SimXperience AccuForce Pro Steering System

Update 2018-09-28: Published a new post, Secrets of the SimXperience AccuForce Pro, in my Secrets series where I’ll be recording the less obvious/less intuitive discoveries and tips and tricks with the AccuForce and SimCommander. I’ll be putting AccuForce Game-specific content over there from now on.

Update 2018-02-24 – 2: Added Tips and Tricks > AccuForce causing spurious inputs / Inability to assign controls in-game due to spurious inputs section detailing a fix if your AccuForce is causing spurious inputs.

Update 2018-02-24: Organized with a Table of Contents.

Update 2016-11-15: My latest R3E settings, including the November 2016 update, are over at my RaceRoom Racing Experience Force Feedback Settings post.

Update 2016-06-10: Updated Assetto Corsa FFB settings a little.

Update 2016-03-31: After the R3E update, I was getting a constant vibration in the wheel that tracked the cars speed (not engine rpm). People said to zero Slip Effect in-game but that wasn’t working for me. I eventually created a brand new R3E controller profile in-game and then compared to my previous profile. I noticed some differences like “FFB steer vibe freq mult=0” (and related values). Once I synchronized those I changed Slip Effect to zero in-game and that solved it.

Update 2016-03-08: Clarified certain language after time and reflection per the Closing Thoughts section. Filled in some sections that were still left undone.

Update 2016-02-19: Updated R3E section to sync with update notes. Added Assetto Corsa and rFactor place-holder sections for now. I plan to add more as I setup those games to work nicely with the AccuForce.

Update 2016-01-12: Added Suggestions for Improvements section.

Update 2016-01-01 – 3: Continuing my RaceRoom Racing Experimence experimentation (see updates below) I have been trying different cars with the settings I came up with earlier. I’ve run the Cadillac CTS V.R, BMW M4 DTM 2014, and the Aquila CR1, all at Brands Hatch Indy. They all felt really great except the Aquila which had very heavy steering (I’m not sure if S3 has updated the car in a long time) and its shift effect is ridiculous, I’ll have to turn that down even though it’ll also effect the other cars. I’ll be trying more cars and more tracks as my next step… Tested the McLaren MP4-12C, Ford Mustang GT3, Audi V8 DTM 1992, and 134 Judd V8. They all feel way better than my previous settings. The only quibble I have is cars with heavy steering could feel better. Remember some cars do not have updated physics/ffb (like the BMW E30 Gr. A I just tried) and they feel particularly “numb” or “dull”.

Update 2016-01-01 – 2: Following on my RaceRoom Racing Experience experimentation earlier today (see first 2016-01-01 update below), I then started experimenting with Wheel Modes and Dynamic Force Boost (expand Sim Commander Effects > Game Force Feedback to see the checkbox). I felt like I had more grip or could better tell how much grip I had under the Responsive (Peaks Allowed) mode as opposed to Default Wheel Mode I was using. This wheel mode allowed in some more what I call “boat sway” in the steering (ex. high speed straight wheel oscillates back and forth on its own) but it’s not so bad. I then enabled Dynamic Force Boost and the feeling of grip improved a little more. As a bonus, force feedback effects come in clearer due to the added force strength added by the wheel mode and force boost. I then had to experiment again with SC Dampening and Friction and I ended up on 1.57% for both. By the way, I have so far kept both Dampening and Friction to the same value as it feels correct in the steering and also seems to make sense in that they are sort of opposites and complement each other in a way. Dampening feels like added “weight” during force feedback effects, such as when the wheel swings back the opposite way when the backend goes out and you need to push through the effect to correct the steering, whereas friction adds weight when there are no force feedback effects. It’s still not perfect, I need to test with other settings like SC Inertia, as I said, and also try other cars (so far testing on BMW M3 GT2 at Brands Hatch Indy). Here are my latest Sim Commander and in-game settings for R3E:

