GPL - MSFF and split axis, Voodoo Banshee problems

Yesterday, I tried to set up GPL on a friend of mine's computer. He's had this game for ages, but hasn't gotten around to doing much with it. He's completely computer illiterate, so he hasn't tried to fix any of the problems. His system is a Pentium III 500 MHz, Voodoo Banshee with a Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback (non USB) wheel. I installed the 1.2 patch and got his force feedback up and running by turning it on in the core.ini file, however I couldn't get his split axis on the gas and brakes to work. Originally, the global box on the Sidewinder software interface that reads something like "map the y axis to the z axis" was checked. I unchecked this, but that didn't work - when I go to the calibration screen, only one axis moves when the pedals are pressed. Do you need to set up a profile to get this to work? Do I need to update his Sidewinder software? What about DirectX? He's had this machine for over a year and a half and has never changed anything, so he's probably way out of date (DirectX 6 and the original Sidewinder software, I would imagine). Also what are some good FF settings for GPL with the MSFF? His biggest problem is graphical. He's been running this game in software mode, and had no idea that it could look any different or that the game would play any better with a higher frame rate! Like I said, he's computer illiterate. I had never even seen GPL in software mode, and was flabbergasted at how horrible it looked and how poorly it drove at that low framerate (in the teens). I selected "3dfx" and re-started the game as it suggested, but it always reverts back to software mode. I thought there was a line in the core.ini file that addressed this, but I didn't see anything (nor was there anything in my core.ini for my Voodoo3 3000). What tweaks need to be made to get a Banshee to work in GPL? All these problems are new to me, since this is an alien system. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Dave Ewing -- ***************************************************** David A. Ewing Xilinx Boulder [email hidden] *****************************************************

Thanks for responding, Rudd. A couple of more questions .... Ruud van Gaal wrote:

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> >His system is a Pentium III 500 MHz, Voodoo Banshee with a Microsoft > >Sidewinder Force Feedback (non USB) wheel. > > > >I installed the 1.2 patch and got his force feedback up and running by > >turning it on in the core.ini file, however I couldn't get his split > >axis on the gas and brakes to work. Originally, the global box on the > >Sidewinder software interface that reads something like "map the y axis > >to the z axis" was checked. I unchecked this, but that didn't work - > >when I go to the calibration screen, only one axis moves when the pedals > >are pressed. > > No, that's the force being mapped from X to Y axis (because a wheel is > more of a joystick with just 1 force axis instead of 2).

So I should leave this box checked? Also, what are some good FF settings for the MSFF, just to get him started. Thanks again, Dave Ewing -- ***************************************************** David A. Ewing Xilinx Boulder [email hidden] *****************************************************

On Mon, 04 Dec 2000 17:29:22 -0700, David Ewing <[email hidden]> wrote: ...

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>His system is a Pentium III 500 MHz, Voodoo Banshee with a Microsoft >Sidewinder Force Feedback (non USB) wheel. > >I installed the 1.2 patch and got his force feedback up and running by >turning it on in the core.ini file, however I couldn't get his split >axis on the gas and brakes to work. Originally, the global box on the >Sidewinder software interface that reads something like "map the y axis >to the z axis" was checked. I unchecked this, but that didn't work - >when I go to the calibration screen, only one axis moves when the pedals >are pressed.

No, that's the force being mapped from X to Y axis (because a wheel is more of a joystick with just 1 force axis instead of 2). You need a profile (under Win9x/(ME?)); there's an option to split axis there. "Separate axis" or something. >Do you need to set up a profile to get this to work? Do I need to >update his Sidewinder software? I don't think this has been done since several years now. > What about DirectX? He's had this >machine for over a year and a half and has never changed anything, so >he's probably way out of date (DirectX 6 and the original Sidewinder >software, I would imagine). DX7 is better, DX8 may even be the better choice but I hear a lot of problems with that as well. Try DX7 first; it's more tested. ... >I selected "3dfx" and re-started the game as it suggested, but it always >reverts back to software mode. I thought there was a line in the >core.ini file that addressed this, but I didn't see anything (nor was >there anything in my core.ini for my Voodoo3 3000). What tweaks need to >be made to get a Banshee to work in GPL? Not much when I had a Banshee. Nothing really. If you get Glide working in another game or 3dfx demo, it should work. Or try installing an older Glide dll into the GPL directory, you'll find info on that on the GPL sites. Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25 MarketGraph : http://www.marketgraph.nl Pencil art : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/ Car simulation: http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/

> So I should leave this box checked? I have always just left it checked -- I don't think it makes any difference since racing games generally don't generate forces for the pedal axis ;-) I think it is there for people who end up using the wheel in place of a joystick for other games. > Also, what are some good FF settings for the MSFF, just to get himstarted. I don't think there is any one good answer, you will have to experiment. First go to the game controllers applet in control panel and go to the settings for the wheel. Decide on a FF level and centering force you will use. If you use the highest setting for both, then you can start in GPL by setting in the core.ini the "damping" to about 30 and the "torque" to about 200. Then adjust from there to get the steering effort and FF level he is comfortable with. Then you can work on the latency. I would start with a small number (maybe 0.005) and then increase it a little to see if it feels any better. Some people are using 0 for latency, I think I am using 0.02. It seems like some value for latency might be good because there is actually some latency for forces to show up in the wheel. Too much latency will be very bad. He will certainly want to play with it over time because different tracks seems to want different settings so it can be hard to decide on a single setting you like. Also don't forget in the game options to start of with about 75% linear steering (most people seem to like even more than that). The most important thing to remember, to keep your sanity, is that torque and damping are backwards in the core.ini, so what is labelled torque is actually the damping. If you increase the "damping" the FF will increase. If you increase the "torque" the FF will be less. It's much easier to adjust it when you remember this.

On Tue, 5 Dec 2000 21:30:17 -0500, "Garth and Jenny Somerville" <[email hidden]> wrote: >> So I should leave this box checked? > >I have always just left it checked -- I don't think it makes any difference >since racing games generally don't generate forces for the pedal axis ;-) I >think it is there for people who end up using the wheel in place of a >joystick for other games. Indeed, for wheels, just keep it on. Perhaps for GP3 you might want to turn it off. Haven't run that for months now. :( ... >The most important thing to remember, to keep your sanity, is that torque >and damping are backwards in the core.ini, so what is labelled torque is >actually the damping. If you increase the "damping" the FF will increase. >If you increase the "torque" the FF will be less. It's much easier to >adjust it when you remember this. I don't think this will help things; surely Papyrus didn't make this mistake. Probably 'torque' means at which amount of torque the maximum FF is being output. So that indeed means that increasing the value behind 'torque' results in generally lower FF. Logically. Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25 MarketGraph : http://www.marketgraph.nl Pencil art : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/ Car simulation: http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/

"Ruud van Gaal" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > I don't think this will help things; surely Papyrus didn't make this > mistake. Probably 'torque' means at which amount of torque the maximum > FF is being output. So that indeed means that increasing the value > behind 'torque' results in generally lower FF. Logically. Yes, your point is well taken. I had trouble adjusting it to get the results I expected, read this interpretation somewhere else, and adopted it as a mental convention for myself. It may or may not be helpful to other people.