Want a Better Gaming Experience Racing Your Friends in Forza Motorsports 4? Get A Headset! Talk and Listen LIVE.

June 9, 2021

#425 

Gentle reader,

I began virtual racing years ago when a buddy gave me some PC racing games. My favorite was Test Drive Le Mans.

But that was long ago. Over time and with some money, I graduated to a PS2 Slim then an Xbox 360. I tried MANY different titles of racing games, but always came back to FM4.

In ALL cases I HAD to use a steering wheel and pedals. It wasn't until a coworker/friend also started racing in Forza Motorsports 4 that we both signed up for GOLD and we both tried racing on line.

The first race we joined was utter CHAOS! So we jumped right out of that race.

We figured out how to race just each other. But, his car was so SLOW! We had both Microsoft brand headsets and could talk with each other while racing. I said to him, "Why are you SO slow?" Soon after that, he bought an Xbox One and that was the end of that. 

Recently, I found out that there is a Facebook Group dedicated to Forza Motorsports 4. I joined it.

Forza Motorsport 4 Community | Facebook

As a result of the group, I have begun racing on line again. My friend was frustrated because he was messaging me via Facebook while we were racing and I had no idea he was doing so. As a result, I suggested that he buy a headset. Mine arrived the other day.

This is what the box looks like. It was less than ten bucks on eBay.

This is what the previous headset looked like. Note the proprietary plug on it. Photo is from an eBay auction.

Above is the receptacle on the base of the Microsoft Steering wheel, now you can see why the funny plug on the old set. It kind of gripped what it was plugged into with those two oval holes.

And this is the same receptacle, but on the controller. 

Here is what the newer generation headsets look like. Note that it is plugged into the center hole.

The image on the back of the box.

Unlike the original headsets, these have padding on the portion that clamps over your head. 

I hung the new headset by the plug overnight to remove the kinks in the cable, seen above.

Now, I just need fellow FM4 racers to get themselves a headset so that we can HEAR each other and comment while racing and in between sessions.

Thanks for reading this!

Scott

June 9, 2021

#425

My Hand Fabricated Simulation Racing Rig. "Vintage" Forza Motorsports 4 Racing.

May 7 2021

#424

Gentle reader,

I last wrote about this favorite hobby of mine, here:

The Robb Collections: Just What IS Inside Of A Microsoft Xbox 360 Steering Wheel? How Does It Work?

And here is the webpage with ALL of my articles about this hobby:

The Robb Collections: INDEX TO Simulation Racing THE ROBB COLLECTIONS 

I have always been a car racing fan, however, I don't care for any open-wheel types of racing, like Indy or F1, nor do I care for NASCAR. My favorites are IMSA (and WEC), Vintage sports cars/Trans Am and V8 Supercars which are in Australia and New Zealand. They ARE what NASCAR could be!

That is a V8 Supercar from 2014, piloted by young "Kiwi", Scott McLaughlin. Back then, aside from Ford and Holden (when they were called Australian V8 Supercars) they invited other makers to participate around 2012, and Mercedes Benz, Nissan and Volvo stepped up to the plate.

And that is the V8 Volvo engine they raced with. The S8 sedan and XC90 SUV models had the option of a Yamaha-built V8 engine, which is what this race-modified one is.

I first got into this hobby when a coworker/buddy gave me some PC racing games. My favorite was Test Drive Le Mans, I could not "drive" with a keyboard anymore than I can with a controller. So, I bought a Logitech wheel and pedal set.

Later, my daughter bought me a SONY PlayStation 2 Slim two and my son bought me Gran Turismo 4. 

 

Daniel later had an Xbox 360 and when I saw what one could do to cars, (GT4 also allows many changes, but they are far more technical and one must know what they are doing) to modify them, and later found out one can decorate/paint/stripe, etc. them AND buy (for credits) the already done liveries, I switched to my own Xbox 360 and never looked back. Oh, and the engine sounds are WAY better in Forza 4.

 

When we bought this house, this bedroom was designated as a home office. We had planned to have two desks in it, but that never happened.

This photo is from 2008, the chair and desk where I am sitting at this moment. The photo below shows an electrician's nightmare due to all the electronics I have in here, as well as my new monitor arm with a larger monitor. 

The room has changed many times as far as what went where, but has been like this for some time. Those speakers are actually mini-monitors, but since my PC's monitor has built-in speakers, I realized they would better serve me for racing. 