Update 2016-01-01: In RaceRoom Racing Experience, I experimented with moving Smoothing, Spring, Damper, and Friction to Sim Commander settings, so these are disabled (0%) in-game. I figure all the AccuForce does is FFB so it might be better or at least more efficient than the in-game settings. It also consolidates as much as possible to the wheel to avoid duplicating settings. I noticed both SC and R3E had smoothing applied so I first disabled it in-game, which felt better, and then disabled it in SC, which felt even better: I realized I was now feeling effects quicker than I was before. It seems Smoothing was delaying effects or making it feel delayed. I then did the usual binary search on SC Smoothing and Dampening and landed on 8.24% for each. It doesn’t feel perfect but it’s the best I could do in the binary search so far. I might have to experiment with some other SC setting like Inertia. Oh, before I started I did Reset to Defaults on the wheel, ensured Wheel Mode was Default (because High/Responsive modes have had too much oscillation in R3E), disabled Engine RPM (also SC), and then started experimenting in-game. Here’s my latest Sim Commander and in-game settings for R3E:

Update 2015-12-24: Added a Closing Thoughts section which wraps up my thoughts and feelings after having driven with the AccuForce now for more than 6 months. What do I really think of the AccuForce? Would I buy it again? Read on to find out… Oh, and here’s an article over at MockRacer.com about the Leo Bodnar SimSteering2 wheel where he compares it the AccuForce he tried earlier in the year. The direct drive wheel market keeps getting more and more interesting.

Update 2015-11-26: I picked up Stock Car Extreme on the Steam Fall Sale ongoing right now. Not a bad pikcup for CAD $20. Sim Commander supports it right out of the box with pretty good settings. I made a new SC profile from scratch and reset it to defaults. When you launch SCE for the first time remember to set Windowed mode or you won’t see Sim Commander’s overlay in the game. In game, you’ll need to setup your controls as per usual for any sim. It doesn’t feel like SCE knows about the AccuForce so I had to set the Wheel Range (in the Controls screen just after you launch a track but before you get on) to 900. It still feels off, you might need to set the Wheel Lock in the Garage screens to 30 to get a 15:1 steering ratio (ie. something like GT-style steering ratio). Let me know if there are any more settings we AF owners should be setting for a more solid ride. Enjoy.

Update 2015-09-25 – 6: My latest Sim Commander settings for R3E:

And for R3E in-game:

Update 2015-09-25 – 6: A note on dialing in range settings. I’ve mentioned it before but I think I’ll mention it again. When I come up with settings within a range (ex. Smoothing 5% where the range is 0% to 100%) I do a binary search by hand. Put simply, a binary search is starting at one extreme, adding or subtracting half the range, and then adding or subtracting half again, based on preference, and repeating this process until you find an optimal value. For example, with Damping I went from 0% to 100% to try the extremes, then 50% because it was too high, then 25%, then 12%, then 6%, all based on preference. So, put in the setting, run a lap and, if it feels too much lower the value or if it doesn’t feel enough raise the value.

Update 2015-09-25 – 5: I’ve been playing around with Smoothing (5%), Damper (6%) and Friction (6%). Smoothing was at 25% before and it was taking a little bit of definition out of the ffb so I put in just 5%. Damper was at 0% before and it tends to simply dampen all forces (sort of make them slower) and I found more dampening helped me catch sliding backends. Friction was at 0% before and it applies a resistance to the strength you put into turning the wheel. I found in slides or losing grip that something felt off, it was too easy to swing the wheel back and that caused me to misjudge how I correct a slide. Turning up friction to 6% (after trying a binary search) helped me just a little better about how to correct my steering in those scenarios.

Update 2015-09-25 – 4: Even though R3E doesn’t officially support the wheel yet I find I’m finally getting to like the AccuForce FFB results after a lot tweaking (see the updates below from the last few days). The only thing really bugging me right now is the boat-like swaying motion on straights (“floaty” steering feel near center) and also the awkward steering feel when your backend flies out and you need to counter-steer. Something’s still not right there. But, hey, things are feeling pretty enjoyable.

