F1CE: Steering Wheel Experiences

  • Thread starter Lofasz
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The nice thing about F1CE is the "rattling" feel of the car going over bumps at speed - this makes the wheel (G25) much noisier than with any other driving game I have tried. On the other hand, there is hardly any feel when you corner in F1CE & no sense of the G-forces or weight of the car (which is what is great about the FFB in Ferrari Challenge), which doesn't seem right.
 
Z
Funny you mention that.. my thumbs never got sore playing GT3 or GT4, even with the F1 on the ring (4'50.718)
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Nice! 👍

Did you do that, using that same 3rd person view & the D-pad? That's nuts man!

My time was with the DS2 joysticks for steering and throttle, front bumper view. I am SOOOOO looking forward to the 'ring in GT5, with the DFGT. Racing you guys there is gonna be sweet. :)
 
fishfash
The DFP is the best wheel for F1CE, because it locks at 180 degrees and has a 10" diameter. :)
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That and all the necessary buttons are conveniently located on the wheel.:sly:
 
Biggles
The nice thing about F1CE is the "rattling" feel of the car going over bumps at speed - this makes the wheel (G25) much noisier than with any other driving game I have tried. On the other hand, there is hardly any feel when you corner in F1CE & no sense of the G-forces or weight of the car (which is what is great about the FFB in Ferrari Challenge), which doesn't seem right.
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Completely agreed with every word. I've had the G25 since christmas and for some reason i've only now decided to have a proper go on it with F1 CE and boy does it rattle on Monza! As you say though, the problem is that you can't feel the car cornering much (a flaw with the game and not the wheel).

Amazingly though, i've been able to smash my own Monza record by 4 tenths in only about half an hour of playing with the wheel and manual gears, both of which I'm completely unused to. I used to think the controller is faster, but i've reassessed and realised that the wheel is faster, certainly at Monza anyway.

You have to understand, I did about 300 laps of Monza with the controller and automatic gears to achieve a 1:18.520 (a time I assumed I could never better) but I just did, with something that still feels alien to me. And despite the lap time, I felt there was still a lot of speed in there. For example my first sector was almost 4 tenths slower than my fastest in the session and I definitely could have gone faster out of the second Lesmo and through Ascari. Ended up with a time of 1:18.103. I fully intend to use the wheel at the Monza race in the GTP world championship 👍
 
Got my Driving Force Pro wheel bought from Ebay yesterday. I was a bit nervous since my last 10 "Home IT integration projects" which this DFP addition classifies under have caused me tremendous frustration, anger and finally apathy and project cancellations. Coming from all the "works just fine!" comments I've seen during the research phase I have now concluded that nothing ever just works when it comes to IT.

But this was something else!

On the PLUS side:
-The cords were long enough to reach the PS3 and the electricity.
-The setup was super easy not requiring reading Manual (lucky since there was none)
-The wheel is supported by the game so no programming buttons and pedals required
-The buttons are all Playstation adapted and situated greatly (except maybe for pit-request)
-The wheel sat sturdily on the table once I understood to knock off two plasic lengthening adapter bits
-It locks at 90/180 degrees
-It has got great FF and felt great driving around with. No problem at all to drive in a straight line as mentioned as a problem for some.
-The pedals sat with the spikes firmly on the mat
-It's a 10" diameter wheel which feels more formulaoney

On the MINUS side
-The throttle had less resistance than the brake and I liked the feel of the brake better. Is it supposed to be that way or is it just my unit?

In conclusion DFP for F1CE is awsomeness in a box. I was all shocked that something just worked for once. :)
 
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Alltidxx
On the MINUS side
-The throttle had less resistance than the brake and I liked the feel of the brake better. Is it supposed to be that way or is it just my unit?
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That's realistic and the way they designed it. Throttle does have less resistance than the brake pedal. My G25 simulates that too, the throttle basically has no resistance, the clutch has some resistance and the brakes have a good bit of resistance. I didn't realise the DFP simulated that as well because it's a good bit older, very impressive indeed and well done on a great purchase 👍

BTW the complaints about driving these wheels in a straight line I think has more to do with the driver than the wheel no offense to anyone. At first I was swaying side to side with the G25 but you soon get a feel for it and are able to anticipate its behavior better and keep it in a nice straight line, or a smooth long curve like Curva Grande at Monza or Parabolika at Hockenheim for example.
 
