TORC

Hi again Fred, thanks for clarifying that. It turns out I had the effects of the saturation and force mixed up in simFFB! Your recommended settings do indeed work exactly as you say.

Hi Fred, Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. With both the master and experimental branch I am still not feeling a difference in spring force based upon stick displacement (this is meant to be a feature of your firmware, isn't it?) I am running with 60% spring effect, 100% damper and shake, and 0% centering spring in the Logitech device settings. Possibly a relevant mod (other than lengthening the grip) is that I have a washer shimming the magnet to bring it closer to the MARS board. I don't know if this is interfering with what your firmware is trying to accomplish, moving the stick seems linear in the "set up USB controllers" menu in Win10. I will have more of a think about what could be happening and get back to you ...

Fred, before changing anything please let me have a look and see that I am actually running the latest version of your firmware, something doesn’t sound right. I will also play with the simFFB from this thread. Thanks!

Hi Fred, the latest firmware is up and running on my modified G940 and working well. The revised weaker centering forces are not up to centering the stick from the corners when I have the grip detection disabled, but that's OK because I'm sure it is better without the lengthened stick. I have been playing with the spring effect strength in the Logitech profiler, and have settled on 70 for the spring effect to prevent the stick oscillating around the center in game. I've been using the FS-Force Test application, which seems to be a bit easier to start the oscillation than simFFB (http://www.fs-force.com/support.php if anyone needs it). Damper and Overall Strength are left at 100, and centering spring is of course unticked and 0. I think most of us are chasing good settings for the Tomcat here, as it's force feedback seems to be the most interactive of the modules I have at least, and these settings are bringing me some joy - you can feel the very slight buffeting at the good angle of attack when turning, and it becomes more extreme through the stick as it becomes more extreme through the airframe. I like it! Still disliking the lack of proportionality in the spring effect, but otherwise greatly enjoying the Tomcat now. :megalol:

Hi Fred, Thanks for all your work on this! I have some limited experience in light planes (Cessna 152 & 172, Grumman AA5, and about a half hour in a Tiger Moth). I feel I can make a couple of comments on how the directly connected flight controls should feel (e.g. WWII warbirds, Christen Eagle, Yak-52 - but definitely not the jets like Hornet or Tomcat). Assuming a properly trimmed condition, the yoke or stick is very easy to move a small amount, e.g. you may have heard of "flying with two fingers". I think a small ffb deadzone in the force center would simulate this nicely given the limitations of the hardware? As we discussed in the previous thread I am also concerned about the stick "bouncing" around the center for those of us who tape the grip sensor (or modify the stick to be always on ...) As you move the control away from center the force should increase in what feels like a linear fashion - this is where the G940 at least is not living up well to reality, as it very quickly saturates to 100% of the force it can provide and cannot get any heavier. Do you know how the "overall effects strength" setting in the logitech profiler works? I have left it set to 100% but it is just occurring to me as I type this that it might be a multiplier and that is leading to the saturation problem that I am experiencing. I might try reducing it and seeing if it improves the feel of the joystick if I can get some time in the sim this evening. Thanks again for all your work on this, I hope some of this helps.

Yes - I think the removal of the notch filtering might be allowing the controller to "see" the position of the stick around the force center better? Regarding the Virpil grip, I took the easy way out and bought a joystick controller from Virpil as a loose part, which I have incorporated into the base just beside where the rotary "Trim 3" control used to live (the "Trim 1" position is where what is left of the original grip PCB lives - I needed to keep this to keep the grip sensor alive, otherwise it defaults to being in the "no hand on stick" mode). So I have two USB cables coming out of the stick base, but it does give me some more control over the setup of the grip, using the VPC configurator software. I removed the three "Trim" pots and their PCB because they sit under the lip of my chair, so no use to me - and you hadn't fixed the hysteresis problem with these axis yet so I saw no need to try to keep them :)

Hi Fred41, I have just flashed your latest firmware to my modified G940, and it does make the helicopter flight in particular much easier. I do notice two interesting and nice things, that have been improved by your latest firmware: 1) I have always had (at least since I modified the stick) significant bouncing of the stick back and forward if I release the grip away from the force center. This is significantly reduced with your firmware. I only noticed it occurring when I deliberately tried to induce it, whereas previously I had to be careful about where the stick was if I was going to take my hand off it :joystick: 2) When I leave the grip hand sensor engaged, I don't notice the "grinding" feeling in SteamVR and DCS when I leave the grip sitting loose against one of the stops. The modifications I have made are mainly adapting a Virpil grip to the base, and this does increase the length of the stick grip and the amount of weight up high on the grip. I've also put a switch in lieu of the hand sensor on the grip, and usually leave the force engaged when playing DCS (hence the note about the "bouncing" when releasing the stick). I have also put washers in to get the magnet closer to the sensor, but haven't played with the motor alignment. Your firmware changes have certainly improved my G940! Thanks very much for your hard work :thumbup:

Still better production than the Wing Commander movie... Really looking forward to the full release, Jar!

