Guide / Tutorial Building The Most Immersive Elite Dangerous Simulator - An Extensive Guide

[Exigeous]

A bit harder in the Philippines, rules and regs tend to be "optional" here.

Now things are making a bit more sense...

This pretty much rules out racing seats anyway, so may just start looking at wrecking places for a light car seat. Or, just buy an Ozone/Playseat and use the seat only. Though, seems Obutto don't sell their goods here, and postage would be as much as the seat. Plus duties...

A junkyard is probably the best bet save for it might be tough to find something in good condition that's small. You might try a car modification shop, like a window tinting place. They might be able to point you in the right direction.

You certainly could use the seat off an Ozone but I don't thin that would make financial sense as the base Ozone system is $420 + shipping.

Back of seat to back of pedals, though a walk around would be awesome.

I can do that next time I'm online and will send ya a link

This will give you an idea of what I am trying to achieve (and not for $7000!!!) It will be rustic in style, and needs to allow for HOTAS, and I hope - a collective for chopper sims. I need to try and make it all fold, but still be adjustable to some degree. Does the ozone seat fold forward, btw?

Holy crap, that's extremely cool. I've seen systems like this before but nothing nearly this good looking. Doesn't seem like it would be too hard to copy if you're good with that kind of stuff. Yes, the Obutto folds forward but I don't think nearly far enough for your needs.

How soon do you hope to finish your project, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Obviously you're doing flight, are you also doing a driving setup?

 

[Zeeman]

Now things are making a bit more sense...



A junkyard is probably the best bet save for it might be tough to find something in good condition that's small. You might try a car modification shop, like a window tinting place. They might be able to point you in the right direction.

You certainly could use the seat off an Ozone but I don't thin that would make financial sense as the base Ozone system is $420 + shipping.

Yeah, junkyard is what I am thinking, or was consideri g the Playseat, but evrry time I look at the Ozone, it just seems so much better, and I can implement more bits of it. There is a reseller in si gapore, so I may need to work out a way to pick it up on one my of trips there. Still, the boxes look big...

I can do that next time I'm online and will send ya a link

That would be awesome, cheers!

|quote]


Holy crap, that's extremely cool. I've seen systems like this before but nothing nearly this good looking. Doesn't seem like it would be too hard to copy if you're good with that kind of stuff. Yes, the Obutto folds forward but I don't think nearly far enough for your needs.

How soon do you hope to finish your project, I'm looking forward to seeing it. Obviously you're doing flight, are you also doing a driving setup?[/QUOTE]

The concept is pretty cool, but I do need to allow for a few things, and that thing only really will work for a car sim.

The primary purpose is ED/DCS jets, hopefully also choppers, and if possible, cars too. It really depends on how clever I get with my wood panel origami, I think.

Ideally, I'd be getting started in early March (designing now), and finished by May. I hope... The condo renovations take priority though, so it all depends on that....

Z...

 

[Exigeous]

If you have some space issues that you just can't overcome, ala building the coffee table/rig, then you just have to decide what will fit in those parameters. No one can figure that out but you. With that said personally I think the Ozone is by far the best choice if it's price isn't out of budget. While at $500-$1000 it isn't cheap if you think about the rest of the gear you may own - wheel, pedals, throttle, flight pedals, joystick, button box/dash, etc. etc. it isn't a huge percentage. Yet it is likely the biggest/best way to upgrade/build a cockpit.

To me there are many reasons I went for the Ozone after all my research, here's what I think are the Pros and Cons.

Pros
- Once complete it is a very clean, somewhat minimal look
- Smaller than many other dedicated cockpits
- Many options for surround sound, HOTAS, keyboard tray(s), etc.
- Relatively low price, $500/base to $1000/loaded
- Very well built, easy to assemble and very adjustable
- Great seating position with sliding and adjustable racing seat
- Very little to no monitor shake during intense driving
- Single 42" to triple 27" options
- Possibility to add motion systems from say $1500 -> A LOT!

