Hi, this is my first post btw, and I must say I'm absolutely loving the game and so I decided this past December that I'm gonna build a car driving ensemble for a PC of my own kind of like a "spend money vs. do it at home" thing against the likes of Logitech G25 wheels. My target budget is 100$ and so far I'm confident I'm gonna honor it.

So anyway on the gearbox I'm building I'm gonna include a quite nice neutral sensor which presses a button every time the gear lever exists or enters a gear but when it's dead center it will stop being pressed so that the computer doesn't report a continuously pressed buton... but i noticed there isn't a neutral button option in the controls option in LFS. Some of you might say this isn't really necessary but let's say you have a friend who just signed up for driving school or is thinking of doing it in the near future and It would be nice to learn to drive a car on a computer with the proper setup (game and interface wise); things like starting a car, stopping at a light or parking etc... it's useful to have a neutral gear option so I just wanted to know how can I officially submit this request to one of the developers or perhaps these threads are read by these wonderful people ?
My request isn't at all hard to do and It would only be a plus for the game.

Thanks.

Do yourself a favour and use a cheap joystick or gamepad as basis. LFS expects continuous "on" to remain in gear, i.e. your gear lever will have to push and hold the respective button for as long as it remains in gear, it will automatically jump to neutral as soon as the button is released, thus rendering a neutral switch redundant.

Hm honestly I didn't really check to see what LFS behaves on shifter setting. If you say it automatically reverts to neutral once you're out of a gear then that's great. Anyway I'm gonna keep the neutral sensor on my gearbox just in case for other games.

nice can you post the development of this wheel. i would really like to watch it being built. and mybee you can sell these when your done. i would much rather paying you too build one then pay logitech to make one

As an aside, a neutral button would be a great idea for the sequential/paddle boxes. I'm under the impression that many race cars have this to quickly get back to N after a spin/stall instead of having to go through the gears.

I (and probably more people) suggested this ages ago for the BF1. This button has been mandatory on F1 cars for a long long time, yet this little addition to realism wasn't deemed important enough.

Quote from tbofram :

nice can you post the development of this wheel. i would really like to watch it being built. and mybee you can sell these when your done. i would much rather paying you too build one then pay logitech to make one

Well the good news is that I decided I'm gonna make this little project of mine my subject for my high-school graduation certificate exam. My specialty/profile is electrical appliances and other such devices so I might as well do a project that I really want to do and that is practical.
So anyway what i'm saying is that I will have to write a paper about it anyway complete with pictures and diagrams and such so I could definitely post it here when i'm done. Only problem is i'll have to translate it in english but as it will have about 8-10 A4 pages i'm afraid i'll have to do a nutshell translation, that should be enough and also i intend to upload a clip on youtube with the finished product in action.
Right now I'm studying hard for the SAT's (at least I think that's the equivalent of the exam US residents take) so I'm really not working on it in terms of building. Right now I'm just gathering stuff that I have on a list as I go along each day so I can have everything I need when the building day comes. Things like flexible metal laminae/strips, real car pedals, broken/unused mouses (they have micro switches inside), thrown away furniture .. basically stalling production so I can minimize the costs of the elements i need to fit in the 100$ budget proposed.

just tried with a joystick how the shifter setting works in lfs. Indeed I see you have to continuously press the button for the desired gear and it makes sense but i have a suggestion.
add an option to the shifter settings kind of like "continuous press" or "one press" where the continuous press is the current system implemented and the second new system would mean you can press only once the button for a desired gear but thus a new assignable button for neutral gear is available.
Shouldn't be too hard to do.

What do you guys think ?

Quote from sempre_r10 :

Well the good news is that I decided I'm gonna make this little project of mine my subject for my high-school graduation certificate exam. My specialty/profile is electrical appliances and other such devices so I might as well do a project that I really want to do and that is practical.
So anyway what i'm saying is that I will have to write a paper about it anyway complete with pictures and diagrams and such so I could definitely post it here when i'm done. Only problem is i'll have to translate it in english but as it will have about 8-10 A4 pages i'm afraid i'll have to do a nutshell translation, that should be enough and also i intend to upload a clip on youtube with the finished product in action.
Right now I'm studying hard for the SAT's (at least I think that's the equivalent of the exam US residents take) so I'm really not working on it in terms of building. Right now I'm just gathering stuff that I have on a list as I go along each day so I can have everything I need when the building day comes. Things like flexible metal laminae/strips, real car pedals, broken/unused mouses (they have micro switches inside), thrown away furniture .. basically stalling production so I can minimize the costs of the elements i need to fit in the 100$ budget proposed.

thanks for the reply. i look forward to watching the project develop and i will continue to watch this thread(or the thrad you use for the dev side of it)

you may take a look in the thread linked in my sig

sweet. didn't know about your topic.

i must say and don't take it the wrong way that yours is kinda of unpolished and cheap as i am sure that wasn't the goal, but just to work.

