Sega driving cab MULTI EMU & PS3 converted + FORCE FEEDBACK

[thesharkfactor]

hey guys,

i did this cab a couple of months ago.. i never posted in this forum.. but im sure some of you will love it! and some will hate it-- what did you do to initial d??!! relax- it never really was initial d.. read on.. some of you will know this cabinet..


hey folks,

i wanted to show you my mame and model2 driver which is also GT5 ready (PS3 compatible) SEGA driving cabinet! ..

it took a good long while, but it's 99% complete..(now 100% complete!!) i'll try summarise to keep it short, with a few pics, but im happy to answer any questions if anyone else is mad enough to put this together....

i got this cab lovely minty fresh restored Initial D cab from this very forum a couple of months back (arcadeotaku)...



it was originally one half of a SEGA Touring Car, which was beautifully restored/converted from the bare metal up, to a single Initial D. however, when i took ownership of the machine it was an unfinished project, it was almost complete and was running, it had all the naomi 2 hardware and game but with a few cables missing making some components inoperable. Lovely condition, majority of the parts used in the conversion were new old stock or near mint.

Upon learning the news that the SEGA model2 emulator now fully supports force feedback (and GT5 is coming!), i bought the machine with the intention of converting it to a multi platform driving cabinet. I collected the machine in 20 odd bits, in 2 vehicles, took it home and re-assembled in position at home. it didn't take long to sell all the internal hardware on an auction site.. and luckily, i managed to recoup more than the initial cost of the machine by selling the parts i didn't need.

next i had to decide which steering wheel i was going to use. the steering wheel force feedback motors in sega cabinets cannot be interfaced with a pc without some serious wizardry (they have a clutch), however, HAPP controls do a belt driven active FFB steering wheel with a simple DC motor, as used in many arcade driving machines, this wheel can be interfaced with a pc, by hacking it onto the pcb of a cheapo logitech ffb steering wheel.

the other option would to use an expensive logitech G25 or fanatec porsche steering wheel, but i decided that the best of the best ffb steering wheels are found in arcade machines- built to take some serious abuse and last for years. no home/end user flimsy steering wheel ive ever bought has been able to match the quality of the experience an arcade wheel provides..

i have used the belt driven HAPP controls active ffb steering wheel..



http://www.happcontrols.com/driving/50010200.htm

I hunted the web for an old atari or namco cabinet with a HAPP ffb wheel, i got the one i used from a crusin' world cab.

to make this work, i used a logitech driving force EX ffb steering wheel for ps2 ps3. basically, theory is to connect the pot on the logitech wheel to the happ wheel, connect the pots from the logitech pedals to the pedals on the arcade cab, hook the wires going to the logitech motor to the HAPP motor...

donor logitech wheel..



sounds easy, but not so simple.. the pots are different sizes for a start, (you need 2x 50k pots for the pedals and a 100k pot for the wheel), and the power going to the tiny ffb motor in the logitech wheel is insufficient to power the large HAPP motor. Pots were easy to sort (maplins, RS componets). to boost the power output from the logitech pcb to the HAPP motor, ive used a servo amplifier for brush type motors, and a 24v dc psu to power the amp.

the servo amp i used..



for the buttons, gear shift and dpad, i hacked the pads of the logitech wheel and installed them into the dashboard from a SEGA touring car (which came spare with the cabinet) along with 4 VR (view change) buttons from daytona. mapped as follows-

start-start,
select-credit/insert coin,
4 action buttons- 4 VR buttons
d-pad- 4 way shifter
L+R- sequential shifter buttons mounted on the wheel

every button taken care of for both pc and console use. thankfully, after many weeks of hard work.. IT WORKS!

work in progress pics..

before.. (note the tiny ffb motor lol!)



after.. (note the HUGE ffb motor and amplifier!)



closer look..



the HAPP wheel and amp..



how its wired..



as the HAPP wheel assembly was never meant to fit in a SEGA dashboard, i had to make a mount from MDF board that i could affix to both the mounts on the rear of the dashboard and the mounts on the HAPP.. you can see here..



the pad hacks for the buttons.. very tricky work!

started off like this when removed from the logitech..