Cons
- Heavy to ship
- Seem to always be on back order (I waited 2 months for mine)
- Relatively expensive (opposite of above, if you have an older PC and keyboard/mouse this is likely too much)
- Additional options are rather expensive, $20 for a cup holder?!? (included now)
- Difficult to get in with HOTAS and steering wheel present (okay for me, PITA for guests)

Personally I'd go with the Ozone, as you can see from my thoughts above. After 2 years with mine it remains my favorite gaming peripheral ever as it just adds so much to games. Having a comfortable seat with a flexible keyboard tray I can move it/out for productivity work. Having the wheel and stick/throttle/shifter mounted nice and sturdy is great.

The other thing I'd consider is longevity. If you build this folding thing into a table how much wear and tear would it get in a week? Month? Year? My Ozone, other than my pup Daisy's hair looks like the day I got it. I'm confident it will hold up for many years to come and look good while doing so. If/when I'm ever done with mine I can sell it pretty easily online, do you think you could do the same? While I like building things and I'm creative enough to design something I just hate building things. Knowing when they come out that I could had spent not a huge amount more for something essentially perfect.

There are 2 other options you could consider. I'm guessing you know of both but just in case not here they are

Wheel Stand Pro
Well made all metal mount that be easily folded and stored. (with or without the wheel/pedals attached) They are best used on a couch, you put your feet on the foot plate and with that pressure it fits snugly to the couch. The wheel also feels rather solid but if you ham fist it you'll definitely feel and see it move around.

Next is the Playseat Challenge, again a fold up unit but this one acts sorta like a folding lawn chair. It's very leaned back and would work well with Formula cars but just fine with all others. It's sorta like a mini-hammock and as such it folds up extremely small. It gets good reviews and looks like it can be acquired as low as $225 on Amazon Not only did I stumble upon that review recently but a guy that I've been racing with a good bit in Assetto Corsa has one and said he was a big fan. Light, foldable, well made and surprisingly sturdy. He drives very well, I see no indication that he was having any kinds of hardware problems.

Looking forward to whatever you decide. My first drive in mine was fantastic, I was so pumped. Oh, one finally bit of advice - something you should be thinking about is upgradeability down the line. How easy will it be to add a collective, nicer pedals, flight controls, button boxes, ButtKickers, motion, etc. etc. Having something you can grow with that you know you'll have to 10+ years is rather nice.

 

[Zeeman]

Slightly tangent to our conversation - check out this build. It's on this forum, too, somewhere, but can't find it.

If you have some space issues that you just can't overcome, ala building the coffee table/rig, then you just have to decide what will fit in those parameters. No one can figure that out but you. With that said personally I think the Ozone is by far the best choice if it's price isn't out of budget. While at $500-$1000 it isn't cheap if you think about the rest of the gear you may own - wheel, pedals, throttle, flight pedals, joystick, button box/dash, etc. etc. it isn't a huge percentage. Yet it is likely the biggest/best way to upgrade/build a cockpit.

To me there are many reasons I went for the Ozone after all my research, here's what I think are the Pros and Cons.

Pros
- Once complete it is a very clean, somewhat minimal look
- Smaller than many other dedicated cockpits
- Many options for surround sound, HOTAS, keyboard tray(s), etc.
- Relatively low price, $500/base to $1000/loaded
- Very well built, easy to assemble and very adjustable
- Great seating position with sliding and adjustable racing seat
- Very little to no monitor shake during intense driving
- Single 42" to triple 27" options
- Possibility to add motion systems from say $1500 -> A LOT!

Cons
- Heavy to ship
- Seem to always be on back order (I waited 2 months for mine)
- Relatively expensive (opposite of above, if you have an older PC and keyboard/mouse this is likely too much)
- Additional options are rather expensive, $20 for a cup holder?!? (included now)
- Difficult to get in with HOTAS and steering wheel present (okay for me, PITA for guests)

Well, after a fair bit of my own research, I'd have to agree, it's about the best bang for buck set up I have seen, and punches above it's weight, if anything.

