LexxVR's Friction Addiction Custom FFB for AMS2

Do you crave a more direct connection to the road?

To download the new and improved version released on 4/29/2020, please visit this thread:

New and Improved: LexxVR's Custom FFB for AMS2

UPDATE 4/28/2020

This weekend I came up with a new version which blows all prior ones out of the water, so I deleted the attached file for now. Please bear with me while I finalize my testing in the evenings. Will release as new top level post in the coming day or two.

UPDATE 4/21/2020

Posted Release 6: "I can't believe it's not rubber" edition. I suggest turning up FX to 30-40 for this version. Should feel the tire carcass quite a bit more with this one. Enjoy!

UPDATE 4/14/2020

Deleted the attached previous versions (R1 and R2), since Release 5 seems like the real winner here. If you're running any version prior to R5, please do swap out the file for the newest one, and increase FX to a reasonable amount (24-32) if you've turned it way down due to the excessive vibrations in the prior versions. If anyone doesn't think R5 is an improvement, please let me know.

UPDATE 4/13/2020

Posted R5 to address the issues reported with R3 and R4. Removed Releases 3 (too much road noise and engine vibration) and 4 (texture muffled relative to engine vibration). R5 should be a good overall balance according to all the feedback. Those of you who had to turn down FX due to excess vibration in R3 and R4 can try turning it back up to the 24-32 range for R5 -- I now personally use FX at 26-30 on DD1. In order to see any benefit from my FFB file, you'll need FX to be non-zero.

Side note: on my Fanatec wheels I've placed silicone O-rings behind each of my buttons to prevent them rattling around while still allowing them to be pressed. You can buy a large box of assorted O-ring sizes on Amazon (silicone or nitrile).

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UPDATE 4/12/2020

I've posted Release 3. This time, I've focused on improving on-center smoothness and the onset of friction while loading up the tires. For those on a prior version, swap in the file and be aware of the following changed suggested settings:

- Reduce Low Force Boost from 18 to 6
- Reduce FX from 46 to 32

If you have one of the prior versions, please let me know which release you prefer, and also if you think I'm tuning in the right direction.


UPDATE 4/7/2020

After several dozen more iterations over the weekend, I've published Release 2 (v1.25), attached to the top level post. This version adds gearbox/shifting, improves engine vibration and dramatically improves road feel.

For those with Release 1 already (v1.17) you only need to drop in the new ffb_custom_settings.txt file in your Documents/Automobilista 2 folder to update it. No need to change any settings on the wheel or in game.


INTRODUCTION

This custom FFB file aims to surface more realistic road texture detail, contact patch grip characteristics and tire scrub available from the SETA tire model components carried over in Automobilista 2.

When tuned, Force Feedback becomes part of the car's handling/physics loop, as it allows the car to "drive itself" by following the contours of the road while automatically stabilizing itself from any upset.


REQUIRED HARDWARE and SOFTWARE

The included file and sim/wheel settings (see screenshots) work for me on a Fanatec DD1 running the beta drivers released with Fanatec PC Driver v352/353/356, as it takes advantage of the new settings and performance improvements released in November 2019.

This should also work for other DD wheels or high end belt driven wheels (e.g. CSW v2.5), but I have no way of testing this until test reports from AMS2 community members who have tried this.

Please start with all my recommended settings as a baseline (as shown in the included screenshots) except FORCE setting on your wheel, which is entirely up to you, and can vary significantly depending on the car and its caster angle setting. I recommend using different wheel setup slots so you can quickly change your force level (and related inertia settings) on the fly while in the car.

If you find that different settings work better for you with the same or different hardware, please provide feedback to the AMS2 forum.


WARNING and TERMS OF USE

This is a work in progress posted to the AMS2 forums with a request for community testing. In order to be eligible to test this configuration file, you agree to post your feedback as a response on the AMS2 Forum and to only test this file at your own risk. Always start by setting the FFB Force Level [FOR setting] on your wheel to the minimum safe level, then slowly work your way up according to your own abilities and risk tolerance.
​

 

so much blahblahblah for nothing
OMG
If you are eligible to say nothing, please do it w/o a 200 pages disclaimer

Edit:
Disclamer:
Lexx original post has changed in the last days by updating with newer and more information.
So that joke i made has not much relevance anymore.
But will not be changed
You can give me 100 dislikes. No problem.

