rec.autos.simulators

Barry Stoch
Warped Racing

HA HA HA HA, revved, you crack me up, I've seen you post the same lame joke at
least three times and you still haven't convinced me.

I've had The Logitech Wingman FF wheel since the day it went on sale at Best
Buy in November. I love it! Yes, I had to put stronger springs in the pedals,
so what? I have no problem customizing a piece of equipment to suit my needs
whether it be a car or a computer toy. The software works as it should and
Logitech is listening to us, the users, and making changes as necessary.

Barry, be sure you've downloaded the latest version of the software from the
Logitech site. The box to check for combined and seperate pedal axis ( are you
listening ACTLABS owners?<g>) is in the Windows Control Panel under settings.
And yes, a spring change will make a lot of difference in control. I just
replaced the brake spring with one from Home Depot of a slightly thicker wire.
I used the old brake spring along with the throttle spring on the throttle side
and since then, have broken every personal-best lap time in GPL.

Feel free to email me if you need more help, like any new piece of equipment,
there is a period of adjustment. Give it some time, I think you'll enjoy the
wheel.

-don

:)

rrevved, I'm not interested in getting in a pissin' contest with anyone over
controllers. I'm glad we both were able to get new Force Feedback controllers
and that we're both happy with our purchases. Personally, I'd rather be
discussing what you think of Force Feedback effects in current game designs
than arguing.

Anyway...you're right, I completely forgot his initial question about his
controller feeling "gritty". Well, I can't really go over and try his out, so
I'm not sure what he means. I can feel the steel cables running over pulleys
inside the unit, if that's what he means, and that is normal, it does not feel
gritty to me however. Maybe he got a bad one?

Hundreds? <vbg> I've seen a few, probably more than Logitech wanted to see<g>,
but there have also been two gentlemen from Logitech in that same discussion
group to answer questions and help out new owners. Would you not consider that
to be good support?

I hope you continue to enjoy your wheel, and I am interested in which sims
you've tried that support Force Feedback, and what you think of them.

-don

I too have CMR, Viper and F1RS along with the MGPRS2, CPR and Powerslide demos.

I like the FF effects in Viper but I'm already tiring of the game, especially
since I picked up Colin McRaeRally on Saturday. The effects in CMR are great
with this wheel and the game runs very smooth on my machine, a PII 400 with a
Pure 3D. It makes for a fun break after playing GPL for days.

I agree with you on F1RS and MGPRS2, the feedback effects, except maybe the
curbs, feel canned. Although I liked F1RS, I've had so many sound and
controller problems, I've gone back to GP2, now that I have a processor that
can run it!

I traded in CPR a while back, so I downloaded the demo to check out the FF
effects in the MS game. It felt pretty good but the demo reminded me just how
much I disliked the game<g>. Powerslide looks like fun, the demo runs sweet. I
almost bought it Saturday but opted for Colin McRae instead.

Have you heard of anything new that will support Force Feedback?

-don

As you mentioned, Viper Racing is pretty cool. Unfortunately the full
version isn't out yet here in Europe... But something I find confusing
is the very weak wheel resistance when entering a corner. I can turn
the wheel to the left with one finger, but when the front wheels grip,
the FF nearly pulls my hands off the wheel. OK, it's not that strong,
but I hope you understand what I mean. Anyway, the game is great fun,
at least in simulation mode. Arcade's too easy, IMHO.

I found F1RS FF rather disappointing, but I didn't expect much since
FF was done by a late patch. It's just more like a FF-check than a
real improvement of the driving experience.

FF in NFS3 is good, but I just cannot get engine and road effects
working on my Saitek R4 FF (which is a great wheel, BTW). NFS3 is the
most unrealistic NFS I've ever seen, but with FF it's great fun. The
steering gets stiffer when you take corners at speed, and suddenly the
strange driving physics seem to be realistic.

Finally, I'm waiting for a FF patch for GPL. In this game, I'd really
need good FF for safer driving. I can't understand why Papyrus did not
include FF, it shouldn't be too much work - not more than a Open GL
patch, at least ;-) With FF support GPL would be a overwhelming
experience, I believe.

Daniel

--
    Daniel Lichtenberger, Vienna/Austria