Personally I'd go with the Ozone, as you can see from my thoughts above. After 2 years with mine it remains my favorite gaming peripheral ever as it just adds so much to games. Having a comfortable seat with a flexible keyboard tray I can move it/out for productivity work. Having the wheel and stick/throttle/shifter mounted nice and sturdy is great.

The other thing I'd consider is longevity. If you build this folding thing into a table how much wear and tear would it get in a week? Month? Year? My Ozone, other than my pup Daisy's hair looks like the day I got it. I'm confident it will hold up for many years to come and look good while doing so. If/when I'm ever done with mine I can sell it pretty easily online, do you think you could do the same? While I like building things and I'm creative enough to design something I just hate building things. Knowing when they come out that I could had spent not a huge amount more for something essentially perfect.

With my build, there is no expectation to ever be able to sell it. I'm not really worried about the money, if I had the space, I'd literally fly to Singapore tomorrow, pick one up, and fly back with it as check in baggage. It's purely about the space, and making it work, and the longevity of the table is certainly a concern - I'm currently checking the best hinges and pivots to use, and I'd like to over-engineer it, just so there is as little stress as possible on the bits likely to break. Chances are, I'm going to go with a metal frame, and removable panels to allow for repair/replacement should something screw up. It's certainly a long term project, and the Minister of War and Finance seems to have made a slight nod of approval at my attempt to ensure my hobby can peacefully co-exist with the rest of the place.
[/quote]

There are 2 other options you could consider. I'm guessing you know of both but just in case not here they are

Wheel Stand Pro
Well made all metal mount that be easily folded and stored. (with or without the wheel/pedals attached) They are best used on a couch, you put your feet on the foot plate and with that pressure it fits snugly to the couch. The wheel also feels rather solid but if you ham fist it you'll definitely feel and see it move around.

Next is the Playseat Challenge, again a fold up unit but this one acts sorta like a folding lawn chair. It's very leaned back and would work well with Formula cars but just fine with all others. It's sorta like a mini-hammock and as such it folds up extremely small. It gets good reviews and looks like it can be acquired as low as $225 on Amazon Not only did I stumble upon that review recently but a guy that I've been racing with a good bit in Assetto Corsa has one and said he was a big fan. Light, foldable, well made and surprisingly sturdy. He drives very well, I see no indication that he was having any kinds of hardware problems.[/quote]

Now this is interesting Mounting the HOTAS may be tricky, but I'd be tempted to buy that as a "get my by" seat, I'll have to see if I can find one to have a look at.

Looking forward to whatever you decide. My first drive in mine was fantastic, I was so pumped. Oh, one finally bit of advice - something you should be thinking about is upgradeability down the line. How easy will it be to add a collective, nicer pedals, flight controls, button boxes, ButtKickers, motion, etc. etc. Having something you can grow with that you know you'll have to 10+ years is rather nice.

Now, this... this is the challenge... It's actually part of the fun of the build, trying to make it work long term. I've been look at collectives, and they all seem to work with a box that is "below" the mounting point surface, so I am allowing for this, also, I'm allowing for a cyclic mounted between the knees, and making the thing so it's easy to switch to a different type of transportation machine within a few minutes is another of the goals.

Anyway, should be fun...

Z...

 

[brass yeti]

I registered just to say thanks.

While I've never had the opportunity to do a HPDE or any track driving (maybe someday), I love racing and built a sim cockpit mostly for project cars that I have modified for elite dangerous. This guide has helped me out a ton and has introduced me to some new software that I need to try out.

I got my rift yesterday and set it up with hellov. Next steps is to get the xbox controls mapped to the hotas and get the sound to go through simcommander4.