each button got a wire soldered on and hot glued fast in position..



testing the buttons on the pc using the logitech software..



hooked them all up to the buttons on the dashboard..



originally a sequential shifter in the dashboard, i drilled it out for a 4 speed, wired up a happ 4 speed shifter and fitted a minty fresh NOS sega shifter cover...



the sequential shifter buttons will be installed in the steering wheel using small red fire buttons, all bases covered- hi/lo shifer, sequential shift, 4 way shift... good for almost any driving game. pedal post and sound was wired up using a 5.1 pc sound system hacked onto the original sega speakers in the seat, the sub in the seat base, the ones either side of the monitor i installed myself as this cabinet only had speakers in the seat- needless to say, it sounds great. the pc was simple enough to set up, ive used the same monitor that was in the cabinet.

a video of the 1st test of the components.. all working, ffb strength is very powerful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24H1q1SCSdA



and a video it it working, mrs sharkfactor playing daytona..!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eBnwNK5vfM

im very impressed with the ffb, its emulated very well in daytona, sega rally and sega touring car.. very powerful, ive had to turn it down to 50% in the settings to get it to feel right. very smooth, elastic like feedback in each game, and it sure tears the wheel from your hand if you bump a wall or another car. real arcade quality force feedback.. cant wait to get the ps3 hooked up with some GT5, outrun, gti club, sega rally3 and every other racer with ffb ive been missing out on playing properly!

better videos to follow..!

cheers:)

a quick update on how she stands today..



..shown playing outrun online arcade (outrun2SP) on ps3's PSN..

thanks for looking!!

cheers

[Akuma]

When I read the title, I somehow thought of A Mega Drive with SD cart support on top of a PS3 or anything and had no idea about what FFB would mean...

Nevertheless this cab looks AWEEEESOME!!!

Did you run a cost estimate?

[Molloy]

Amazing work man. Getting an actual arcade wheel to work with console games and emulators must be a nightmare. There's no substitute though. Console wheels just aren't heavy enough to be satisfying.

[thesharkfactor]

When I read the title, I somehow thought of A Mega Drive with SD cart support on top of a PS3 or anything and had no idea about what FFB would mean...

Nevertheless this cab looks AWEEEESOME!!!

Did you run a cost estimate?

it is costing under £200.- no joke.. cab was £650- i sold the internals, hardware and software for £800- all my money back plus more on top. then, pc which i had, a US ntsc ps3, logitech wheel, happ wheel and shifter, servo amp and some wires!.. (and time and lots of swearing lol)..

cheers

[Casey120]

I think it looks awesome and GT5 is just around the corner now , you lucky ******** !

[emphatic]

Very cool!

[thesharkfactor]

I think it looks awesome and GT5 is just around the corner now , you lucky ******** !

the upcoming release of gt5 was a great motivation, i had it ready well before the (again) postponed nov2nd release date. howeer, i must say, sega rally on model2 emulator and outrun online arcade on psn were the main motivators.. i love those games with a passion enough to take on a challenge like this build.

[Bay78]

WOW very impressed! That is some good work! Thats one thing I'd love to have is a sit down Outrun 2 or Initial D cab. Thanks for sharing with us

[Wisepass]

I read this a while ago and thought it was awesome! But it really needs updating with some GT5 videos now. Very Jealous, but uber respect for conversion.

[j69]

Way beyond my technical know how! This is awesome buddy

[thesharkfactor]

great idea.. sure!

i'd be happy to take a video playing gt5 and upload it.. i'll try do that soon.

gt5 works flawlessy in the cab.. force feedback is great and beyond any other driving game ive tried yet. the ffb is much better than (the very good) effects in nfs shift, and the actual feel of the wheel is different too!.. alot more supple and elastic like resistance. during gameplay, you can feel loss of wheelspin/traction, bumps, rumble strips, shunts its all good!
the sound is awesome too!! i have volume pots for the center, bass and surround.. with the bass up high, i can feel the engine rev, the bumps and even the road under the seat! (there is a bass shaker inside the base of the seat- from sega touring cars)..

