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Meh, he ships me shit all the time. He'll probably sent it to me first. lol
 
Here's the mess of wires that makes up the translator at the moment.


Namco to midi translator breadboard.jpg

Not all of the components are in use for the translator functionality, but I'm keeping everything wired up that has been needed for monitoring the different hardware.
 
Here's the mess of wires that makes up the translator at the moment.


Namco to midi translator breadboard.jpg

Not all of the components are in use for the translator functionality, but I'm keeping everything wired up that has been needed for monitoring the different hardware.
lovely setup!
 
The plan is for @Darksoft to send me one of the Lindbergh FFB boards so that I can do a more in-depth analysis there and work out a more universal solution where you could also play MIDI/NAMCO games in a Lindbergh cab.

Thanks, @Darksoft!
 
nice job so far, just wandering if the same could be done for pc emulators , like daytona usa, virtua racing and model 3 games to be used with the midi drive board?
 
nice job so far, just wandering if the same could be done for pc emulators , like daytona usa, virtua racing and model 3 games to be used with the midi drive board?
Something could be done there if the emulators in question support communication for the FFB over a COM port. If that were the case, then it would be a "simple" matter of figuring out a translation.

I can't say at the moment that Model 3 racing games interest me to the point where I would be personally motivated to figure it out, but since my eventual finalized solution here will be Arduino-based, there would be nothing stopping a motivated person from doing so with the resulting kit.

Basically, though, there is potential for future expansion with mere software upgrades as the Arduino itself can present itself and communicate with the PC as a COM port over USB.

I am interested in integration for PC driving games, but not sure how long it would be before I branch into that, if it even happens. It potentially gets a more complicated if communication from the game happens over HID, for example.
 
i know its been done with a teensy board and original model 3 driveboards, but there isnt much if any information floating about it was done.....
 
@saturnnights, I saw your post mentioning that you have a MIDI FFB project in progress. I have documented my findings in this thread and welcome your contributions.

I currently have a protocol translator in the works and have successfully translated Mario Kart 1/2 and WMMT 1/2 to work on the MIDI FFB.

There are some MIDI commands I haven't deciphered, but I do have enough figured out to drive it for translation purposes and/or self center it for games that don't support FFB.
 
I haven't gotten a chance to wire up the RS422 FFB since some of the headers are a slightly different type than what are used on the MIDI board, but I did run into ID4 in the wild a couple months ago. My impression was that the FFB effects were really weak. The wheel barely self-centered and nothing else happened when hitting anything. The funny thing is that's basically what I was experiencing when translating ID4 to work with MIDI. Is it really that lame for the real setup? Is it any better in newer ID games?
 
I haven't gotten a chance to wire up the RS422 FFB since some of the headers are a slightly different type than what are used on the MIDI board, but I did run into ID4 in the wild a couple months ago. My impression was that the FFB effects were really weak. The wheel barely self-centered and nothing else happened when hitting anything. The funny thing is that's basically what I was experiencing when translating ID4 to work with MIDI. Is it really that lame for the real setup? Is it any better in newer ID games?
Yes and yes.

The drifting mechanics in ID4 slingshots the drift into full drift from initial position. The FFB strength only adjusts the level of swing.

In newer versions, the slingshot effect is greatly reduced and drift mechanics are improved. However, adjusting the FFB strength is no longer based on how strong your arm can steer the wheel, the adjustment is more about how the strength of the slingshot effect felt on the wheel when you are in drift.

That probably doesn't make any more sense than saying "the older iterations were made so arm strength determines the level of FFB, the newer ones, it's more of the literal feedback you receive from the wheel"
 
Not in the slightest... In fact it has probably regressed a little. I started cleaning up my game room yesterday and had to move the breadboard I had this translator wired up to. I'll have to figure out wiring again when I get back to it.

I have so little free time these days and this project fell down on the priority list for me since getting a pair of WMMT cabs and not needing the translator for Mario Kart (which was my highest priority).

I will get back to it at some point soon, though.
 
Interesting, I've been working on the RS422/232 version of the Sega servo motor board, and the data is the same - just different protocol.

Basically seems these boards need the following:-

SUD_FFB_RESET - Reset point, from here you'll see if the board is hooked you either get an ACK or not
SUD_FFB_INIT - Setups some parameters, then it will spam the poll command (0xFD,0x00,0x00,0x7D) until ACK is 0x00 (this is what I call the warm-up servo process, even Afterburner Climax motion does this on boot)

SUD_FFB_ROLLLEFT - Rolls the wheel left (it's a FULL process, does not need to be Poll'd)
SUD_FFB_ROLLRIGHT - Rolls the wheel right (it's a FULL process, does not need to be Poll'd)

SUD_FFB_INIT_CENTRE - Centre point is found by slowly moving the wheel back from the right until as close to centre (0x7f/80) can be reached, this is read from either the JVS analogue [0] so you need to poll JVS at the same time as this has no concept of game position.

SUD_FFB_INIT_PACKAGE - Used by Grid only?
SUD_FFB_SEND_PACKAGE - Used by Grid only?





 
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