Setup
CPU: Intel i5-2500k @ 4.4Ghz
GPU: MSI Gaming X GTX 1070
RAM: G.Skill 1600Mhz DDR3 8gb
OS: Windows 10 x64 |
Display: Oculus Rift
Wheel: Thrustmaster T500RS
Pedals: Fanatec Clubsport Elite Inverted
Cockpit: GTR GTA Driving Simulator - SimVibe - 2x Buttkicker Advance - iNuke 1000dsp - DIY PVC Exo Frame
HOTAS: Thrustmaster T16000m FCS

 

[Exigeous]

Slightly tangent to our conversation - check out this build

I've seen this one many times, the guy did a fantastic job on it. I wish I had those skills! My best tool is my checkbook so I used it greatly for my setup!

Well, after a fair bit of my own research, I'd have to agree, it's about the best bang for buck set up I have seen, and punches above it's weight, if anything.

That's exactly why I got it. For the price I think it's the best value out there and I love how modular it is, very easy to add mounts, etc. down the road.

With my build, there is no expectation to ever be able to sell it. I'm not really worried about the money, if I had the space, I'd literally fly to Singapore tomorrow, pick one up, and fly back with it as check in baggage. It's purely about the space, and making it work, and the longevity of the table is certainly a concern - I'm currently checking the best hinges and pivots to use, and I'd like to over-engineer it, just so there is as little stress as possible on the bits likely to break. Chances are, I'm going to go with a metal frame, and removable panels to allow for repair/replacement should something screw up. It's certainly a long term project, and the Minister of War and Finance seems to have made a slight nod of approval at my attempt to ensure my hobby can peacefully co-exist with the rest of the place.

Definitely looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Glad to hear you got initial approval from the Minister, I used to have a department of appropriations so I understand how hard it is to get through that process. I fired mine about 10 years ago and am much happier for it!!

There are 2 other options you could consider.... ....Wheel Stand Pro.... ....Playseat Challenge... ....Not only did I stumble upon that review recently but a guy that I've been racing with a good bit in Assetto Corsa has one and said he was a big fan.

Very familiar with both, I owned a Wheel Stand Pro for years that I used with the old Xbox 360 Wireless Wheel.

...Mounting the HOTAS may be tricky... ..I've been look at collectives... ...it's easy to switch to a different type of transportation machine within a few minutes is another of the goals.

I haven't looked into collectives yet but will likely add one down the line as I'd love to learn to fly helicopters. As for my current setup I love that it's so easy to switch between driving and flying. Hell in Elite when I land I move my hands to the steering wheel and move my feet from my flight pedals to my racing pedals and volia, I'm driving the SRV like I'd drive a car. It's extremely fun and very immersive.

- - - Updated - - -

I registered just to say thanks.

Appreciate it, hopefully you learned something from it. Or at least had a laugh at me!

While I've never had the opportunity to do a HPDE or any track driving (maybe someday), I love racing and built a sim cockpit mostly for project cars that I have modified for elite dangerous. This guide has helped me out a ton and has introduced me to some new software that I need to try out.

If you do ever have the opportunity to drive on a track with a club you should jump on it, there really is nothing like it. That said sim racing these days has gotten so realistic it's impressive how close to a real car they feel. Especially when you add things like ButtKickers and motion systems.

I got my rift yesterday and set it up with hellov. Next steps is to get the xbox controls mapped to the hotas and get the sound to go through simcommander4.

Congrats. FYI on HelloV - it can be pretty buggy and impact game performance at times. You'll want to have an Xbox controller setup to control V where your HOTAS would control flight. Really hard to get a HOTAS to control V, it can be done but it's a PITA for sure.

Setup... (lots of cool gear...)
[url]http://i.imgur.com/h4AFIQK.jpg[/url]

Great setup there, very similar to mine in a few ways. Oh and aren't the inverted pedals rather cool? How'd you do yours, I have my throttle floor hinged but clutch/brake are both inverted/pendant.

 

[brass yeti]

If you do ever have the opportunity to drive on a track with a club you should jump on it, there really is nothing like it. That said sim racing these days has gotten so realistic it's impressive how close to a real car they feel. Especially when you add things like ButtKickers and motion systems.

