rec.autos.simulators

          V

      Start/Settings/Control Panel/Game Controllers.

      Then..

      Double Left Click on the steer, then click the Settings button (bottom
right).

      Then set these options...

      Combined - unticked (ie: no checkmark) [this allows your brake and gas
pedals to be on a separate axis, which is important to have]

      Enable Force Feedback - ticked (ie: checkmark it) [this allows force
feedback in games duh]

      Overall Effects Strength - 97% [the reason for 97% and NOT 100% is a
long and complicated explanation, but in short it helps oscillations from
happening]

      Spring Effects Strength - 0% [no Papyrus sims use this setting and
oddly enough, if you set it to anything other than 0% you will get
undesirable effects]

      Damper Effects Strength - 0% [very VERY important to set this to 0%,
this is probably THE most important setting, as it will greatly increase
notchiness and wheel twitches, even though the Papyrus sims do not exactly
enable it]

      Enable Centering Spring - ticked [you are going to find this strange,
because in the next setting I tell you to set it to 0%, which is odd because
why not just untick it? well, there's a reason and here it is... if you
don't tick this option and also don't have Damping set -which if your going
with these settings you won't- then a strange phenomenon happens, you will
find that if you turn your wheel rather sharply, the resistance of the wheel
just "gives out" which is not something you want to happen. I will also
admit that having this unchecked does appear to give slightly better
forces -SLIGHTLY- but the repercussions just aren't worth it for the payoff.
so in the end check this option]

      Centering Spring Strength - 0% [this is IMPORTANT! i know it's weird,
but you must set it to 0% - read above option for better explanation]

      Then in your Logitech Wingman Profiler, create a Nascar 2003 profile
and then set these settings as follows...

      Steering Wheel Sensitivity to 33% [the reason you want to go down from
the default 50% to 33% is because at 50% the wheel is too sensitive to tiny
wheel adjustments... which is not realistic. drive your car and notice how
far you have to turn your wheel... the MOMO have a large radius to turn,
it's a shame most people only move it 5 degrees to either side. this setting
should allow more precise driving and overall smoothness as well - and you
can go down even lower if you wish, to say, 25% if you want to have even
more movement, but i suggest 33% for starters at least, get used to that and
go more later if you like the effect]

      Steering Wheel Dead Zone - 2% [another long explanation would be
needed and I don't feel like telling, but in short this also helps
oscillations and twitchiness]

      Accelerator Sensitivity - 55% [strangely, this option is the exact
opposite of the Steering, INCREASING this option from the default 50% to 55%
makes the gas less sensitive to the immediate input, in other words, you
have to push down farther before the car gets more power. the default 50% is
a little touchy - when you barely touch the pedal the car can spin out. 55%
helps this from happening and overall gives a more natural and fine tune
approach]

      Accelerator Dead Zone - 2% [much the same reasoning as above, this
helps from keeping your car getting to much gas too fast]

      Brake Sensitivity - 55% [exact same reasons as accelerator, increasing
this to 55% helps your brakes from locking up to fast. one word of note
though is that I have modified my brake pedal to include the squash ball
instead of the spring, so that may make a difference in your setup. just
note that increasing this gives less immediate braking and can help if your
tires are locking up too easily under braking]

      Brake Dead Zone - 2% [same reasons as all the others dead zones]

      Now, in Nascar 2003, enable the Force Feedback option under the
Controls tab and you should run this setting in between 35-65 (50 being most
common setting) depending on the track and more importantly, on your setup
for that track. I know this is a pain to have to do at each individual
track, but depending on your setup you will need to adjust the strength of
the forces in game between each track change.

      Just start out from 50 and work from there. the key to adjusting
strength is this... if the wheel has a "notchy" feel, lower the setting till
it JUST goes away, if it doesn't have a notchy feel, then raise it till you
feel the notchyness and then lower it till it just goes away again. In
essence giving you the most forces while remaining smooth.

      Leave Damping completely off in game... but *IF* and only if you are
oscillating exiting a corner on the straight, then you can slightly and
slowly increase it in game till you stop oscillating, but I doubt many of
you will have oscillation problems because the settings we set up earlier
should rid you of any. This is the only good thing Damping is good for, so
try not to use it unless you have to because it hurts your perfor

Mark

re: no, dont get nascar thunder, get nascar2003 instead!

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I think this is crap, I leave mine off

   I remember when these were first posted...I tried them and it felt like
my wheel was more like a joystick than a wheel.  It may have been entirely
co-incidence, but when I tried to re-install the original settings,
something inside the wheel broke..either while using those numbers or right
after...:(

dave henrie

              V

For the wheel settings it's a personal thing. I find that just taking
off the default centering spring in the control panel and leaving
everything else standard works fine and I guess that's the way the
game developer intended the user to play the game...

Chris