1) Don’t really care whether it has twist or not so long as I can lock it out. I guess the Warthog version wouldn’t have it though? 2) Yes to Warthog version.

Thanks for letting me know - I’m glad it is at least not a hardware problem!

Hi ravenzino, regarding the Leap: I use a leap motion VR kit. There’s no native support for leap motion in DCS, you have to emulate a controller - I am using a driver for SteamVR but it requires some config file diving and command line work to get it set up the first time. Coverage with the VR kit is more than adequate for the 1st gen headsets (i’m using a Lenovo Explorer). It is very immersive to be able to reach out and hit a button on the UFC, but in some modules the switches will rapidly switch back and forth making it difficult to get the right position in a hurry. I have left-click and right-click bound to buttons on my HOTAS, and usually activate a switch in these modules by pointing at it (literally pointing at the switch with one hand) and using the buttons. I also still use a mouse (trackball actually) for interacting with dials. For your use case I’d be concerned with activating a control in the cockpit while trying to interact with a physical control. I find I need to be careful where I put my throttle to avoid hitting the fuel cutoff in the Spitfire, for example.

2) I believe the disc is to improve the performance of the ELT aerial, which comes out from the centre of the disc. ELT is the Emergency Locator Transmitter, which is activated when the aircraft crashes, if that was not clear.

Another quick one: what G940 firmware are you running? I have 1.42: http://www.logitech.com/pub/techsupport/joystick/G940_Update_FW0142.zip I found that link thanks to Drakoz from this thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=204804

Ok, a couple of things to try: First off, DCS doesn’t give you shake through the stick when you fire your guns, drop weapons or take hits. What comes through the joystick are the effects of aerodynamic forces on the warbirds, or what the artificial feel system and hydraulics are doing for jets like the F-5 and MiG-21. For the F-5 and MiG-21, when you trim in the pitch axis the centre point stick should move back and forward - is this happening? If you’re holding the stick and trimming it should feel like the stick it trying to move forwards or backwards in your hand. Second, I’ve disabled the centring spring (box unchecked and centring spring force slider set to 0). I’m not sure how much difference this makes, or if DCS just ignores this setting anyway. But perhaps give it a try? At least it will give you a stick with no centring forces if DCS is completely ignoring the G940 force feedback. And if you try out the TF-51 (the free warbird) the stick should be floppy with no centring forces when sitting on the tarmac with the engine off, but have the centring force when in flight. I hope some of this helps - please let me know how you get on!

I am following your progress with high interest, @Ranma13!

Yeah, the price for this is high but if it supported DCS properly (trim and shake for at least the warbirds and non-FBW jets) then I'd be saving up for it as well. Imagine if those FFB rudder pedals were working with it - we might finally be able to feel the burble through the rudders at high AoA in certain jets (like the Hornet for example)

On the off chance you're using SteamVR, I find Force Feedback doesn't work unless I use the following process: 1) Start Windows Mixed Reality Portal (obviously I'm using WMR) and confirm that the house is showing up in the headset and lean and roll work properly 2) Start SteamVR and get all the way into the SteamVR home and make sure motion is working properly 3) Then (and only then) start DCS world. Force Feedback tends not to work if I let SteamVR start automatically by just clicking "Play" on DCS world.

Hi Saurophaganax, Sorry for taking so long to get back to you - I had to sign up to answer and there is a 24-hour cooling off period ... You don't need to do anything to enable DCS to use force feedback in the Logitech software (I assume your G940 is working in other games?) Inside DCS you will need to assign the G940 (or some force feedback device, at least) to pitch and roll in the "Axis" tab in the control options screen. Once you've done that, click "FF Tune" and make sure that the force feedback is enabled, and that the "Trim" and "Shake" forces are set to something above zero (I use 100 and 50 respectively, though that might be the default - I can't remember changing it). I also add a deadzone of 4 or so in the "Axis Tune" menu, just to get around the sloppy centre of the G940. I find that the deadzone makes it quite controllable. For the F-5 I have also selected "Displaced Neutral (FFB)" in the "Joystick Mode" setting in the "Special" options menu. I don't know if this is working properly - I can't feel the increase in force when I push the stick more than half way in the roll axis, so that might not be the right setting (I don't fly the Tiger much). Hope this helps - if it doesn't work or if you have anything to share that I've missed please post a reply and I'll check back on this topic periodically! Cheers, Torc