Update 2015-09-25 – 3: I experimented in R3E with Steering Rack FFB. I was used to 0% (ie. all forces from tires as opposed to steering rack) so I flipped it 100% (ie. all forces from steering rack as opposed to tires) and I noticed a more “gradual” or “analog” rise and fall as I mounted and dismounted kerbs. I quite like the extra information so I’ve currently settled on Steering Rack 50% (ie. half of all forces from tires and half of all forces from steering rack).

Update 2015-09-25: Tweaked R3E Steering Force Intensity and Understeer as I put in more seat time and learn what I like.

Update 2015-09-17: Added force feedback settings for RaceRoom Racing Experience. Basically I reset the Sim Commander Profile and then set Steering Force Intensity ~~70%~~ 50% and Understeer ~~25%~~ 20%. That’s all I’ve done so far.

Update 2015-09-15: Having problems with Sim Commander crashing after launching games or the in-game overlay not showing in some games like RaceRoom Racing Experience? Power cycle your AccuForce and it should come back. I knew this trick since I ran into a bug when I first got the wheel where the computer wouldn’t even boot with the AccuForce on. Since then I must have gotten into the habit of turning the AccuForce on shortly after booting and that was causing problems. If I only power on the AccuForce after logging in then RaceRoom appears to work flawlessly and I don’t need to power cycle.

Update 2015-07-30: Check this very helpful and informative post on tuning the Accuforce Pro: AccuForce Settings For Dummies.

Update 2015-06-03: Added RaceRoom Racing Experience after 2015-06-02 Update section.

Update 2015-06-01: Added Auto-Tuning with Sim Commander Software section. Recommended read for AccuForce owners: AccuForce Tuning Feedback Test. This is a thread Berney of SimXperience created after the Sim Racing Garage head-to-head video, mentioned below, attempting to provide collect some user experiences and determine what kind of changes could be made to the wheel to improve feel for sim racers (who may have different force feedback tastes than real-life race drivers).

Update 2015-06-01: Barry, from Sim Racing Garage, has release a head-to-head comparison of the Accuforce Pro, Bodnar, and OSW wheels. It has highlighted some nagging concerns I’ve had ever since I’ve been playing with the wheel. Before we go any further, don’t think for a moment I’m saying the Accuforce is not a good wheel. It’s a professional, supported, warrantied, complete package, direct-drive, very strong wheel, with good force feedback and excellent tuning options. It’s a great wheel and at a competitive price. What I will say though is that the forces are not coming through as much as I’d like. For example, one reviewer in the video mentioned how it was difficult to tell the different between a slide through grass and the moment it hit the pavement during the slide. The AF wasn’t communicating that well. Other examples include strong cornering forces washing out road feel, or banking or kerb forces not feeling as defined as the other wheels. On the SimXperience forums, Berney (of SimX), has said he’ll be thinking about pushing out wheel updates to work on the comments the reviewers had in the videos. I look forward to trying those updates.

Update 2015-05-21: Added iRacing Settings, RaceRoom Racing Experience Settings

Update 2015-05-19: Added Setup, First Impressions, First Driving Experience, G27 Thoughts, Resources

SimXperience AccuForce Pro Steering System

I’ve recently received my SimXperience AccuForce Pro and have been enjoying it for the past week. I’ve only owned one other force feedback wheel, a Logitech G27, and this is, of course, leaps and bounds beyond a G27. There is ample power and tuning options to provide the flexibility sim racers really want to ensure the best and most realistic experience while driving.

I’ll be posting my initial thoughts, my driving and tuning experiences, and providing tips and tricks for various facets of the wheel, it’s tuning software, and for the various sim titles I play.

I’ll be writing this post in parts and updating new sections as I have time and learn new things about the wheel!

Enjoy!

