R-Pod MkII Driving Simulator

[iiixtream]

Glad to see some progress, I was sad when i hadn't seen any updates in awhile. The dash panels are mouth dropping. Can't wait to see this thing in action.

[ericleroi]

Thanks iiixtream. I had been procrastinating for way too long!

[ericleroi]

Brief video tour of the R-Pod:

[rfancella]

Brief video tour of the R-Pod:

Incredible! Looks very nice!

Can you take some video footage of it in action??

Thanks,

Ron

[ericleroi]

Thanks Ron. I'll get another one recorded and uploaded soon

[SIMPLYAUSTIN]

Thats a piece of art. I could only dream of that setup in my place. However team that with a HD projector and you could get this.... Prob the best setup I have seen hehehe. He has one with a crash and the steering feeback and rig goes mental!

[ericleroi]

Thanks austin585. Remco Hitman is the man when it comes to rigs. His Tyrrell build is out of this world!

[Pro_Pop]

awesome have fun

[ericleroi]

Thanks Pro_Pop I sure am having a lot of fun with it!

[iiixtream]

Fantastic, your sure to have years of fun with this beast. I'm going to miss your building tips and tricks, your a real professional when it come building and designing. I'll look forward to your next build.

[SIMPLYAUSTIN]

Yes I must admit your attention to detail is out of this world... lets hope you keep on building!

[dark13]

Lurked trought the whole building log. A REALLY impressive build with terrific attention to details.

As austin said I would prefer a projector or a 42' lcd screen, I was never sold to 3 monitor setup (in some games they look really nice, anyway, especially with inside view).

And... well you know, gear lever is placed on the "wrong" side

[ericleroi]

Thanks dark13. A projector would be great but, alas, I don't have the space in the room for one. I tried the OR but felt a little ill when wearing it. A 3 screen setup is what I'll go with I feel (cockpit view all the way for me).

Yup, crazy Brits with the shifter on the correct side

Edit: @austin585 - there's no way I'll be stopping building!

[connorsdad]

Brief video tour of the R-Pod:

"This video is unavailable on this platform"

Booooo

[ericleroi]

"This video is unavailable on this platform"

Booooo

Here you go:

[connorsdad]

That's awesome mate, very nice job indeed

[ericleroi]

Thanks mate

[gstav]

simply a work of art and a total eyegasm!

- Please God. Give me another room to fit a racing cab, and the skill of hundred carpenters. Amen!

[ericleroi]

Thanks gstav

[hitchhikingflatlander]

A totally awesome set! I know a bunch of the racer guys at SimHQ would drool over this pit. As for projectors I have a projection set up that gets about 100" of screen on an 8' wide room. I use it for my flight cockpit, FPSs and movies. The trick in small rooms is using a first surface mirror to bounce the image off of. Once you go projector you never go back and playing PC games from an easy chair with legs kicked up is awesome.

And damn is that one sexy racing wheel setup, I wish I could spring for a fanatec set-up but I'll all tapped out on sim gear after buying a Thrustmaster Warthog a few years back. Amazing work!

[ericleroi]

Thanks for that hhfl I'd really love a projector (or CastAR when that becomes available). I can only imagine the level of immersion you'd experience with one. I have a TM Warthog too - great piece of kit.

I purchased some DSD Tilton style pedal pads and they arrived a few days ago:

First impressions are very positive. Somehow my feet seem more connected with the pedals and I experience a greater degree of sensitivity. Heal and toe is much easier as I need to be much more deliberate; the proximity of the break and accelerator pedals didn't really seem to work too effectively previously as they were too close. They are well worth the money in my view.

[zomboided]

It's a money pit :-) Now come on with these three screens (or hold out for an Oculus Rift...)

Can you critique the butt kickers and how effective they are in the way that you've used them? Do they add to the experience or are they just a bit of fun?

[ericleroi]

Yes, it certainly is! The way I see it though is that my wife's real car lost far more in depreciation in the first year than this cost to put together - an insight into my domestic 'justification' conversations

Regarding the Butkickers, the essential extra is the Simvibe software. This totally transforms the experience and turns it from an enjoyable novelty into something that becomes an integral part of the sim racing experience. Using a rig without it seems like I'm driving in a lifeless environment. The software allows various elements of the simulation to be converted into feedback - collisions, road texture, gear changes, engine revs etc. Some sims cover more effects than others but even with just the basics, the difference in enjoyment and immersion is considerable.

Edit: I've used them for all body contact points (seat, pedals, shifter) except the wheel which has force feedback anyway. That makes the whole experience more integrated.

[ericleroi]

I realised I didn't update this with an 'accessory' I made for the build - not much - a mount for a display running DashmeterPro. I bought a relatively cheap Android phone for this purpose.

 

Piece of aluminium bent to shape and filed the corners to round them off:

 

 

Mounting hole drilled:

 

 

Covered one side with blackboard vinyl and added some foam to the base:

 

 

Covered the other side with real carbon fibre and trimmed everything to make it clean:

 

 

Covered the phone case in vinyl and glued it to the mount:

 

 

Attached it to the dashboard top plate:

 

 

 

I've also added a racing harness for extra geek factor.

 

[hitchhikingflatlander]

Was awesome before and now its even more awesome, inconcievable!