Badmouth's Redline Racer - Totalled

[BadMouth]

Update, no pics.

I used JB Weld on the optical encoder disc to make sure that it wasn't slipping. 
The encoder didn't work when I put it back together.  I don't know what I did to it. 

I bought a Logitech Driving Force EX and tore it down.  I'm making notes so hopefully I can do a write-up on hacking it. 
It's a little different than the Driving Force that Mark Shaker and Brad808 used. Pretty sure it's the same one thesharkfactor used. 
I picked up the pots for it this evening, but I'm still not sure whether I'll use it or stick with the MOMO.
If I do switch to the pot-based wheel, I'll have to swap out the pots in my pedals and redo all the wiring in my shifter & steering wheel.

I haven't been able to find another optical encoder with the correct line count at a reasonable price.
There is the option of limiting the wheel to a bit less than 270 degrees and using the 900CPR encoder that I started with.
I'm tempted to do it at least temporarily just to make sure that the optical wheel hack does work.

On top of that, ramjetr and retrorepair have figured out how to hook up the lamp outputs in Model 2 emulator, so now I need to rewire all my lighting to take advantage of that.

I don't know when I'll be able to make any real progress, but I miss playing on the driving cab. 
 

[gbeef]

That sucks about the encoder. Please take notes on the new hack. my whole machine is on limbo cuz i cant figure the wheel wiggle issue i have the exact same wheel as you.

[ScottoKong]

Hi Guys

This is crazy - with all your advice I've got my wheel working great!
Hope you both get it sorted soon

Scott

[BadMouth]

Hi Guys

This is crazy - with all your advice I've got my wheel working great!
Hope you both get it sorted soon

Scott

I'm glad yours is working great.  It means that it's possible!  
 

I probably won't have time to mess with it until Saturday.
I may start a few new projects, which isn't a good idea with so many  left unfinished.  
....but I have to work on what I feel like working on, otherwise I won't do anything at all.

EDIT: currently listening to Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 OST by Yuzo Koshiro 

[ScottoKong]

I know what you mean about not getting things finished!

My half finished 4 player mame cabinet hasn't been touched for ages - but I have decided on a theme for the artwork at least (in a moment of inspiration!!!)

I've gotta order my ipac4 and buttons and joysticks this weekend with the Aussie dollar at US$1.07 - CRAZY GOOD

As for my racing cab - it's not finished.
My next big hurdle is the monitor. 

I can either decase a 26" CRT TV or cut up the cab and drop in a 32" TV.
I have been thinking about going to a 40" - would be killer for light guns too 

[o0X0o]

Hi,

I saw in another thread that you are using Outrun 2006 C2C and Crazy Taxi 3 - I'm having lots of trouble getting my wheel configured as the configuration tools for both crash on me, and there is almost no info on how to manually edit the ini files. I've done some googling and can see it's a common problem, but no solutions.

Did you have any issues, and do you have any tips on getting these working?

EDIT: I found that setting the config tool for CT3 to run in XP SP3 compatibility mode allowed it to work without crashing. It still has 2 problems though:
.   1) the in-game menu is constantly scrolling like a key is being pressed/held (same problem in Outrun).
.   2) I can't seem to seperate the brake and accellerator - one one pedal works and if it's not touched the brake is on, and if depressed it accellerates

I've checked the Windows game controller tool/properties, and the wheel and pedal seem to work fine and be calibrated

[ant2]

I could never get craxy taxi3  PC version to work with my throttle and brake. It kept holding the brake pedal down, even when i changed the logitech profiler to separate pedals etc.

I ended up setting the clutch axis to my throttle and the brake as brake.

[BadMouth]

Hi,

I saw in another thread that you are using Outrun 2006 C2C and Crazy Taxi 3 - I'm having lots of trouble getting my wheel configured as the configuration tools for both crash on me, and there is almost no info on how to manually edit the ini files. I've done some googling and can see it's a common problem, but no solutions.

