Hi Geecab
excellent news !!
really looking forward to seeing your progress soon
Very cool build !
I do have some suggestions... Most especially, to make a change to your Vibration motor setup..
to mirror how Out Run does things:
- With Outrun.. the entire steering wheel assembly is mounted to a Sliding Plate, and can slide the wheel left to right,
about 1 inch in distance (which is a lot more Violent, than most people realize)
- The sliding mounting plate is slid left to right, using a Crank Arm on the Motor... similar to a Steam Engine / Locomotive
- The diameter of the drive wheel, attached to the motor, causes the assembly to move about One Inch from left to right
- The motor in Outrun, is a Single-Direction DC motor
- The Outrun motor, is ran at different speeds.. depending on In-Game situations:
A) Fast (Full) Rotation speed, when you crash (for the most Violent Effect possible)
B) Slower rotation speeds, when you drive "off-road" (simulating a bumpy driving surface. Speeds might also be dependent
on your Cars actual driving speed, too)
The sliding assembly is actually quite simple. Probably more so, than most would assume.
Anyway... if you could re-create it, you could also likely use it to play Outrun properly.
Also, if there is a special "output-effects" scripting type of program system.. for mame/emulators...
you could trigger the motor for other arcade games, that never actually used it.
Not sure if that type of programable system exists yet. Ive always thought that AI might make such things possible in
realtime. Such as the Automatic conversion from 2d, into Stereoscopic 3D (3DVR). And as said, adding other special
effects, like additional lighting, strobe lights, vibration and solenoid drivers, and or full blown motion-cabinet assemblies.
As far as the Icy Wind effect goes... Im not sold on that implementation. For one thing, its annoyingly loud. You
might choose to place such a loud motor, in the bottom rear of the cabinet, and surrounded in an Insulating material (fiberglass?).
Then feed the wind to the areas you want... using ducting.
Ive always had the idea to have working car air-vents, to keep players cool as they play (with actual air speed controls, and
aim-able vents). I also had that idea, used for non-driving games... that blows cool air over your buttons and joysticks,
to keep your hands dry at all times, as you play.
If you wanted to actually simulate Temperature changes... you would actually need something a little more robust.
For FAST INSTANT high-heat... an Infrared Lamp, would be the quickest way to heat a player up (great for quick flash
/ explosive effects, but NOT good for long durations.. as the player would suffer from way too much heat)
For more gradual heat, you would might want something like a Ceramic heater, heating vented Air up.
For cooling, thats not so easy to replicate. If the floor temps in your place are cool.. then piping it upwards, might help a little.
(likely not working well, in the Summer months)
But for more extreme cooling effects... you are likely going to need some sort of Refrigeration device (maybe an electric "Peltier" ? cooler)
or at very minimum, an Evaporative "Water Mist" Cooling system.
Water Misters, would also be fun for other Game effect, like Boat Driving simulations. Such as used in the Boat Stage, in Spy Hunter.
If the mist is light enough, and driven with enough air... it evaporates quick enough that you dont end up getting wet. However, its
evaporation effect will be enough to cause a cold sensation... so might need to be offset with warmer air, depending on your intended
FX use case.. and depending on how long the effects are ran.
I used to go to an Amusement park, that had a Haunted House "Dark-Ride" in it. At the very end of the ride, they had a water mister,
that would spray down onto you, right before the ride ended. It was a spooky + chilling effect, especially in total Darkness. And since
the water was so fine + evaporated instantly... it felt magical / surreal. Especially when you were a small kid, that didnt know what
an evaporative mister.. actually was (and thus, couldnt quite figure out, what the heck just happened).
Ive personally never been a fan of Center-Sprung shifters. There is something special about the feel of a Shifter, that
spring Locks into place. Center-Sprung is good for Afterburner II 's analog throttle control lever... but IMO... not the
best Option for Driving games.
Id replace that shifter with a 6 position shifter. They make "Decent" 6 way shifters, for a price that isnt totally absurd, depending
on the quality you choose. Or, you might choose to create an Analog version, modeled after the Sit-Down version of Atari's
"Race-Drivin". That game used two Pots, and lever arms that drove them. The shifter shaft itself, was welded to a Door Hinge.
It was quite an ingenious design. I believe there are programs that can translate x/y analog values, into shifter input clicks/values.
If the cabinet is capable of playing other driving games... you might also look into using a high quality sim-racing
wheel... that can also be used for 900 degree operation, as well as with actual force feedback, thats independent of the sliding plate
feedback system. General wheel feedback, is good for feeling the Road + Tire Slip, in sim-racing games. But the more violent
shaking of the Outrun sliding plate system... is FAR more fantastic, for Simulated Crashes, and more violent "Off-Road" effects.
Another cool thing to add... would be the use of Bass-Shaker Transducers. These are like speakers, but they only produce strong
vibration effects, while making virtually no sound at all. One of the best things about them... is that you do not need any special
effects drivers, to get vibrations from them. And low-frequencies in the games music and or sound effects, will drive them,
automatically. This could be from a games low engine rumble sounds... or from the sound of a Punch, in a fighting game.
Its basically like a Subwoofer... but far more localized vibration effects, without the need to disturb the entire
house (high volume sub-noise).
A lot of Sim-Racing cabinet builds, also... use Bass shakers. (at least one per corner of the cabinet. Some also add smaller
shakers to pedals / shifters, too)
One might built a Seat, and place them under the seat, and or in the rear of the seat assembly. Adding a sit down option,
would also open the opportunity for the use of Surround Sound. Though, you could also do that, using hanging speaker mounts,
attached to the top of the cabinet.
Bass Shakers could also just be added behind the Control panel, or attached to the inner sides of the bottom of the cabinet.
So long as the bass shakers are somewhat near the players controls... the vibrations should reach the player effectively.
Or you could make a 4 inch tall Riser, that you and the entire cabinet are placed on top of... in which you could place bass
shakers inside of. In that way.. any vibrations would travel right through the riser floor, right into your legs.
As far as any working controller Displays goes... like a Spedo / Tachometer... it might be better to have them mounted
much closer to the Display. As if they are directly in-line with the steering wheel, you are likely never going to see them,
in-use.
The use of a Half-Silvered Mirror.. might be an interesting option. Having the main display, behind the glass... and any
Gauges, being placed in front of the mirror... which would then appear to Hover in front of the games display.
(to prevent hover issues that potentially cover over a display, maybe use a longer glass, where the gauges are lower
than the display)
Ive thought that this would be a cool option, for displaying Arcade Front-Glass Bezels, and for other 3D effects.
In fact, if done correctly, it could also be used for glasses free stereoscopic 3d Displays (potentially to be used for
games like Continental Circuis 3D.. if anyone could hack the driver to use dual displays, rather than just the use of
LCD shutterglass display timings)
The only issue with using half silvered mirror displays, is that it makes the monitor look a lot further away from the player.
Of course, if you are using a shallow cabinet desing, that actually might be a good thing.
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