Continue reading “SimXperience AccuForce Pro Steering System”

RaceRoom Racing Experience Force Feedback Settings

Update 2016-12-10: The BMW M4 DTM 2016 at the Red Bull Ring Spielburg is an excellent demonstration of what the AccuForce should feel like in more games. SimXperience worked with S3 on the FFB feel for the November 2016 R3E update and, combined with DTM 2016 using the latest game physics, it produces an intense, visceral driving experience I had not yet experienced with the AccuForce since I bought it in early-mid 2015. I am very pleased, needless to say, after all my tweaking. Here’s the settings, and, personally, in SimCommander I always reset my AccuForce to defaults, set Wheel Mode High, enable Force Boost, and disable Engine RPMs:

Update 2016-12-10 (2): Important! Be sure you are basing your R3E Controller Profile tweaking on the correct device: The AccuForce Controller Profile. I was under the impression that, if the game knew about the AccuForce, and I setup the default in-game Controller Profile with the AccuForce wheel and buttons, that I was doing the right thing: Not so, it was using a lot of behind-the-scenes defaults for the actual selected device – the keyboard! So, be sure the first thing you do when setting up R3E is to actually click the AccuForce Controller Profile button in-game. It can be confusing as it doesn’t look like a button and it doesn’t highlight in a clear and obvious way. If you don’t do this you’ll end up reverse engineering the AccuForce Controller Profile, as I did, and you still won’t end up with a good result due to all the hidden logic they’ve already worked on themselves (including degrees of rotation support missing if you select keyboard).

Update 2016-11-16: I’ve been tuning FFB from the ground up for AF after the November 2016 update released yesterday. I feel I landed on pretty much the same as the 2016-11-14 update. The only drawback so far is a lighter wheel around center especially on straights. For the gory details of how I got to my settings, here’s the post that I made in the SimXperience Owners Club forums. Here’s the settings screensnaps:

Update 2016-11-14: Just before the November 2016 R3E update, I was playing around with Dynamic Oscillation Control – Moving instead of Dampening in SimCommander and, with a little bit of friction, I quite enjoyed the results not having to put up with the side-effects of fluid dampening on handling behaviour. I even set some RaceRoom Raceway #1 finishes! :) I’ll be updating for the November 2016 R3E update, shortly, but for now here’s the settings:

Update 2016-09-27: Been playing around with FFB to reduce ‘boat sway’ on straights. I’ve been experimenting with more dampening and even had to add some spring (ugh). I also clued in to the in-game FFB settings where Steering Force Intensity is the magnitude of strength for all the settings in that section (it strengthens or weakens the sum of all other forces in that section), and I also realized the Vertical Load and Lateral Load really need to fit in 100% (ie. one can be 75% but the other must be 25%). Here’s the settings:

Update 2016-01-12: Renamed Wishlist to Suggestions for Improvements and added a number of items.

Update 2015-09-25: I’ve been putting a lot of my AccuForce updates for R3E in my AccuForce post over here.

Update 2015-06-04: Check out this post by Georg Ortner of S3 that explains the different FFB options.

Update 2015-04-15: ~~Georg Ortner, dev for Sector 3, has posted his G27 Logitech Profiler and in-game settings (link fixed 2015-04-16 as they deleted the old one ugh) on the S3 forums.~~ Ugh. Okay they deleted that thead. It’s still a good thread for getting an idea of what other people are doing, however. Here’s the gist: He has disabled Spring Effect, Damper Effect, and Centering Spring and I don’t modify anything else in-game or in files yet. I had these at defaults, due to my assumptions about some his previous posts over at the RaceDepartment.com forums, but I think these are better settings for the G27 now. I think the ffb center deadzone issue is a little bit better like this. I still feel no need to modify any files. My in-game settings are also pretty normal still. I think this is a net win so it’s worth a try.