The wall opposite me. I squeezed the "Simulation Racing Station" between that sunlit shelf and the back, or is it the front, of this desk. You can see that I rearranged the photos and posters, which lightened the room by being spread out.

The 42" HDTV is plasma (and HEAVY!) and was given to me. Initially, I used a 32" Samsung Monitor which has a much better picture, but the HDMI input stopped working, so it has been banished to the family room.

The oak/granite table I found in a thrift store, but the TV was too low (I'm 6'3" tall, so I added a little stand to raise it.

My ever-supportive wife bought me this gaming chair. It had a built-in amplifier with speakers in the headrest (ala: Fiero) and a 4" "subwoofer" under the seat. Right, one can't get much bass from that.

The amp died after a year and I replaced it with a digital one, but it did not last half that time. So I use those speakers seen in the first photo.

The TV does not have analog audio outputs, so I have a small DAC with Toslink input and stereo RCA analog outputs to the speakers which have built-in stereo amplifier in the right one.

I added this foam tape as padding for my delicate elbows.

I also made this cushion to extend the child-sized seat and made some brackets to attach it beneath the seat. It does the job. 

In summer, I put a sheepskin over the seating surface since my skin tends to stick to the black vinyl.

I made this stand out of one inch square aluminum tubing. It is collapsible for storage, if need be. 

The angle of the wheel platform is adjustable and I can move if forward down the supports for grandkids to race.

The angle of the pedal platform is also adjustable, but I have found this angle ideal. I added a thicker SPRING to the brake pedal which prevents the brakes from locking so easily. 

I also padded the brake pedal (real cars have rubber covers) since the hard raised round pieces literally wore THROUGH the left sole of a pair of Piloti driving shoes like these which my wife bought me years ago.

Frankly, they are too WIDE to be driving shoes. I've bought a number of them over the years. They should be thin-soled and fit like gloves so one can feel the pedals, like the one below. 

But, again, I have gone off on a tangent. One more photo, these are what I wear to race in now:

See how the sole wraps up around the back of the heel? That is helpful for heal-and-toe moves on the pedals. Which does not apply to simulation racing with a two-pedal set. I DO LEFT-FOOT brake while racing, to allow me to keep the engine revs up while cornering. 

And here they are, well worn, on the seat. I used to keep them there because Mo, the cat, would sleep EVERYWHERE I sat! He's gone now. Rest in peace, Mo.

I found that sometimes I pulled the wheel assembly off the platform, so created these brackets to keep it in place. Those black things beneath the edges are what one buys to cover the sharp edges of rifle mounts, (see below) they are glued to the bottom edges of the wheel base. 

You can see one of them facing the camera. While the top rail is unprotected. By the way, this is a .22 rifle, not an "assault rifle" which is a made up term.

This is an inside view of the adjustable bracket for the "rake" of the steering wheel platform. 

That handle/lever is perfect for applying enough torque to keep the slider from sliding.

If you look closely, you can see the upright bracket is "U" shaped to allow for the long bolts to slide out and in for folding and storing the rig. 

Easier seen in these photos.

You no doubt noticed the red covering on the pedals cable? I accidentally cut it! Since it is just four wires, it was easy to solder them back together.

Here are closer looks at the brackets I came up with to keep the wheel assembly from being pulled off during intense racing.

You can also see the rubber pieces I told you about above. The bracket pieces are two 1/8" thick steel "L" brackets and the upright pieces are two of four that came with the monitor arm for this PC desk.

Note also how I had to notch the 3/4" thick plywood since it extends over the upright brackets. I used a 3/4" rotary file in a drill to produce the half-round notches. This allows the platform to rotate over the squared off ends of the upright 1" square tubing. 

Lastly, I glued this round piece of wood to the bottom of the plywood for the clamp to tighten to.

The plywood, while thick, was not thick enough and the clamp's screw was nearly at the end of it's threads without it.

See what I mean? This is the old platform. The bolts stuck up and interfered with the ends of the base. Also, note how the clamp screw is all the way out. My new platform is MUCH better.

 

I hope that you enjoyed this article highlighting the hand-made racing rig. One can BUY factory built ones, but in our modest home, I needed one which could be collapsed if it needed to be out of the way. 

 

I made this YEARS ago, and had built a second one so that Daniel and I could split-screen race, but he has is now in his place. 