Did you have any issues, and do you have any tips on getting these working?

EDIT: I found that setting the config tool for CT3 to run in XP SP3 compatibility mode allowed it to work without crashing. It still has 2 problems though:
.   1) the in-game menu is constantly scrolling like a key is being pressed/held (same problem in Outrun).
.   2) I can't seem to seperate the brake and accellerator - one one pedal works and if it's not touched the brake is on, and if depressed it accellerates

I've checked the Windows game controller tool/properties, and the wheel and pedal seem to work fine and be calibrated

Oops, guess I missed this post.

To get the pedals to calibrate, I had to hold down the brake while calibrating the gas. 
If it doesn't ask you to calibrate the brake after doing the gas, the calibration of the gas pedal has failed.
No idea what's causing it, but it worked properly after that.

[o0X0o]

Hi,

Thanks for the calibration tip. I wont get a chance to try it for a few days, but will post back with the result.

Ands thanks for compiling the driving cab guide - it's the single most useful resource I have found anywhere on the topic!

[ant2]

still couldnt get crazy taxi3 to work, the brake pedal is constanyl held down in game.

like i said i ended up using the clutch+brake instead for throttle and gas

[o0X0o]

Sorry for the delay. Finally had a chance to try your suggestions and no joy...

Since I last posted I have picked up a new wheel and now the CT3 config tool will only run if compatibilty mode is turned off (go figure...). Mapping buttons on the wheel seems to work fine, but pressing the 'calibrate pedals' button makes the config tool hang. Think I'll just give up on CT3...

On the upside however, the new wheel seems to have made Outrun C2C work perfectly!

It's been a few months since your last update - hope you've got your own wheel issues sorted BadMouth!

[Hunk_4TH]

Don't mean to bump. But I hope you know the PC version of Outrun 2006 doesn't support FFB I don't think CT3 does either which is a shame.

[Well Fed Games]

Don't mean to bump. But I hope you know the PC version of Outrun 2006 doesn't support FFB I don't think CT3 does either which is a shame.

No kidding. I've got a wheel and legit boxed copies of both of those (Sega Rally, too) and the wheel support (especially FFB & pedals) is so half-assed I gave up any attempt to use them in a cab. A real shame.

[ant2]

hey badmouth, did you get the front end sorted out in the end?

always interested to see what others have done.

[mcseforsale]

Subscribed.

AJ

[BadMouth]

hey badmouth, did you get the front end sorted out in the end?

always interested to see what others have done.

It's the same as what's earlier in this thread, but I changed the text to white because it is easier to read on the CRT TV.
Not sure why, but the red text looks great on an LCD and horrible on a low res CRT. 



If you're referring to the new dashboard instead of the software front-end, it's sitting on the floor and I'm using the old dash in the cab.
I got a new optical encoder for it.  I want to switch over to a smaller AVR encoder and add a kew-wiz so the VR buttons light as they should. 
Already have all the parts, just need the time.  Also have a smaller gear for the feedback motor shaft that I think might reduce the centering wobble most people experience when doing the happ ffb/servo amp hack.  There are a couple alternatives to the servo amp I'd also like to try while everything is easily accessible.

Have three other projects that I need to wrap up before getting back to the driving cab though.   

[BadMouth]

I picked up an Initial D cab cheap (if you don't count gas).

Almost a shame to not use more of it, but I've decided that I'm going to build twin LCD cabs using the bases of it and my current cab.
They will be similar in style to GeeBeef's cab.  The front floor section on the Initial D cab is a bit different, but can easily be converted to match the Virtual-On.



Both cabs will be identical. 
The initial D cab included two sets of Sega pedals, but the brake felt too stiff to me so I ordered another set of Happ Pedals w/clutch like I have in the current cab.
I'm going to buy matching racing seats.
Hopefully I'll find another Virtual-On seat base so they will both be the same height.
I'd prefer to stick with that base because the taller height works good with the Happ SF Rush 2049 Pedals and there is plenty of surface area on the side of it to mount a hand brake.

