calibrates OK, but if I immediately go back to the calibration
screen, the joystick doesn't seem to be calibrated at all, even though I
just did it. Well, never mind that I thought, let's turn a few laps and
see what happens. So I start driving and everything seems to work just
fine...for a while. Then, perhaps two-thirds into a full tank of gas, I
start to notice that my acceleration is pitiful (I use the joystick
y-axis for acceleration/braking) and I don't turn very well, either (I
use the x-axis for that). As I continue driving the problem just keeps
getting worse until it sounds as if I've lost a couple of cylinders and
hardly accelerate at all, at which time I decide to investigate. I then
exited the race, recalibrated the joystick (it certainly didn't look
calibrated when I selected the calibration screen, but, again, seemed to
calibrate just fine), and took to the track again... and the same thing
as told above happened. I've even tried this on two systems; my own
joystick plugged into the joystick port built into the SoundBlaster16
soundcard on my 486/66DX, and another Logitech Wingman Extreme joystick
(only newer) into the joystick port built into the Turtle Beach StTropez
32-bit soundcard on my dad's (would you believe the old man's gotten his
own joystick :-)) P133. Same thing on both places. I therefore submit my
problem to the knowledgeable community of r.a.s, together with the three
possible solutions I've come up with so far:

1. You need a speed-adjustable gamecard to use this joystick model.
2. This isn't a joystick problem at all, I've overcooked the engine. (Not
likely, I still use auto-shift, which normally means that the engine runs
at very sedate rpm's for much of any circuit)
3. I'm an idiot who've missed an apparently obvious solution. (Not one
listed in the manual under troubleshooting/joystick, though)

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanx in advance,
Johan Hellgren

1- I don't think this explanation would account for the gradual
deterioration you are seeing.

2- I don't think you can overcook the engine like that. My experience is
that you either blow the engine and it is suddenly dead, or it is just
fine.

3- I don't see any obvious explanations, and I don't know your joystick at
all. But I would suggest that you try using something other than the
y-axis for accelleration/braking- I use pedals, but if I didn't have them,
I'd probably use either joystick buttons or keyboard. See what happens
with that simpler joystick config.

It sounds to me like something in your joystick is loosening up as you use
it. That is all I can figure.

Brad

[he's having trouble with a Logitech Wingman Extreme
joystick slowly going completely out of calibration as he races]

...
[ the following are possible reasons he considers]

Another possibility- if you are using a soundcard-joystick combo card,
or some other kind of combo controller card, you might be overheating
it with this particular joystick, i.e., the stick's power requirements
are overheating the card. This could cause a form of "heat drift" that
would appear to you as your calibration going lousy. You'd need to
spend $25 bucks or so and get a dedicated card in this case.

Hi all!

Thanks for your advice everyone. So far I have found that not pushing the
joystick to its Y axis stops when calibrating it will rectify the problem
(at least as far as I can tell). I am planning to upgrade my computer,
however, and will then probably heed your advice and include a dedicated
game card.

Thanks again,
Johan Hellgren