 

Dude, do you even America? We have disclaimers and warnings on everything.

 

Please don’t be discouraged by that first post. I made an account just to say thanks for taking the time to detail your settings. It’s refreshing to see all the details, too often people are left guessing when not enough info is provided.

I have to admit I was skeptical once I opened your images, and saw settings for the DD1 that were so contrary to my understanding of how things work. But I tried them anyway. And I was very pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed them - the road feel through the wheel was quite nice.

It really highlights how there isn’t one answer to arrive at good feel. Sometimes variables set up quite differently can be really good as well. I was surprised to see your FF settings on the DD1 at 100, while FOR was at 60. It is the opposite of what I have seen generally in the past. I understood FOR to be set at 100 to avoid artificially truncating/cutting off some of the range of the signal output from the software. Much more common seems to be setting FOR at 100, and varying the wheel strength using the FF setting on the DD1. I’ll need to look up the definitions from Fanatec again. Have you considered running then opposite? I tried it as well, and will need to spend more time to confirm the differences.

Also your use of LIN set to ON (smoothing the peaks relative to the constant torque holding force through turns) was different to what I’ve been using by default (I have always been keeping that off), as was your setting of INT totally off (the smoothing of the raw FFB signal to avoid the ‘steps’/lower frequency some simulators output). Often that results in a rough jumpy feeling, but with your combination of settings, that isn’t the case at all. Again, neat to see very different setting result in an unexpected, great feel.

Thanks for sharing and look forward to see how this develops further.

 

will try that tomorrow, sounds great so far, thx much

 

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback!

Interesting question about which of FF vs. FOR truncates vs. scales the ffb signal. According to the docs I found (Fanatec) the FF is a max clip level and can go up to 100, while FOR will scale the ffb force (same as with Spring and Damper, which are not used while driving in AMS2), and each of these can be set up to 120%.

Yes, I managed to turn off interpolation while eliminating the gritty feeling thanks to the tire model’s 600hz ffb refresh rate (compared to 60hz in iRacing) so that it’s smooth with no quantizing/latency effect from the interpolation algorithm.

 

UPDATE 4/7/2020

After several dozen more iterations over the weekend, I've published Release 2 (v1.25), attached to the top level post. This version adds gearbox/shifting, improves engine vibration and dramatically improves road feel.

For those with Release 1 already (v1.17) you only need to drop in the new ffb_custom_settings.txt file in your Documents/Automobilista 2 folder to update it. No need to change any settings on the wheel or in game.

 

I'll give it a try. Thanks.
However, i have to admit, that i find your FBB settings on your DD1 quite strange. It's completely different to the settings i'm using in almost every other sim. That worries me a little, even without having tried it yet.
But i'll give it a shot.

 

How miserable your life must be ...

 

it really is. When reading such comments


edit:
Disliked

 

Lexx, just ignore the Troll. It's looking to feed on you. Do not feed the Troll.
Okay, with that out of the way, I was wondering if you have any feedback from the belt driven folks. Mt TS-PC is equal to the CSL Elite (won't argue that point). Almost 6Nm of torque, with what I think is good software. It's also capable of the finer details of FFB, for a belt driven wheel that is. I'm thinking of trying it, but just wanted to ask if you've had any feedback from the belt crowd.
Lastly, I want to thank you for your time and work, and that you chose to share it with us.

 

No feedback on that yet, but would like to get yours here. I think it’s a very respectable wheel, plenty strong enough, just not sure how the finer road details will come through. Overall I think it should work well.

I think you likely need to adjust the FX in game up for more texture detail, or down if rattling, and raise low force boost, probably doubling it to 36 or so. Gain may need to come down to avoid clipping, or maybe just enough to make up for the extra low force boost.

Thanks for the kudos - happy to share if it makes someone’s driving more enjoyable as it did for me!

