My SimPit

[atledreier]

I didn't find a better section for this project.

I'm currently designing a gaming pit, what i call a SimPit.
It's basically a dedicated cockpit of sorts with gaming hardware permanently set up. No work allowed! 8)
For me that means a challenge, as I'm playing a variety of simulator types. It's easy to make a dedicated racing cockpit, og a dedicated flightdeck, but combining the two is a challenge, because of the big difference in seating position and ergonomics. I need to compromise a little on the flight setup, especially on the seating position, because the driving bit has priority. I occationally do 2.3hour races where concentration is at 100% all the time, whereas in flight you have more time to wiggle around and change your position.

The shifter will be removable to accomodate a joystick for the planes I fly that have a stick, and the wheel is removable for the planes that have a yoke. The throttle quadrant is permanent on the left side. This is another compromise, as most general aviation aircraft have the throttle on the right side. Not a big compromise, and one that means this whole thing is an easier build. I can live with that. The pedals for the racing wheel will be used for rudder control when flying.

I also play an infantry simulator called ARMA2. In this instance the main controller (wheel/yoke) will be removed and the keyboard is the main controller. The joystick will be secondary controller, as I am a chopper pilot occationally in this sim.

The hardware setup is triple 24" screens with TripleHead2Go from Matrox, and a car seat. The rest is built from plywood, MDF and hardwood.

I'm currently at the 'waiting for gear and designing' phase. There is likely to be small changes to the design along the way, mainly adjusting ergonomics.

I don't have any pictures of the stuff yet, but a design sketch of the planned build.

[Mike P.]

Interesting project. Have you considered a projector with a bigger seamless screen?

[atledreier]

I currently run on my BenQ W5000. That gives me just under 90 degrees true field of view. With this setup I end up around 120-140 true FOV.

Also, and this is the main reason, I won't have to assemble an disassemble all the gear for a gaming session. This is a dedicated space in my office, so it's out of hte way and it's all mine! 8)

For sound I have a Denon stereo amplifier,PMA-915R, and a pair of Dali Concept 2 bookshelf speakers. Also a Celestion 8" active subwoofer. I'll manage all audio through a DCX2496 I have lying around. All three speakers will be nearfield, so SPL will be sufficient. I'll lack a little extension, but the little celestion is pretty capable, and I'll practically be sitting on it.

[atledreier]

Getting along here...

It's in a godd working state now, so I can enjoy it. That's the most dangerous phase, because any project that can be used, WILL be used, and thus less time to complete it.

[Sonnie]

Very cool...

I know someone is having fun!

[atledreier]

Yeah, it's fun!

Taxing on the computer, though. I think I need a new graphics card, it's struggling. Running high-end games at 5040x1050 resolution is a pretty tough job for a three years old graphics card.

[Mike P.]

Unless your LCD's are 5040x1050 native resolution, you're working the video card too hard. The LCD down coverts any resolution above its native resolution. Set the video card to the LCD's native resolution and gain some video card performance.

[atledreier]

Actually, I'm not driving my LCDs at their native, I'm way under. My displays are 1920x1080 native.

I use Matrox' TripleHead2Go, which is a device that combine three monitors into one and report one single monitor to the graphics card. So games don't need and fancy multimonitor support, they just need to be able to use windows' custom resolutions.

The 5040x1050 resolution is the highest we are able to go with dual-link DVI interface. We even have to lower the refresh to 57Hz to be able to run that, due to bandwidth cap in the DVI interface chip. I can run 4380x900 at 60Hz though. That actually scales better on my displays (BenQ G2420HD) than the 5040x1050 resolution, so I use 900 for my desktop and 5040 for games.

[Mike P.]

I think I get it. The video card outputs 1680x 1050 and the TripleHead2Go converts it to 5040x1050 for 3 screens, correct?

[atledreier]

The card output 5040x1050 and the TH2G convert it to 1680x1050 for each display.

The computer don't see the displays at all, it sees one monitor called TripleHead2Go that is capable of 5040x1050@57Hz. The TH2G reads the EDID of the connected displays and do whatever syncronization and handshaking needed. The TH2G also have bezel management, so you can cut the portion of the image that falls between the visible display, so lines going across different monitors line up properly. Pretty neat.

[Mike P.]

Thanks. I'm learning.