Chapter 1167 Direct Drive Steering Wheel Scheme

Wang Xiaobin paused for a moment, and continued: "The direct-drive steering wheel is equipped with a stepper motor or a servo motor, and its effect will be better than that of a force-feedback steering wheel with a gear-belt hybrid drive, because the feedback force is stronger and the response is faster. .”

"Overseas manufacturers that provide simulators for professional fleets basically use direct drive solutions."

"But its price fluctuates wildly."

"Foreign direct-drive steering wheels are very expensive, and mainstream brands are basically around 1,500 Euros. After conversion, the high price of a steering wheel is over 10,000, and most people can't afford it."

"However, there are many domestic hard-core gamers who choose to do it themselves, DIY the whole set, so that the cost can be reduced a lot. The pure cost may be less than 2,000 yuan. After all, industrial servo motors and drives are in the market. If you buy second-hand ones online, you can get them for four to five hundred."

"However, the process of DIY is extremely complicated and cumbersome. If you want to completely DIY, you need to know programming knowledge. Even if you use the ready-made solution on the Internet, it will take several weeks to adjust it. For Xiaobai, buying it is a waste of money. Only big guys with particularly strong hands-on ability can play well."

"What's more, if you go to the Internet to find DIY solutions, you don't have to rely on product quality control and after-sales service."

"Currently, the virtual game steering wheels that domestic players can buy, whether it is an entry-level force feedback steering wheel or a direct drive steering wheel, are all mainly foreign brands."

"There are some manufacturers in China that are making steering wheels, but all of them are very cheap entertainment steering wheels, and they have no power to give back."

"Actually, the steering wheels of these foreign brands are more expensive than the steering wheels themselves. The key is that the accessories are also expensive."

"Whether it's H manual gear, sequential manual gear or a special hydraulic handbrake, the price of these accessories is not less than 1,000 yuan. If you want to assemble a complete set, even the entry-level force feedback steering wheel solution is not worth 6,000 to 7,000 yuan. It can’t be done at all.”

"After all, brand value, licensing fees, taxes and other factors will make the price of foreign steering wheels inflated."

"In fact, the cost of many accessories is very low, such as brackets, such as hydraulic handbrakes, these things of foreign brands are generally more than double the cost price. Domestic self-made hydraulic handbrakes only cost two to three hundred yuan, and foreign brands are there. It will sell close to 1,000, but the difference in actual experience is not very big.”

"Of course, the advantage of buying ready-made brands is that everything is matched, and there are corresponding optimizations for the game. After the steering wheel is connected to the computer, install the driver and you can play directly. For those players who do not have professional knowledge, DIY is definitely OK. If it doesn’t work, you can only buy ready-made products.”

Wang Xiaobin introduced the current situation of domestic game steering wheels in detail, and everyone nodded frequently.

These three different steering wheels bring completely different gaming experience to players, and there must be a reason why they are expensive.

The purpose of buying a steering wheel is nothing more than two, one is to improve the immersion and sense of substitution in the game, and the other is to improve the accuracy of operation.

The virtual steering wheel has rich vibration modes. When the vehicle passes through different roads, the vibration effect will be different. Players can clearly distinguish whether their vehicle is passing through a gravel road or a muddy road.

Moreover, the steering wheel can fine-tune the wheel angle, and with the pedals and the gear lever, it can realize advanced skills such as flipping, clutching, drifting, downshifting, refueling, and heeling.

More importantly, the force feedback of the steering wheel can inform the player of the current wheel state of the vehicle.

Players can judge the grip status of the wheels through the force feedback strength of the steering wheel, and tire slippage can be found immediately, which is very important for drifting and cornering and driving on special roads.

Therefore, many racing drivers in professional teams also use simulators for training, because an excellent steering wheel can indeed restore the driving experience of a real car.

In a nutshell, for ordinary players, since they have decided to buy a steering wheel, they must give back. Don’t touch those plastic toys under 1,000 yuan. If you have this money, you might as well buy a good handle.

Some even say it's best not to experience a direct-drive steering wheel until you can afford it.

Because after experiencing the direct-drive steering wheel, returning to the ordinary steering wheel or joystick, keyboard, is likely to make you feel lost, and even make you completely lose interest in racing games.

Of course, the steering wheel will not improve your skills. When you first switch to the steering wheel, you may drive worse than the keyboard or handle. But as long as they get used to the operation of the steering wheel, most people will not use the keyboard or handle to play racing games.

Chang You nodded: "According to Mr. Pei's consistent style of doing things, since we want to make a product, we must do our best."

"Then the steering wheel we made must use the direct drive solution of the servo motor."

"Moreover, the direct-drive steering wheel market is in a state of polarization. The price of foreign brands is tens of thousands. Although it is cheap for players to DIY, the threshold is too high, and it is time-consuming and labor-intensive."

"There is a big gap in the market for this area."