I’ve done some autocrosses and test and tunes back in the day on a small course, but nothing that would redline 3rd gear or higher. It was a blast though. I just bought a Tacoma so I’d need to find a ride if I were to do it again haha.

Congrats. FYI on HelloV - it can be pretty buggy and impact game performance at times. You'll want to have an Xbox controller setup to control V where your HOTAS would control flight. Really hard to get a HOTAS to control V, it can be done but it's a PITA for sure.

Did you have any problems with audio not coming through on HelloV. Once I re did my audio I could no longer hear it.

Great setup there, very similar to mine in a few ways. Oh and aren't the inverted pedals rather cool? How'd you do yours, I have my throttle floor hinged but clutch/brake are both inverted/pendant.

Thanks, I have all my pedals inverted. All my cars I have owned have been like that so it seemed the most natural to me. The inversion kit was a big reason why I went with fanatec pedals. Floor mounted pedals seemed so wrong to me when I had the g27 before that.

Also how did you have your audio set up? Do you get discord voices coming through to the buttkicker? I would like to route game audio to the rift and buttkicker, but discord to just the rift. I set the output device in discord to rift, but that doesn’t seem to work.
Default audio: VoiceMeter
VoiceMeter: Rift & System Speakers (Buttkicker)
Rift: Default Audio

 

[Exigeous]

I’ve done some autocrosses and test and tunes back in the day on a small course, but nothing that would redline 3rd gear or higher. It was a blast though. I just bought a Tacoma so I’d need to find a ride if I were to do it again haha.

On this side note/tangent another option, if you're near a track somewhere, is to find a local 24 Hour of Lemons or Chump Car World Series team that needs a driver and join them. Both are for-fun series and while some teams are competitive you can find one that's just having fun and will only care that you don't break the car and have the cash to race. A weekend is usually about $750/driver depending on their car and setup and you'd get say 6+ hours of wheel to wheel racing. Slow but who cares, everyone is slow so it's a blast!

Thanks, I have all my pedals inverted. All my cars I have owned have been like that so it seemed the most natural to me. The inversion kit was a big reason why I went with fanatec pedals. Floor mounted pedals seemed so wrong to me when I had the g27 before that.

You're right that most street cars are pendant style but many, if not most competition racecars are floor mounted, at least throttle. I've raced a number of BMW E46 M3 racecars and they all have pendant clutch/brake and floor mounted throttle. Makes it slightly easier to heel-toe that way so it's what I'm used to. My Exige is all pendant style but it has a VERY small/thin throttle pedal which is hard to replicate in SIM but is super easy to heel-toe with, hell it even moves slightly to the right and forward so it's great for heel-toe.

Also how did you have your audio set up?

So my audio setup is fairly advanced as well, here's how I have it setup (hopefully this makes sense)

- 3 Audio Cards

Game Audio Only (Default Windows audio card)
-- Motherboard audio using 3 stereo cables for 5.1 audio to my Logitech THX 5500 speaker system

Rift Audio Card (Rift is the default Windows audio microphone)
-- Discord uses the Rift as it's audio. I remove the left Rift headset and only leave the right, feels like I'm wearing a single/mono headset

SoundBlaster Live USB
-- Audio card that SimCommander uses
-- Notes: That works perfectly for racing sims as SimCommander reads the API from the racing sims and creates the audio for the ButtKicker perfectly. The trouble is SimCommander doesn't support games like Elite or FPS (non-racing). So I created a little switching setup with a 2 input / 1 output switcher. It works like this:

- Input 1: SoundBlaster RCA/Analog output
- Input 2: Split from the Motherboard .1 (sub channel) (I use a little Y adapter right before it plugs into the sub so the .1 (sub) channel from the motherboard can feed both the Sub AND switcher at the same time
- Output: ButtKicker Amplifier

Here's the $10 device I use for switching (this and some RCA cables based on what you have now)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014N2FPE6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That way when I playing a racing sim I switch things so that the ButtKicker amp is getting a feed from the SoundBlaster USB card so that all the road effects are perfect (after a LOT of tweaking them, if you need help there let me know and I can explain the best way). But when I play Elite I switch it to the feed from the sub so that any big, loud, low noises make the ButtKicker rumble. It's not as accurate as having the data for a rumble channel but it definitely adds a TON of presence. When someone hits me with a missile I physically feel it in my body (dropping from Witch Space / Supercruise is the same).

