So, in the interest of not bogging down the release thread any further with discussion about this issue I'm starting this thread here in the support forum where it probably belonged in the first place. First things off, I'm running the FR US on a T300 with the Formula 1 rim. I noticed something was "off" with the FR US FFB right away in what I at first described as a grainy, almost clipping of the FFB from what I interpreted as the car bottoming out and scraping the road surface. This turned out to be a result of very minor forces in the FFB that were heightened by the minimum force FFB setting. Turning this all the way down to 0% removed the grainy/clipping feel but I could still the minor outputs of force in the FFB that I still think feels like the car bottoming out. I'm pretty sure that's not the case though as I've tried increasing the ride height and running on tracks were bottoming out shouldn't be an issue ever. My main testbed for all of this has been Laguna Seca though. I've run the DTM 2016 cars, the FR 2/3 and the Formula Taatus and none of them recreate the sensation in the FFB. This weak FFB output is still doing something weird as I tried lapping the FR US and the FR 3 without my headphones on and I could hear the T300 working harder during the FR US even though the forces output were similar and the wheel even felt heavier during the FR 3 laps. In short, the FR US is giving out weak FFB signals that are hard to describe, I've described it as bottoming out but that's only partially true as it doesn't seem to affect handling. Fellow user Patrick described it as the car picking up and transmitting the road surface which is perhaps a better way of describing it. This sensation is to me rather nasty as I can't really interpret it. Anyways, consider this an open brainstorming session. I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is a bug with the FR US' FFB, if it's a by design choice(I really hope this isn't the case), or if the car is simply highlighting a poor setting in my FFB profile. Suggestions are welcome. Testing so far: It's not related to FFB strength. It's not caused by "canned" effects such as engine vibrations, slip effect etc. It's not the car actually bottoming out, the FR US is still nimble during the output of these forces. FFB stationary friction="0.7" changed to 0.3 and 0.1 values, no noticeable difference to the issue. Not reproducable so far in: FR 2, FR 3, Formula Taatus, DTM 2016, GT3's, Audi TT Cup 2016, Audi R18, WTCC 2015, KTM X-Bow. It's not related to FFB pedal throttle slip vibe, FFB pedal brake slip vibe or FFB pedal brake vibe slope.
Hey @Rodent, thanks for the thread here First off, thanks for trying out the suggestions and offering so much info so far. I started off thinking this wasnt much of a problem since I didnt experience anything weird, but realized once talking to Thomas that something might be odd. For starters, I mentioned something you could test that may have a positive affect on getting rid of the vibration stuff at low speed. I have an edited custom controller profile that has .rcs file edits to it that change things you cant alter from within the game. One of the things I would recommend, is going into your controller profile in: My documents/my games/simbin/R3E/user data/control set and opening your controller profile in notepad. From there, scroll about halfway down until you reach a line titled FFB Stationary Friction. I believe the default that should be listed there is 0.7. This is also what it was on my G27. I had to change this to 0.3, as anything higher than this causes immense vibration at low speed, and a sort of 'grinding' feeling. Once changed, click exit and then save it. You can always change it back to it's previous number the same way if this does not have any affect for you. For me, this helped on all the cars in the game. I tested the default G27 profile immediately after using mine with the FR US, and the difference was a bit shocking Another tester tried this, but my sample size is too small to see if this is the issue or not. If this doesnt do anything for you, well... Im not entirely sure what else would work. This has been reported to the devs, so perhaps they will find something that is specific to the FR US, or your wheel. Havent heard enough other people complain to say this is universal. If you could try this out, I would appreciate to hear if this did anything for you. Cheers
Alright just tested setting FFB Stationary Friction from 0.7 to 0.3, back to 0.7, then 0.1 back to 0.7 on both the FR US and the FR 3. The setting sadly did not make any difference when it came to the issue. I also ran a few laps without my headphones and the FR US is still audibly working much harder and more with the FR US, the FFB actually goes quieter during turns when the FFB is applying more strength. The only time I audibly could get close to the same with the FR 3 was when I was driving offtrack, I could get something similar driving on the kerbs with the canned kerb setting on but that's a much more smooth and repetitive working of the FFB where as with the FR US the sensation is similar to grinding gear with my old G27.
Tested the same track with the same FFB settings with the Audi TT Cup 2016, the Audi R18 and the WTCC 2015 Chevvy as well, thankfully I am unable to reproduce the feeling in any other car that I've tried so far. Whatever it is, it's isolated to the FR US.
Hey @Rodent, try my controller file (T300+FormulaRim) - I find that feels really good (better than the Indy's in rFactor2 or iRacing) ...
Cheers IndEnt, the noise in the FFB is still there and now I will burn your settings with fire of my harddrive because whoa nelly did I not enjoy them. I'm glad you like them but they are clearly not for me. Thanks for trying to help though bud. Sadly as I said the issue is still there, I'm pretty certain at this point that it's not something that can be fixed with FFB settings.
Thanks for giving that a try @Rodent. Seems like something else is at play that is affecting this then. For me, switching between my profile and the default one eliminates this nasty vibration and grinding. And that was really the only major change I made that I thought was the culprit. Others are more minor, just general changes to the strength of some effects. Not sure I have many other ideas at the moment. Will keep investigating and see if the devs have any idea when they get to take a look at the report.
@Rodent was driving the FR-US at Sonama last night, done a race, once you finish the last lap, your shown the 1st result screen but you can see the car you were driving round in the background going round the track, at that point I noticed my wheel humming and vibrating continuously at a low level, was wondering if that's what you are experiencing?, I don't notice it when I'm actually driving it, but maybe it's been drowned out some how, might be worth trying and seeing if it's what you feeling.
Could very well be Gopher yeah, as I've said the forces are rather low intensity and I could see why anyone could miss them while driving. I've been chasing the culprit for a bit so I notice it A LOT now but this is most likely due to me knowing what I'm looking for. Best test I've come up with so far is just driving with no sound, as you say you can hear the FFB working in ways it just doesn't do for any other car. Will try to see if the force is still being applied post race on my gear as well. Great catch man.
I'm unable to reproduce your results at Sonoma Gopher, Languna Seca as well. While I still have the odd grinding sensation in the FFB while racing, I get no FFB output post-race.
Hmm, what I picked up might be something else, can't replicate it with another vehicle, so went back to the FR-US and tried again, and had the same results as I previously said, but what I noticed was the vibrating is not coming directly from the wheel, but you can feel it when you hold it, but its being created from the V3 pedals, the motors on the accelerator/brake are really going for it, and it's being transferred right through the frame of the rig upto the wheel, I did notice with the FR-US that the ffb motor on the accelerator was alot more noticeable, which is being created from the engine of the car, which I actually like whilst driving, but I was wondering, if you don't have the V3 pedals, is this effect being transferred to the wheel, just a thought.
Interesting thought, I'm on T3PA pedals so I have no way of trying it. Though... will try disabling the FFB pedal settings in the control .rcs and see if it could be that. Edit: Sadly setting all the FFB pedal options, brake and throttle to 0,0 did nothing to help with the FFB grinding I'm noticing.
Hey @Rodent, having a bit of trouble trying to explain to the devs how to reproduce this accurately so they can feel the problem as you are describing it. Would it be possible for you to post your controller profile so the devs can try it out and see if they can find something that might be amiss? It's located in: My documents/my games/SimBin/R3E/User data/Control Set And if you could post a screenshot of your Thrustmaster settings, that would be helpful too. Cheers
Coming up. Controller profile is not exactly... polished atm since I've been messing about trying to isolate the problem.