Driving Force GT (and G25) FFB settings suggestion

[Stephen O'Sullivan]

Hello, I posted this at nogripracing.com and wondered if any RD members would be interested. I don't know how to make mods, etc., but I'm grateful to everyone who makes sims better. I thought I'd say thank you by mucking up your wheels!

So...

Inspired by Ytsejam, Julien Regnard, and freejrs' Feel Real G25 for GTR2, I had a look at my .plr file and played with the settings they suggested. My wheel is a Driving Force GT, and I think it now feels better after tweaking the file. I'm curious to know if these changes will improve (the fantastic) GTR2 in any way. Most of these settings are a combination of the aforementioned.

WARNING: Make a back-up copy of your .plr file before changing anything! It's in GTR2\UserData\Your Name\Your Name.plr

Logitech Profiler settings:

• Use special force feedback device settings: TICKED
• Overall Effects Strength: 100%
• Spring Effect Strength: 0%
• Damper Effect Strength: 0%
• Enable Centering Spring: UNTICKED
• Centering Spring Strength: 0%
• Use Special Steering Wheel Settings: TICKED
• Report Combined Pedals: UNTICKED
• Degrees of Rotation: 540/543 (this is for GTR2's GT cars)
• Use Special Game Settings: TICKED
• Allow Game To Adjust Settings: TICKED

In-Game Wheel Settings:

• Steering, Accelerator and Brake Sensitivity: 100% (tastes vary. 50% gives linearity.)
• Clutch 20% (the DFGT has only two pedals so I don't know if this matters!)
• Speed Sensitive Steering: 0%
• FFB Strength: 100% (if the wheel feels too heavy, reduce to 85% or so.)
• FFB Effects: High, set to Logitech G25 wheel
• Reverse Effects: Ticked

Having FFB Effects on High introduces brake vibration. It's a canned effect but I like it and have increased it a little. If you don't want it, choose "Medium".

As for everything else, I've tried to smooth out the DFGT's choppiness and make it more responsive, plus other minor changes. Driving the Porsche 911 at Donington National is now even more fun. I can catch slides! This combination was my testbed, so try it with your DFGT (or even your G25, perhaps?) and see what you think. You might hate it... Either way, please let me know what you think. Good or bad force feedback makes a huge difference to a driving sim.

Paste the following in your .plr file, replacing everything from "FFB Device Type=" to "FFB jolt magnitude="1.00000" (BACK UP YOUR PLR FILE FIRST!):

FFB Device Type="9" // Type of FFB controller: 0=none 1=wheel, 2=stick/custom, 3=rumble pad.
FFB Effects Level="3" // Number of FFB effects to use: 0=No Effects, 1=Low, 2=Medium, 3=High, 4=Full, 5=Custom.
FFB Gain="1.00000" // Strength of Force Feedback effects. Range 0.0 to 1.0.
FFB Throttle FX on steer axis="1" // 0 = Throttle effects on throttle axis, 1 = throttle effects on steering axis.
FFB Brake FX on steer axis="1" // 0 = Brake effects on brake axis, 1 = brake effects on steering axis.
FFB steer vibe freq mult="0.07000" // Controls frequency of steering vibration. Recommended: 0.5 to 1.0, 0.0 disables steering vibration.
FFB steer vibe zero magnitude="0.03500" // Magnitude of steering vibration at 0mph (reference point).
FFB steer vibe slope="0.00000" // Slope of line defining magnitude as a function of frequency (used with FFB steer vibe zero magnitude).
FFB steer vibe wave type="0" // Type of wave to use for vibe: 0=Sine, 1=Square, 2=Triangle, 3=Sawtooth up, 4=Sawtooth down.
FFB steer force average weight="0.40000" // How much weight is given to new steering force calculations each frame (0.01 - 1.0). Lower values will smooth out the steering force, but will also add latency.
FFB steer force exponent="0.75000" // Steering force output "sensitivity". Range 0.0 to infinity. 0.0 to 1.0 = higher sensitivity, greater than 1.0 = lower sensitivity.
FFB steer force input max="-11500.00000" // Recommended: 11500 (-11500 if controller pulls in the wrong direction).
FFB steer force output max="1.90000" // Maximum force output of steering force, recommendation 0.8 to 2.0
FFB steer force grip weight="1.00000" // Range 0.0 to 1.0, recommended: 0.4 to 0.9. How much weight is given to tire grip when calculating steering force.
FFB steer force grip factor="0.60000" // Range 0.0 to 1.0, recommended: 0.2 to 0.6. How much of a factor the front wheel grip is on the steering weight.
FFB steer update thresh="0.00000" // Amount of change required to update steer force/vibe (0.0 - 1.0). Lower values = steering force updated more frequently = lower frame rate.
FFB steer friction coefficient="-0.15000" // Coefficient to use for steering friction. Range: -1.0 to 1.0
FFB steer friction saturation="1.00000" // Saturation value to use for steering friction. Range: 0 - 1.0
FFB steer damper coefficient="0.20000" // Coefficient to use for steering damper. Range: -1.0 to 1.0
FFB steer damper saturation="1.00000" // Saturation value to use for steering damper. Range: 0 - 1.0
FFB throttle vibe freq mult="0.40000" // Scales actual engine frequency to force FFB vibration frequency. Suggested range: 0.10 to 0.50
FFB throttle vibe zero magnitude="0.09000" // Magnitude of engine vibration at 0rpm (reference point).
FFB throttle vibe slope="0.00000" // Slope of line defining magnitude as a function of frequency (used with FFB throttle vibe zero magnitude).
FFB throttle vibe wave type="0" // Type of wave to use for vibe: 0=Sine, 1=Square, 2=Triangle, 3=Sawtooth up, 4=Sawtooth down.
FFB throttle vibe update thresh="0.02000" // Amount of change required to update throttle vibe (0.0 - 1.0)
FFB brake vibe freq mult="0.90000" // Scales actual brake rotational frequency to force feedback vibration frequency.
FFB brake vibe zero magnitude="0.18000" // Magnitude of brake vibration at 0mph (reference point).
FFB brake vibe slope="0.00000" // Slope of line defining magnitude as a function of frequency (used with FFB brake vibe zero magnitude).
FFB brake vibe wave type="0" // Type of wave to use for vibe: 0=Sine, 1=Square, 2=Triangle, 3=Sawtooth up, 4=Sawtooth down.
FFB brake vibe update thresh="0.02000" // Amount of change required to update brake vibe (0.0 to 1.0)
FFB rumble strip magnitude="0.35000" // How strong the rumble strip rumble is. Range 0.0 to 1.0, 0.0 disables effect.
FFB rumble strip freq mult="0.50000" // Rumble stip frequency multiplier 1.0 = one rumble per wheel rev.
FFB rumble strip wave type="0" // Type of wave to use for vibe: 0=Sine, 1=Square, 2=Triangle, 3=Sawtooth up, 4=Sawtooth down.
FFB rumble strip pull factor="-0.70000" // How strongly wheel pulls right/left when running over a rumble strip. Suggested range: -1.5 to 1.5.
FFB rumble strip update thresh="0.07500" // Amount of change required to update rumble strip effect (0.0 - 1.0)
FFB jolt magnitude="1.60000" // How strong jolts from other cars (or walls) are. Suggested Range: -2.0 to 2.0.