Make sense?

 

[Exigeous]

FYI - I just completely re-wrote the audio section of the first post to reflect the changes I'd made around audio. It's similar to what I replied with here but with a bit more detail so I'd say go back and scroll down to that in my first post and see if that makes sense.

If it doesn't let me know and I'll clarify. Also let me know if you need a hand with Sim Commander, it can be a to configure. Between tweaking that and my motion platform I've spend 20+ hours playing around with the settings to get it to feel as real as possible.

Oh and if you've made any changes to your setup I'd like to see or hear about them.

-Ross

 

[gamer101]

Congratulations on your excellent rig.

I have just bought a Next Level Motion platform and I am eager to learn how you set yours up for Elite.

Some tips would be greatly appreciated as well as some info about what settings you used etc.

I am still getting the hang of the settings for games like Dirt Rally.

The "Overall Settings" slider doesn't seem to do what I expected. I can tweak it down, but the bumps still seem to be just as strong. There is much to learn about this amazing piece of hardware/software.

One thing's for sure, it takes VR immersion to the next level. I swear that I "feel" the rear end of my car sliding out as I take a corner.

I am also wanting to start using the motion sim with Elite, but it's not a simple as selecting a preset.

Anyway, any info that you might like to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[fabo]

Ozone question

Hi, awesome rig! I am looking into buying the next level motion platform v3 to use with my obutto ozone. However I am hesitant since I do not know if it will fit or adapt to my current rig. Your help and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Does the motion simulator fit well (without having to cut any portion of the supports) under the seat section of the obutto? Does he seat fit without adaptation to the rails of the motion simulator? Also, when in motion, does the bottom of the simulator not bang with the seat supports-bars of the obutto? Sorry for the many questions mate, but I don’t want to buy if it will not fit easily and I see you have done a great job with this. Thanks in advance and regards.

 

[gamer101]

Hi. I wonder if I might ask what settings you used in Platform Manager for the motion rig. I might be able to use the same settings for my V3.

 

[soulstoner]

Hi, awesome rig! I am looking into buying the next level motion platform v3 to use with my obutto ozone. However I am hesitant since I do not know if it will fit or adapt to my current rig. Your help and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Does the motion simulator fit well (without having to cut any portion of the supports) under the seat section of the obutto? Does he seat fit without adaptation to the rails of the motion simulator? Also, when in motion, does the bottom of the simulator not bang with the seat supports-bars of the obutto? Sorry for the many questions mate, but I don’t want to buy if it will not fit easily and I see you have done a great job with this. Thanks in advance and regards.

I also have this similar question, although I have an Obutto R3volution that I'm looking to add the Next Level Racing Motion Platform V3 to. Will the seat just sit on top of the platform, with the platform resting on the ground?

 

[gamer101]

I also have this similar question, although I have an Obutto R3volution that I'm looking to add the Next Level Racing Motion Platform V3 to. Will the seat just sit on top of the platform, with the platform resting on the ground?

Perhaps Pagnian can help you with your enquiries. https://www.pagnianimports.com.au/contacts/ I have found Brendan to be extremely helpful

 

[Uvelius Sång]

By the way, did anyone figure out whether you can put the nav and status panels *only* (1 and 4 on PC) on separate mini displays?

 

[soulstoner]

Perhaps Pagnian can help you with your enquiries. https://www.pagnianimports.com.au/contacts/ I have found Brendan to be extremely helpful

Thanks for the suggestion. I sent an e-mail and reached out on Facebook. They sent a reply via Facebook stating that they had Obutto customers successfully pull it off, but weren't very forthcoming with the methods used.

