Yes on some games, and no on others. Some titles (let's see if I remember
correctly) like Nascar 3, Nascar Legends, Dirt Track Racing, MTM2 and
several others, don't have adjustments for this. SCGT, GPL and NFS:PU (and
others) do have steering adjustments but handle it in different ways. Mostly
they make the steering quicker but it's not linear so it's more apt to be
twitchy. It's kind of like going from non-linear to linear then beyond
(non-linear the opposite way). They change the steering rate, but it's still
over the entire sweep of the wheel. Limiting the wheel rotation leaves the
steering linear.
In GPL, for example, to get close to the effect I wanted I had to have a
fast steering ratio (or is it wheel lock?) and then set the steering to a
more non-linear position. That way it would react more quickly to slight
wheel movements without over reacting to large movements. The problem is, I
want linear steering.
Another thing is steering resolution. Most of us really never use more than
150 to 180 of rotation while driving unless we're in trouble (then it's too
late anyway). So let's assume the game gives us 1024 points of resolution. I
want that resolution where I do most of my driving, where I need the
accuracy. In game settings don't control this because they're based on the
entire wheel sweep. I've compacted the points of resolution into a smaller
space.
Finally, there's the amount of input movement needed for a given result.
Generally, I'm a proponent of larger steering arcs ( I increased the LWFF
arc from 180 to 210). But the Force RS has a large diameter wheel (which is
nice) and a 270 arc, which to me (this is subjective) is too much of a good
thing. Let's say I want to steer 15 to the left. On a small diameter wheel
the rim might move 2". On a large diameter wheel it might move 3". To cover
the movement in the same amount of time, I'll need to turn the wheel faster
(more rim velocity) to keep the tangent velocity the same. Not too hard to
do if there is no steering damping in my setup, but more damping makes the
car feel more solid.
I can see that I'm doing a terrible job explaining this, but you really can
feel the difference. Although I enjoy driving with the Force RS, I was able
to get faster lap times and be more consistent with the Ferrari wheel (same
resolution, smaller arc). I've received a few emails from people that felt
the Force RS didn't have good control (almost like a dead zone in the
center) and just didn't feel confident when driving with it. Many of them
returned the wheel, but only one that I know of actually told Act Labs the
reason. If you are changing from a MSFF wheel to the Force RS, it probably
would be easy to get used to, but changing from a LWFF to the RS would take
quite a while to get used to the steering.
All this is purely driver preference. If you're happy with the steering of
the Force RS, there would be no reason to do the mod. But like I've said,
I've heard from several people who feel the same way I do.
I suppose I could have just given a quicker answer saying that yes, you can
do it in some games, but it's not the same feel.
I've reduced my lap times in a few games with this mod, especially when
driving through traffic. So it's the right mod for me and some others. I'm
sure it's not for everyone, although I doubt that it would hurt anyone's lap
times.
BTW, an interesting note. Usually the steering pot on most wheels is
somewhere around 100K ohms. I've found that increasing or decreasing this
changes the usable sweep of the pot (the values get out-of-spec). I thought
I'd have to change the pot (or at least the value) in the RS to go along
with the mod. My measurement on the RS pot was only about 8.6K ohms (unless
my measurements are wrong). Changing the value by adding resistors did
absolutely nothing to the sweep. I think the actual calibration is done
elsewhere on the board and is auto-adjusted from the inputs received from
the steering pot (like a trimmer). It made the mod very easy and with no
loss of resolution.
--
Slot
Tweaks & Reviews
www.slottweak.com