Mine will be very well looking and hopefully very well built. For example for the gear knob i bought this off ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayI ... ;ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

It has exactly the layout i planned for my gearbox :X and that gaiter looks awesome.
also 2 days ago I came up with an idea for the self-centering mechanism which doesn't involve springs (i feel they would be unrealistical because as you get further from the neutral position it gets tougher and it's not realistic), an idea to make the handbrake have a button and also an axis assigned so you can choose whatever you like. I have one more axis to spare from my designated joystick and i decided i'm gonna use it in a clever little mechanism i also thought of a few days ago. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna put kind of like a wheel on the clutch foot-rest that is at level with the clutch foot-rest floor (the wheel will be "buried" in the wood) and it will rotate a potentiometer that is linked with the X axis. You will be able to use it by curling your toes and rotate while applying a little pressure only with the tip of your sole. This is useful for looking right or left without using the D-pad on my pc wheel as your leg is free while you're not clutching. But if you look right then need to press the clutch then you wont need to re-straighten the direction of the wheel because it will also be self centering. Don't know if LFS has an option of using an axis for looking sideways but I can assign the axis to a button/command with a program called JoyToKey. Altough I do know for certain that it does have an axis option for the handbrake.
Implementing the axes for the handbrake lever and the rotating wheel on the clutch-foot-rest is also useful for calibrating the axes in case they aren't. It would be hell to have constantly un-calibrated joysticks in games like NFS U2 because the joystick controls the menu so you wouldn't be able to navigate the menu without calibrating.

unpolished and cheap .. well it is but still working good like almost one year of weekend use. Even took me thru some RAC league races

I dunno if you have already some more experience in building stuff like this (your post makes it sound like that), but I certainly would fix my effort on making the H-Shifter work, and then start on your toe-wheel-thingy. One step at a time.

Quote from sempre_r10 :

Don't know if LFS has an option of using an axis for looking sideways

LFS supports 6 DoF axis look as far as I know.

You may want to give TrackIR (or one of the free alternatives) a try - it should be more natural to move your head slightly to look around rather than curling your toes

Quote from Degats :

LFS supports 6 DoF axis look as far as I know.

You may want to give TrackIR (or one of the free alternatives) a try - it should be more natural to move your head slightly to look around rather than curling your toes

thanks for the tip. i was aware of a thing similar to trackiIR, it's a really cool thing but my wheel thingy on the clutch pedal rest is rather a solution for calibrating the axes but the actual use of it for something in a game is rather a bonus than an original goal. Come to thing about it... if my left wheel thingy will have an axis i will be able to steer the car with me left foot with the wheel and with my right foot i'll accelerate or brake. hehe it will be hilarious ) "look at me ! no hands" )

quick update. i just bought today the set of pedals brake gas and clutch from a used car parts place (dunno the correct english name) and also the handbrake lever with button-click mechanism although it doesn't have a gaitor like the gear knob but... i got both the pedals and the handbrake lever for only 6.5 US $ :X I first went to a place that was rather professional and they wanted 10 bucks for just the handbrake lever then i went to a place owned by some simpler people and i told them i was a student and need them for a project etc.. and told i need something really simple just basic pedals and handbrake lever and they made me this awesome deal :X i'm so happy my budget is 100$ (well 91$ to be more exact) and so far i've spent 74$ so I've still got 17$ left.
Today i measured the wood pieces/boards (?) I managed to get for free and right now as I am writing I am designing and deciding the sizes for the enclosure of the gearbox and handbrake lever and also for the pedal's enclosure/board because tomorrow my associates for this project are helping me cut them into shape.
Will update as soon as I can.

sorry for not being around lately.
I just want to update the progress of the project.
Right now the pedals have been painted black cause they were little rusty,
we assembled 80% of the gearbox ensemble which means the basic structure without the doors (it will have 2 doors for access inside), mounted the handbrake on it, mounted the mechanism which allows to press down on the gear lever for the press-only for reverse system, and also assembled the pedal box where the pedals will be mounted on. This week we are scheduled to mount on the pedals, the piston mechanism for the brake pedal (a piston from a car pump which will help the brake pedal feel like a real one where you feel you are creating pressure) and for the weekend I have planned to implement my newly thought concept for the H pattern system. It's pretty cool with wires and ball-ended door knobs ) and also the self-centering system. Our goal is to finish it from a mechanical aspect so then I can start my main job of wiring the whole thing.

and so yet again i don't keep my word of updating but these last months have been hell with studying and finding time for my project. anyway i'll be brief with the updates:

gearbox: completed the wooden body/box, made the "in gear" system so the lever stays in gear, made the left/right centering system with weights instead of elastic/spring system (it's more realistic this way), made so that it doesn't go into Reverse if you don't push down on the gearstick, mounted the handbrake lever, hooked it with the wire/cable which pulls and rotates a potentiometer corresponding to the Y axes.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully complete the gearbox with the electronics, the spring for the handbrake, the neutral sensor, the control panel with the switches etc.

Pedals: hopefully later today i'll manage to attach the foot-pump piston to the brake pedal (so it has that hydraulic feel to it instead of just springs. it's useful for determining how much you should press the brake to avoid wheel locking) and tomorrow we'll mount them on their box and fit the electronics and plugs and stuff.

