MechWarrior Online and Button Box/Rig Building
Jun 3, 2016 8:39:53 GMT -5
Sai "We're Outta Fuel" Andra and Sven Cammaerts like this
Post by Travis "Zombie" Mihm on Jun 3, 2016 8:39:53 GMT -5
Hey all!
My cousin got me addicted to MechWarrior Online (MWO). Free to play online multiplayer shoot-em-up. It is super fun and fairly "realistic" for being set in the 30th century. For those of you who get burned out on iRacing, it'd be a good place to chill out and have some fun. I enjoy the modification and mech-building put together with a big focus on team play and strategy. It'd be cool to run this with a few BAM guys!
Also, for those who are interested in building their own button boxes or doing something in the custom-rig arena, I will be using this thread to sort of jot down how I rebuild my racing sim rig and start fresh with a fully enclosed Mechwarrior cockpit. My plan is to have both rigs functional with a simple monitor swap and transferring a couple peripherals.
I use a Teensy USB microcontroller connected to a simple breadboard for my button box. I program the microcontroller to simply emulate a keyboard and then wire the buttons up in a matrix like your typical keyboard and the program written for the microcontroller just takes the whatever circuit of the matrix closes when you press a button and turns that into a keystroke. In this manner I can run up to about 120 buttons. I have yet to figure out how to add some code that will make this keyboard emulation work properly with something like a toggle switch unless you use a momentary toggle. I'd like some ON-OFF toggles for iRacing things like ignition and a two position toggle for something like Radio on/off or reporting laps on/off. As far as MWO goes it'd be a similar process for things like an ARM switch that must be activated to use weapons, a main power switch to power up and down, etc... Also for the internal cockpit functions like turning fans on and off, interior lights on and off, etc.
In BOTH simulators, I'd like to build my own controllers as well. Building a real-feel H-pattern shifter, inverted pedals, and a powerful wheel has been something I wanted to do. In MWO I'd like to try and build my own control system with multiple joysticks, a pair of pedals, a throttle control, and use a buttonbox/keyboard emulator to create a complete dashboard that powers the control system as well.
Will update this thread as I go along.
-Travis
My cousin got me addicted to MechWarrior Online (MWO). Free to play online multiplayer shoot-em-up. It is super fun and fairly "realistic" for being set in the 30th century. For those of you who get burned out on iRacing, it'd be a good place to chill out and have some fun. I enjoy the modification and mech-building put together with a big focus on team play and strategy. It'd be cool to run this with a few BAM guys!
Also, for those who are interested in building their own button boxes or doing something in the custom-rig arena, I will be using this thread to sort of jot down how I rebuild my racing sim rig and start fresh with a fully enclosed Mechwarrior cockpit. My plan is to have both rigs functional with a simple monitor swap and transferring a couple peripherals.
I use a Teensy USB microcontroller connected to a simple breadboard for my button box. I program the microcontroller to simply emulate a keyboard and then wire the buttons up in a matrix like your typical keyboard and the program written for the microcontroller just takes the whatever circuit of the matrix closes when you press a button and turns that into a keystroke. In this manner I can run up to about 120 buttons. I have yet to figure out how to add some code that will make this keyboard emulation work properly with something like a toggle switch unless you use a momentary toggle. I'd like some ON-OFF toggles for iRacing things like ignition and a two position toggle for something like Radio on/off or reporting laps on/off. As far as MWO goes it'd be a similar process for things like an ARM switch that must be activated to use weapons, a main power switch to power up and down, etc... Also for the internal cockpit functions like turning fans on and off, interior lights on and off, etc.
In BOTH simulators, I'd like to build my own controllers as well. Building a real-feel H-pattern shifter, inverted pedals, and a powerful wheel has been something I wanted to do. In MWO I'd like to try and build my own control system with multiple joysticks, a pair of pedals, a throttle control, and use a buttonbox/keyboard emulator to create a complete dashboard that powers the control system as well.
Will update this thread as I go along.
-Travis