270 replies to this topic

[Moodysea]

Any Devs following this?

It's a proper newsworthy story!

Would make a great news / advertising article for the game!

waves at Propnut :-D

[Propnut]

OS: I do have all that but the pictures look like **** compared to my DSLR I will borrow my wife's Nikon (uhg) and take a few later today

Moodysea: You are making my blush, lol.

[Propnut]

Guess what?! My new camera body came in the mail today (Sony a300), the other one broke when I dropped it off a table in front of 50 or so students...boy did I feel like a *******! So I am back up and running with the picture thing.

Anyway, here is the photo update:

First off, I needed to connect the Mechpit to the family router but that is across the driveway and the yard so I picked up a really cheap but seemingly powerful USB wireless N device. Two antenna seem to draw in the signal very well, I get 5 bars. I know that wireless is **** for gameplay (never seem to have a consistently great ping) but with the distance and the look my wife gave me when I suggested that we dig a trench across her sculpted and landscaped yard I have chosen to go wireless instead She did say that I could put the Mechpit in the garage when it is finished though and this I just might do as it would be more convenient and get it out of the way for paying jobs. Long story short, here is the housing for the wireless device:



On the the PC controls AKA Fusion Core Controls. Which are situated next to the environmental controls, the spectrum label denotes the type of lighting in the cockpit, I have white for full spectrum lighting and red for combat lighting:





The switch panel in front of the throttle (switches and labels will be added as I need them):



And a couple of pictures to show the progress of the side switch panels. Again each will have labels and switches added as I need them. They are all removable panels, etc. Notice the light strips on the right side, the left side will have the same thing, just need to pick up more lights.





Thanks for tuning in!

[Propnut]

By the way, these are on their way. They will go on both sides of the main monitor. The MFDs fit nicely in front of the mini VGA monitors.

[ORIGINAL SteelWolf]

i'm hoping you can put the battle map in one of those. Dragable display elements like most good flight sim software allows. But So far i get the feeling MWO will be single screen geared. Maybe multi monitor element support later.

Yes i know they are TV's but shut up and dream.

Edited by ORIGINAL SteelWolf, 09 September 2012 - 12:17 AM.

[God Mech]

You have my interest man! Too bad a swivel base would be a little too hard to integrate! If you were able to get some sort of feedback from the game to allow you to turn the pod as you are in game that would be awesome! I was thinking today that you could use left right analogue signal to change your direction; with a proper wireless integration there would be no wire tangle. The only thing is, your working with more than just left and right! If you could get feedback from the game to the speed you are turning, this would be amazing.

[Darius Otsdarva]

Looking very excellent there, propnut. I like your idea of a free standing simpit. I would like to try building one myself if work didn't involve me travelling so much.

If only a portable design was feasible.

Anyway keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to the end result.

[Propnut]

Work on the pit is delayed until I feel better. I caught my wife's bronchitis ( not that she has complete rights to the illness as it seems to have no loyalty and jumps from person to person as it sees fit).

[ORIGINAL SteelWolf]

You, Foust, .... and sickness. Hmm so lets see. Common threats.
1> building cockpits
2>married/family [Shame you cant hit the MWO store for spouse brownie points]
3>Mechwarrior
4>both sick at the same time
5>Both post on this forum.
6>Both making lots of people envious of your building skills.

So we have at least 6 degrees of commonality.

[ODonovan]

If you don't want to go wireless across a distance in your home/garage, here's a solution I found so my wife could have her Netflix and Hulu on the TV in the bedroom. We got ours at Best Buy for $50 and it works great.

Wired Network Adapter - LINK

Take one unit and plug it into a wall socket near your router. Plug one end of a network cable into your router and the other end into the unit you just plugged in. Plug the other unit into a wall socket near your gaming rig. Plug a network cable into that unit and into your computer. VOILA! Your household wiring is now being used to carry your home network signal.

Many of the adapters you can get are 85Mbps or 100Mbps. This one is rated at 500 Mbps. There are others which are more expensive but I haven't seen any that list at a faster speed. Most of the faster ones specifically refer to gaming as one of their uses. Many of the ratings I've read for these devices refer to their use for gaming as being superior to using wireless networks. If anyone is using one of these setups, perhaps they'll post about their experience.



Thanks!

-Irish

[Lord Baldric]

Have a question/suggest for you Propnut. Instead of light ropes have you considered something like lighttape? Its pretty funky stuff and you can get it in a bunch of colors. http://www.lighttape.com if you haven't seen it yet. Not sure if it fits your vision but after seeing the light rope the lighting designer in me was cringing a little.

Aside from that its coming along fabulously. Looking forward to the finished build!

[Propnut]

OS: Umm...k....

Donovan: My shop has a separate electrical service, but that would be an excellent idea.

Lord Baldric: I too am pretty unhappy with the string lights, I tried to hide them so only the light would show but that makes it too dim. I have decided to go with puck lighting in two side switch panels that will throw light from both sides. I might cover one of them with red acrylic to get the "Combat" lighting but that has its own issues (heat).