The front-part will be made from scratch.  What size LCD is used will depend on what I find a deal on.
I need some larger TVs in my bar for watching football, so I'm also considering just mounting the TV to the wall and wheeling the cab away when I want to use them for football. 

Another crazy idea I had was picking up a third, then having the screens of #1 and #3 hinged on one edge so they can be swung out to form a triple screen sim setup on #2. Not sure if it will get that crazy.  I already have two mismatched 32" LCD TVs that could be used.

Not sure what I'm doing for dashboards yet.  I have two pcbs from Logitech Momo's as interfaces and two Ketz shifters.
Also found someone on ebay selling vlt buttons that are the same size as the original view buttons, so I bought three sets of those.
(they are sold out of one of the colors now).  I didn't like trying to shoehorn everything into the original Sega dash, so I'll probably do something more custom.

This project is low priority compared to the other three I have going (if you only count arcade related ones).
I'll continue to buy parts, but probably won't get into building stuff for another month.

[BadMouth]

Just when I was about to give up on having twins, the matching seat base I've been looking for in vain turns up.
(along with a matching seat, although I plan to add real car seats at some point)

[TopJimmyCooks]

Congratulations to prince and princess badmouth on the arrival of the royal twins. 

[SegaOutrun]

Nice! I wish I had the cash a project like this.

I also wish you were nearby, I would pickup that Initial D seat from you.

[BadMouth]

Congratulations to prince and princess badmouth on the arrival of the royal twins.

So sick of hearing about royal baby crap...and I'm in the U.S. 

Nice! I wish I had the cash a project like this.

I also wish you were nearby, I would pickup that Initial D seat from you.

Yeah, I wish I had cash for a project like this too! 

I had to give up on building a wicked new PC. 
I already have another PC identical to the one in the current cab, so it makes more sense just to use those.
I just dropped $60 on a pair of refurb 9800GT cards in hopes that they play the PC games better than the 8600GT that's in there now.
Pretty sure that's the best card I can use with the motherboards and power supplies that I already have.
I'm not going to get away with running the games at low resolutions anymore once I switch over to the 32" LCD TVs.

The seat has some small cracks at the top.  I'll be listing it in B/S/T around the middle of this week if anyone is interested.
I'll also have the medium resolution monitor out of the Initial D, but I have to make a power cord for it and figure out how to test it first.

[Fursphere]

I tried my 8800GT with Dirt3 and it sucked.  Bad.   (the 9800GT is the same as the 8800GT, just a smaller more efficient chip energy wise).   Same problem with the newer Need For Speed games.

I mean it works, but you have to seriously drop the video quality down.  I also tried dropping my GTX 460 into my Core2Duo 3ghz system to see if the video card was enough - and it wasn't.

Hence the reason I use my GTX 460 / i5 system with the driving cabinet.

But if you're playing older games, you'll be just fine.

[BadMouth]

Rest In Pieces 9/4/2013   

[CoryBee]

WHAT DID YOU DO!!!

[yotsuya]

He's planning to turn a Computer Space into his new racing cab.

[Fursphere]

Omg!   

Can't wait to see what's coming next.

[Nephasth]

Um... Expecting twins? Did you abort both of them?

[BadMouth]

Um... Expecting twins? Did you abort both of them?

A lot of parts of both of them are in that pile. 
I'd say they were being reborn, but the only thing I'm using from the originals are the bases and Initial D side panels.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,134375.0.html 

[PL1]

WHAT DID YOU DO!!!

Exactly what he said he'd do.

Um... Expecting twins? Did you abort both of them?

I picked up an Initial D cab cheap (if you don't count gas).

Almost a shame to not use more of it, but I've decided that I'm going to build twin LCD cabs using the bases of it and my current cab.

Scott

[Nephasth]

Thanks for the cliff notes, Scott!

[yotsuya]

TL;DR