56 replies to this topic

[NightlyReaper]

Oh, and for all those who went to the trouble to comment, and to whom I have not replied specifically, MANY THANKS for all the positive remarks! A lot of sweaty days in a poorly air conditioned shop went into this. It's not perfect, but it is VERY immersive once you get in-game. The whine of the fans, the closeness of the cockpit, the sound and the heat all work to emulate the feelings described in the Battletech novels as to what a 'Mech cockpit is like. In the books, there are rarely WINDOWS on a BattleMech. Rather, the apparent windows are covers for the "Sensor Arrays" which feed a pilot's screens. In my simulator, you can actually see out the windowed "eyes" of the mech, but it is a stretch to think one could drive while looking through those holes.

In case anyone wondered, this simulator is ROUGHLY modeled on the head of a PNT-10 variant of the Panther 'Mech Manufactured in the Draconis Combine:

As you can see, I've got more work to do on the detailing if I decide to make it more accurate. The Panther is a prominent 'Mech in the early Battletech novels, mainly the ones dealing with Wolf's Dragoons and the Kell Hounds. As a Kurita 'Mech, it is normally played as an aggressor to the protagonists, but it is a fairly feared light 'Mech because of its PPC and SRM4. I couldn't very well fit the head of an Atlas in a 12x12 bedroom, could I?

Come on MWO Devs, we need a Panther. The spider is close, but sorry, no cigar. I would be totally happy with the fanart variant that !AlfaXT has up at http://alfaxt.devian...-mech-283910787. Go and check out his work. Great stuff.

NightlyReaper, out.

Edited by NightlyReaper, 19 September 2012 - 12:44 PM.

[NightlyReaper]

HackNFly, on 19 September 2012 - 07:51 AM, said:

Funny thing is, other than the lights I don't even like the SB controller that much. I just thought it was unique enough that it deserved some support, and I love hacking old joysticks. Its actually my brother's joystick, he's just cool with me borrowing it until I finish development. The switches are cool, but I like a more HOTAS control, and there simply aren't enough buttons accessible via the joysticks. Personally my favorite joystick is the Microsoft Sidewinder Forcefeedback Pro. The original version. I still remember playing MW3 with it back in '97. It was an awesome Xmas gift. I love that joystick because it will never wear out, and the forcefeedback felt awesome back in the day. Back in '97 Microsoft was making use of custom chips and a specialized camera that read the joystick position using special leds. It's also one of the most ergonomic joysticks I've used to date. Neat thing is, I've built an adapter to allow it to work with Windows 7. I didn't program this one, I just followed the plans, and gave feedback to that developer. Thats the type of hardware approach I would have ended up creating if I couldn't get the software for the SB to work.

Here's a link if you're interested.
http://code.google.c.../adapt-ffb-joy/

I'll be happy to send you the latest program to test. I only have a limited amount of time to work on this project, but since I'm close, I hope to get it working by early next week. I may not have all the button to keyboard functionality I had for the previous version, but I should have access to 32 buttons and 8 axes, which should be plenty until I get the keyboard mapping functionality fixed to work with MWO.

Thanks, HackNFly! I will definitely be awaiting whatever you come up with. MWO works great on mouse and Logitech G13, but I know from my MW4Mercs experience how dominating the two sticks plus throttle control can be in combat. I will sorely miss it if I have to fall back to more mundane control schemes. I would love it as well if it were more HOTAS, because I'm an old MW2 and Thrustmaster FCS/WCS/RCS veteran, but the intuitiveness of the separate axes for torso/legs on the VT makes driving a mech feel like, well, driving a mech. Plus, it was designed to look the part. AND, it fits the exact width of the simulator I built, so it was meant to be. Keep hackin' away at your software. If no one else appreciates it, I do.

[Nacon]

Ok... I gotta ask. Why the camo seat cover?

It's not like the seat is doing stealth mission in a jungle. lol. Just a little tiny pet peeve.

EDIT: Yes, I'm jelly.

Edited by Nacon, 19 September 2012 - 08:41 AM.

