If something from LFS updating breaks this, I don't know how to fix it, sorry. I would need help from someone with coding (Delphi, I think?) knowledge to fix it. I used someone else's example (project1.exe) and did simple editing so my shifter program can read the text from it. I will try my shifter again with the latest test patch (Z22) and check how it's working.

The intended behavior is to shift when the shift light comes on, which currently seems to be at or near the redline anyway. I think one of the test patch changes was disabling shift light for road cars (which are unfortunately the best cars to use this shifter with). If anyone having problems with it shifting while floored and redlined, is it one of those cars that don't have shift light anymore? (also you might need shift light on in LFS options)

edit: I just tried it, it's not working at shift light I guess because of an outgauge (or insim? they confuse me) change in recent test patches. The "shift" box no longer lights up in the project1.exe even if the car has a working shift light, sooo I'm going to need help with changing the source and compiling it, in order to fix it. I don't know how many of you use this (I haven't noticed anyone on cruise servers using it), but the best I can do for now is say sorry to anyone who does and hope someone will volunteer to fix coding that is gibberish to me.

So if anyone can help, I will give you the source code I used for "project1.exe" and hope you can fix the shift light part of it not working.

Last edited by tigerboyz, Sun 25 Oct 2009, 13:08.

Quote from Graeme43 :

Loving this does anyone know how to say.... make the accelerator always read something like 5% at minimum so we have the creeping affect? :P thanks

I have a G25, i think theres something for doing that but i cant seem to find it

There's a (not easy) way in LFS to lock accelerator using tricks with the "C" in axis calibration thing. I was able to do it by making throttle and brake same axis, then pushing brake very slightly (pushed however much acceleration was wanted for the creeping), click C once on its axis, then let off brake and push accelerator fully, then lock calibration, done. But in the time I tried, I couldn't manage to get it to a good point to stop it from actually accelerating and not creeping enough... and I imagine if you do get it, it would only work for that car and similar cars.

It was meant to use 4 gears, but 5 gears are supported too. For your specific overrev problem, either adjust your gearing (recommended), or go in the config (shiftercfg.ini or sport if you're using sport) and change this lower: kick5L= .......... Anything under this value will kick down 3 gears, otherwise it will kick down 2 gears if it's under 4k (Kick5H). What car are you using by the way?

Right now it's not possible to do different shifting under braking because braking value isn't readable by my script. The outgauge window source would have to be edited and recompiled.

I'm going to upload a new version now. You must delete your shiftercfg.ini AND shiftercfgsport.ini before using! First post will be updated soon.

Hmm there was a bug where pushing t didn't pause; it's fixed now. I'll also add "/" and "numpad enter" as chat keys.

I'll release the new version after I tweak the configuration a little more.

Pressing t to chat should pause it automatically, then pressing enter or escape to stop chatting will unpause. Is your outgauge window updating as you drive? If it's not (says edit1, edit2, etc), you need to follow the instructions in the readme. I don't know what could be wrong unless I could see it happening.

Quote from superxp :

The problem is still there ! :gnasher:

What is your frame rate? I suspect your computer is struggling. Did you follow the instructions in the readme? Try putting priority for both the outgauge window and LFSshifter on high.

Quote from JO53PHS :

I'm not sure what setting I need to change (and to what value) to make it kick down at higher RPMs in gear 5/6 when floored

Can anyone halp?

FlooredRPMSensitivityHigh=4000 (under 4000 RPM will kick down)
But changing this will affect all gears.

Quote from superxp :

Hi,

I tryed to assign "I" to starting, that work !
But the engine often doesn't turned on when shifting.:sadbanana

How to remove that "bug" ?

What is your frame rate? If it's around 20 or under, it sounds like you might need to raise keydelay because having "low" frame rate. You can do this by opening the shiftercfg.ini (and shiftercfgsport.ini if you use sport mode) and change these higher, maybe 60 and 120:

Quote from -=SB=- :

I know. it is turned on and it will not work. Now i see it is working but it puts the car into reverse switching the engine on and off

That happens when the shifter can't read the values from the outgauge window. Did you minimize it?