 

[HypoToad]

Thanks for this, just got a DFGT and using this setup with slightly lower FFB which I like, great work. And unlike Project Cars it has great road feed back on bumpy tracks.

 

[HypoToad]

Just an update on the FFB and the DFGT, this should work for all wheels, I am using Stephen O'Sullivan's great settings with lower FFB Gain which I like but with one major difference which makes it much smoother:

"FFB steer force average weight="0.40000" // How much weight is given to new steering force calculations each frame (0.01 - 1.0). Lower values will smooth out the steering force, but will also add latency."

The above setting I found out is frame rate dependent, so the higher the frame rate in the game (not what you set in the config file) the lower the number should be, I experimented and found I liked it set at 0.12500 but as a rough guide measure your frame rate and start with these and try a little higher or lower until you are satisfied: -

50fps = 0.50000
75fps = 0.37500
100fps = 0.25000
150fps = 0.18500
200fps = 0.12500
250fps = 0.10000

As with all changes back up your *.plr file first.

 

[Stephen O'Sullivan]

@HypoToad Thank you for your comments. I was curious to see if my FFB settings would help someone and I'm glad they did. I will have to give your suggestion a try.

 

[Shovas]

J"FFB steer force average weight="0.40000" // How much weight is given to new steering force calculations each frame (0.01 - 1.0). Lower values will smooth out the steering force, but will also add latency."

The above setting I found out is frame rate dependent, so the higher the frame rate in the game (not what you set in the config file) the lower the number should be, I experimented and found I liked it set at 0.12500 but as a rough guide measure your frame rate and start with these and try a little higher or lower until you are satisfied: -

[Note these comments are from the perspective of a higher end wheel, the SimXperience Accuforce so might not apply for older wheel technology]

My two cents, I've been on a serious ffb tuning tear lately and I did read about this in Julien Regnard's FFB Guide but you can't forget about the "but will also add latency" meaning your ffb will feel "late" and you won't have time to react. What you feel in the wheel will be behind what you see on screen.

My recommendation is to use smoothing at the wheel hardware level, if you need to, and keep that value as high as possible for the quickest ffb response.

I have some more force feedback tuning notes on my blog.

 

[HypoToad]

"but will also add latency"

I have found no latency, it depends on the GPU/FPS you get, if you think about it if on one PC you get 50fps and set it say 0.50000 and another 200fps with the same setting, you are going to get 1/4 of the latency. Now if you have the PC with 50fps and drop the value to 0.12500 you will probably notice it.

So comparing my settings on GTR2 and Assetto Corsa I think GTR2 responds much faster even with my lowered settings, and lowering that setting makes it much smoother, YMMV.