 

I tried the custom file, and I must say it was an interesting experience. Let's get this out of the way. I really liked the FFB your file gives my wheel. It's counter intuitive to the way I've always driven in a sim. With your file I found that I was preventing the wheel from steering the car. I know that sounds weird, but there it is.

Once I understood what the wheel was trying to communicate to me; once I learned how to "listen" It became very intuitive. I am actually less active with the wheel using the custom file. I was over-driving the car. My test track was Kyalami Historic. I ran the Sprint Car and the Stock Car V8. Since the Sprinter is my favorite car, It was perfect for the test, as I'm very familiar with it.

Kyalami has long straights and slow and fast corners. It also has elevation changes. Great for testing, as it's a relatively quick lap. I could turn a lot of laps in a short amount of time. Two things really stood out for me
1. I noticed immediately that I was getting more feedback from the wheel. I could feel the undulations and bumps. I still think loss of grip feel at the front is a problem for this title(EA), however, I did get a better feel, or sense of being on the edge. I had to really concentrate on the info I was getting from the wheel. Not a bad thing, as the info was new to me from this title, perhaps sims in general.

2. Counter steering was a lot easier, or perhaps I should say, more intuitive. Perhaps simpler? I don't have the perfect adjective. Power on cornering is where this file really stands out. Case in point: Turn Four at KH is a fast right hand sweeper followed by hard braking to make Turn Five. Prior to using your custom file, it was at times a struggle to consistently put the car where I wanted for number five.
However, since installing the file, my line out of four is much better, making it easier to set up for five. What I like most is the fact that my lap times dropped because I was able to concentrate more on finding the right line for my (new) driving style and less on car control.

To conclude; I'm going to continue to use the file. At the very least it's an improvement over the default option. Add to that, better feel from the wheel, and once you understand what the wheel is trying to do you become an extension of the wheel, if that makes sense to you. It does to me. I'm going to experiment more with settings, as I feel I can still get more from the custom file.

Thanks again for sharing. It has made a huge difference for me. I can't even imagine what you DD guys will and are experiencing.

 

Lex VR have you read this by Juan Reinoso in the AUTOMOBILISTA 2 BETA - V0.8.2.0 Now Up channel.
These parameters are missing in the custom FFB file since some beta update, these parameters make the soft lock work (better than default FFB) so the soft lock doesn't work if you use custom FFB

###

##lock_stops
##(stops (bumpstop params:
##0: xx
##1: 1.0-k_threshold
##2: stiffness / #1
##3: 1.0-drag_threshold
##4: Cd
(stops (bumpstop output 0.05 0.5 0.05 0.1))
(output (+ output (* stops custom_lock_stop)))

###

 

w/o beta access LexxVR cannot read that channel.
Nice that you postet this information here.

 

Thanks for the heads up, but I had already added lock stops to my custom file, appearing near the bottom:

##lock_stops
(stops (bumpstop output 0.05 1.0 0.05 0.0))
(output (+ output (* stops device_lock_stop)))

 

Interesting, have not heard of such a thing being an issue - I was thinking of people getting a little carried away and having sore wrists. For what it’s worth, I’ve been testing, modifying and combining Custom FFB scripts from all available sources for PC2 in the past 2.5 years, first on a TS-PC, then on a CSW2.5, and finally using a DD1 for the last year. Also thinking of releasing my PC2 custom file if there’s demand for it, but I’ve held off since it’s a crowded field and that audience most likely isn’t as seriously into handing dynamics as this one.

 

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Swagger!

Yes, I think you have it exactly right: once the car “speaks” through the wheel and you know you can trust it, it becomes more of a dialogue/collaboration where you only intervene lightly and when necessary, carving turns while essentially surfing your own wake as the tires naturally settle into their optimal slip angle, which feels like a “groove” through the wheel.

Less struggling to “get your way” with the car results in more consistency, reduced friction losses and therefore faster laps, plus freeing up so much mental energy to focus on your line and higher order problems, rather than controlling the car.

What in game settings did you end up using with your TS-PC?

 

I can't wait to try out this file today! I'll be responding later today or tomorrow with my results, if at all possible. Thanks for getting this put together for all of us, Lexx VR!