Quote from Zoig :

The problem is not with changing down by itself, but rather not doing it when needed(that's actually a generic fault with all automatics, not only your simulator). Is it possible ot implement somekind of tiptronic functionality into the sport mode, similiar to the sport mode in current VW DSG boxes?
For example when cruising in Sport mode, the box would behave similar to economic mode(mabye changing gears faster and 500rpm higher), but when flooring it (kickdown) and then returning to cruising, the car would hold lowest possible gear in for 10-15 seconds before returning to normal drive. also in sport mode, when I change gears manually, it would activate sport mode for 10-15 seconds, before changing it(except redline/idle rpm, where the box has to change gear)

This shifter is trying to simulate behavior of "older" style automatics without any paddle shifters, where you put it in PRN[D]12 and have no manual control over it. It sounds to me like you're wanting features that are in semi-automatics or so, while mine is designed fully automatic. My Sport Mode is actually the same as the Economic Mode, except everything is configured to happen at higher RPM. I guess if it's not changing down by itself when you want, you can configure it so it changes when you like.

To make it hold a gear longer after a kickdown, you can change the WaitAfterFloorShifts options to a higher value (it's in milliseconds). You can also use the Hold Gear button (Joy10 by default).

Quote from Zoig :

Hi,

Could you upgrade the system so, that i could change the up/down (and possibly ignition) keys? I am used to changing gears with mouse scroll, and that way I could use it as a tiptronic gearbox and flick a few gears down before flooring it.

I had a try with it in few Cruise servers today, and it really works. now i can easily cruise along with 5th gear and 2500rpm in automatic mode, rather than 2nd gear and 5000 rpm

Minor bug I found with UF1000 is, that when cruising with 4th gear(or 3rd for that matter) and holding low rpm with steady speed, the engine revs were kind of wavy. like the engine was to weak to hold steady speed and game needed to accelerate-coast frequently to hold speed. This did not happen with high powered cars like RB4. I have not tried it with conventional manual, so it might be general bug and not directly related to your mod.

ps: you mod really reminded me how much I hate automatic gearboxes and why I bought manual. Great work

Shifting it down yourself like that won't work - it will shift right back up within a split second because it senses the high RPM. This wasn't made with any type of manual shifting in mind other than going into neutral, reverse, and "drive". Are you having a problem with it kicking down by itself?

The UF1 bug you found sounds like you didn't have CarGears set properly in the config (set it to 3 if your gear ratios use 3 gears). Was it the same sound you would hear when turning ignition off and on? You also might've been hearing the aliasing effect from heavy sound clipping (shift+a sounds set too loud).

Quote :

Ok i have set it all up and i press pause break to turn it on. but it doesnt work. all the settings are right. i have put everything where it should?

It's not working because you're not supposed to pause it. It's turned on by default, and pressing pause turns it off.

Quote :

strange because it doesnt really work good for me, when i change to sport mode it doesnt make a sound, and it constantly changes gear between 2nd and 3rd.

It sounds like your gear ratios are too wide. Check how the gear ratios are in the included AT setups - something like that should be good. If you don't want to change your gear ratios, you can configure the shifter to shift at different RPMs. The readme has details on what does what. By the way, not hearing a sound when pushing Sport Mode is normal. The sound is only played for Hold Gear mode.

Quote :

That new version works very well. I tried it with XRT FXO and FZ5. Kick down chooses gear better now and I dont have anything to complain.

Good to hear.

Quote :

Hi,

Your automatic transmission is very nice !

But there is a problem when shifting : the clutch burning when upshift.
In your video, i can't see that.
Maybe you use LFS Tweak and sequential gearbox ?..:detective

Is it possible your ignition isn't being cut? The shifter presses i during shifts to cut engine off for less clutch burn. It might be your ignition key isn't set to i in the controls. I forgot to include about that in the readme (oops).

New version V5 released. See first post.

