rec.autos.simulators

I've just acquired a Actlab Force RS wheel to use mainly with GPL and
have a few questions.

1) Before adding the Force RS I was getting a solid 36fps in training
mode (P3-450 + V2 + SB Live with 1024x768 display everything on, details
full, using Glide fix to set mirrors to every other frame). After I
added the FRS (USB version) frame rate was down to around the 30fps
level and dropped lower occasionally.

Is this drop expected? By moving to a 504MHz o-clock I can recover to
around 34-36fps most of the time but again there are some dips to around
30fps.

2) I am noticing the sticky pedals that others have commented on -
accelerator feels smooth when pressed all the way down but if geld at
around 50% then from there its difficult to move to anywhere other than
full on or full off. Does the mechanism get smoother with use or is
there any steps I can take to help?

3) The paddle shifters are as bad as everyone says - I quickly
abandonned using them - I found that if I was not carefull a quick grab
to a paddle to shift could bounce back the other way after I released
the paddle and shift back again. Anyway, I've configured one side as a
manual clutch which may or may not be useful :-)

4) GPL doesn't recognize all the buttons on the wheel - is there any
setup I can do to alter this? (maybe somerthing in I-force studion but I
haven't really investigated that)

Overall, it feels much better driving with the wheel - previously I used
a MS sidewinder Pro - at least with that I could map the stick rotation
axis for steering which helped a bit. However, I still need to practice
to get used to it and start to understand the ff effects.

BTW, I also tried F1RS with the wheel and that felt *much* easier to
drive - however in that accel/brake appears to be much more of an on/off
selection and using the pedals made that easier - driving down a
straight at 180mph+, braking at the 100m board to take a hairpin at
around 40mph is a bit different from GPL! The contrast between F1RS and
GPL gives a very interesting insight into how much has changed in F1
technology!

BTW2 I also tried Need for Speed III that came with the wheel but
probably the less said about that the better :-)

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This reply may be lengthy, so bear with me.

First, I have the non-Force RS wheel. I am *almost* completely satisfied
with it. The big sticking point is the pedals (no pun intended). Below I've
included the text of an e-mail the Act Labs folks sent me w/ suggestions on
improving the stickiness. While it definitely helps, it does *not* "fix"
the issue. I'm currently thinking of trying out the CH Pedals as an
alternative.

A friend of mine has the Force version and has not mentioned any frame rate
issues w/ FF enabled. Perhaps some of the core.ini FF settings can help
improve that situation.

All the buttons worked for me when I used the "DirectInput" driver in GPL
and the Act Labs game controller in the Control Panel applet. However, I
had issues w/ jittery readings from the wheel axis. My solution to this was
to get the PDPI L4 game card and the specially made cartridge for the Act
Labs non-Force (only) wheel. This has fixed the jitteriness problem
completely and helped frame rate in the few situations where it would drop
(beg. of races). The downside is that now only 4 of the buttons (the
paddles and the upper buttons w/ the raised point) are enabled. For frame
rate, also consider one of the good sound cards if you don't have one yet
(I have the Diamond MX300).

As you've noticed, the paddles are inadequate. I use the buttons for
shifting and much prefer them. It may be the size of my hands, but my
thumbs hit those buttons perfectly and I don't have to move an iota to use
them. I use the paddles for look-left and look-right, which works quite
well. I of course have to use a keyboard key for the clutch, etc. If the
Force version has the profiler software, you could try using that to
simulate keystrokes and then assign various functions to the keys.

Hope that helps,

Donnie

(Message from Act Labs folks)
There are a couple things you can try. The pedal unit is very simply
constructed so there is not much to go wrong - just be sure to follow these
instructions carefully.

You can apply some white grease to the pedal shafts where they rub on the
housing - if that does not work, you can open the pedal unit (you have to
remove the pedals from the shafts and then undo the nine **recessed**
screws that hold the cover to the base. Four of them are hidden under the
*** pads. Rather than peel the pad off entirely, I like to cut a hole in
the middle of each to allow access to the***without having to re-glue
the pad.)

