CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

dochlywd

I know this is the wrong forum for this, but all my CRT buddies hang out here, so what the hell......

Perisoft, I know this is nothing compared to the rigs you turn out, but it's not bad for a newbie.

I always thought it would be cool to have a simulator, so I decided to embark on the project while my wife grabbed her head and said, "Here we go again! Not ANOTHER project!". I had found a Bob Earl VRC (like the one here: http://www.bobearlracing.com/) on my local Craigslist for $150.00 bucks. The beauty of it was that it also came with the Logitech G25 wheel and pedals! What a bargain! I brought it home and hooked it up to the HT. It was pretty damn awesome but I needed something with a little more eye appeal. Back to craigslist I went. After about a month of searching, I was able to locate an old indy style gokart fiberglass body and rear wing for $25 bucks. I was also able to find a used Samsung 37" 1080P LCD for $175.00. I also purchased the Logitech G51 speakers from a company on ebay for $75 bucks. Once I had all this in hand, it was time to build some kind of stand for this lame-brain idea of mine. I went to Home Depot and purchased a little bit of wood to go with the leftovers laying around the garage that I already had. I didn't really have a plan. I dove right in and made it up as I went along. By the end of the afternoon, much to my wife's surprise, I had something that was starting to resemble a pretty decent rig. After completing this stage, it was time to dress it up. I contacted my mom and dad's neighbor who paints planes for a living and told him my thoughts about the color scheme to go with my HT. 48 hrs and $50 bucks later he called me and told me to come and pick it up. WOW! It looked incredible! When I got it home and set it all up, it was starting to look like what I had invisioned. However, it was still missing something. So, I called our friends at the local sign shop and brought a disk with the decals I was wanting them to make. By the end of the week, they called and I picked them up and paid the $40 bucks for their services. I immediately went home and applied the decals. WHAMMO! It turned out exactly as I had invisioned!! And although, it's not as elaborate as something Perisoft would have thrown together in about 20 minutes of his time, I still think it turned out pretty cool. To explain the theme, I am an avid soccer fan and still play. Most of my buddies still play and they are also big soccer fans. Maldini is one of my favorite players, thus the explanation of the decals.

Equipment list:
-Bob Earl VRC
-Logitech G25 Wheel and Pedals
-Logitech G51 Speakers
-PS3
-Samsung 37" 1080P LCD
-Indy Style GoKart Body and Rear Wing

I still have some tidy-ing up to do with a few of the speaker wires. I also had built a little "cubby" so I could add wheels to it at a later time that's why the design dips down at the wheel wells but I'm not sure if I will add them or not. And believe it or not, I was absolutely astonished by how much more engaging the simulator is in this set up than it was in front of the big screen! Absolutely awesome!
Thumbs Up

Doc

dochlywd · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:16 pm Post subject:

You can actually see one of the wheels in picture #5. It's off to the left, next to the stool. When I set them in and stand back to look, the gokart wheels look too small to me. So I don't know if I will be adding them or not.

Doc

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:44 pm Post subject:

Wow, that is freakin' awesome, Doc! And you did it on the cheap, too! Holy crap!

I can't believe you were able to buy a 37" 1080p LCD for $175! Was it busted? That thing would have sold for $500 around here!

Man, nice work! I SO wish I had the real estate to do something like that.

SC

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:01 pm Post subject:

That absolutely deserves a YOU SUCK! for many reasons! Wink

I guess sitting your kid in the corner is somewhat pointless when he misbehaves, huh? Very Happy

drice1234 · Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1309 Location: Allen, Texas

Very nice

About the only thing I could think to improve the setup would be to have it on casters so you could move it in front of your projection screen and an external connection to hook it into your projector.

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:25 pm Post subject:

If the corner is where Doc's wife sends him when he's misbehaving, I think he's going to be misbehaving a lot more now!

Wink

SC

**kal** · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:16 pm Post subject:

Very cool!

So what sim software do you run?

Kal

dochlywd · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:52 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the replies!!! I am just running the PS3 right now with GT5 PROLOUGUE. I do have an extra PC but haven't played around with that yet. Has anyone played the F1 Championship Edition for the PS3 yet?

Drice,

I did have it hooked up to the G90 at first but for some reason it is actually more immersive using the LCD. Not sure why but others think so as well.

Ecrabb,

There's really not that much realestate down there. For some reason, the pic makes it look like a larger area than it is. It is actually pretty tight down there which is why my wife just shakes her head since my "issues" occupy the entire basement!!!! Smile

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:33 pm Post subject:

Try Forza on the 360, Doc... GT5 is pretty nice (though Perisoft kind of trashed it), but Forza is really sweet. Gotta love blasting around Nurburging in a Z06!

Did you see Perisoft's comment about a new Forza coming out at the Japan game show he's attending? He said it's incredible from a physics/realism perspective. That definitely gets me juicy!

SC

**kal** · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:37 pm Post subject:

MikeEby · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 5237 Location: Osceola, Indiana

I want one! Thumbs Up

Mike

overclkr · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 4227

Damn Doc!!!!!! TOO SWEET! Thumbs Up

TheVerge · Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 928

FORZA MALDINI!!!!

Another Italian on here?

macgyver655 · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 8508

That is absolutely one great accomplishment Doc....... Two thumbs up.......

NewbieDAN · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:53 am Post subject:

I just got a logitech G25 off ebay for cheap, and the difference in gameplay on the PC is remarkable. It's a great Force Feedback Wheel, taken a little while to get the right 'feel' to the wheel.
Playing "Grid" at the moment, a bit arcadie, but imersive non-the-less. Gonna be installing Need 4 Speed Shift tonight.

dochlywd · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:24 pm Post subject:

So, I noticed last night that my right front speaker is not working and after trouble shooting know that it is with the speaker. I don't want to have to unhook the rest of them and re-run the wires so I hope I can just call Logitech and come to a solution. On a cooler note, my son is 4 and loves this thing! I was on my knees working the pedals for him with my hands while he sat in the seat and steered. He actually had to look through the space in the steering wheel between the shift paddles to play. We only did the oval, but the little guy won two out of three! It was definitely a memory I won't forget and after the wife witnessed this, she is now on board with thinking that the SIM is a good thing!!

Thumbs Up

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:33 pm Post subject:

jask · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 10187 Location: kamloops BC

That is awesome! I am seriously envious.... have you considered attatching a couple LFE transducers to the seat ?
If game maker added a positional/sensory datastream to games I wonder how long it would be before platforms would start showing up in peoples homes?

lordcloud · Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 15 Location: SLC, UT

F-----G Awesome!!!!!

scir16v · Joined: 02 Jan 2009 Posts: 113 Location: St. Louis

Being that you're in St. Louis area, and Ilove racing games. When can I see it.