the only criticism i have is playing the game at 640x480 with that arcade monitor. i haver another ps3 hooked up to a 3dtv and im thouroughly enjoying my way through the game in 3d on a huge screen. and, because i cannot transfer the gt5 save game from one ps3 to another.. im using the cabinet for the arcade version/option of gt5 only.

it is hugely entertaining.. for example.. incar view, ferrari f40.. going round a bend, just a dab of the throttle and you can twitch the back end out. just like a real car..and if your skillful enough.. pull off a pretty amazing drift.. all this while fighting the wheel and feeling the immense growl of the engine behind you (in the seat) as you rev. it is soooo realistic, the gt5 handling model is the best ive ever experienced.. well done GT5!! for the ultimate immersive experience though, as soon as 3dtv's become small enough to fit in the cab, or as soon as a ps3 becomes compatible with a 3d pc monitor that is large enough.. for sure- i'll be installing one in the cabinet.

cheers for now.. i'll get a gt5 youtube up soon.

[syntax_X]

WOW Awesome mod dude, this really interests me because Ive got an old namco car cab that i modded to work with a ps2 but i actually used the logitech wheel because i wanted all the buttons on the wheel.

P7260389.JPG

Ive played a few games on it but the easiest to see and most playable for me is midnight club 2, i havent stuck a ps3 to it yet but im sure that if i did id be disappointed with the res.
Having said that the PS2 looks amazing thru rgb, i had to make a small sync separator circut for this and have a few chips spare if anyone needs one built.

Shark, you've really got me thinking about keeping my cab and giving it some seroious feedback, maybe i can add the nitro buttons around the place.

Also i had a problem wiring up the sequential shifter. Everytime i made the wires over a certain length it would make the controller behave irregularly, like circle would pause the game but nothing would unpause.

Is there a work around for this, maybe a 2 stage switch?

[thesharkfactor]

nice cab mate!..

it looks like it likely had a happ active ffb wheel in there before you modded it, you would have been halfway there.. if you still have the old dashboard and steering wheel, you should defo give this a go.

a namco cab or a cab that had a happ and an H shifter in it already (ala rave racer), would be ideal for this mod. alot of the work i had was getting the happ items to fit in the sega cabinet.

regarding your random buttons presses.. i did read about this being a potential problem. how did you hack? - solder wire directly onto the button contacts on the pcb's?, or did you discard the pcb's and hack into the loom instead?

i did it by soldering onto the contacts on the pcb's and i have no problems. others, hacked the loom and are getting random button presses. im unsure how to solve the problem, sorry. at least you now have a good excuse to try my mod!

[thesharkfactor]

here we go.. GT5!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=668FpSPlOPM"

11mins long, best viewed 480p. apologies in advance for the poor direction, editing and presentation!

cheers

[Wisepass]

Pretty awesome stuff, simply

[OtokonoZenyou]

Great job man, that is amazing. I'd love to play that. Be hard to get me away from it

[syntax_X]

GT5 menus make me feel like im in the worlds happiest elevator, or playing sims

See the curved lines on your screen, are they only there due to recording? Cos my screen has them when ive got the ps2 plugged in, and i cant figure it out. Ive never degaused it tho :S

[Bower]

i like the work you put into this, very clean !
some wont get why you wanted to do it, but i have respect for the thought you have put into it
the thing now is will you ever be able to stop messing with it and simply enjoy it
thats the thing with projects like this, theres a never ending list of things or compatability you want to build in, plus theres the feeling that it wont ever feel finished or feels wrong in some way.

i might just be speaking for myself though

[syntax_X]

Sharkfactor,
Do you have any problems with calibration, i saw how you turned the wheel left to right, which you don't usually do with the logitech wheel correct?

I'm looking into carrying this mod out on my setup, i have a few logitech wheels around but there motor runs a bar gear, so it has definite ends, whereas im sure the happ wheel can keep turning all day?

Been searching pretty hard for a happ ffb wheel in my area with no luck also

[Alukid]

thats the thing with projects like this, theres a never ending list of things or compatability you want to build in, plus theres the feeling that it wont ever feel finished or feels wrong in some way.

Having done arcade projects myself, i recognise this all too well, alot of the fun goes into working on these projects, playing/enjoying the dahm machines (once finished) is a different matter altogether.