rec.autos.simulators

I have mucked around with deadzone editors.. and made them work too..
even in Win '98....

BUT SBK..  doesn't seem to respond  :-(

There isn't any repsonse in the first 20 degrees of wheel movement
rednering the game almost totally unplayable..

I need that quick steering.. and from that WILL COME THE FEEL.....

Fingers crossed for a patch to fix this   :-)

James,

PS.. I have tried setting dz to 0%.. 1% etc...  no "real" diff.. tho
there was a diff with 20%....  but I still need the DIRECT feel
steering...  AND.. I think the pedal / wheel or joystick is DEFINATELY
the way to go..  you need the abilitly to have 3 diff inputs..
Joystick doesn't give you that...

I was also wondering if the full version gives you more of a sense of horse power. The only time it seems to have wheel spin in the
demo is off the track. Controlling wheel spin is a big part of driving at the limit (and fun too).

Lutrell :-)

DSR 74
http://insideracingtechnology.com/dsr.htm

 I removed my steering wheel from my homemade wheel and replaced it
with a handle bar setup with gear shift buttons under each thumb. The
trick is to get the angle of the handle bars to replicate the angle of
the bars that are on the screen (or where they would be if you could
see them fully). This means that I only have 45 degrees turn on each
side. My steering pot is exaggerated by a gear mechanism but it is
still not quite enough to give the smoothness that you need for
precise control. It gives a much better sense of riding a bike though
when you use two arms.
 I'm thinking about building handlebars with a twist throttle and a
caliper brake mechanism for the left hand.
 The ideal situation would be to have a seat mechanism that leans like
those bike racing games in arcades but you would need to have a big
screen TV monitor to go with it so you don't lean out of sight of the
action!
 This game is crying out for a proper controller and maybe we need to
pool ideas in much the same way as was done with Wally's World for
steering wheels and pedals.

Michael

I'm with you there.

I do not think that such handlebars and a twist throttle would be the
solution. You can try it out partly while fixing a bar to your wheel
(I did it...<g>).

The 2 problems seem to be:

1) response by input controllers are still poor these days, when
ForceFeedback hasn't left 'kindergarden' yet, and

2) moving a bike to let it go through a turn is a much more complex
thing than most people might think.
I know lots of bikers (even some of my friends, which are former
racers like myself) who are not aware of the fact, that you turn in a
LEFT hander by (unconsciously) kicking the handle bar shortly to the
RIGHT (I mean clockwise) and vice versa! This process is supported by
a body move, that may differ from rider to rider, depending on his
riding style and ability.

A joystick like the MS Sidewinder or its FF version meets those
requirements IMHO  especially with its axis for the rudder move.
If the software of the sim would support it, you could turn the stick
(rudder axis) short and quick to the left and the bike would tip over
to the right and vice versa, where you then have to 'catch' it with
the left/right axis of the stick and keep it balanced through the
turn. The optimum would then be 'proper' forcefeedback, 'feeling' this
balance between centrifugal force and machine weight/driver position.
Adding those additional forces while accelerating and slipping,
sliding and stepping out would be marvelous!

The throttle? The Precision Pro and the FF equivalent do have a little
analog throttle...

Just my thoughts on this because I love to ride bikes (e.g. my
Fireblade on this warm and sunny day in early spring...)

Jrgen Pilsl