Some new features:
- Economical, Sport, and Hold Gear modes
- Dynamic kickdown (can kick down more than 1 gear)
- Pause during multiplayer chatting
- Live configuration GUI

In my experience, accelerating at really low RPM like 2k and below usually doesn't work very well because of autoclutch activating and burning itself. You're still welcome to give it a try; these lines in the config ini determine which RPM it shifts up.


And these lines below will determine how much throttle it must be under to shift up.

So for example, the first shift is under 50% throttle and under 3200 RPM.

If it kicks down after shifting up, make these below lines higher, but never above 99. The Low one is the small throttle kickdown, the High one is usually when you "floor it."

Quote from skolekaj :

could i post an request?

if so i would love an eco(nomical) shifting cfg.ini? thingy so it changes gear more eco minded. i think its a great prog... so if anyone would it i would love it.

Do you mean shifting at lower RPM like 2k-4k? It should already be economical like that as long as you're economical with the gas pedal. Are you maybe a keyboard or mouse user and don't have analog throttle?

Quote from Rebeldevil :

Of course, I'm of the "Go all the way or forget it" school of thought. I really think a torque-converter auto box should be part of the next release. If I were doing it, only the road cars (including the stripped-out GTR-class) could have them, and when equipped the car would have all the associated penalties of an automatic--like increased fuel consumption and increased weight. You'd also run the risk of breaking it if you try a neutral-drop. (Then again I think transmission failure should be a part of LFS anyway)

There is no way possible that I know of to make or simulate a torque converter. Actually there is one way, but your clutch would be burned so fast that you probably wouldn't make it past turn 2. Unless clutch damage/heat can be turned off and I can directly edit the clutch axis value, all I can do is have the script press s and x at the right times.

The read g-forces in turns to stop shifting during turns is possible as long as outgauge can output the info, but it would mean the outgauge window my script reads from has to be modified to include the g-forces in an edit box. I'm not sure I have the tool anymore for it, but I'm pretty sure I have the source.

Do you have suggestions for detecting if you're in dirt or off road? Offroad is disaster at the moment for this, and I'm trying to think of workarounds when you don't have a torque converter (other than flooring the gas and hitting the rev limit the whole time).

Quote from bobale :

May I suggest adding a key combination (eg. Ctrl+Pause) which would activate another shiftercfg.ini, which would be set up in a such way that car would hold gear/shift up at higher revs in order to simulate Sport button on auto gearbox?

I don't know how a sport mode works exactly, I've never been in an auto with it, but I'll look more into it. I have been in cars that have an "overdrive" button, is that related? (although I don't know how overdrive works either)

GuLLiT has made a personal version of the shifter based off my code which has a sport mode. I liked it and plan to add the idea to mine some time later when I've got everything working like the restriction to less but wider gears (since autos don't seem to have 6 gears).

Quote from MTMRS6 :

Guys,

I have an question, from 1 to 2 from 2 to 3 it shifts very nice, and under 3000rpm. But from 3 to 4 and 4 to 5 it shift only by the redline? Does someone know what i have to change? (srry for my bad English) Thank you!


And the guy who have made it, thank you alot!

Hmm my best guess is you modified the config, or some how the config has "CarGears=3", so it stops shifting normally after gear 3. If that's the problem, change it to "CarGears=5" or however many gears you want to use. CarGears is under [OTHER], by the way.

Question: does anyone know if it's possible to get actual traveling speed from outgauge? I want to add a speed check to the upshifts so it stays in first while you're attempting to get out of a sandpit.

Last edited by tigerboyz, Sat 4 Apr 2009, 04:01. Reason : typo

Quote from Beldar :

I tried this on a cruise server last night. It's not that bad...

It changes gears alot, mainly when you don't want it to. Normally if I get to a curvy part of a cruise layout, I just stick it in 3rd or 4th and leave it there. This just shifts up and down too much, and you kind of lose speed from it.

Also the low end power on the LFS cars sucks; giving it a tap on the gas and shifting around 3500RPM like normal driving just doesn't move the car as fast I think it it actually would in real life; whether the game and real car is a stick or automatic. Most of the cars in the game I got to plant my foot down some to get some normal acceleration out of it.

