What exactly is Force Feedback?

[DSUjoeDirte9]

me and my brother seem to think it is 2 different things and im getting kinda confused.

So what exactly is force feedback? Like what does it do?

 

[Pingwhen]

It makes the wheel spin by itself.

 

[GTP_Gearhead]

It makes the wheel spin by itself.

It's quite a bit more than this.

Force feedback is Haptic technology, we'll leave that alone as its pretty in depth.

FF interacts with your senses to give a better driving sensation to the user. It allows you to feel understeer, oversteer, traction loss, braking.

To better answer your question, pick your favorite car and track. Do a lap with FF on within your desired setting. Note the lap time.

Now do a lap with FF turned off. Chances are, you are notably faster with it on as you have those extra senses at your fingertips giving you more control.

Google Haptic Technology for an in depth answer, Wikipedia has a decent write up.

 

[mykem]

It's quite a bit more than this.

Force feedback is Haptic technology, we'll leave that alone as its pretty in depth.

FF interacts with your senses to give a better driving sensation to the user. It allows you to feel understeer, oversteer, traction loss, braking.

To better answer your question, pick your favorite car and track. Do a lap with FF on within your desired setting. Note the lap time.

Now do a lap with FF turned off. Chances are, you are notably faster with it on as you have those extra senses at your fingertips giving you more control.

Google Haptic Technology for an in depth answer, Wikipedia has a decent write up.

I would say that would depend largely on the track and car. If the track isn't challenging and the car has a good and predictable handling, then the advantage would be to not have any amount of resistance when steering. My argument is that FF adds, along with the desirable feedback, certain amount of resistance which in effect will make it harder to steer/counter-steer the car. And if the FF also introduces elements such as weight-transfer that too will affect how and if you could recover from mistakes.

Personally, I believe if both the FF wheel and the FF effects are capable and are intended to replicate reality (actual torque and power when steering a real car), your lap time should be slower than if the FF is turned down or off (the latter is truer if you're familiar with both the vehicle and the track). The unfortunate thing is that current (affordable) FF technology isn't capable of realism which is perhaps why having FF ON will make you faster.

 

[GTP_Gearhead]

Well said Mykem.

I think the only time I enjoyed FF off is when driving the X1 around Indy.

On my CSRE I run everything around 50%, GT5 and Forza.

When I had the G27, lower FF produced better lap times for me. Everyone will be different.
It definitely becomes a factor in FM4 as you can feel the wheel go light when understeer occurs, a fabulous sensation letting you know to trailbrake.

I just can't imagine a wheel without it anymore, having to rely solely on tire squeal and vision.

 

[DSUjoeDirte9]

So if i were to get a DFGT wheel and turned on FF would it in a way change the physics of the game. Or would it like somehow make me feel all the things you guys have said in the wheel itself?

Sry if i missed something its 3am and im rly tired. lol

 

[1241Penguin]

It won't change the physics, oh no. It only changes what you feel. It's like looking at something with glasses and without; you're looking at the same thing, just with a different perspective. There is a very noticeable difference with and without it. My suggestion would be that you play GT5, or any racing sim for that matter, with the FFB on, simply because it is that much more immersive.

 

[Zoom!Zoom!]

So if i were to get a DFGT wheel and turned on FF would it in a way change the physics of the game. Or would it like somehow make me feel all the things you guys have said in the wheel itself?

Sry if i missed something its 3am and im rly tired. lol

Some hardcore sim racers especially in the past have debated if FFB slows them down. Some of the most expensive wheels didn't have ffb. That change some with hardcore sims like Iracing where ffb is more than a gimmick but gives you needed input of the road.
The way ffb acts in totally based on the software so ffb will be different depending on the game. Gt5 ffb is not even close to Iracing. It doesn't change the physics of the game yet like in Iracing you can feel every bump in the road. In another words if FFB is programed right you get more feel of what happening to the car.

 

[mykem]

It won't change the physics, oh no. It only changes what you feel. It's like looking at something with glasses and without; you're looking at the same thing, just with a different perspective. There is a very noticeable difference with and without it. My suggestion would be that you play GT5, or any racing sim for that matter, with the FFB on, simply because it is that much more immersive.

Exactly. In its current form, the best approach to have fun. Let the physics take care (with some limitation which the case with theoretical physics) of the realistic aspect. Learn to adapt and as Penguin put it, be immersed in the experience.

 

[kikie]

Reviving this thread because I don't want to create a new thread if there is already one.

FFB, or the resolution of FFB as mrbasher stated on another forum, is a very interesting topic.

According Leo Bodnar, the current FFB in games is far from realistic and it doesn't work (I believe Leo means that it doesn't work like it should work). Leo Bodnar's theory about FFB

Back in the days with my G25 and G27, I always turned down the FFB as far as possible without switching it off. It was a very annoying feeling at times.
I've heard/read that the FFB of the T500 and Fanatec wheels is far more superior to the G27's.
I'm still thinking about getting a new wheel (sold the G27 in 2011) but I don't know which one to get.

The T500 seems to be a very good wheel when it comes to FFB. Far better than the G27. But because I always turn down the FFB, I wonder if the T500 is still worth buying (much more expensive than the G27) and maybe it's better getting a G27, again.

Is the belt driven part and the FFB the only thing that is better than the G27?

The pedals is the most important part of the package. The T500 pedals are, as far as I know, not much better that the G27 pedals. Both have a Load Cell mod, both have a cable to increase the resolution and make the pedals stand alone.
Both pedals can be improved vastly by making a hydraulic or load cell based brake pedal.

I'll find my solution regarding what wheel to get. But in the mean time it would be nice to see what other members think about FFB and especially the FFB between the T500 and the G27.

I wonder if the superior FFB of the T500 warants my decision to pay more money for the T500 or get the G27 instead (don't forget, I don't like FFB that much)?