The Gaming Gamers Thread - (No Spawn Camping)

[RJ]

I ended up buying an Xbox Series S console on sale off Costco, and a Thrustmaster TMX Force Feedback wheel from Amazon.

So this Thrustmaster Wheel is on it's way back to Amazon for a refund.

I connected it up, but (as far as I could tell) it never allowed any sort of calibration, off line. It just "attached" to my console, did a self-centering routine, and then worked (sort of). All the controls appeared to work, however comma: The rotation of the wheel was accompanied by a notchy, gravelly-like feel, as if the drive to the FF motor was on bumps? This sensation also occurred with no power to the wheel; i.e. it was purely mechanical.

Moreover, the force feedback on the wheel was so overwhelming that the wheel was jerking around in my hands. I could not do anything about this using Forza Motorsport 7, because there was no calibration or tuning menu I could see to get to. In Assetto Corsa, there is a setup for some controls. I dialed out literally every part of the FF set of options, save "Force Feeback", which I changed from 100% (!) to 5%. Even at this low setting, with the mechanical jumpiness of the rotation, the driving experience was incredibly annoying and distracting.

It was massively disappointing.

My question for those who use these things on games:

Is a certain amount of mechanical notchiness inherent in these low/mid-priced gaming wheels?

I looked into Thrustmaster TMX design, and it appears to be a "gear" type, in that the wheel is geared to the force feedback motor. Higher end models seem to belt driven, and even higher price point still are direct drive to the motor.

If the feel of the wheel I got was typical, well that sucks and I'll pretty much scale back my expectations accordingly.

However, if mine was defective (might be), or better quality / higher price point wheels do not have this notchiness, and are smoothly rotating without power, and have some kind of adjustment capability, I'll keep looking.

Just thought I would stop in here and ask for advice before shelling out another dollop of cash for one of these things.

[Baldanders]

Way back when, I was jonesing hard for a full HOTAS and rudder setup to play WWII flight combat sims, and was eyeing up multi-monitor cockpit builds.

I wanna Gaming PC with a decent VR rig and a HOTAS set up so I can play Star Wars Squadrons and fulfill fantasies I've had since age three.

Watching Angry Joe on YouTube start screaming "BUY IT NOW! BUY IT NOW!" as soon as the game started didn't help.

But a G21 is higher on my future toys wish list, and probably quite a bit cheaper.

[Andy T]

In the flight sim peripheral world Thrustmaster has a spotty reputation. The best/premium sticks are usually made in China or Belarus by companies like VKB, Virpil and WinWing. The same *may* apply to racing.
I keep reading references to Fanatec along with "an arm and a leg" in the same sentence. Maybe that's an area of research?

So this Thrustmaster Wheel is on it's way back to Amazon for a refund.

I connected it up, but (as far as I could tell) it never allowed any sort of calibration, off line. It just "attached" to my console, did a self-centering routine, and then worked (sort of). All the controls appeared to work, however comma: The rotation of the wheel was accompanied by a notchy, gravelly-like feel, as if the drive to the FF motor was on bumps? This sensation also occurred with no power to the wheel; i.e. it was purely mechanical.

Moreover, the force feedback on the wheel was so overwhelming that the wheel was jerking around in my hands. I could not do anything about this using Forza Motorsport 7, because there was no calibration or tuning menu I could see to get to. In Assetto Corsa, there is a setup for some controls. I dialed out literally every part of the FF set of options, save "Force Feeback", which I changed from 100% (!) to 5%. Even at this low setting, with the mechanical jumpiness of the rotation, the driving experience was incredibly annoying and distracting.

It was massively disappointing.

My question for those who use these things on games:

Is a certain amount of mechanical notchiness inherent in these low/mid-priced gaming wheels?

I looked into Thrustmaster TMX design, and it appears to be a "gear" type, in that the wheel is geared to the force feedback motor. Higher end models seem to belt driven, and even higher price point still are direct drive to the motor.

If the feel of the wheel I got was typical, well that sucks and I'll pretty much scale back my expectations accordingly.

However, if mine was defective (might be), or better quality / higher price point wheels do not have this notchiness, and are smoothly rotating without power, and have some kind of adjustment capability, I'll keep looking.

Just thought I would stop in here and ask for advice before shelling out another dollop of cash for one of these things.

[Guerrero]

I wanna Gaming PC with a decent VR rig and a HOTAS set up so I can play Star Wars Squadrons and fulfill fantasies I've had since age three.

Watching Angry Joe on YouTube start screaming "BUY IT NOW! BUY IT NOW!" as soon as the game started didn't help.

I looked at the trap, Ray.


Why did you make me look.

[Baldanders]

I looked at the trap, Ray.


Why did you make me look.

Sorry, buddy.

I feel the same way about many, many posts in the Revolver forum.

[RJ]

In the flight sim peripheral world Thrustmaster has a spotty reputation. The best/premium sticks are usually made in China or Belarus by companies like VKB, Virpil and WinWing. The same *may* apply to racing.
I keep reading references to Fanatec along with "an arm and a leg" in the same sentence. Maybe that's an area of research?

Thanks Andy. I looked into Fanatec, and went so far as to price a "Base" system (wheel + wheelbase, sold separately.) I bailed out when my cart got to $1,549, and that was before I added any pedals. I mean, they are nice, and are one of the Direct Drive system architectures, which is cool, but wayyy out of my price range.

I'm going to head to a local Best Buy and twirl a few of the display models and see whether this feature I experienced (notchiness) is typical or I just had a bad/low price point experience.

Some recommend the Logitech G920 as a mid ($400) price point wheel, but I see it uses gears as well so I'm not holding out a great hope. But for $400, the thing better be smooth like a baby's butt.

[awp_101]

Dan Carlin Hardcore History Addendum: The Game of War

Thought some here would like the cross pollination. He talks about how he got into wargaming at a young age, the early rule books and then interviews one of the head guys involved with a new 50 v 50 wargame that’s supposed to be out soon (unless it’s already out and I missed that part).

[Guerrero]

Dan Carlin Hardcore History Addendum: The Game of War

Thought some here would like the cross pollination. He talks about how he got into wargaming at a young age, the early rule books and then interviews one of the head guys involved with a new 50 v 50 wargame that’s supposed to be out soon (unless it’s already out and I missed that part).

I've gotten in and out of wargaming a couple times. I just don't have the disposable income, time, and artistic talent enough to get an army together and support it.

[RJ]

Some recommend the Logitech G920 as a mid ($400) price point wheel, but I see it uses gears as well so I'm not holding out a great hope. But for $400, the thing better be smooth like a baby's butt.

Well I went to Best Buy, who were pretty picked over. As a result, I never did get to find any of these to test out locally. So after a fair bit of online research, I ended up buying a Thrustmaster TMX Pro (gear/belt hybrid) wheel / three-pedal set for $300 from walmart.com. Should be here next week.

[Chance]

Anyone here setup a RetroPie? I have an unused Raspberry Pi 4 I've been thinking of experimenting with. If the end result is more complicated than turning the system on and grabbing a controller, it might not be worth the effort though.