[NightlyReaper]

My next step in the build process is to add some lift struts to the hatch because it is DANGEROUSLY heavy. I used the lightest materials I had at hand, but with the surround speakers and light fixture, it probably weighs enough to crack a skull. I have found some on ebay that already have brackets attached and hope to finish that in a week or two. To keep it shut I will have to junkyard a car's trunk latch and fabricate some attachment points on the hatch and the chair-back panel. if I can find a trunk latch with one of those "escape" T-handles I will create a pair of rings to simulate old Vietnam-era ejection grab handles:

Thoughts? Advice?

NightlyReaper, out

[NightlyReaper]

Nacon, on 19 September 2012 - 08:40 AM, said:

Ok... I gotta ask. Why the camo seat cover?

It's not like the seat is doing stealth mission in a jungle. lol. Just a little tiny pet peeve.

EDIT: Yes, I'm jelly.

The Camo seat cover is an old military rucksack cover I had in the closet. It covers a video game rocker that my kids have subjected to ten years of ROUGH use and so is shredded to the point I had to add padding. In the Battletech novels, most 'Mech ejection seats have some form of survival gear (handgun, flashlight, knife, rations, medpack, etc) either built into or attached to the seat so a Mechwarrior can survive on the ground awaiting extraction after ejection. So, why not have a seatcover that converts to a rucksack? It would be camo then, true? I've been to S.E.R.E. school, but I'm just rationalizing to eliminate your peeve, sir.

NightlyReaper, out.

[NightlyReaper]

PlayinItSafe, on 19 September 2012 - 07:56 AM, said:

I gotta try to talk my gf into letting me build a rig like that! lol Great work!

I had a spare room and it takes up the same floorspace as a twin-size bed. I built it out in my shop so that I could disassemble it for painting and then bring it in the house and put it back together again. Although she wouldn't let me rebuild it in the Den and made me use an extra bedroom, I do think my wife is pretty patient with me and my idiosyncrasies. I encourage you to hold her up as an example for your lady. She often calls me the King of the Nerds, to which I reply that my subjects envy me for my Queen.

NightlyReaper, out.

[Ducks Guts]

Yep, I'm jealous. How long does it take for your eyes to readjust once you come out after 8 hours?

[TechNoir]

NightlyReaper, on 19 September 2012 - 02:03 PM, said:

I had a spare room and it takes up the same floorspace as a twin-size bed. I built it out in my shop so that I could disassemble it for painting and then bring it in the house and put it back together again. Although she wouldn't let me rebuild it in the Den and made me use an extra bedroom, I do think my wife is pretty patient with me and my idiosyncrasies. I encourage you to hold her up as an example for your lady. She often calls me the King of the Nerds, to which I reply that my subjects envy me for my Queen.

NightlyReaper, out.

You really talked your way out of that one . Hehe, but really, that's actually a neat idea, and I had no idea they keep survival gear in their. Makes a heck of allot of sense though now that i think about it

[Deathsiege]

I get claustrphobic just looking at it.

[Wintersbite]

Needs a space heater hooked up under the seat which dials up and down with the mech's heat

[Nighpher]

This is the most awesome and amazing thing I have ever seen. I wish I had one of those.

[Ximmons]

First, that is a very nice setup that any one would be happy to have. A group of close friends and I still get together to play steel battalion and have all been waiting for a miracle worker like yourself, HackNfly, to get everything working. Its a long shot but if you are looking for any one else to test them I would be more than happy to devote my weekend

Edited by Ximmons, 20 September 2012 - 07:33 PM.

[HackNFly]

I'm happy to know that I have people eagerly awaiting my work. I'll do my best to get it finished this weekend. Unfortunately there's only so many hours in the day. But I can say that I'm close and I know it'll work, I've tested the new vJoy library, and MWO does pick up the proper axes and buttons called by the library.

[NightlyReaper]

Ducks Guts, on 20 September 2012 - 09:13 AM, said:

Yep, I'm jealous. How long does it take for your eyes to readjust once you come out after 8 hours?