Update 2015-03-31: Sector 3 released another update today. It will make you reconfigure your controllers (which isn’t such a bad thing since ffb is always being updated, just wish they had saner defaults). Watch out for the need for ‘inverted forces’ that some wheels, like the G27, need. I left pretty much most things at default. Among the changes were “3 new FFB multipliers for spring, damper and friction in FFB settings.” Spring is the one we’re interested in for dealing with the G27 center deadzone issue which still exists. I did a binary search from 0% to 100% to 50% to 25% and ended up at 25%. At each level I tried to determine whether hard cornering was ‘clipping’ (overdriving the wheel motors so no nuanced forces could be felt) and felt that 25% allowed me to feel the road through hard steering but, unfortunately, that means the deadzone is still there.

Update 2015-02-13: Sector 3 pushed another release yesterday. I’m using all FFB defaults and finding tweaking isn’t very rewarding in R3E with a G27, unfortunately. Center deadzone is still there. Great game, though, and I play it regardless of the FFB troubles. After seeing all the cars, tracks, audio, single player, multiplayer, experiences, championships, hill climbs, etc., I have to say I don’t think any other sim right now comes close to the complete package R3E delivers. Well done, S3!

Update 2014-11-18 – 2: Maybe I’m just getting used to the FFB but perhaps there has been a slight improvement in the G27 ffb center deadzone with the latest update although it’s not nearly enough. As well, the AI respect/aggression appears to have been improved. I can occasionally run side-by-side with AI now without getting rubbed off the track and AI are no longer ramming me from behind going into corners so much.

Update 2014-11-18: Sector 3 has released another major update today including the DTM Experience 2014 amongst various other improvements. Once again I’ve deleted my controller profile in-game to ensure I’ve got their latest controller changes in and I’ve reapplied my changes. Surprisingly I don’t yet feel a need to change any of my profiler or in-game settings that I had with the previous October update. This is unfortunate as it means Sector 3 didn’t address G27 ffb center deadzone issues. They also haven’t improved AI respect/aggression which I was hoping for. That’s not to say this isn’t a great addition, though, as they’ve made a tonne of improvements to track and cars and released new content all besides DTM-E 2014. There’s even a free real-world track now for RaceRoom drivers: Portimao. Keep up the good work S3!

Update 2014-10-18 – 2: I’ve updated my ffb settings for the game update released on 2014-10-17. I started a new controller profile in-game. This resets the controller RCS file and apparently the latest update came with some significant changes that caused all my settings to act strange so I’ve redone everything. The good news is I’m not editing the RCS file anymore. All my changes are in the Logitech Profiler and in-game.

Update 2014-10-18: Sector 3 released an update for RaceRoom Racing Experience yesterday and it came with some force feedback changes that really messed with my G27 wheel settings. It felt very, very light. I suspect this was due to game changes under the hood concerning the “FFB steer force front grip exponent” and “FFB steer force rear grip exponent” RCS file settings that I had heavily modified (see 2014-09-20 update below). If you’ve done this and are experiencing ffb settings try restore the original copy of your RCS file. I did and the wheel came back to normal in-game. Unfortunately the ‘road feel’ felt a little duller than it did before. I upped Vertical/Lateral forces from 160 to 200 and it was a tiny bit better but not enough. Back to the drawing board… :(

Update 2014-09-22: I’ve been experimenting again trying to get as much information of the wheel as possible even in ‘high force’ situations like hard cornering where the force output from the game is much more than the wheel can handle and ultimately drowns out the fine detail. My new Controller RCS file (see below) settings are: FFB steer update thresh=”0.0015″ (1/10th the original; not really sure if this actually helps). In-game settings: Vertical Load: 160%; Lateral Force: 160%. Some cars with heavier steering (Eg. BMW Z4 GT3) still max out the forces by quite a bit and all you get a simple, strong linear steering force. Not much use when you need to feel your way around a corner. If you’re experimenting on your own try to see, during the apex of sharp corners, if you can feel subtle tire force variations. If you can highlight those forces then you’re providing yourself with information about the contouring of the road, understeer and oversteer, etc. All things you need to know to tell how your car is handling. Right now it’s still unsatisfactory but it’s better than it was.