I have seen light tape, but the cost is out of my budget at this time. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[para lax]

Propnut,

I just have to say that everything you are doing here is fantastic! I've been lurking on the x-sim forums for awhile now and working on scavenging parts/materials to build a joyrider based 3DOF motion simulator. Scavenging is slow going, and I'm working from a college student's budget (i.e. almost nil) so I'm thinking of changing up my plans. Mechwarrior really doesn't need the 3rd DOF, So at this point, I may just try and build two separate rigs. Something more along the lines of this...



...but enclosed for immersion purposes. Seeing other people's excellent projects like yours keeps me motivated! Thank you



On another note: that classic BTech gameboard is great! You wouldn't be able to post some more information on it, would you? Alternatively, (as to not sideline this thread) could you post a new thread on it or PM me some info?

Edited by para lax, 12 September 2012 - 08:47 AM.

[Moodysea]

My GF is all about having a POD in the lounge...

We have a weird life...

[Propnut]

Paralax, I also lurk over there. I have most of the parts already to build the motion platform, with the exception of the electronic controllers. I am waiting on those.

Edited by Propnut, 12 September 2012 - 09:19 AM.

[CyBerkut]

ORIGINAL SteelWolf, on 11 September 2012 - 10:01 PM, said:

You, Foust, .... and sickness. Hmm so lets see. Common threats.
1> building cockpits
2>married/family [Shame you cant hit the MWO store for spouse brownie points]
3>Mechwarrior
4>both sick at the same time
5>Both post on this forum.
6>Both making lots of people envious of your building skills.

So we have at least 6 degrees of commonality.

Yeah... but do they both know Kevin Bacon?

[ODonovan]

Propnut, on 12 September 2012 - 05:07 AM, said:

ODonovan: My shop has a separate electrical service, but that would be an excellent idea.

It should still work. One of the reviews I read for the product had the information that the person used the wired network adapters to run internet connection from one house to another on his property. Another says to make sure you change the default encryption code (by going to the manufacturer's website) so someone else doesn't plug one in next door and gain access to your network.

BTW, I've seen a similar product that runs at 450Mbps listed as a "gaming hub." I've also seen reviews which state even slower-rated versions still noticibly outperform the reviewers' wireless networks for gaming and streaming HD movies. This is very encouraging that this 500 Mbps system should give plenty of connection speed to handle MWO.

Sounds like $50 well spent. If it doesn't work out, sell it on EBay.



-Irish

[Propnut]

Been sick lately so very little has been done in the shop. Felt better today so I redid the transducer seat contacts.

I thought about what would need to connect to the seat, and therefore the mechwarrior. A mechwarrior needs coolant circulating in his/her coolant vest (to fight the heat that builds up in a cockpit). So I disguised the assemblies as coolant conduits.

This is what I came up with, it retracts under spring pressure up to 3". The chair will depress the contacts to about 1.5" and clip into the floor catch.

Please bear with me, I have a new camera and have not yet set up the auto focus fields so it is a bit wide for close ups.

[bikerbass77]

Having looked at the progress of your build and comparing it tot the one Choowey did, his looks like the top of a Vulture (Mad Dog) and Yours looks like a Madcat (Timberwolf) cockpit.

I know, it's only aesthetic, but I think you'll need bigger missile pods.

[bikerbass77]

ODonovan, on 11 September 2012 - 11:10 PM, said:

If you don't want to go wireless across a distance in your home/garage, here's a solution I found so my wife could have her Netflix and Hulu on the TV in the bedroom. We got ours at Best Buy for $50 and it works great.

Wired Network Adapter - LINK

Take one unit and plug it into a wall socket near your router. Plug one end of a network cable into your router and the other end into the unit you just plugged in. Plug the other unit into a wall socket near your gaming rig. Plug a network cable into that unit and into your computer. VOILA! Your household wiring is now being used to carry your home network signal.

Many of the adapters you can get are 85Mbps or 100Mbps. This one is rated at 500 Mbps. There are others which are more expensive but I haven't seen any that list at a faster speed. Most of the faster ones specifically refer to gaming as one of their uses. Many of the ratings I've read for these devices refer to their use for gaming as being superior to using wireless networks. If anyone is using one of these setups, perhaps they'll post about their experience.



Thanks!

-Irish

The downside of these is that they can only work via connected electrical circuits. For instance, if your workshop uses the same electrical circuit as where the router is, then it is a good solution. If however, you have a separate power line for your workshop then it will not work. One thing you can do with these that might work in the latter case if you are not getting a good enough signal is to use them to boost the signal from a closer point. Some of the kits will take the ethernet link from your router, transmit the information to another point on the electrical circuit where you have its kit partner plug and from that point transmit an N300 based wifi signal. This would be good if say the router was in the centre of your house where your workshop was either one side or out back.