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Shaggy Alonso
and keep it in a nice straight line, or a smooth long curve like Curva Grande at Monza
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I assume that is turn 3. In such case you read my mind. So many times I have passed through there with the sixaxis and thought how much greater it would be with a wheel. Especially after the start there are often 3 cars in a row through that turn and a steady line counts for alot then.
 
Shaggy Alonso
Amazingly though, i've been able to smash my own Monza record by 4 tenths in only about half an hour of playing with the wheel and manual gears, both of which I'm completely unused to.
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However you managed that is beyond me. I have huge problems adapting :nervous:. Before I used sixaxis and auto gears and now I feel there is no point in continuing with auto gears with the wheel so I've been doing some hours of laps at Monza with Toro Rosso using manual and the wheel and the best I got was 1:26.154. I'm really happy with that time considering how hard I've found it adapt. It's like I have to relearn everything. And the most challenging part is surprisingly the throttle/brake control, not the gears. I also ran a quick race with Renault at Shanghai with the wheel and auto gears and after that I redid it with the standard controller. It's so weird, I can feel the speed and need to compensate steering/throttle/brake with the controller but with the wheel I'm just dumbfounded and sort of only theoretically knowing when I should brake and such. The racingline is not pretty I tell ya.

Practice, practice I suppose...:dunce:
 
Alltidxx
In conclusion DFP for F1CE is awsomeness in a box.
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+1 👍

Unfortunately, I was too rough with it, and had to buy a new one. I recieved one from ebay this past thursday, only to find that it didn't work at all, and didn't even include the power supply. The seller claimed it was new, but it was obviouly not. It's already on its way back, shipping paid for by seller. I lost my patience with ebay, so I just bought a brand new one from evil Walmart. It won't be here 'til Monday :irked:.

Reluctantly, I've decided to force myself to use the DFGT for this Sunday's race. I've missed too many races this season already.
 
I did go online in order to install FF but nothing ever installed. Still, the wheel is shaking and stuff so does that mean that ghosts live in my wheel or does the patch dowload without notice?
 
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Tried the DFGT on this last night, got on better with it with the FF off. It didn't feel great at first, but I got used to no FF. Won't be long before I only use the wheel to race on either CE or GT5:P.
 
I've been thinking about getting a wheel as well, as it seems to improve times with enough practice. But given the reviews that I've read here, it suggests that different wheels work better with different people.
Which leaves me wondering, what is the best one for me?
 
From what I've been reading in this thread, Logitech's DFP or DFGT are the wheels to go for since they have all the needed buttons on the wheel. Just like the steering wheels of today's F1 cars have.;)
 
Kakundoo
I've been thinking about getting a wheel as well, as it seems to improve times with enough practice. But given the reviews that I've read here, it suggests that different wheels work better with different people.
Which leaves me wondering, what is the best one for me?
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Hey Kak,

Well it depends on your budget and what games you will be using the wheel for, and whether you would be looking to use it with PC games.

I guess you are thinking to purchase a wheel specifically for the PS3 and most likely for F1CE ?

Currently there are 3 "mainstream" wheels that come to mind that can be purchased new. There is also a new Fanatec Porsche wheel but is expensive.

1. G25 - Approx £150 http://www.pcworld.co.uk/product.php?sku=242900&camp_id=ppc_Froogle_search&source_id=aw&camp_id=Skimbit/%20Skimlinks
2. Driving Force GT - Approx £68 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Driving-Force-GT-Steering/dp/B001IWR9JY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1240359075&sr=8-1
3. Driving Force EX - Approx £25 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Driving-Force-EX-PS3/dp/B001E6GW92/ref=sr_1_39?ie=UTF8&m=AEON4WGBY9QIW&s=generic&qid=1240358881&sr=1-39

You can also purchase these wheels second hand at a reasonable discount.

There is also my favourite wheel, (for F1CE only) the (DFP) Driving Force Pro, AFAIK this can only be purchased second hand and can be had for around £40. This wheel locks at 180 Degrees with F1CE, can also be manually locked at 180 or 900 Degrees and is a 10" wheel. The 3 negatives I find is that more energy is required to turn the wheel in comparison to the G25 and DFGT and is not as smooth. The pedals are made of plastic and feel a bit flimsy.