Update 2014-09-20 – 2: I compared brake sensitivity with iRacing. For linear brake springs iRacing uses a default 1.8 brake factor (~25% at half way brake travel) and this roughly equates to 0% in SimBin/S3 titles. I’m used to iRacing brakes on a linear spring so I setup mine in R3E at 0%.

Update 2014-09-20: A post over at RaceDepartment.com for DFGT FFB settings works quite well for G27s. His changes come down to editing your controller rcs file (see below for comments about that): FFB steer force output max=”1.2″;
FFB steer force grip weight=”0.8″; FFB steer force front grip exponent=”8.0″; FFB steer force rear grip exponent=”2.0″; FFB steer load multiplier=”1.85″; FFB steer lateral multiplier=”1.1″; FFB steer rack factor=”0.55″. It works quite well and I can finally feel cornering forces although the ffb gets drowned out around most serious corners. The really drastic change is that 8.8 for “front grip exponent”. By default it’s 0.25 so it must really be helping. My only real problem is that this reintroduces the G27 ffb center deadzone issue as not enough forces are applied to keep the wheel fully centered. This means your Vertical Load setting is largely nullified on straights. Another poster recommends upping your Logitech Profiler Overall Effects Strength to 107%. ~~It’s worth a try.~~ I tried it. It drowned out other ffb effects.

Update 2014-09-17 – 3: I have been reading through the FFB Guide mentioned below. While steps are provided to go from baseline force feedback and gradually tune in more and different forces, which all sounds great, sadly the very first steps are what I still feel is lacking in R3E’s force feedback on the G27. It feels as though too much force is being applied to the wheel during ‘heavy’ steering / maneuvers and there’s no forces left to play with for other effects such as vertical load, lateral forces, understeer, even shift effect. Maybe S3 will fix it but, unfortunately, they don’t really have a track record of delivering on those kinds of things. Still, one can always hope!

Update 2014-09-17 – 2: My latest setttings (only where different from what’s posted below): Logitech Profiler: Use Special Game Settings: Checked; Allow Game to Adjust Settings: Unchecked. In-Game: Shift Effect: 80%.

Update 2014-09-17: To disable Brake Vibration while S3 fixes the bug about that not being able to be changed in game edit your Documents\My Games\SimBin\RaceRoom Racing Experience\UserData\ControlSet\Logitech G27 Paddle Shift Custom.rcs file (your file name might not be the same) and set: FFB brake vibe freq mult=”0.0″ // Scales actual brake rotational frequency to force feedback vibration frequency. The default is 6.0. Make a backup of your file so you can recover when S3 actually fixes the bug. Note you may still experience similar ffb braking into certain corners but I’m pretty sure that disabled the brake vibe for me.

RaceRoom Racing Experience Force Feedback Settings

Sector 3 Studios (formerly SimBin) have recently released an update to their sim racer RaceRoom Racing Experience which includes, among other things, much improved feedback. I wrote a post over at RaceDepartment.com detailing my Logitech G27 setup, thus far, for what I feel is giving me the most information out the wheel that I can get right now. That post wasn’t stickied so I’ll reproduce it here in case it gets lost. I hope to update this post in the future as Sector 3 updates their game and I test out new force feedback settings. My primary force feedback goal is more information even at the cost of force strength. It’s amazing how much information iRacing has been able to squeeze into a G27. That’s my gold standard right now.

Also, in another RaceDeparment.com thread a forum member reminded us of an old FFB Guide (backup link) for SimBin titles based on, what I believe is, the underpinning rFactor force feedback configuration file settings including detail on how to use them – something that’s really missing in the actual configuration files. I’m not sure how old it is but since rFactor is still at heart of Sector 3’s RaceRoom Racing Experience it should still be valuable.

The rest of my post will reproduce the post, with some edits, I mentioned above about my current RaceRoom Racing Experience force feedback setting so far…

Continue reading “RaceRoom Racing Experience Force Feedback Settings”

SimXperience AccuForce Pro Steering System

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RaceRoom Racing Experience Force Feedback Settings

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