Earlier in the year, I took a look at ActLabs RS racing wheel system. This time I take a look at their force feedback variant, the Force RS.
Aww, the passion of racing in real life, there's no feeling like it. Your blood pressure rises, you sweat heavily in anticipation of the next maneuver, the sounds, smells and the constant vibration as man and machine begin to break the threshold of speed. PC racing simulations can give you somewhat of a perspective of what it is like to go battle head-to-head on the track with your adversaries on the track. These simulations can be so closely modeled that professional racecar drivers use these simulations to get them rhythm and what lies for them at an upcoming track. Yet, the only problem with any simulation, is the lack of feedback in the area of feel or inertia. You know the loads or G's that the driver feels as he drives on the track or when in flight. So basically, simulations give you a two dimensional perspective, unless you are the fortunate few to have really raced on track. In order for success with these simulations, is to have the ability to have a "sixth sensory sense" in knowing how exactly your car is reacting to the situation at hand that is on your monitor screen. But you really can't get this "sixth sense" without really getting familiar with simulation. It's going to take some time for you to get accustomed and when I mean by time, it can vary from a couple of days to months or even years!
Is there a faster way to get a better feel?
In layman's terms, yes. The currently there is force feedback. But majority of the developers feel that the current API is not up to par in the area of simulation realism. Remember, if you are going to implement force feedback into a sim, rest assured that there are going to be people to wanting these sensations transferred to the device as realistically as possible. Diehard fans will cry and bitch if a game really doesn't model properly.
With the current crop of the auto racing genre, there aren't much that really model a car's physics correctly. I feel that Viper Racing by Sierra Sports gives the best sensations of a car to date.
When ActLabs sent me their Force RS for review, I was very excited to be given a chance. Since my experience with their RS racing system was a good one.
So what comes with it?
Besides a beautiful box that was well organized internally, the following goods could be found inside:
- ActLabs Force RS steering unit
- ActLabs PC Cartridge: connection is done via serial port, you can get another cartridge if you decide to switch to USB
- ActLabs Force Pedal unit
- ActLabs Force owners manual
- FULL Version of EA's Need For Speed III
- Demo of Ubisoft's Monaco Grand Prix Racing Simulation
- Power supply
- Drivers CD and software
As you see, you get alot for your money. The game bundle I like, since I have never played NFSIII before, but I have played MGPRS - stayed tuned for a review soon as it is finally shipped in the US and it's about time!
Hooking it up
With the fine and excellent documentation provided by ActLabs, installation was a snap and went flawless. All you had to do was connect the pedal unit to the back of the steering unit, plug the cartridge in, slide the steering unit onto your desk - nice clamping system - and finally make your power and serial connections. This almost identical with the RS installation. The final step involves you installing the drivers for racing system, which is done via the game controller applet in Windows 9x. Also installed is a software program for you to tune the force feedback effects -nice touch!
Also for those of you who have a serial/COM to USB adapters, the wheel will be recognized and works flawlessly.
Set it up, Scotty
In order for proper operation of the force feedback, all you had to do was go in the game control panel, select the Force RS device, calibrate, test the force feedback effects and modify gain settings if you so chose.
As for non-force feedback gaming, there is a tension setting for the wheel you can adjust.
Just like the RS unit, you have eight buttons symmetrically placed on the wheel, levers behind the wheel for those shifting chores and a POV in the middle of the wheel - for which, I still haven't found a game that could use it yet.
So how are the bumps, shakes, rattles, and snaps?
Holy cow! I am very impressed with the Force RS, not only did it provide enough feedback to my hands. When cranking the force feedback effects to their maximum settings, the effects were right on par with AVBTech force feedback wheel. I had a blast on my LAN when racing Viper through it's paces.
When you used the wheel in a non-force feedback environment, such as NASCAR Racing 99, the unit sort lack in the tension of wheel. I did try to adjust the settings, but when I maxed the settings out it seemed to feel the same tension as I turned the wheel.
For pedal operations, I loved the tensions on both the accelerator and brake pedals. The pedal unit never moved about regardless if it was situated on carpet or floor. I mean the unit was literally planted, which made those panic situations a blessing since the unit didn't move.
BOTTOMLINE
Just like it's identically twin the RS, the FORCE RS really kick ass where in the area it was designed. The only downsides seem to be when using the wheel in non-force feedback operation games.
With its nice game bundle and it sturdy construction, you will most likely have a blast with any force feedback racing game.
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