Hardware & Technical Desktop Simpit Project

[Enride]

Ive posted a thread on SimHQ where ill post updates on my latest project, a Desktop Simpit.

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4011967/Desktop_Simpit_Project_(PICTUR#Post4011967

It will be designed mainly for Falcon 4 BMS in mind, but im making sure it can be used with both ED and further down the line SC.
The various switchpanels mounted on it will initially be inspired by the f-16 panels, but they are easy to make and when time comes, I can rather quickly make the panels I want for ED and mount them instead!

SimHQ will be the main thread im updating but now and then ill drop a line and maybe a picture here as well. So for more details take a look at the thread over there!

Advice, thoughts and ideas are welcome 1

Heres the very rought concept I drew up in Sketchup

Spoiler

And this is where im at right now

Spoiler

 

[CMDR Gerakis]

Hi

Well I think this is interesting. Actually I own a workshop in Morocco where I work with craftsmen and I could produce these .. just saying. If enough people seem to show interest for it to be a little profitable, I could start producing a limited series of these Desktop Simpit of your design, improved with copper vintage look and more.

By the way, I am also a novice to this geek knowledge of how to put 3 screens and manage to play 4K by combining two graphic cards etc... I'm on video game since 25 years and first MMORPG I played was Meridian59... but I'm not up to date anymore with the technical solutions to build one of these.

If anyone with a bit of knowledge could make a simple list of what it is you want to buy as screens, cable, and what machine or graphic cards (I play for now on a quad-core ASUS laptop with 16Gb Ram etc) to buy. And maybe explain how yo would plug all these between them to get a good result.

If there is a something I can do at a reasonable price to improve my laptop situation to get closer to this type of Desktop Simpit set-up I'm happy to evolve towards it.

G

 

[Enride]

Hi

Well I think this is interesting. Actually I own a workshop in Morocco where I work with craftsmen and I could produce these .. just saying. If enough people seem to show interest for it to be a little profitable, I could start producing a limited series of these Desktop Simpit of your design, improved with copper vintage look and more.

By the way, I am also a novice to this geek knowledge of how to put 3 screens and manage to play 4K by combining two graphic cards etc... I'm on video game since 25 years and first MMORPG I played was Meridian59... but I'm not up to date anymore with the technical solutions to build one of these.

If anyone with a bit of knowledge could make a simple list of what it is you want to buy as screens, cable, and what machine or graphic cards (I play for now on a quad-core ASUS laptop with 16Gb Ram etc) to buy. And maybe explain how yo would plug all these between them to get a good result.

If there is a something I can do at a reasonable price to improve my laptop situation to get closer to this type of Desktop Simpit set-up I'm happy to evolve towards it.

G

Hi, thanks for your reply!

Having this done in a more professional way would be highly interesting for me and i would be ready to pay for it enough for you to make a profit of it!
Im not worthless with tools, but i dont have access to a workshop or professional equipment so my end result will be amateurish!

In in a clinch right now but when i get back home ill send you a pm and we can discuss it some more

 

[Enride]

A small update.
Cut out the holes for the panels, and have been test "fitting" everything tonite to see if measurements is good. Turns out I will need to solve a few minor issues, mainly the triple monitor stand that cant raise the monitors quite as high as id like as it will block the up front computer.
I think I can solve this easily by adding a spacing block between the stand and the tabletop, about 4-5cm will do fine!

Note that in the picture, the instrument monitor is also blocking the UFC, but when finished it will be lowered just underneat it.

Anyways, this is a very quick test of everything in place! Never mind the wiring

Spoiler

 

[Surfinjo]

Fascinating.

It's occurred to me, if you could fit the whole thing onto springs, setting up various movement effects should be possible.

A few decent monitors and a darkened room, the effect could be quite stimulating.

There are a number of sites offering suggestions for this. Found this one quite quickly for example. http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000843.htm

It would need some good research though, given the cost

 

[Enride]

Fascinating.

It's occurred to me, if you could fit the whole thing onto springs, setting up various movement effects should be possible.

A few decent monitors and a darkened room, the effect could be quite stimulating.

There are a number of sites offering suggestions for this. Found this one quite quickly for example. http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000843.htm

It would need some good research though, given the cost

I havent thought about movement and if anything i wouldnt trust this table to survive that
But im eagerly awaiting a low cost consumer solution to get movement effects in a chair. But til then i think a buttkicker is the only thing within my budget.

 

[Enride]

Quick update:

Paintjob is done and now its time for small adjustments and then ill be setting everything up and trying it out for a few hours to see that I dont need to do any last minute fixes

Overall im very happy with the result, even if the finish has some very obvious flaws. But with everyhting setup it will not be very noticable.

Please check out the thread on SimHQ in the original post for more details.

Spoiler

 

[LCplCombat]

How did the interface connection test go? What electronics did you use? There has been discussions on the forum regarding this subject previously and it was determined (through trial and error and raising a ticket because it didn't work) that ED won't support any external simple devices, USB or otherwise. One attempt was successful using an Arduino.

 

[Enride]

How did the interface connection test go? What electronics did you use? There has been discussions on the forum regarding this subject previously and it was determined (through trial and error and raising a ticket because it didn't work) that ED won't support any external simple devices, USB or otherwise. One attempt was successful using an Arduino.

