OS X: F1 2012 wheel setup.

[Spikeywan]

I have a Logitech Driving Force GT wheel. I've installed the kek to get the force feedback working, and was very pleased with how it worked in the Dirt 2 demo, so I went ahead and bought F1 2012.

Unfortunately I can't get the same feel in F1 2012. The trouble is there are a lot more things to setup, like linearity and saturation.

Has anyone got the best settings for it?

Thanks,

[Henricci]

first of all, i'm thinking of buying the new iMac 21.5 inch, but i noticed that the all in one computer doesn't include the CD/DVD drive, and i can consider myself a physical media user, there is any solution for this? an external usb CD Drive? i looked up for Superdrive by Apple, but i've red that it only works for AirMac/MAc Pro.. someone help me please (:

[Jameshrcairns]

Originally Posted by Henricci

first of all, i'm thinking of buying the new iMac 21.5 inch, but i noticed that the all in one computer doesn't include the CD/DVD drive, and i can consider myself a physical media user, there is any solution for this? an external usb CD Drive? i looked up for Superdrive by Apple, but i've red that it only works for AirMac/MAc Pro.. someone help me please (:

Most External cd/dvd drives will work with your imac. And the apple SuperDrive will definitely work with your imac.

[Solomani]

Originally Posted by Henricci

first of all, i'm thinking of buying the new iMac 21.5 inch, but i noticed that the all in one computer doesn't include the CD/DVD drive, and i can consider myself a physical media user, there is any solution for this? an external usb CD Drive? i looked up for Superdrive by Apple, but i've red that it only works for AirMac/MAc Pro.. someone help me please (:

The Apple SuperDrive will work with any iMac made in the last several years. I know. I just bought one for my new 2012 iMac 21.5".... which is the same iMac you are thinking of buying.

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Originally Posted by Spikeywan

I have a Logitech Driving Force GT wheel. I've installed the kek to get the force feedback working, and was very pleased with how it worked in the Dirt 2 demo, so I went ahead and bought F1 2012.

Unfortunately I can't get the same feel in F1 2012. The trouble is there are a lot more things to setup, like linearity and saturation.

Has anyone got the best settings for it?

Thanks,

Your best bet is to contact Feral directly. They developed this game for MacOSX. They are pretty good with customer support, and they seem to be very helpful when helping Mac gamers in using gamepads, joysticks and game controllers.

[edddeduck]

Originally Posted by Spikeywan

I have a Logitech Driving Force GT wheel. I've installed the kek to get the force feedback working, and was very pleased with how it worked in the Dirt 2 demo, so I went ahead and bought F1 2012.

Unfortunately I can't get the same feel in F1 2012. The trouble is there are a lot more things to setup, like linearity and saturation.

Has anyone got the best settings for it?

Thanks,

I would read the FAQs we have an entire section on how to best setup your wheel for the game based off our testing and Codemasters forums and players on other platforms.

Best Settings - http://support.feralinteractive.com/...2/faqs/wheels/

900 Degree Support - http://support.feralinteractive.com/...ree_the_wheel/

We wrote a utility that enables the 900 degree mode on the Logitech wheel. This utility is actually the only way of activating this mode on the Mac as Logitech have never released any drivers.

Enjoy

Edwin

[Spikeywan]

Ah. RTFM!

Thanks again, Edwin.

[imacken]

If you want to hear my experience then here goes:
I have a G27, and if you install the old Logitech kext, you can get excellent Force Feedback, but some of the buttons don't map. If you use the Feral FTW, then you will get use of the buttons, but there is no FF.
It's your choice.
Personally, I feel it's a no brainer as playing any decent racing sim without FF is a total waste of time.
For the record, my settings are 0,10,5,0,0,0,0 for the advanced options, and leave at the default 20,50,10 for the FF. (These are for use without FTW).
I have had various email conversations with Edwin, and really, to find that Logitech don't support OS X is a major kick in the teeth for Mac owners during a time when there are more and more good games being released for that platform.
We all need to lobby Apple and Logitech about this. No Force Feedback on the Mac - without hacking the system - is totally unacceptable!

[Solomani]

Originally Posted by imacken

We all need to lobby Apple and Logitech about this. No Force Feedback on the Mac - without hacking the system - is totally unacceptable!

The problem these days is that there is no strong voice to talk sense to Apple on behalf of Mac gaming. I remember back in the 1990s there were several STRONG and profitable Mac gaming companies, and big names that lobbied on behalf of Mac gaming. Names like Tuncer Deniz, and even several bigshots from Bungie. In those days, Apple actually had game evangelists. And the lobby pushed for things like Game Sprockets.... little additions to the MacOS that made life easier for Mac gamers.

