rec.autos.simulators

--

Colin
ICQ 25485061

Damping = 120
Latency = 0.02
Torque = 175.000

I think you have too high latency, so your FF responce is not sharp
enough ( it is blury), so you have to damp it too much.

        My setup ( LWFF) :

         Damping = 175
         Latency = 0.015
         Torque = 175

P.S.: Don't forget

 [ Hack ]
steer_ratio = 0                             ; Enable low speed ratio
override

: FWIW, on my LWFF, I use:
:
: Damping = 120
: Latency = 0.02
: Torque = 175.000

--

Colin
ICQ 25485061

You might as well see mine which I use for LWFF mostly straight off
eaglewomans page.. anyway works for me.

[ Hack ]
steer_ratio = 1                             ; Enable low speed ratio
override

[Joy ]
allow_force_feedback = 1          ; Use FF if device has it
force_feedback_damping = 5.000000 ; force feedback damping coefficient
force_feedback_latency = 0.020000 ; force feedback latency (secs)
max_steering_torque = 350.000000  ; steering torque giving max device force

...

This is a bit more technical, but I'm wondering again. Ok, so the
latency is actually the time it takes for the command for a force
leaves GPL and actually ends up in the hands of the player, somewhat.
In my Ferrari (in my sim), I can't really get the steering torque
doing more than 100Nm, so 350Nm seems a bit much?

And the damping, what exactly would it be damping here? Just the
general forces? Hard changes in the force (getting smoothed out)? And
how would you formulate it in an equation? Seems a bit of a magical
coefficient to me still.

Perhaps people with experimental results can shine a bit of light on
this. I have no physical idea btw of what 350Nm (it IS Nm is it?)
would feel like on a steering wheel.

Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25
Pencil art    : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/
Free car sim  : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/

I've pasted some info about core.ini below from a previous thread, maybe of
some help. This was posted by Chris "Ambulater" Lee.
Rgds Phil.

Snipped a bit

Here it is:

Jay, if you've patched to 1.2 and have "allow_force_feedback =1" in your
core.ini you should be getting FF effects if you're wheel is working.  Check
your ACT-LABS wheel in the controller/game Options applet to make sure the
sample effects are working, also make sure you have feedback effects all the
way up (to the right in the controller applet).  You might also double check
your core.ini just to make sure your "allow_force_feedback" value isn't set
to 0 somehow.  This is what I use with my ACT-LABS wheel:

[ Joy ]
allow_force_feedback = 1
force_feedback_damping = 350.0
force_feedback_latency = 0.025
max_steering_torque = 300.0

LATENCY:
I determined the latency by driving over curbs repeatedly and adjusting the
value until all four wheels produced individual FF effects in sync with what
I was seeing from an outside view of the car.

MAX STEERING TORQUE:
This is an interesting one.  This is not actually the maximum torque your
wheel will produce, but is instead the *THRESHOLD* at which your wheel
produces it's maximum force.  Let's just pick some numbers out of the air to
illustrate this.  Let's say the GPL software models the torque of shifting
at high revs at 50N, fish-tailing through a corner at 200N, and a complete
wipe out at 300N.  If you were to set your max steering torque threshold at
"50"  all of these effects would be equally powerful as all would produce
the maximum amount of torque possible.  So if you set this threshold value
too low the car is virtually undrivable and there is little distinction
between the various forces.  If however you set the value to 300 you'll feel
a marked gradation between these 3 very different effects.  If you set this
threshold value too high (say 2000), you'll lose all steering torque
altogether as no steering torque force will ever reach the threshold to
trigger the max effect.  So how do you set this?  First set damping in both
the controller panel and core.ini to 0.  We don't want to mess with that
right now.  From a dead stop take your hands off the wheel then gradually
accelerate.  If the forward momentum of the car very gradually brings the
front wheels (and steering wheel) into forward alignment (as in a real car
with manual steering) then you've got the threshold value just about right.
If the front wheels (and steering wheel) do not center and your car just
continues in a perpetual circle, then the threshold value is too high.  If
the wheel suddenly snaps to center and or see-saws ***ly, then you have
the threshold set too low.  Adjusting the threshold to level that just
barely produces a centering effect at low speeds will result in a very
drivable car and nice subtle tactile inputs that will cue you as to the
status of your vehicle.  Now here is the part that really throws people:
the Max Steering Torque threshold *ONLY* affects *STEERING TORQUE FORCE* or
the forces related to engine torque, torque caused by maneuvering through
corners, wheel centering torque, etc.  It does *NOT* affect any of the
forces related to crashing into guardrails or driving on grass.  For some
odd reason these are affected by damping.

DAMPING:
This does in fact do what it says.  It causes increased "friction" or
"viscosity" in the movement of the wheel and therefore also tends to lessen
some effect spikes.  Now the really odd thing is, as you increase the
damping value and the friction on the wheel, you also increase the forces
felt when driving on grass or slamming into rails.  I recommend adjusting
this value just high enough to just barely feel a subtle difference between
pavement and grass when one single wheel drops off the road.  Using this as
a guide you'll be able to tell with your eyes closed if all four wheels are
on the road, hitting curbs will feel realistic, guard rails will give you a
jolt but usually allow you to correct, and the wheel will not be so tight
that you begin to lose torque effects.  The key to good driving and useful
tactile information is subtlety in each of these settings.  GPL is not an
arcade game.

Finally, I have the force effects in my controller applet at 100% and
dampening effects to 0% (you've already adjusted this in the core.ini and
adding more damping in the controller panel will just result in reduced
subtlety in effects).  I use full linear steering in GPL and a steering
ratio of 15:1. (these latter two things are purely a matter of taste, but
may effect the way you feel the forces at work in your wheel or at least the
way your car responds as torque is placed on the wheel).

Hope this helps.
--
Chris "Ambulater" Lee
"Don't Bother Running.........You'll Just Die Tired."
Reviews at www.sim-arena.com

Thanks Phil, it will help.
Now I only have to find some to time to read it. :)

Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25
Pencil art    : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/
Free car sim  : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/