Medium Messing - Br1am midrange special (custom FFB file)

I went down the FFB rabbit hole and all I got was this .txt file

Intro
I was always perfectly happy with the FFB on AMS2, very happy actually.
Then 1.4.8 happened, with a few '1.5 physics' cars, with so much improvement on feeling connected with the car, I decided I wanted to tweak my FFB settings to perfection with a matching custom FFB file. And down the rabbit hole I went...

Over the years of playing AMS2 I had tried a bunch of custom FFB files, in the hopes of finding an even better experience than the standard Default and Default+ options. In the end I always came back to Default. I was more active on the forum here, and came across a recommendation by Theodore Schultz to try the Heavy Messing V2.5 files by NuScorpii. An option that has been around for a while, but seems to connect really well with the new 1.5 physics and tire model improvements. Once I tried that, I was immediately sold by the connected road feel. Thanks mr Schultz! I decided this was going to be the basis for my adaptation of the file.

To really understand what the file and its impact on the FFB is, I decided to literally fiddle with every value and see what happens if I turn it up all the way, or take it away. Once I did that, I also wanted to make sure my wheel base would use the optimal settings to build the base on. So I experimented with those settings as well, but for development of the file, some base settings had to be turned off, like in base damping.

The compromise
I feel very lucky to have grown into a fairly nice setup, with a DD wheel base. The amount of detail such a base can provide is very nice, as fellow DD owners will know. I currently have a Fanatec CSL DD, with the boost kit, so it is rated at 8Nm. This is a nice package, but very early into my journey down the FFB rabbit hole, I discovered there is way more information coming from this wonderful sim, over quite a large range of forces, than I ever imagined. I was always used to the feel of reasonably high forces coming from my base, so I really felt I was hustling a car all the time, with quite big jolts.

But once I (at first just for fun) switched the Force Feedback Scale setting (this is a setting on the Fanatec base) from 'Peak' to 'Linear', I discovered the joy of a larger dynamic range. Mind you, I always always am driving with the setting on 'Peak', on all my sims. It seems to make the base feel more beefy, to maybe compensate a bit for the lack of higher forces. Linear always felt too light and lifeless. But with the custom file and trying to crank up the force all the way to the max (Gain 100 and vehicle specific FFB to 150%) the amount of sweet, juicy, lovely detail coming from the sim was mind blowing. For one it made me instantly want a more powerful wheelbase, but it did send me in a direction for the file. I knew I wanted more of the lovely detail in the low to midrange forces, in a way that the 'Peak' setting in my Fanatec base only seemed to completely crush them to oblivion. This meant a compromise on the total dynamic range, I knew I needed to tame the higher forces to let the low to midrange shine on my 8Nm base.

The file
After about 2 weeks of testing and tweaking during the beta as a Paddock Club Member, I landed on a file that I'm happy with. So there are a few things you need to know about the file, because it probably feels a little different than what you've been used to. There is only so much 'room' 8Nm provides, so I had to dial down the higher forces quite a bit, to balance the total spectrum. These forces are usually, high downforce, high load, gyro and crashes. Now, I made sure these forces are still there, but they live within the limits of a midrange base now. You'll probably have to get used to this feeling for a bit, as they may feel subtle at first. But in my tests I find them pronounced enough to still give me all the information I need.

So it is most likely not ideal for players with other bases other than a Fanatec CSL DD, DD Pro with 8Nm or something very similar. I have no access to other bases atm, so I can't make informed adjustments to the file for other bases. Higher powered DD wheel bases probably are just better of with the original Heavy Messing Files, unless they run it at similar output.

In game and base settings
Gain - 85 [this is a good overall value, vehicle specific can always be slightly adjusted to taste or clipping]
LFB - 1 [to preserve low to midrange detail as intended by the game, I highly suggest staying between 0-2]
FX - 50 [I suggest 50, but anything between 35-50 seems fine. Lower FX for less pronounced road feel]
Damping - 25 [at 25 the wheel feels realistically damped, whilst maximizing information coming through, any lower is unrealistic but if that is what you like, go lower]

SEN - Auto [maximizes degrees of rotation for every car, if auto is no option for you I suggest 900]
FFB - 100
FFS - Linear [I feel this is important to really feel the tire dynamics as intended by Reiza, Peak crushes the dynamic range making every corner feeling sort of the same in terms of force]
NDP - Off [no need for in base damping, the game does a better more sophisticated job]
NFR - Off [the game simulates the friction through FFB, no need]
NIN - 12 [Personal preference, I think this little bit of inertia adds a bit of realism to the wheel]
INT - 1 [AMS2 has insanely clean output, no need to go higher than 1]
FEI - 100

Disclaimer
This is all based on personal preference. If it's not for you that is totally fine. If you like it, great!

 

Interesting to read your method. I’ll give it a shot later today. The detailed heavy messing file is currently what I’m using and generally think it’s pretty good, but it could always be better lol. Logitech dd wheel here, which is a midrange dd like yours if slightly more nm.

 

Got a chance to try this the yesterday, I wouldn't say it's the file for me personally, feels quite light on my wheel even with the dampening turned up a tinge, but I can definitely feel for what you're going for, you can feel the midrange wheel dynamics. Though it might not be my thing personally, I can imagine some folks liking this file.

 

I just gave this a shot as I never used the original.

I have to say it feels very similar to default+ with it being a little lighter on turn in and during mid corner. It almost feels as though this and default+ are based off of the same thing. So not bad as I've switched to default+ a few months after it was released.

 

I appreciate your take on it, and I agree it’s a lot closer to what the Default+ profile feel like, compared to some other custom files found here. Just a rework to my taste to feel connected with the car within the limits of my base.

Thanks for trying it and providing some feedback!

 

Thank you for sharing this. Feels great, not as heavy as Daniel V80 on my CSL DD 5nm and with plenty of room for all the different feelings to come through.

Would love to know how to turn down the 'spinning' feeling on the main shaft.. feels like something is spinning around it, if that makes any sense, it's not the road vibration though..

 

I have tried to figure out what matches your description. You could make 2 small adjustments in the .TXT file.
Try changing
macro_details 0.4 to 0.1
scrub_scale 0.6 to 0.1

No idea if that eliminates the spinning feeling under load?

 

Thanks, I'll give that a go tomorrow, It does feel like a scrubbing, maybe it's that..

 

That was it Thank you..