So, unfortunately, I'm still brainstorming ideas.

 

[soulstoner]

Motion Platform & Systems
[/B]There are many many different motion systems on the market and as such discussing the various choices are far outside the scope of this guide. I chose the Pagnain V2 Motion Platform sold in the US by Next Level Racing. I chose this platform because it is very small and compact making it extremely easy to integrate into my Obutto seat. I simply detached my Ozone seat base from the main chassis and bolted it directly to the top of the V2. This raised the seat by about 4" making me raise the rest of my system (pedals and wheel base) to match. The other main reason I chose this system is someone was selling it locally still new in box for a drastic price reduction making it far easier. It is a 2DOF system only supporting Pitch and Roll. As Elite doesn't support external telemetry applications the software for the V2 (which is excellent) allows you to track Joystick input. If I stick left the seat rolls left, pull back and it pitches back. It took quite a bit of fiddling with the extremely customizable software to get it to feel natural but now that it does I can barely play without it. When I turn it off it feels like my ship it broken in some way!

I have some questions about mounting your Obutto base directly to the V2:

1. Were the included mounting screws long enough to go straight from the V2 seat brackets, up through to the Obutto bracket?
2. Do you remove your keyboard and mouse try before every motion session?
3. How much clearance is there between the floor and the legs of the obutto seat base? Obviously there's enough to make it usable, but I'm curious.
4. Do you have any videos of this in motion?

Thank you!

 

[Exigeous]

Sorry I got a bit behind on the thread, let me see if I can help answer a few questions

1. Were the included mounting screws long enough to go straight from the V2 seat brackets, up through to the Obutto bracket?

If I remember right no. I just use some simple bolts that I had in the garage to go through the rails on the Obutto seat and to the stock pre-drilled holes on the V2. I drilled nothing.

2. Do you remove your keyboard and mouse try before every motion session?

Not necessarily, I don't for Elite but I do for racing as the motion is more pronounced. Basically I switch out the mounts for what I'm doing. Elite, flight controls and no keyboard try (keyboard in my lap for in game chat but no mouse access/need). For racing I take those off and put the shifter/handbrake mount on. Then for FPS I take that off and put the keyboard tray on and use that. Very versatile.

3. How much clearance is there between the floor and the legs of the obutto seat base? Obviously there's enough to make it usable, but I'm curious.

At it's lowest point about 3-4" - as you say more than enough. Again I didn't take the seat off the small Obutto base but rather dettached that from the front/monitor part of the frame and slapped it right on the V2. That way I retained the slider without any funky modding, it raised it an extra inch or so but no biggie there.

4. Do you have any videos of this in motion?

I don't but if you really want I could make one for you.

One thing I should point out - when you install the V2 below the seat it raises you up that 4" or so. The issue is you then need to raise the steering wheel platform to match (it goes high enough for me). You also need to raise the pedal platform which I did with some random parts I had around (zip ties and a metal rod for support). That's not critical for Elite with flight pedals but is when driving with racing pedals. Not hard but something you'll have to consider.

All in all I'm very glad I added the V2. Oh, someone asked about making it work with Elite - it only does Joystick tracking in Elite. So you tell the software here's the joystick and here's how sensitive you should be then if I stick right the seat leans right, back and it leans back. So it's not really accurate to what the ship is doing like say War Thunder would have/do. Even still it definitely adds a very cool effect and feel to Elite. For me I wouldn't have gotten it just for Elite as I mainly got it for racing sims. If you're in VR it's incredible - I even have No Limits 2, the rollercoaster simulator, and that in VR with motion is rather incredible. While the seat only leans about 10 degrees so far no guest has been able to ride a rollercoaster without grabbing the seat to hold on - knowing they are in VR and can't fall out!

So what else you guys got?!?!