It has to be done by Tuesday night cause the next day i'll have to present it at 3 PM. Will post pictures and a video on youtube hopefully.

Cheers.

can we get some pictures of what you have so far?

EDIT: nevermind, you said you are going to get that to us

There are times I come out of a corner and have a friendly negotiation with 'grass' that sends my BF1 on an offroad cruise in a direction that makes me with I could throw it into nutruel very very fast. Shifting down rapidly is not fun.

ok so here's the latest.
Yesterday on the day of the presentation the school had to change plans in terms of the location within the school of the pupils projects because the health department (?) made an almost unannounced appearance at 2 PM and sprayed the school with disinfecting stuff and anyway 2 hours no one was allowed withing the school and that means no class room with a projector which i needed that obviously interfered with my plans. We had to reschedule but that's good cause my project is not done ) I told them I could have completed it to work but with compromises and i prefer to make it the best i can before i bring it.

To update, the gearbox is 80% done I tested it out last night in LFS and shifting works great, now i just have to hook up the control panel and the EUROScart plug (my chosen interface between the gearbox and the pedal box) on the gearbox.
The pedals are 70% done, I mounted the pedals on, the brake piston, the Scart plug now I just have to mount the springs and the potentiometers.
Tonight the gearbox will be done and tomorrow I hope the pedals too

Quote from sempre_r10 :

ok so here's the latest.
Yesterday on the day of the presentation the school had to change plans in terms of the location within the school of the pupils projects because the health department (?) made an almost unannounced appearance at 2 PM and sprayed the school with disinfecting stuff and anyway 2 hours no one was allowed withing the school and that means no class room with a projector which i needed that obviously interfered with my plans. We had to reschedule but that's good cause my project is not done ) I told them I could have completed it to work but with compromises and i prefer to make it the best i can before i bring it.

To update, the gearbox is 80% done I tested it out last night in LFS and shifting works great, now i just have to hook up the control panel and the EUROScart plug (my chosen interface between the gearbox and the pedal box) on the gearbox.
The pedals are 70% done, I mounted the pedals on, the brake piston, the Scart plug now I just have to mount the springs and the potentiometers.
Tonight the gearbox will be done and tomorrow I hope the pedals too

Dude - if you can make a sequential that can drop into neutral on a push of my panic button - i would serioously aim to buy that.

Quote from CodieMorgan :

There are times I come out of a corner and have a friendly negotiation with 'grass' that sends my BF1 on an offroad cruise in a direction that makes me with I could throw it into nutruel very very fast. Shifting down rapidly is not fun.

You could use button clutch when you go offroading

Quote from CodieMorgan :

Dude - if you can make a sequential that can drop into neutral on a push of my panic button - i would serioously aim to buy that.

Well, my gearbox does has a neutral sensor which presses a button when the gear lever returns to center position so i guess it has )
My sequential system is not mechanical like on the G25 or G27, it's electric meaning that the normal H operating mode has switches at the end of each speed that activate when the lever is in gear but i have placed two other switches which have the same function as the switches for gears 3 and 4, that activate before the lever 'drops' into gear, you just have to push the lever a bit up or down. So with the switch of a button you get sequential or manual. And even if you push it too much and wound up in gear it's no problem because you still push the same button/function because the sequential contacts are basically the same as the 3-4 gears.

Anyway, the real reason i'm writing is for the latest UPDATE.
Last night i assembled the whole thing, handbrake control panel gear lever R-press only system etc. and I played in LFS and it works great but I still have to work out some kinks, nothing too difficult. Also it looks great too ) It's more like a household cupboard with a gearstick handbrake and USB cable rather than an gearbox that looks a cupboard.

Unfortunately I have to delay these final tweaks probably until Monday in the afternoon cause the SAT's start on Monday so I wanna catch up on my books.
I hope in a week the whole project will be completed. The pedals aren't done but they're waaaay easier than the gearbox. I have to mount the springs, the potentiometers and the wiring and then it's done

Cheers.

Quote from CodieMorgan :

Dude - if you can make a sequential that can drop into neutral on a push of my panic button - i would serioously aim to buy that.

LE: I could also mount a switch that activates when you press on the gearstick like when you want to be able to shift into Reverse

Reverse?

I imagined that getting to reverse fast would be "Neutral -> Reverse" D; ....


Or I missed something.

no, i meant that if you want the gearstick to be able to enter the "canal" for the R speed (in a 6 + R H-pattern layout) you have to push down on gearstick and only then you will be able to shift into reverse but if LFS had a button for the neutral gear like for example Race 07 has, i could have mounted a switch that activates when you push down on the gearstick but without wanting to shift into Reverse. As soon as you stop pushing down on it, the switch deactivates. Binding that push-down switch to the the neutral gear would be I think what you are looking for, but then again, if you are playing lfs for example with a joystick then it already has some buttons on it so you could get from 6th to N very fast if LFS had the neutral button.