God, don't I wish! I honestly haven't been in it in 2 days because I've gone back to college and apparently my algebra professor is running for Anti-Christ. Honestly though, how many formulas are there? I think I should be able to hold up a picture of this Mech Pit and at least be able to get a pass on calculating an angle or something. Hope to get in some time this weekend though. Maybe you'll see me on the battlefield very soon if I can get caught up!

NightlyReaper, out.

[NightlyReaper]

Ximmons, on 20 September 2012 - 07:33 PM, said:

First, that is a very nice setup that any one would be happy to have. A group of close friends and I still get together to play steel battalion and have all been waiting for a miracle worker like yourself, HackNfly, to get everything working. Its a long shot but if you are looking for any one else to test them I would be more than happy to devote my weekend

HackNFly, on 20 September 2012 - 08:04 PM, said:

I'm happy to know that I have people eagerly awaiting my work. I'll do my best to get it finished this weekend. Unfortunately there's only so many hours in the day. But I can say that I'm close and I know it'll work, I've tested the new vJoy library, and MWO does pick up the proper axes and buttons called by the library.

Ximmons raises a very good point, and that being: I can build a simulator using off-the shelf stuff, but if there is not someone who has the programming savvy to tie all that crap together, then its worth is diminished. HackNFly, I don't know who the Beckament is of vt.beckament.net, but I'm glad I got to meet YOU on this board. If our encouragement and praise is your motivation, sir, then rest assured that you have it, along with our undying appreciation.

This is the good side of the internet that they never talk about on TV: the part that BUILDS COMMUNITY, and I for one look forward to the day when we can show what our community within a community can do. Imagine if we could field an entire lance of mechs which are piloted by nothing but players with VT controllers. I know how easy it is to DOMINATE online in MW4Merc with it. I think we could hand the average player their virtual *** in very short order. Let's work towards THAT!

Secure from soapbox,

NightlyReaper, out.

[NightlyReaper]

Wintersbite, on 20 September 2012 - 04:13 PM, said:

Needs a space heater hooked up under the seat which dials up and down with the mech's heat

Until I read this post, I had not thought of the game of MW2 I played in there the other day as "Sweatin' to the Oldies" but y'know....

I promise that with two PC's, an amplifier, a monitor and a sweaty 200 pound man venting heat inside, it gets plenty toasty without the fans. I joked with my son that we should mark the fan switch as Immersion Level Low/High to correspond with On/Off because if there's one freaking thing the books and the games make clear it is that in the 35th Century, miniature cold fusion reactors are a reality, but AIR CONDITIONING is LosTech.

Also, the previously mentioned Camo Seatcover is removable for periodic cleaning. I'm looking to get an automotive seat soon and put in there hopefully.

Also, the higher output a fan, the noisier it is but that's OK. I was going for a certain aesthetic. Go look at the MWOMercs Atlas Teaser video over at the Media section of this site and listen to the gyros start humming in that beast when the Mechwarrior powers it up. All those varied size fans I have spin at different speed and provide some of that "harmonic dissonance" that you hear in that Atlas. I can't wait to have the time to properly finish and detail this thing and put all my friends through it.

NightlyReaper, out.

[NightlyReaper]

Deathsiege, on 20 September 2012 - 11:55 AM, said:

I get claustrphobic just looking at it.

So do some of the people I've let climb in it. On the other hand, I was in the Navy for a number of years and there have been times when I wasn't alotted this much LIVING SPACE, so even though you really have some limited movement inside, it doesn't bother me. That's the reason for the hatch. Every so often one has to be able to stand up and stretch. I was reading Wolves on the Border the other day, and during a break in the fighting, one of the Wolf's Dragoons characters pops his hatch and does exactly that, simply to stretch his legs and vent the cockpit heat. I felt like I had done well in my design when I read that.

NightlyReaper, out.

Edited by NightlyReaper, 21 September 2012 - 12:36 AM.

[jlbdeath]

nice job looks great.

[Gedeon Kane]

very cool setup! I bet aircraft simulators would be rad in there.

[Ximmons]

Your project nightly has made me think that I should finally make a cockpit. Well see what the wife says but I did just get some new power tools that need some testing.