Can we talk simulators?

more of a day care center for racing drivers

 

Simulators are fantastic learning tools. They can teach you all sorts of new things and keep even the most seasoned professionals sharp. They are NOT however, the real thing. No simulator is exactly like the real thing. That's very important to remember.

A professional coach wisely said "It's like learning a new car/track. It takes at least an hour or so to settle into any sort of rhythm." The older you are, the longer the learning curve. The younger generations have learned to process information faster (video games and advanced electronics), so they process it faster. Once you do acclimate though, a whole new world of training possibilities open up to you. All of them transfer directly to the track.

When you do drive a simulator: be patient, keep field of view wide and start your first few laps in 2nd gear putting around the track. Treat it as you would in real life with a silly fast car for the first lap. Drive really slow and build speed in very tiny increments. Be aware that you need to be much more conscious of your visual reference points in a 2D simulator world. Force yourself to look very far down the road and pick out your point very early.

Also....... relax! This is fun, it doesn't cost you anything, and you can't get hurt!

Have fun

 

absolutely! if you stop by tomorrow you might see some interesting people

 

Truth.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Do the CXC sims move only with the two actuators behind the seat or are there two more in front of the seat? The VirtualGT sims (Costa Mesa) have motion actuators on all four corners. I like the four corner system for realistic feel.

 

Here's mine, chair is separate from the frame so I can just move it out of the way and fold the chair into a coffee table. Helped a lot to prepare for the VIR chump race. I've played around some with the iz3d driver and some old 3d glasses and that is wicked when it works, but the cabling situation with the projector being well behind makes it impractical from a cabling standpoint.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

it's only the actuators on the back, but that's all it needs

they still do 2DOF (pitch/dive and L/R roll). CXC's sims are designed to only move the driver (and the seat he's in), not all the mass that a lot of other motion platforms move...so they don't need massive or multiple actuators, and they can move the driver much quicker as well. that's the idea...give the driver the instant feedback that he needs to make input decisions. it also reduces latency, which not only makes things more realistic it also (as a by-product) reduces the likelihood of motion sickness.

If you're local to SoCal you're welcome to come up to Seat Time and try out one of CXC's rigs. If you can figure out a way to use them back to back you'll see the difference between CXC and some of their competitors.

 

do you have any issues with poor lighting/contrast using a projection screen? also what field of vision are you using?

 

No issues with it washing out, it looks a little washed out due to using a flash for the pictures. I attached one with no flash that gives a better idea of what it looks like, though it's a little out of focus. The projector bulb could be changed to get it to pop more as it's the original(!), but with the room dark it's still perfectly fine.

I'm not sure my FOV, I think it's around 60 deg, I used the calculator in iRacing and just input the screen width (90") and distance from the screen (~70-80") and let it set the fov. You can see it's close based on the overlay of the wheel with the on-screen wheel, that picture is taken from the distance your eyes would be from the screen (just down a little lower).
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I hope that figure includes everything we see in the picture, including a very strong PC setup. Otherwise it's nothing more than an off the shelf G27 and a sparco seat mounted on a frame...

 

Seems like not a bad deal I suppose! Of course he wants to make a buck or two, but you won't get ripped off it looks like...a decent PC will cost a lot of cash.

Nice setup!

 

Here are two crappy cell phone pics of what I use. Right not I have nothing serious, but want to upgrade the wheel/pedals and get a PC hooked up to the projector so I can get on iRacing.

Mark
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

My wife prefers the Hitachi Wand.

 

Here is my simulator. I have been playing racing games and simulators for 10+ years now. When I finally got a chance to drive a real race car, I was prepared in everything but physical fitness.

While better equipment helps in immersion, good enough equipment is still good enough to learn about racing.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Rob, thanks for the kind words and for taking the time to report. New systems have changed a bit as you noted. Final cost depends on screens mainly and all systems include professional quality PC components and whatever is the most powerful graphics card on the market...currently EVGA/ASUS GTX 690. Single card dual GPU configurations seem to work best with iRacing software from what I have found. The reason I use such components is I find a difference in the experience when triple screens are utilized at maximum graphics settings. Be great, J

 

Wheel: Fanatec CSR
Pedal: Fanatec CSR Elite
Seat: Playseat WRC

Platforms: PS3/XBOX

Setting up one of my guest rooms now in the new digs. Hope to have a dedicated spot for this instead of dragging it out into the living room. I have a few various monitors from 20-24", can can purchase a few more on the cheap, but will need to build up a box to run iracing or rfactor on in the future.

There's a few qualms I have on playseat - it isn't a bad setup, but you need to adjust the pedals so your knees don't knock the post in the middle, esp if you are just using brake, gas and paddle shifters. The mounting plate for the CSR wheel is only available for the Forza seat, even though they are very much the same thing! Drilling will be required, or the wheel will just dismount. I'll soon make some kind of custom mount for it, either with a plate in wood or aluminum...need to figure that issue out. Otherwise, not too shabby of a setup.

 

Sent a PM to you.

 

.... not really, I was attempting to offer a private option in reference to your comment of wanting Jason to build you a system.

I noticed the post was removed ??

If you feel that it was a violation , so be it ... just trying to interact with individuals that are familiar with simulation and offering an F-Chat courtesy.

If seen in a different perspective ...my apologies !

In our activities and events we do try to cross promote !
Image Unavailable, Please Login