An early Merry Chistmas....to me

[Deetz]

Well you have to treat yourself.... I just don't normally spend so much.

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I'd like to say I'm loving it, but so far, we lets just say the default settings are... poor. (Very poor, steering like wading through treacle...no wading through tar would be more like it.)

I've been very close to loving it, had some good settings this morning. Made some software / firmware updates etc. and... Gaaa,  no Force Feedback, then PC wouldn't boot. Finally sorted, now it's now merely good, but at least I now know that decent Force Feedback is possible, just being elusive.

Cheers D.

[Seany]

Damn, nice!

I was looking perplexed at that pic for a minute ( or 5 ) going, "what the heck is that?  Not thrustmaster...not fanatec...."  Then it dawned on me,  Accuforce!

It will be really cool to have someone we know with one of these, to hear exactly what it is like.  I have seen some pics where they have an emergency Stop button next to the wheel.  Does it come with that? Wouldn't surprise me, I'd say that thing would break your arm given half the chance!

Yea, I'd say it's a little surprising it does not work that well out of the box.  You would expect for the money they would make the user experience/initial setup as seamless as could be.   But, I guess there is a heck of a lot of personal preference with FFB controllers and sim racing, so there is inevitability going to be some setup/fiddling about to get it dialled in.

Nice Christmas present for sure! I will be looking forward to hearing how you get on with it.

Hopefully it will slow you down for a week or two while you adapt!   :devil:

[Deetz]

I guess the defaults aren't any worse than other FF wheels, its just that this is capable of so much force, that it magnifies any issues.

 At the moment I've gone for the same as I would do for  my old Logitech wheel etc. Removing all damping /center spring etc. And I'm running without using the SimXperience Commander 4 software as when using that I was getting inconsistent application of forces, and (to me) strange effects. E.g. turning forces down on the software, and having the forces feel stronger.
The only explanation I can think of is that turning one thing down, allows extra capacity for other forces. I guess I'll just have to keep experimenting.

As games have settings developed for the common wheels, Thrustmaster, Logitech etc, but generally not for the AccuForce, I guess is the main reason so much fiddling is required to get things feeling correct. I do have to say that Assetto Corsa, does feel pretty good, straight out of the box. (Well with the spring / damping / friction settings etc. at zero)

I was running at 40% strength with the new Audi R8 v10 round Barcelona, and it felt great. No way of stopping the tail coming round if it got loose round the final downhill twists (too much force), and I had to further reduce the force for the McLaren F1 GTR round the Nordshleife, it was just wearing me out.  

One of the hardest things to get to grips with, is the move from a 280mm to 320mm wheel. It just feels ...strange. I guess I'll get used to it in time. (Or buy a smaller diameter wheel)

There isn't an emergency stop button, I've only seen those on the OSW & Bodner wheel's. I do let go for big crashes. I think there is a way to stop it trying to break your wrists in a crash, I saw an article somewhere, I just haven't yet had a chance to dig it out.

So I'm generally feeling more love for it today, after getting some actual driving done, instead of spending hours mounting / software installing / adjusting settings / troubleshooting, fixing PC boot issue (Never had this issue before installing the new wheel software / drivers) etc. etc. etc.

[Deetz]

One thing more I forgot to mention. Sound or rather noise.

The wheel itself (well ok, the motor) makes quite a bit of noise, while producing some of those effects, I guess that's pretty unavoidable, but I'm finding the power supply / controller box noises more unacceptable.
When at rest it's fan makes 3 - 4 times as much noise as my (Admittedly quiet) PC, I can live with that, however once you start using the wheel, the range of strange noises can't be simply described.
Once during my first evening with the wheel, I had to power it off out of mechanical/electrical sympathy. It was making a noise, like the sound you get when there is a poor electrical connection and you are getting electrical sparks arcing between the connections. I don't think (hope) that's what it actually was, I suspect more of a particular frequency of vibration of the power supply fan, or some form of coil whine,  I checked and found no strange smells, or heat etc. Thankfully it hasn't made it again.

I admit I'm not making the best case for others to buy one of these, and I will be asking some questions of SimXperience, to see if these noises are normal etc.

I do have to say that when all is working well, the Force Feedback does feel damn impressive, :yahoo: (and strong) but I am finding it difficult to make those little adjustments that would make it perfect (to me). LOL, nearly ever time I make a tweak, it ends up feeling worse, maybe I should always tweak settings the opposite way to what I think. :sideways:

[Seany]

Nice, keep the reports coming.

I'd say, given how differently this wheel delivers it's FFB, it will take quite a while to adjust to it/ learn all it's little foibles and optimum settings.

That electrical noise does sound a bit concerning, but at least it was just the once.  I'm sure we will get to hear how noisey the wheel/fans on TS on Monday

[Deetz]

Well a couple of weeks on, and I'm getting used to the wheel, I've got most games in the right ball park setting wise. Assetto Corsa was easy, Race room I'm close, some settings seems counter intuitive (in the Game), Project Cars, well my loathing of this title hasn't changed. Dirt Rally (now inc Accoforce support) I'm close settings wise, but I'll have to get a different (smaller) wheel, to get any kind of competitiveness / consistency back.

Single favorite at the moment is the E30 M3 in Race Room, just brilliant. It feels very much like actual driving, the car has weight, resistance and momentum, the tyres believable grip, its just very natural and believable.

Lol, the wheel does make some unbelievable noises, and the controller / PSU fan blasts away like a hair dryer, making a complete mockery of my very quiet PC build.

I've just received and am installing some Asher racing Paddles, and a couple of wheel buttons, so in the new year, I should be back to push to talk on Vent, probably much to the relief of Seany , Neys etc.

Deetz

[Lameduck]

and a merry Xmas to you Deetz. That layout does surprise me, being so close to the radiator.
You're getting NESH in your old age