Panels is yet to be designed as I do not know yet to what extent we will be able to bind controls in ED.

But I have 2 Leo Bodnar BBI32s which totals at 64 additional buttons or switches to be bound ingame.
Hopefully without any hassle but if needed, they can be bound as keyboard shortcuts in various third party applications.
So in the end, Ill have no issue binding whatever controls ED has available to whatever buttons/switches I decide upon.
The questions is only how extensive the control bind list will be.

As far as extracting cockpit instruments/map/interfaces to a secondary screen, I dont think we will be able to do that even with third party apps. But time will tell, and ill make sure im ready for it

 

[Surfinjo]

I havent thought about movement and if anything i wouldnt trust this table to survive that
But im eagerly awaiting a low cost consumer solution to get movement effects in a chair. But til then i think a buttkicker is the only thing within my budget.

You may be right on movement, certainly at the early stages.

If I may suggest, for external control, you might want to look at this site: https://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/

It's a subject in its own right I'm afraid, a new language to learn. But it isn't as complicated as it might seem. Support is mainly from a user forum. Theirs is full of knowledgeable people.

That aside, simple commands can be constructed quite easily and added to macros which can then be incorporated into the Elite Dangerous controls. Simple commands are all you should really need for most things.

 

[Enride]

You may be right on movement, certainly at the early stages.

If I may suggest, for external control, you might want to look at this site: https://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/

It's a subject in its own right I'm afraid, a new language to learn. But it isn't as complicated as it might seem. Support is mainly from a user forum. Theirs is full of knowledgeable people.

That aside, simple commands can be constructed quite easily and added to macros which can then be incorporated into the Elite Dangerous controls. Simple commands are all you should really need for most things.

The bbi-32 will be detected by the comp as just another control device with 32 buttons, and ingame i can simply bind these as usual.

I will be forced to use momentary switches though unless i use various third party apps but im designing this for momentary switches anyways so wont be an issue

 

[LCplCombat]

Panels is yet to be designed as I do not know yet to what extent we will be able to bind controls in ED.

But I have 2 Leo Bodnar BBI32s which totals at 64 additional buttons or switches to be bound ingame.
Hopefully without any hassle but if needed, they can be bound as keyboard shortcuts in various third party applications.
So in the end, Ill have no issue binding whatever controls ED has available to whatever buttons/switches I decide upon.
The questions is only how extensive the control bind list will be.

As far as extracting cockpit instruments/map/interfaces to a secondary screen, I dont think we will be able to do that even with third party apps. But time will tell, and ill make sure im ready for it

You might want to wire up a few buttons and test that it works on ED. The board I use works with other programs but ED doesn't recognise the input.


http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15310

http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15651

 

[Enride]

You might want to wire up a few buttons and test that it works on ED. The board I use works with other programs but ED doesn't recognise the input.


http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15310

http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15651

Hmmm...You are correct LCplCombat, it seems that ED wont detect anything outside of the hotas.
Im using the logitech G940 so ED CAN detect multiple USB controllers since the g940 appears as 3 separate ones.

But it wont detect the bbi32 or even my thrustmaster MFDs.
I can always solve it by binding the bbi32 buttons to various keystrokes through third party apps but it really shouldnt be needed

 

[Enride]

Pit finished (i think) and im ready to start making the panels!

 

[Enride]

Just finished a first draft for the panel layout for Falcon 4 BMS.
Im holding off on the panels for ED until I know more about how much we will be able to customize our controls.

But it gives a good view of the amount of switches the pit can house!
The lower right panel is hardwired to the pit for controlling audio and lightings.

Left panelcluster

Right panelcluster

 

[Rog]

Just to let you know: I've built an arduino based controller that was not recognised by E: D at first (re-wired an old throttle). Windows recognised it just fine.

The fix was to add 'dummy' X and Y joystick axes, to make the controller appear to E: D as a standard joystick with lots of buttons. As soon as that was done, E: D recognised the controller.

Outstanding bug ticket #9905.

 

[Enride]

Just to let you know: I've built an arduino based controller that was not recognised by E: D at first (re-wired an old throttle). Windows recognised it just fine.

The fix was to add 'dummy' X and Y joystick axes, to make the controller appear to E: D as a standard joystick with lots of buttons. As soon as that was done, E: D recognised the controller.

Outstanding bug ticket #9905.

That must be a miss by the devs and hopefully fixed easily.

As soon as i get home from work ill put beta2 on download and start wiring up the bbi again hoping it will work now :/

 

[Enride]

no success :/

Ive posted in various threads relating to controller and binding issues but i really hope they get this working soon enough.

 

[Enride]

Left side panels

Right side panels

These obviously designed for Elite, tho not finished yet.
But I sure hope we get a more extensive keybinds list for ED, and sooner then later :/

 

[Enride]

Been some time now but ive finally gotten around to finish the panels for the pit. Being unsure of how much we will be able to bind our controls in ED, i decided to go ahead an make the panels for use with Falcon4, so the design is inspired by the F-16.

When things are more clear about ED, ill make separate panels for it and rewire everything at that time, but until these will have to do.