I have to agree with you Brian.
For me, it's about being able to fake driving a race car as accurately as
possible while sitting in my living room. I have a friend who is SO QUICK at
GP2 using this tiny little beat up Logitec joystick, but that's not the
point of what I'm trying to accomplish.
A while back, before the FIA band electronic driver aids, I got into a
discussion with some other racing friends and we thought that if you really
wanted to make the cars go faster, improve packaging, etc. etc.. that they
should do away with wheels and peddles in a GP car entirely. Give the
"driver" a pair of FF joysticks mounted at about the same level as his
thighs (this would lower the frontal area, making for a slicker shape). Let
him use triggers and other finger controls for throttle, gear changes etc.
Everything else could be done by servo control; no gears, linkages or
anything of the sort. A true fly-by-wire system, like in the GD F-16. BTW,
the Force Feedback in the joysticks would be to impart synthetic feedback
(via stick shaker etc., like in a modern airliner) as far as to what the
front wheels would be doing.
Of course, this isn't really driving, is it?
Might be fun to try ... but like I said, I agree with you: this is about
making me feel like I am IN a race car.
Tony
>SOme of the fastest drivers i know use a joystick, no pedals even, but i
find
>the whole thing more immersive and enjoyable with the wheel. I've had an
ECCI
>wheel for four years and i wouldn't swap for anything 'cept another ecci.
>Brian Bushe
>says...
>>Well, I was new to GPL, 2-3 wks when i bought the wheel, But it
immediately
>>took 3 seconds or so off my times at Monza, just from the extra control I
>>had, compared to my joystick with on/off throttle and brake and twitchy
>>steering inputs.Thriller 3D was next major factor, shaving time just from
>>seeing where I was going before I got there...went from 10-12 fps to 30-36
>>allthe time.
>>>> "What did adding a wheel do for your GPL gameplay?"
>>>Well I was doing very well with a Gravis analogue pro joystick. When I
got
>>my
>>>MSFF wheel it took a lot of time to adjust and was pretty frustrating.
>>After
>>>weeks of practice with the wheel I am now beating all my joystick fast
>>laps,
>>>and it is so accurate! When I used a joystick I sometimes worried going
>>into
>>>difficult corners, as the slightest wrong movement of the stick could
cause
>>a
>>>crash. Now I'm very comfortable and can use all it's benefits to balance
>>the
>>>car better (left foot braking, variable resistance settings) plus it
never
>>goes
>>>out of calibration.
>>>Ian