-Ross

 

[soulstoner]

Sorry I got a bit behind on the thread, let me see if I can help answer a few questions



If I remember right no. I just use some simple bolts that I had in the garage to go through the rails on the Obutto seat and to the stock pre-drilled holes on the V2. I drilled nothing.



Not necessarily, I don't for Elite but I do for racing as the motion is more pronounced. Basically I switch out the mounts for what I'm doing. Elite, flight controls and no keyboard try (keyboard in my lap for in game chat but no mouse access/need). For racing I take those off and put the shifter/handbrake mount on. Then for FPS I take that off and put the keyboard tray on and use that. Very versatile.



At it's lowest point about 3-4" - as you say more than enough. Again I didn't take the seat off the small Obutto base but rather dettached that from the front/monitor part of the frame and slapped it right on the V2. That way I retained the slider without any funky modding, it raised it an extra inch or so but no biggie there.



I don't but if you really want I could make one for you.

One thing I should point out - when you install the V2 below the seat it raises you up that 4" or so. The issue is you then need to raise the steering wheel platform to match (it goes high enough for me). You also need to raise the pedal platform which I did with some random parts I had around (zip ties and a metal rod for support). That's not critical for Elite with flight pedals but is when driving with racing pedals. Not hard but something you'll have to consider.

All in all I'm very glad I added the V2. Oh, someone asked about making it work with Elite - it only does Joystick tracking in Elite. So you tell the software here's the joystick and here's how sensitive you should be then if I stick right the seat leans right, back and it leans back. So it's not really accurate to what the ship is doing like say War Thunder would have/do. Even still it definitely adds a very cool effect and feel to Elite. For me I wouldn't have gotten it just for Elite as I mainly got it for racing sims. If you're in VR it's incredible - I even have No Limits 2, the rollercoaster simulator, and that in VR with motion is rather incredible. While the seat only leans about 10 degrees so far no guest has been able to ride a rollercoaster without grabbing the seat to hold on - knowing they are in VR and can't fall out!

So what else you guys got?!?!

-Ross

You've been a huge help so far, thank you!

I have an Obutto R3volution, and I just sat on my seat with books totaling about 4", and everything in my rig, including steering wheel, and keyboard tray are adjustable so that it maintains a proper height for me. So I'm good there.

The only other thing I'm looking for is a side view of where the front of your seat meets with your pedal plate, and maybe a shot from the back on floor level where the motion rig is? Just so I can see how it's mounted, and how much space you have between your seat and the solid pedal tray in front.

If that's not possible, no big deal. As I said, thank you for your help so far. You are the only person I've found online that is mounting an Obutto rig on the NLR Motion v3.

I think I'm going to pull the trigger once I get a few more paychecks.

 

[Exigeous]

Let's see if I can help a bit more then - here are a number of pictures I took from random angles to show what you were requesting (I think). You'll see the space between the pedal plate and seat are pretty far, say 6-10" or so. That was due to raising the platform and needing to raise the steering wheel, which brings it closer. So I moved the physical seat back so I could use the sliders to get a wider range of sizes, mainly if I have guests play it.

One note, when you put the seat on top of the V2/V3 when you get in and out of the seat you'll be putting stress on the platform as it's not designed to be mounted this way. It's not super bad, you just have to be aware and that when you get up and down you're being careful not to put too much stress in one direction or the other. You also want to be sitting so that the center of your mass is right over the platform, so as you adjust it with the sliders make sure your normal position is center like that. At times I'll slide my seat all the way back and if not careful I could really put a ton of stress on the platform due to the angles and where the center of mass is. Make sense? Pretty easy to get once it's setup and not a deal breaker at all.

Okay, here are the pictures. Please forgive the hair from my yellow lab Daisy - the amazing thing is I cleaned it 2 days ago! I also added a few updated pictures as I moved recently so had to disassemble and reassemble everything. Let me tell ya that was a LOT of work, I bet I have 100 cables and over 200 zip ties holding everything together! I'm a freak about cable neatness so I do all I can to hide them all.