 

For fun, when we had finished a race, (he usually won) we would deliberately crash our cars into each other. Now SONY's GT4 would NOT allow cars to overturn, nor get damaged. FM4 definitely does with accompanying sounds!

 

Sometimes, especially if the AI cars had knocked me off the course, I would swing around and start racing the WRONG direction. I would try and crash head-on into the AI cars. Try it sometime, it's loads of fun and a great way to release tension.

 

I don't know about you, but when I'm racing, my heartbeat is up and, if they are closing in on me, the adrenaline is also flowing!

That's it for now! Thanks for taking the time to read my humble blog. I started doing this just for fun, never dreaming anyone would read it. But, to my utter surprise, over 350,000 people read it! I truly am humbled.

Scott

May 7, 2021

#424

Just What IS Inside Of A Microsoft Xbox 360 Steering Wheel? How Does It Work?

April 21, 2021 

#423

Gentle reader,

A little backstory: I was never much interested in computers until I watched my wife copy and paste a paragraph in a work processing program. "Whoa! How did you do that and what else can this do?" At that point in 1996, I became interested in PCs and my old portable Olivetti typewriter was forgotten.

As time went by I built an entire PC, a 586 Tower. I used a processor from the now defunct Cyrus chip company. That dates it.

Anyway, I am retired after 44 years working first as a dealership auto mechanic and then on our nation's capital's subway cars. 

The point of that little tale is that I have a LOT of experience working on things that if one does something wrong, they could very well end up dead. I have been hit with 700 volts DC twice, fortunately, both times it went in and to ground through the same hand.

This is the face of Microsoft's proprietary Steering Wheel which they created to work exclusively (and wirelessly) with their then-new Xbox 360 console. It includes an equally nice set of pedals. 

Microsoft played their cards right when they decided to enter the lucrative world of GAMING and came out with their original Xbox console. Since that happened, a LOT has changed. Now their most popular racing series, Forza Motorsport is up to number seven and runs on their new Xbox ONE S consoles.

I have never been on to have to have the latest and greatest. For example, I do not want nor need a smart phone. If I want to go onto the Internet, I do it the way God intended, I sit down at my PC and open a browser. And I am perfectly happy with my Sonim XP3 military-grade flip phone. It doesn't even have a camera. Over all the years of flip phones I have used I have used it's tiny camera ONE time to send my wife a photo of something she was looking for at the hardware store. But I digress.

Another way I am old fashioned is that I shift gears myself while driving. Below is the gearshift of my turbocharged 2005 Volvo V50 wagon. Not a bit of "tech" anywhere on that dash.

While today's kids cannot imagine a world without smart "devices" and a constant connection to the worldwide network of computers called The Internet, and thus they seem to have been born innately knowing how to play electronic games, I was not. As a result, I cannot "drive" with a controller

To operate a vehicle, real or virtual, I MUST have a steering wheel, pedals, a sturdy stand to hold same and a way to SHIFT the virtual gears in the virtual transmission of whatever I am pretending to operate. 

Above is the Logitech steering wheel made for the SONY PS3 console. I have updated it with carbon fiber-looking larger paddles. Note, at the right of the wheel is the shift-knob for pretend sequential transmission I might be operating.

NOW, all THAT being said, have YOU ever wondered just HOW that plastic wheel and pedals can make that virtual car do what you want it to? No? Well, I have.

 

This is a shot of my "Simulation Station". By the way, I have written a number of articles about simulation racing, here is a link to a LIST of LINKS to each and every previous article:

The Robb Collections: INDEX TO Simulation Racing THE ROBB COLLECTIONS  

Once again, the tiny microswitch inside my steering wheel has had enough and would shift no more. And I cannot drive in Automatic mode!

I have replaced the steering wheel at least five times in all the years I have been racing. The first time I physically broke the right (upshift) paddle! I know that I am not alone in having done that. Since then, I shift less aggressively, but still the microswitches, they wear out.

So, I looked for yet another used wheel on eBay. I found one which the seller promised worked perfectly.

Yet, when it arrived, NOTHING worked! With the AC power plugged in, pressing the "horn" button did nothing. Nor with two AA batteries in their pack. 

So, I tried the battery holder from my old wheel and at last it came on and worked. 

BUT, when using battery power, ONLY the wheel, shifter paddles and pedals work. NO: Feedback of any kind, nor the vibrations which greatly help the racer to feel what their car is doing.

