Hi all,

I keep reading about the latest wheel or high end graphics card but nobody seems to take any notice of the fact that their racing is missing an entire dimension! I know some of you will have heard my banging on about stereo 3D before but here I am getting all evangelical again.

For those who haven't a clue what I'm on about, there are various ways to get stereo 3D vision from your PC but all of them rely on showing two images. One for each eye. Google for Stereo 3D and you'll find a host of sites explaining it. There is a set of Nvidia drivers dedicated to producing perfect 3D.

My own setup involves two projectors, each with a polarizing filter, used in conjunction with polarized glasses.

The result is that from my view point I feel as though I am actually sat in the cockpit of my race car and the track is stretching off into the distance. It really is so good that you feel as though you could touch the mirrors or the dash. You actually forget that there is a screen there at all.

The problem is that there's no screenshot that I can show you. It's one of those things that you have to try so I'm considering having an 'open day' (in Oxford) for anyone who wants to have a go.

Maybe in return you can teach me how to drive fast!

Let me know if you're interested

Dave (AKA 'SCULPTOR' in the FOX with the smarties skin)

Could we have a version of south city with all barriers removed?

It would be great for the cops and robbers style server.

Buying a HMD is never going to be a sensible decision... it's a silly one! ask anyone who watches you racing in it! But from the inside it's very cool!

Thanks nikimere!

It's great. best thing about it is the stereo 3D which everyone should try at least once to see what they've been missing. I can't believe stereo 3d is so ignored in the race sim world. Second best is being able to look around simply by moving your head. I will miss this with my new setup. I haven't found it uncomfortable but I've never worn it for more than 2 hours at a time. (light-weight racer!) SVGA res is not really a problem. the fact that there's two SVGA images blended seems to help a lot. I guess if you've been used to UXGA you're going to notice the difference, but for me, the sense of real depth outweighs any resolution issue. Field of view is still not amazing with any HMD and this is the best consumer one on the market. It's about the same as a 21" screen viewed close up....but of course, you can turn your head to see more.

Just thought I'd let you know that my Z800 and trackIR combo is up for sale on ebay. (Item number: 200066909957) No problem with it, I've just bought myself a dual projector stereo 3D setup instead. Now, anyone lend me a couple of quid till pay day? :-)

Just thought I'd add my two pence worth to the noob debate...

I was on a public server last night when some poor new guy got a real earful after causing a crash and saying sorry. He left without another word. This is not the way to treat newcomers to our sport! I just hope this guy didn't leave for good. I know it's annoying when your race is ruined by incompetent driving and I know that people will say 'learn offline'. But come on guys, show a bit of tolerance. These are not league races. Encourage the new recruits. Congratulate them when they get their new PB's and thank them when they let you past. That way we might have more racers and a bigger choice of populated servers in the future.

A former Noob.

Quote from AndRand :

rrrright.
lost in translatiion.

still im curious of 3dglasses effect, how does anybody feel that with lfs?

I'd never race in 2D! Can't fathom why anybody does! get some shutter glasses (often cheap on ebay) and the nvidia stereo3d driver and give it a try.

Quote from Burnzoire :

as pointed out trackir is a bit redundant there - mind posting pics or your setup?

z800 head tracker is not accurate enough for racing. I found I had to re-centre frequently. TrackIR is 100% accurate.

As you can see from the pic, I have mounted the trackIR 3 point thingy on my z800

Quote from CSU1 :

VR goggles I've never seen em in the shops has anyone? How much are they. Omg vr goggles+headphones+LFS=bye bye real world

I have this set up and it is fantastic! z800 HMD from emagin, track IR, Headphones, I'm right in there! Still can't win though!

It would be cool if it could be dynamic...each race changing your colour very subtly in the spectrum.

Oh, how very deflating......I guess you may be right. I suppose I was thinking people would be more sporting than that and that it would just add an extra element to an already very compulsive game....

I think most people would agree that racing is most fun when you really really really want to win or do better than you did before....so, anything that was added to LFS which would give more of an incentive to improve would be welcome, right?

Here's my idea... Noobs are coded white (for example) you put in a few days and you're rewarded with a blue name.
as you improve and move up the LFS ladder you get to be purple.
Your PB gets to look fairly competent and your name turns red.
You progress on through a couple of leagues..you're starting to get some respect from other racers...you are now an 'orange'...cool! but you still envy those yellows it looks like you're going to have to put in a lot of practice to get there...but after a year you finally make it! hoorah! Face it, that's as far as you're going to go...or is it? you know of a few greens...why shouldn't you be one. sure it's going to take dedication but who knows? Of course, there is only one person with his name in black.....

Highsider9 > Thanks so much. I'll try them now!

Anybody got a good FE_green FOX setup?

I've never had a problem with my thomas wheel and lfs. I'm on windows xp proffesional and I have the usb upgrade for the wheel.

The gear shifter is perfectly reliable as it is a simple metal stick that contacts back and forward and acts as button 0 and button 1.

it's not a monitor, it's a hmd ( www.emagin.com ) which will only run at 60hz. there is no flicker because the micro-screens are oled. the flicker is on the surfaces of objects and track, not over the whole screen.

This is a tricky one as i have long been a fan of thomas superwheel. the build quality is superb. the action is really smooth. i am sure that mine will still work in 20 years time. The one drawback is that it's not force feedback. I now own a logitech momo aswell and i have to admit that the force feedback definitely adds to the realism. I still use the thomas pedals as they are many times better than the logitech ones. If you want to try before you buy, you're welcome to try mine. I have a basic set for sale but it needs the usb upgrade.

Dave

Cue ball, Thanks for reply. to use these goggles i have to use 600x800 @ 60hz. Frame rate is fine. nvidia 7800 gtx, athlon 64x2 dual core, 1gig ram.

Aaargh! That did the trick, but with software vertex shading, my car has gone all flickery! Any ideas??

Thanks cue-ball. Excuse my ignorance, but what is HVS? do I turn it off in game or through the nvidia display control panel?

Dave

P.S, I'm using a shiny new nvidia 7800 GTX.

I had the same problem a long time ago with one of the Geoff Crammond F1 games. That time it was not only in the mirrors. I'm sure there must be a simple explanation for this loose wheel phenomenon. c'mon codies, what is it??

Thanks,

Dave

I am using the emagin z800 and I find it amazing. The sense of depth is awesome. It's just this wheels problem that spoils it.

and here's one showing it further away