Driving cabinet ideas.

[Sinner]

I've recently purchased a Driving Force Pro steering wheel, and have been searching for a few games to use it with...I played a few MAME games, but the PC it was running on wasn't very powerful, and sometimes there was a lot of lag...SO...I built a new 3.2Ghz PC with 1GB of DDR2 RAM, and I've also purchased "World of Need for Speed"...I am now addicted to NFS Underground...I've decided that I have to build myself a dedicated driving sit-down cabinet...
Here's what I'm thinking for now, and I would like some ideas and suggestions...I have the DFP and I would rather not mess with the steering part right now, but I would hack the pedals...I would try to find a 32" TV and put it on a pedestal which is connected to where the seat is mounted...
Other than that, I haven't started putting anything down on paper...just some images in my head...
Is there anything I should be considering, when designing this?

[namedos]

Check out gamecab's site.  He has some good ideas on this that he posted.

[Glaine]

I love NFS:U too, but sad but truth is that keyboard is way more reliable on that one. For one, when you start to slide out in a race, when you steer to correct yourself, you usually start spinning the other way. Keyboard doesn't do that. Or maybe I suck at NFS:U.

Not to derail your thred, but do ya know any other good ones? I assume Nascar games cuz they go into desperate detail to please Nascar zealots.

[namedos]

For an arcade feel try Trackmania Sunrise.  Demo you can download and a ton of cars and tracks online.

[SQrL]

For an arcade feel try Trackmania Sunrise.

[markb]

I've actually built a sitdown cab especially for NFS Underground I & II and an old Interact V4 force feedback wheel I had. Because the V4 is not compatible with XP my machine has the following specs:
Windows 98se
Athlon 2000
512mb Ram
10gb H-Drive
Radeon 9200se TV-Out
24inch widescreen TV
5.1 Surround sound
Volvo Black leather car seat!

As for the keyboard vs wheel, its true keyboards and joysticks are much easier to use as I recently linked up the Lan 2 player version of NFS II so I could have 2 player against my upright. Everyone struggles (until they practice) to keep up when they use the wheel, however because I have played it so much my times are no different.

Design wise there are a lot of options so try the examples page as that has a few, but for me the 32inch screen is going to be too big as you will be pretty close to it already.

Good building!

[daywane]

I just bought a 32 in TV
I love Mame on it. But it also my main TV in the living room
I am thinking of building a cab based on a 32 in. TV but almost all my other cabs would have to go.
32 inch TVs are much larger at home than they look at the store.

[spiffyshoes]

Burnout 3: Takedown is a great game for a Driving Cab but there isn't a PC port of it.  Since you have a Driving Force Pro though you could play it on your Playstation 2.