These days, there is no strong voice for Mac gaming interests. Just a few thousand mac gamers posting rants on forums like this one.

I recall that it was Steve Jobs that killed off Game Sprockets, right after he returned to Apple. He killed off a lot of things (like Mac clones and eWorld) upon his return to Apple. Now that the Fearless Leader is no longer with us, maybe Apple (under Tim Cook) might see some sense in reviving an Apple Game Sprockets?

EDIT: Heck... I would like to propose starting a petition to Apple, to revive the Apple Game Sprockets for MacOSX. But will there be any interest in that? Would you guys sign and support the idea?

[imacken]

Originally Posted by Solomani

These days, there is no strong voice for Mac gaming interests. Just a few thousand mac gamers posting rants on forums like this one.

It's not a rant, just a statement of fact!
There has been a big push of Mac games in the last year or so with Steam coming on board, and companies like Feral bringing major titles to the Mac quickly.
A little bit of a nudge to Apple (via feedback) and Logitech would be a good thing.

[Solomani]

Upon further research, I learned that many of Apple Game Sprockets' functionality is already built into Mac OS X. However, there is still one thing that Apple could revive which is desperately needed for modern Mac OSX games .... Input Sprockets.

---
(from Wikipedia description)

InputSprocket

The Mac had always shipped with an input device suitable for gaming, the mouse. Even in cases where other devices were better suited to gaming, like joysticks, it was relatively easy to make the devices emulate mouse or keyboard input. However, this model stopped working well as joysticks with increasing complexity were released in the 1990s. New models had several axes controlled by potentiometers with linear input, and in these cases mouse emulation simply didn't work.

The solution was InputSprocket. InputSprocket allowed the hardware vendor to provide a driver for any possible input device. The driver not only handled communications with the input device, but also presented a list of capabilities to the InputSprocket manager. InputSprocket displayed all installed drivers in a single, universal, control panel. Games linking to InputSprocket then provided a list of the operations they wanted the user to control. Through the control panel, the user could map any operation to any input. Apple supplied drivers for mice and keyboards.

InputSprocket was one of the most widely used of the Game Sprockets, and drivers were supplied for many devices that worked on the Mac. This was greatly expanded by mapping InputSprocket onto the similar Human Interface Device system that is part of the USB standard. This meant that almost any USB input device would work to at least some level with InputSprocket without any effort on the part of the developer or the user.

[edddeduck]

Originally Posted by Solomani

I remember back in the 1990s there were several STRONG and profitable Mac gaming companies

Must be a different 90's to the one I recall There are definitely more AAA games on the Mac per year now than before. I remember a few games like Heroes Of Might and Magic, Command & Conquer, Wipeout but usually they were US only.

Sure the 90's did have a good run at times but I don't recall it being a golden age of Mac games

Input Sprockets was nice but if you asked me for a top ten things to make Mac gaming easier I don't think that would make the upper numbers and perhaps not even the top ten

Edwin

[Spikeywan]

I have the wheel working beautifully now, and am very pleased with both F1 2012, and the force feedback.

However, every time I start the game, I have to setup the wheel again. Left, right, accelerator, etc, then the advanced settings.

Is there a way of getting the game to remember the settings?

[imacken]

Originally Posted by Spikeywan

I have the wheel working beautifully now, and am very pleased with both F1 2012, and the force feedback.

However, every time I start the game, I have to setup the wheel again. Left, right, accelerator, etc, then the advanced settings.

Is there a way of getting the game to remember the settings?

You've hacked OS X with the old Logitech kext, yes?
The settings are always remembered for me. Before I run the game, I always unplug and plug in the wheel to recalibrate.

[Spikeywan]

Yes, I installed the kext. I'll give un/re-plugging a try. Thanks.

[JaguarGod]

Originally Posted by Spikeywan

Yes, I installed the kext. I'll give un/re-plugging a try. Thanks.

Plugging the wheel in after the computer is at the desktop after startup or unplugging and plugging in again while using the computer gives a very consistent wheel calibration. It is good to make a habit of doing this to make sure you get the same wheel feel throughout your mac racing.

Another tip that helps with Dirt 2 especially and also with F1... Make sure when you start the game that the wheel is as centered as it can be. If it is left or right of center, it can set that as the absolute center when the game starts. My Game (ASD), for instance, uses the stored calibration information so it does not matter if the wheel is centered or not. But for some reason with Dirt 2 and F1 I noticed that it can be off if the wheel is not perfectly centered. You can test it if you like.