Or maybe im just used to big, torquey, american V8s and not little 4 bangers.

I've never been in a V8 in real life but I know what you mean about having to press the gas in LFS. It does seem like the throttle is a bit non-linear and requires at least like 50% throttle to get any forward movement. Because of this there's less room for normal acceleration vs kicking down in my shifter which could explain why it shifts so much.

There's a trick to disable the "light acceleration" kickdown and still have the one that happens when flooring it. Go in the config ini and find FlooredGearSensitivityLow=50 and replace the number with some text like N/A. It should no longer downshift when you're just trying to accelerate some.

I've been working on new versions "behind the scenes" with GuLLiT, mainly sharing ideas and testing. The new version features dynamic multiple kickdown (thanks to GuLLiT for the idea), where it shifts down a number of gears at once depending on gear and RPM. No longer do you have to wait for it to kickdown one-by-one through 4 gears to finally start moving.

Quote from Macist :

Should it be active window?

How would you play LFS if it's the active window?

Quote from timmie426 :

i did everything it said in the readme, but still it is still shifting back all the time. If i go back to the main menu it keeps pressing X which causes the game to continously say: Leave Game yes/no then it goes away, and then its coming on again, until i press Pause/Break. Can somebody help me?

Is the outguage window minimized? It cannot be minimized because the shifting script can only read from it when it's not. You should be able to move it off the edge of the screen or behind LFS without any problem, just no minimizing.

Update feb-8-2013:
Version 6 is available!

LFS Shifter is a program I made to make the shifting in LFS similar to how a normal daily automatic road car would shift. When I was little, I always wanted the cars in the games I play to shift like normal cars. So here I present you with the "D" gear in LFS!



Features:
~ Three shifting modes to choose from: Economic and Sport modes, and Hold Gear mode

~ Dynamic shifting; it will shift at different RPMs depending on the situation

~ Immersive sounds including turn signals, and car sounds to let you know what's going on

~ Bouncing Rev limiter helps prevent the engine from revving too high in Neutral, Reverse, or at top speed

============================================

There is an optional file attached that is a few example setups for some cars. These were used in a previous version of LFS Shifter, but may still work. They're mainly examples of how to set your gear ratios so it shifts less often.



(Your antivirus may go off saying it's a harmful file etc; tell it to shush. There is no virus or anything with LFS Shifter... it is just an autohotkey script compiled to exe)

Last edited by tigerboyz, Wed 20 Feb 2013, 00:03. Reason : V6 release

Just tried it for the first time, had 1 Pizza place left but couldn't find it and ran out of time. Pretty fun, especially with the RoadGoing setup, trying not to push the car too hard yet not go too slow.

I would make it so when the timer runs out, it displays a message (Game Over?) and after a few seconds, sends you back to the, err, place that you go when you click end race. I had no idea what to look for when I started, so maybe display instructions on game start. Also it seems you have to reload the program to play again; though the timer does reset, it didn't put me back to the Pizza position when I end race and go, but instead to LFS' default place.

The only bug I found was in one of the Pizza spots, the walls disappeared if I got too close, but that's I think LFS' own bug.

I haven't tried with Y yet (never used to happen in Y), but I will check. I just managed to capture everything with Fraps, and noticed after it cycles a few freezes and unfreezes, the car blinks like it's reloading itself (using in-car view) - the "body" of the car disappears and you see the "bones" of the car for a split second as it reloads. Fraps actually didn't capture that though, might have to do it with a camera. I'll go try Y now.

edit: Yep, happens in Y also. Any ideas?

edit2: Doesn't happen in Vista; there must be something on XP but I can't figure out what. I've tried closing everything even. Is XP SP3 to blame?

Managed to get a screenshot: http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/592/screen1ru7.jpg This sometimes happens after like 5-10 freezes, but not always. There's some black line going up from the back of the car and don't know what the white thing is. I ended up getting out of fullscreen and my car went back to normal, so couldn't get any other shots.

