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Author Topic: Driving Game control help  (Read 5397 times)

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quadrider1

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Driving Game control help
« on: December 22, 2010, 09:41:07 pm »
ok i have looked at the forum around and need help finding what type of interfaces i need. I have 360 wheel, a 4 way shifter, and the gas and brake. I want to have a button for the clutch. What Do i need to do all this, opti pac, iipac, apak, idk its all for mame.

bkenobi

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Re: Driving Game control help
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2010, 11:25:26 am »
360 wheel - mouse hack, opti-pac, opti-wiz
pedals (analog) - gamepad hack (dual strike), apac
pedals (digital), shifter, clutch, other buttons - gamepad hack, key-wiz, gp-wiz, i-pac

You have options for anything you want to do.  I used a mouse hack for the steering wheel and a dual strike hack for the pedals and buttons.

BadMouth

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Re: Driving Game control help
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2010, 11:46:08 am »
Have a look at the Driving Cab Info link in my sig.

You'll have to swap out the potentiometers in the pedals depending on what interface you choose.
If the shifter only has 3 microswitches, you'll have to do some creative wiring.  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=106709.0
(been meaning to add that to the info thread, but haven't got around to it)

I prefer the logitech wheel hack because you get the added benefit of using logitech profiler, which can automatically change settings/mappings whenever a different emulator or pc game is launched.  That won't really work for the 360 wheel though, unless you add a potentiometer and limit it's travel.

I've never used one, but I believe the U-Hid will cover everything with ONE interface with plenty of room for future expansion.
But you might want to ask Andy how the mouse input will work with 360 driving games.
What I get out of the description on the website is that it maps the mouse movement to a joystick axis, so I assume it has limits. 
I'm not sure if this will work correctly with games like pole position, where when you crash, whatever position the wheel is in becomes the new center. 
Not a big problem for a wheel that spins all the way around, but a big problem for one that doesn't.
http://www.u-hid.com/home/overview_board.php

What games are you looking to play?
« Last Edit: December 23, 2010, 12:28:33 pm by BadMouth »

quadrider1

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Re: Driving Game control help
« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2010, 02:58:13 am »
Thanks for the help, i was trying just to use two interfaces at max but ill talk to andy about the uhid. Idk what games are to be played because this is for a guy that collects arcades and just want an all around driving mame. so what would be the best set up for a driving arcade to play the most games?

BadMouth

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Re: Driving Game control help
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2010, 09:57:49 am »
so what would be the best set up for a driving arcade to play the most games?

Well, to play the most driving games, you'll have to use emulators other than MAME.  (see the driving cab info thread)

When I considered a driving cab, my main focus was on the 3D games from the early 90's (Cruisin' USA/World, Daytona USA, Ridge Racer, etc)
Cruisin' USA/World is the only one of those supported in MAME.  The emulation is incomplete for most 3D driving games in mame, making them unplayable.
Personally, I don't think that any driving cab should be without Nebula's Sega Model 2 emulator.  It can accept input from multiple controllers/interfaces, but I'm not sure about the 360 wheel if it's seen as a mouse.  I'll check if I get a chance.  

If you're content with only games from the 80's, MAME will do just fine and your 360 wheel will work without much hassle.
The flexibility of input options in mame is brilliant.  Set up your software first, so you can see what games work and how well they work.
Here is a list of the 360 wheel games: http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Spinners_and_Dials#360.C2.B0_Steering_Wheel
There are probably only a dozen or so potentiometer wheel based games.  Making a list is on my "so do someday" list.
If I can find a quick way to export the game list on my driving cab, I'll post it.

At the risk of making it overly complicated....
The ideal setup would be to have a wheel that can function as both a 360 degree encoder wheel & a 270 degree potentiometer wheel, with the 270 degree wheel having force feedback and being seen as part of a single controller.  That way it will work for PC games & other emulators.  The next incarnation of my driving cab will be this way and will use arcade controls with a hacked logitech wheel as the 270 degree interface.  I've been too busy with other projects to work on it though.  I also really enjoy my driving cab the way it is, so I'm in no hurry to tear it apart.  

I did find time to figure out one thing you might be able to use.  I placed an optical mouse on the backside of the steering hub as the interface for a 360 wheel.  It's cheap, easy, seems to work fine and doesn't take up much space.
« Last Edit: December 24, 2010, 10:04:10 am by BadMouth »

BadMouth

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Re: Driving Game control help
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2010, 12:12:54 pm »
Tried it out and mouse input cannot be used for steering in Nebula's M2 emulator.
You could map the mouse to keyboard or joystick inputs using Autohotkey or JoyToKey, but I don't know how good the results would be.
If the U-HID maps the input to an axis, it should work.


bkenobi

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Re: Driving Game control help
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2010, 02:03:32 am »
I totally forgot about the UHID.  If I remember it's capabilities right, that would be perfect!

Nebula M2 only emulates 270° steering wheel games.  Those are not the same as 360° steering wheels.  The former is like an analog joystick in that it has a limited motion (you can probably use an analog joystick actually).  A 360° steering wheel has no restriction generally, and as such would not mesh with those controls if the emulator accepted the input.  I wrote a tool that maps the 360 wheel to a 270 wheel that should work for your application.  It won't be perfect since it really needs restriction, but it should work fine if you are careful not to spin it.