The DFGT is the official wheel for GT5P and I have to say it feels more like the G25. Negative point again there is no option to lock at 180 Degrees and like the DFP has plastic pedals.

Overall the best wheel IMO is the G25 and it really is the perfect match with GT5P. It also works extremely well with Ferrari Challenge, and if I am allowed to say Sega Rally :yuck: Oh yes and of course it works great with F1CE, and has a nice smooth feel to it. It also has metal pedals, a clutch and a detachable gear shifter. The 3 negatives are that it feels a bit big and when driving with F1CE, I sometimes think I am driving a bus !! It also does not lock at 180 Degrees and does not have enough buttons on the wheel.

I currently own a G25 and the MS Wheel for the 360, I have in the past owned, a Driving Force EX, DFP and the DFGT. The worst wheel of the lot was the EX. It was shockingly bad with F1CE and I got rid of it after a week. I had the old PS2 version (Blue Trim) which could have been the reason why I didn't like it. There is a newer version EX for the PS3 (Black Trim) and I have heard it works much better.

If you were confused before then I have probably confused you even more :lol:
 
Lol, yes I will be using it mainly for F1CE and probably F109 when it comes out, I don't really play many other racing games.
I didn't realise some of them were as cheap as they were though, so maybe if I can find the money and work for it in the holidays I may be able to get the DFP and G25 to see which one I like best.

Thanks for the insight :)
 
I picked up my g25 for £125 IIRC around xmas time at amazon.
Gone up to £175 since then.
I would say, since F1:CE is going to be pretty redundant soon when F109 comes out, give it a wait and see which wheel is going to work the best with F109.
But if you've got an ok pc, you should definately look at getting a g25 and some of the excellent racing sims on the pc, rfactor, RBR, GTR Evolution, F1:CE seems like such an arcade game compared to these.
 
fishfash
There is also my favourite wheel, (for F1CE only) the (DFP) Driving Force Pro, AFAIK this can only be purchased second hand and can be had for around £40. This wheel locks at 180 Degrees with F1CE, can also be manually locked at 180 or 900 Degrees and is a 10" wheel. The 3 negatives I find is that more energy is required to turn the wheel in comparison to the G25 and DFGT and is not as smooth. The pedals are made of plastic and feel a bit flimsy
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Scrap that idea the G25 wins hands down. I have been testing a DFP over the last few days and it feels too rough, the G25 is so much smoother. Although it doesn't lock at 200 Degrees and is 11" in size IMO it's so much easier to turn the wheel and is much more responsive, it provides more control when turning into and out of corners.

Maybe I need to get used to the DFP, but at the moment the G25 wins by a country mile 👍
 
I did try F1CE on DFP a while ago, and it feels unreal. but I cant understand why its so little as 180 degree lock? Looking at onboard videos from F1 they clearly have atleast 360 degree in RL.. didnt feel real to me.
 
Went back to F1CE last night after weeks of only playing FC. Just love the rattle & hum with the G25, the only thing missing, I think, is a little more weight in the steering (like FC). The cars just feel too light on the front end under cornering. It would be great if ONE game combined all the best qualities of the different racing sims... :indiff:
 
Biggles: Is F1CE really a sim?? I thought it was arcade, certenly felt that way to me..
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Well, that would be the subject for another thread. ;) What exactly does qualify as a "sim"? Where do you draw the line for "realism"? Relatively speaking, it's a sim IMO ...
 
An arcade game for me tbh, theres plenty of sim racing games to compare it to that show you just how much of an arcade game F1:CE is.
 
Well, to be fair, I'm comparing to other console games: Gran Turismo, Forza, FC, PGR, NFS, DiRT, Grid etc. rather than PC sims.
 
LewyOs
An arcade game for me tbh, theres plenty of sim racing games to compare it to that show you just how much of an arcade game F1:CE is.
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So its not the most sim in the world. And Cambridge United does not play fotball because they are not playing in the highest league. An arcade game is throttle, brake, steering, horn and boost button. And thats pretty much it.
 

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