Once inside, note how the shaft slides on the plastic "track" of the
support. You can grease all along here and get an improvement. If it is
still sticky, back off slightly on the double nuts that hold the shaft
against the support - this should reduce any binding. I think you will see
what I mean. Do not remove the lower***all the way or you risk getting
the lever out of sync with the control pot. Getting it back is a matter of
trial and error...

If that still does not do it, loosen but **do not** completely undo the
screws that hold the pedal shaft guide and the potentiometer bracket to the
metal base plate. Operate the pedal and see if the smoothness is improved.
With the pedal pressed almost all the way down, tighten all of the screws
you just undid. This should take care of a slight binding that occurs if
the parts are assembled to the base slightly out of alignment with each
other.

My USB FF RS had no detectable effect on frame rate.  The system here
is a C300A at 464 MHz, 64MB, V3, SBLive, and with comparable resolution
and mirror settings.  Except at race starts, the frame rate stays right
up there at 34-36 fps.  You might double-check some of your BIOS
settings to allow video BIOS caching and a few other goodies that have
a significant impact on system speed (depending on your motherboard).

Prior to buying the Force RS, I used a non-FF RS wheel bought when they
first came out.  Lubricating the pedal slides with Lubriplate white
grease solved the problem, although it had to be repeated every month
or two.  The current FF RS miraculously has no sticky pedals - yet.

I guess I'm in a minority here - the paddles is pretty floppy, but have
worked just fine for me as shifters in GPL, CMR, SCGT, F1RS, RAC, MM,
NFSx, etc.  Maybe I just don't bang 'em as hard as most drivers.

Did you install the CD-ROM drivers per the instructions?  Also, make
sure you are using direct input in GPL.  You can then assign anything
to anything.  Also, download the latest FF RS driver from Act Labs web
site.  This is a bit buggy in that you lose some of the setup demo
effects, but it works great as a driver and you get selectable 1 or 2
axis pedals - virtually a necessity in GPL and SCGT.

BTW, you can leave the gameport wheel or stick connected and installed,
and gain the extra axes for control functions.  This would probably be
a good way to facilitate an analog clutch function for GPL.  I doubt
that it will improve lap times, but will add to the fun, as did FF.

If all else fails, try calling Act Labs tech support.  When I have had
problems, they have been more than willing to help out, discuss fixes,
make suggestions, etc.

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I may have found the culprit - while experimenting with overclocking I
added "rain" to my system. After disabling while running GPL that things
seem to be better.

Also at the same time I disabled the enable_modem setting in core.ini
which also may be having an effect. At least  I can get to the track in
less than 2-3 minutes (start up is back to around 1 minute from CD)

Another factor - I also recently moved to the 3dfx ref 2.56 drives as
opposed to the 2.54 from Diamond. As the Diamond ones allowed me to up
the voodoo2 clock to 95Mhz and the ref drivers may well just use the
spec-ed 90MHz this could also explain a slight variance.

I might investigate this. Also I suspect it may be to do with my foot
placement as while testing pedals outside GPL there appears to be little
if any sticking but when running GPL I find that I cannot smoothly add
10-20% more acclerator (really irritating at Parabolica where I know I
could go faster but if I press the pedal it will jump and spin me into
the armco!)

Perhaps I should have given it more of a try - anyway I found using two
buttons with my left thumb much easier!

I think I installed drivers correctly (I'll double check again) - I've
got the latest FF drivers and have 2 axis pedals ... though I need to
spend time mastering this so haven't used left foot braking much yet -
main problem is my left foot instinctively thinks its operating the
clutch so I end up slamming on the brakes when I go to shift gear :-)
(strange as having been in the US for the past 18 months I've only
driven a manual car for about 10 days when I was back in the UK last
Christmas in that time - old habits clearly die hard!)

Thinking about it - all the buttons work in the controller test program
so clearly they are recognised by the system. N.b. with the new drivers
the buttons on the dashboard also respond - not sure how I would use
them though.

N.b. another question - is it possible to map the buttons to
keysequences as can be done with MS SW stick - it would be useful to map
"R" and "ESC-ENTER" to buttons as my keyboard is not readily accessible
when I have the wheel installed!

Yes. N.b. does it matter if the wheel or stick is defined as controller
0 or 1? Suspect not but may be the stick has already grabbed too many
buttons to allow all the wheel buttons to be recognised?

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