Just had it happen in multiplayer too and it loses connection by the time I unfreeze.

Last edited by tigerboyz, Fri 27 Jun 2008, 14:22.

LFS keeps freezing my whole computer (mouse and other programs included) in single player, not sure why. It freezes for about 10 seconds then unfreezes, then refreezes and repeats if I stay on the track. I tried getting latest video driver off NVIDIA's site, hasn't helped. I have Windows XP SP3 and LFS Y24 but have noticed it in Y22 too. I tried fresh installing LFS (then patching to Y24) and it happens in that too. It hasn't happened in multiplayer, only singleplayer. Doesn't happen during the menus but happens only while I'm on the track. I'm still trying it while I type this and it seems only certain cars do it. LX4, LX6, RB4, so far do it while XFG and MRT don't do it.

I just got my G25 for Christmas, and have a problem with the buttons and paddles on the wheel itself. None of them work unless the wheel is turned pretty far; sometimes turning 180 degrees works, other times it requires almost full 900 lock to work. I had a very similar experience with my Driving Force (not pro), but it was related to the Force Feedback and the angle it was trying to turn the wheel, not the actual position the wheel is turned like on this G25.

I'll add that all other buttons and functions work properly regardless of wheel position, just everything on the wheel itself is having the problem. I've tested in Logitech Profiler, Autohotkey, and the Game Properties thing in Control Panel in both XP and Vista; all don't detect the button being pressed until the wheel is turned far enough. The buttons sometimes do work normally for about 5 seconds, then it goes back to not working. Replugging it in makes no difference. The power supply is plugged in, the power light is fully lit, and everything else works fine at all times.

I think I have the latest version right off the Wingman site, dated 9/25/07. Is it maybe a problem with this latest beta?

I'm also noticing the gas pedal squeaks a little, and it's only been 4 days! And while I'm at it - the brake pedal is much too strong for my wheeled chair on tile (tried a loose carpet under and doesn't help much either, but it is pretty thin I guess), so I slide backwards when I need to brake, flying backwards when I clutch+brake. Any solutions to that?

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxUnlVUSS6Y

Last edited by tigerboyz, Tue 1 Jan 2008, 00:15.

I read in another thread that it's due to the physics engine running at 100hz, so it's not really syncing up with 60hz displays. I think running in 50hz or 100hz would prevent it, but I've never gotten an LCD to run in those modes. I get the same effect when I run my 60hz LCD in 75hz mode (no matter what game, or even on the desktop) - like a skip...skip...skip every 0.2 seconds or something. The graphics engine in LFS seems to sync up fine, so camera movement (for example) when not following a car should be as smooth as other games.

Anyone have luck getting their LCDs running in 50hz?

Whatever you do, don't use other power supplies like I experimented with a few minutes ago, unless you know what you're doing. I also lost my original power supply long ago, so I've been using a 7.5v Radio Shack one meant for digital cameras, which worked, but the force feedback was a bit too weak (takes 5 seconds for the wheel to turn lock to lock; 90 degree turn on each side). Well, I just fried my force feedback trying a higher volt power supply thinking, "oh, the voltage is only half of what these people are saying, so it'll be safe!" It was the power supply that came with Creative T3000 speakers - the only one I could find that fit into the wheel other than a 9volt guitar pedal one which didn't fry it, but made it spaz out. I put the power supply I usually use back in, and sure enough, the force feedback is dead. The wheel and pedals themself still work, and the motor resistance is still as tough as ever, but anything to do with force feedback is dead.

The one that fried it (the Creative T3000 speaker one) says:
input: 120v ~ 60hz 550mA
output: 12v ~ 2.9A

and the one that seemed compatible (but weak) says:
3 ~ 7.5v (it's adjustable and worked with every setting, with the FFB weaker on lower settings) and 2.0A

One thing I didn't notice (AKA lack of knowledge) was that 2.9A thing, and I now suspect that's a pretty important factor, being that much higher than the original power supply's.

Last edited by tigerboyz, Sat 3 Nov 2007, 19:57.