I contacted the seller and he offered to refund half the money since I said that I could probably fix it. I had not taken one apart before, BUT, I have fixed THOUSANDS of things in my lifetime. What could go wrong?

Let's start with what I found once I figured out how to get the wheel itself apart and separated from the base.

There is the motor what provides the jerks when one bounces over a curb or any other bumpy surface on the virtual tracks.

 

The small tan board on top, with three wires attached, is for a sensor which reads the large gear's position and tells the console whether the wheel is centered (the car is going straight) or is turned and how far, and which direction.

You can just see the small round sensor at about 8 o'clock by the largest gear. The wheel is directly attached by that white shaft of the large gear. A pinion gear (the smaller one attached to the medium sized one) is rotated by largest gear when the wheel is turned. That medium sized gear which is part of the pinion gear assembly, turns the motor or vice versa.

The motor will jerk or move the wheel in your hands when a virtual tire or tires encounters rough pavement or curbs.

This photo by Dave Alan of Getty Images, shows a rough curb. If you look at the far curb (left side of the photo) you will see it is almost saw-toothed. There ARE smooth curbs, also painted red and white which race cars jump over like this: 

Oh, look! A racing Volvo! Yes, my favorite racer, New Zealand's Scott McLaughlin racing his Volvo S60 in the V8 Supercars Series in 2014. They race mostly in Australia and a few times a year in New Zealand. For more: Supercars - YouTube

 

To me, and millions of others, Supercars provides the BEST racing experience. Did you KNOW that in Forza 4 one can buy and drive several authentic V8 Supercars? Just look at the bunch of racing sedans under FORD or HOLDEN and you too can virtually experience these awesome cars.

This is one of the two vibration motors which are glued into the TWO silver portions of the bottom of the wheel. They and the chrome ring between them create the flat bottom of the wheel. 

The paddles are physically part of the lighter grey portion of this assembly. Above you can see the "L" shaped levers which press the microswitches which tell the console to upshift or downshift.

Here is the inside of the back of the wheel's center arms/column. You can see the two springs which push the paddles back to their original position after you let them go.

Do you see the two square silver and black devices with a round black button in their centers? Those are the microswitches the "L" shaped levers press. The board is facing you, but inside the wheel it faces away from you.

Now it is facing up, or towards the driver. The smaller board is the one within the "horn" portion of the wheel center. Three carbon switches are closed when any of the three buttons are pressed.

On the larger board beneath that, you can see the eight carbon switches which are closed by the "L Pad" on the left side and the four colored buttons on the right side. See below:

You can clearly see the "L Pad" on the left, the three buttons on the "horn" and the four colored buttons on the right. Pretty cool, right? 

This large board, 90 degrees left of and upside down from the position is occupies in the right side of the white portion of the wheel platform assembly.

For example, the AC power plug inserts into the cylindrical black thing at the bottom left corner. Directly above that is where the telephone plug from the PEDALS plugs in. Yes, it IS a telephone plug from a "landline" type telephone.

On the right side, top, the clear thing is a projector for the green LED power indicator. Below that is the microswitch operated by the small white button one presses to sync the wheel/pedals to the console. At the bottom right is where one can plug in their Microsoft Gaming Headset.

This last and smallest board, is wired to the main board shown above. The curly (and blurry) metal things are AA battery terminals.

I do not know what the six gold terminals are for, but suspect they are test terminals for use when the wheel has been freshly built (or rebuilt) to test all the moving parts and make sure they are working as they should be prior to shipping it out to the stores then finally to us.

 

Hopefully, you now have a much better understanding of the complex devices needed to virtually operate a virtual wheeled vehicle. Do these work on Tanks and such? I have no idea.

 

Blogger just notified me that by the end of July, 2021, they will not longer be able to e-mail followers with news of new articles. Sigh. But take heart! I WILL post new Racing Simulation articles to the Facebook Forza Motorsports 4 Group. 

Now that you have finished this article. Go ahead and click or tap on this link:
The Robb Collections: INDEX TO Simulation Racing THE ROBB COLLECTIONS  to read many more (hopefully) fascinating articles about Forza 4 and other racing things I have done.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my humble blog. When I began doing this, it was just for fun. To my surprise, people READ it, more than 300,000 so far!

Scott

April 21, 2021

#423

 

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