Automobilista 2 Force Feedback Overview & Recommendations

Yes, of course, I can't send my feedback and feelings to your hands. Nor can I feel your sensations and feedback.This is solely about the steering axis and the resulting benefits, which I believe are very significant. 'd like to try to explain to you what I feel. For this experiment, I'll do it with extreme values, even though they won't be the ones in the end. But so you can feel it better, which I might already feel at 25%.
Increase the steering sensitivity to 100% (the visual steering wheel is invisible, of course). Now drive with it and save your sensations.Then reduce the steering sensitivity to 0% and drive again and compare. The difference will be enormous, because the steering axis reacts completely differently.

The steering will become much more direct and progressive.The pressure and firmness of the steering axis will increase, and the center will become much sharper.The feeling will be less detached and less spongy.Additionally, this increased steering response will result in less boat feel and less slipping .And that's exactly what I notice with less steering sensitivity when I reduce it to about 25%. I can't say whether it will make a difference for you, but that's how it is for me.

 

Thanks @Danielkart I'm stuck at work until tomorrow (my time) but I'll try and experiment with it a bit when I'm back home.

 

I was testing this again and I think the linearity of 25 works so that the center becomes overly reactive, meaning even a small 5 degrees of rotation from center is actually a lot more in the game, but the more you apply steering (about half way from the maximum steering angle of that particular car) the more it's aligned with the actual physical rotation of the wheel (linear). This is why the wheel itself also goes crazy when you have it visible, because very little rotation is actually a lot more initially. It's actually not even the wheel, you can observe the same from a open wheeler front tires, those too can be seen turning a lot more initially with the 25 setting. Same can be seen from the telemetry view. I'm pretty sure it impacts the physics similar way, that's why it feels sharper and less floaty as you get more immediate response (less input adds more rotation initially).

 

Yes, that's why I recommended using an open-top F1 car, because then they can visually see what the car's wheels are doing. In VR, it's not possible to reduce the steering sensitivity, otherwise it would be visually chaotic. But with normal monitor use, it's different.

So, what's more important to them? All the benefits of reducing steering sensitivity, or whether their visual wheel runs faster visually for the first few degrees? In GT3, that's irrelevant anyway because the wheels aren't visible, and these cars are affected the most. For me personally, that's an easy answer. I enjoy less slipping and less boat feeling. Along with the other advantages I've described. These advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages for me, and I will continue to use them as long as things stay that way. I actually only see disadvantages if they use VR (then they'd still use 50%) or if they didn't hide their virtual wheel (which doesn't make sense to me). Personally, this change is a small game-changer because it significantly improves the driving experience and feedback. Of course, it would be desirable if this feedback were at 50%, but unfortunately, it isn't, or isn't, the case yet. But of course everyone can decide for themselves what is more important to them

 

Ok, so, here are the results of my experimentations:

Cars: Porsche GT3 Gen2, Formula 3 (D309)
Wheelbase: Moza R9 V1, GS V1 wheel
Circuit used: Nurburgring 2020 Veedol layout

Daniel, I used your V7000 "File 1" for the wheelbase and followed the settings for the R9 V2 wheelbase to set it up.

So with both cars, I used v7000, Default+, and Default to test. I also switched steering sensitivity between 1 and 100, (sometimes mid-lap).

Any differences created by changing steering sensitivity, to me, are completely invisible to my brain. There may be a tangible change but I'm not consciously picking it up and I would be lying if I said I noticed any difference.

For me, "Default" is still the winner for both cars. It's hard to describe why, perhaps it's just because I'm used to it. I used to use Default+ all the time several versions ago, but tried out Default and liked it better immediately at the time. But I think possibly it's because the wheel goes firm under cornering, I can still feel the bumps and surface irregularities coming through, and I still feel in control at the limit.

In the Gen2 GT3: V7000 felt very 'numb', I do like how the wheel firms up under high cornering loads, but otherwise it felt like very little information about the movement of the car was being transmitted to my hands. Default+ on the other hand, was the complete opposite - it was information overload. In both cases, it was very difficult to pick when I was at the limit of grip, but Default+ was worse in the sense that the wheel goes light at the limit, and it does indeed feel like you are 'floating' through the corners. I think on this run, my time ended up being around 1.5 seconds slower compared to using V7000 due to the lack of confidence in corners.

In the Formula 3: V7000 the same as in the GT3 - somewhat numb, not much information coming back to me (it's mostly just minor vibrations). At least, not information that I'm consciously able to process as being related to what the road feels like. Default+ was significantly better in this car compared to the GT3, but it is still 'too much' information.

So I have a question that you might be able to answer, Daniel: Is your FFB better-suited to a higher powered base that can 'translate' more information simultaneously (e.g., your VNM reference base)? And for that matter - would it then make Default+ more meaningful?

 

Of course, you can use the default, that's perfectly fine and a matter of personal taste. If you don't notice any difference, that's not a problem either. I definitely feel it, and it makes the driving experience even better for me.
By the way, you should have used V7000 Topspeed 4 for comparison because that file is the most recent, and the base settings have also changed for your base. But that's a different story. Now to your question: No, I don't think a high-performance base works better with file A or file B. But there are big differences between the base systems, and there are big differences here. For this reason, I always have two files, because it's not possible to operate all systems with one FFB. The bases have different advantages and disadvantages that I could only compensate for and improve with two different files. My new reference base from VNM is a different story. It changes everything I've known about bases so far, and for me personally, it's a revolution. But that would take too long to explain, and probably not many people are interested. As I said, you can take what you want and it's your decision. There will be people who feel it and people who don't, no problem