Is Virtua Racing a Good Candidate for Emulator Build?

[ryandoesntstress]

Interested in building a racer and saw a Sega Virtua Racing for sale. My goal is to play some of the more modern racing games but not sure if the whole wheel/pedal/shifter set up on those machines would be suitable. What would this machine be good/bad for?

[BadMouth]

I think it's a good candidate, but anything you get that wasn't pc based to begin with is going to be a lot of work.
(newer global vr games like Need For Speed use a PC anyway, so they're fairly plug and play.  Just swap in a new PC and install the drivers)

A few points with Virtua Racing:

The shifter:  It has paddle shifters which is good for newer games and useable for all emulators using baritonomarchetto's H2Seq program.
I don't particularly like the paddle shifters on virtua racing because they are connected like a see-saw.  When you pull back on one side, the other side goes forward.  That's being picky though.

The buttons:  It has a start + 4 view buttons.  This will cover nearly all emulated arcade games.

The ffb setup:  If you have the ability to order custom built pcbs and solder parts in, then you can build Aganyte's interface to mate the original controls and ffb to a hacked Logitech wheel. 
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.gamoover.net/tuto/l2m2-interfacer-un-ffb-et-volant-sega-model-12-avec-un-pc-ou-une-playstation-23
Of all the ways of getting real arcade ffb working with a PC, people seem most happy with this one.  I have not personally tried it because getting the custom pcb ordered is a bit over my head.

[SailorSat]

Of all the ways of getting real arcade ffb working with a PC, people seem most happy with this one.  I have not personally tried it because getting the custom pcb ordered is a bit over my head.

It does a good (80+%) job for Model1/2 games, only thing missing is the "no force"-clutch (not used by sega anyway).

Some PC-era games use advanced stuff like "engine rumbling" (very fast changes from left force to right force and back) that won't work on the sega wheel, because the AC motor cannot change direction fast enough. you'll end up with no feedback at all.

Back to topic - Keep in mind that, if you choose to keep the CRT monitor, Virtua Racing is a 25kHz game, so you'll be stuck at 512x384@60p or 1024x768@60i.

[Howard_Casto]

Just to re-iterate what Sat was saying... 

Most people 'round these parts' tend to gut the cab completely and use a modified pc wheel.  The FF isn't nearly as strong but it's more compatible with modern games. 

It really depends upon what you want to play... if it's strictly a mame cab then stick with the arcade hardware, otherwise you might want to consider a pc wheel.

[ryandoesntstress]

Yeah, strictly MAME/Emulator. Dont think I will aim much higher than supermodel games. Does this mean the standard ffb/wheel set up should work well enough?

[BadMouth]

Yeah, strictly MAME/Emulator. Dont think I will aim much higher than supermodel games. Does this mean the standard ffb/wheel set up should work well enough?

Not sure what you mean by "the standard ffb/wheel setup".

If you mean the one in the virtua racing cab, then it depends on how you intend to interface it with the pc and whether you expect the ffb to still work.  It's a lot easier to interface if you're not worried about the ffb.  If you are, see my earlier comment.  There are no other options.  If you're not worried about ffb working, a U-HID or A-PAC from ultimarc is all you need.

If you mean a standard ffb PC wheel and pedals added to the cab (getting rid of the original arcade stuff), then yes it will work well enough.
I prefer Logitech wheels because the profiler software allows you to configure the wheel differently for different emulators if need be.

[ryandoesntstress]

Back to topic - Keep in mind that, if you choose to keep the CRT monitor, Virtua Racing is a 25kHz game, so you'll be stuck at 512x384@60p or 1024x768@60i.

What are the problems with this? I realise higher res looks nicer. Will this limit what games can be ran on the screens?

[TipsyMcStagger]

What path did you go down with your VR cab? Did you keep the original hardware? I'm just about to start on mine. I was planning on getting a couple of Aganyte's boards but would like to hear some feedback on how well it works with model 1 hardware before I get them made. I'm also planning on putting in a couple of 27inch LCDs to cover some of the more modern games.

[ryandoesntstress]

Working on it right now man.

We did end up keeping the original hardware including screens, ffb, wheel and pedals.

Troubleshooting the l2m2 right now. Everything seems to be working but the clutch will not engage.