"If we can develop an excellent direct-drive steering wheel and control the price of a full set of accessories at a cost-effective level, it will still be very competitive!"

"Maybe President Pei decided to make a steering wheel just because he saw the business opportunity?"

Jiang Yuan added: "It may also be because Mr. Pei feels that none of the steering wheels currently on the market can perfectly adapt to the game, so he decided to make it himself."

Ye Zhizhou nodded: "Yes, this must be one of the reasons."

"The current game steering wheels on the market, although there are some buttons on the board, but they are basically the buttons of analog handles."

"General racing games require fewer buttons, and this steering wheel can also meet the requirements."

"However, the game "Safe and Civilized Driving" has a lot of simulated content, such as turning on the turn signal when turning, turning on double flashing lights when parking in a breakdown, wipers, high and low beams, windshield defogging, etc. Even players If you want to make money driving a big truck or a long-distance bus, you need more buttons."

"There are not enough buttons on the steering wheel, so you can only use the keyboard, which is obviously inconvenient. If you can create a special console that integrates the buttons needed in various games, it will definitely be more convenient, and it will also help improve the sense of substitution. .”

Wang Xiaobin agreed: "Yes, speaking of this, I think that although there are already many steering wheels on the market, there is still a lot of room for innovation in terms of accessories."

"It goes without saying about the most basic H gear and handbrake."

"Under the steering wheel, on the base of the motor, you can actually add an instrument panel display. This is not expensive, but it can display different effects according to different vehicles, so that players don't need to look at the screen anymore, and they can know the car's display when they lower their heads. Information such as speed and rotation speed."

"The steering wheel should be equipped with shift paddles with magnets, and there are also various buttons such as turn signals and wipers. The surface of the steering wheel can be wrapped in Alcantara leather. It doesn't cost much, but it can improve the feel very well. "

"A tiny vibrator can be installed on the pedals. If the steering wheel and pedals vibrate together, it can better simulate the driving feeling."

The four of you talked to each other, and quickly finalized the details of this steering wheel.

This steering wheel has a variety of different accessories, which can be bought separately and priced separately, or they can be bought together in a package, and there will be certain discounts on the price.

In terms of the main body of the steering wheel, it is divided into a steering wheel and a direct drive base. The direct drive base should integrate a control box and a small display of the instrument. The D1SPCE quick release system used in real cars is used between the base and the steering wheel, which is reliable, safe and easy to disassemble.

These two together account for the bulk of the price of this set of equipment. The steering wheel is about 1300, because the steering wheel integrates various buttons and vibrators, while the direct drive base needs about 3200.

Pedals are made of pure metal, the gas pedal, brake, and clutch can be fine-tuned up and down the distance of the pedal, among them, the clutch and gas pedal rely on adjustable springs to rebound, while the brakes rely on a small preloaded spring and a large block. The rubber block, this design is to simulate different foot feel.

A small vibrator is also installed on the accelerator, brake and clutch pedals to simulate the vibration when the vehicle is running.

The price of this pedal is relatively high, about 1,200 yuan. Although the price is similar to that of many foreign manufacturers’ pedals, the actual experience obtained is definitely completely different.

The gear lever integrating the H gear and the sequential gear, as well as the hydraulic handbrake, are 300 yuan and 200 yuan respectively.

There is also a special console with various commonly used buttons on it, which is mainly used to simulate some special situations in driving. It is actually a special keyboard, so the price is not expensive, and it can be done for 100 yuan.

In addition, there are three different brackets, namely, a foldable bracket without a seat, which costs about 500 yuan; an adjustable bracket with a seat, which costs about 1,200 yuan; It is 4000 yuan.

Of course, this kind of G-force seat is not the kind of six directions, but the basic three directions, that is, it can only simulate the movement of front and rear, left and right, and up and down, but for the general experience, the three directions are completely enough , the six-direction G-force seat is too expensive, and the demand is relatively small. The bosses who pursue this kind of experience basically assemble it themselves, and there is no need for it to be mass-produced.

The G-force seat can only improve the experience, but it does not help the improvement of the technology. Many racers do not use the G-force seat to drive the simulator. The reason why such a bracket is provided is only to meet the needs of some high-end players.

If the player already has a steering wheel bracket or other brands of hand gear, handbrake and other accessories, then he only needs to buy the new accessories he needs.

And if the player starts from scratch, then Outu Technology also provides three different package plans.

The first is the entry package, which only needs a steering wheel, pedals, bracket and console. The original price is 6300, and the package price is 5800.

This scheme is suitable for novices. It does not require gear shifting or handbrake, and you can also use your own chair for the seat. It is a relatively entry-level scheme.

The second is the advanced package, steering wheel, pedals, handbrake, console, adjustable bracket with seat, the original price is 7200, and the package price is 6800.

This set of solutions is suitable for players with certain advanced requirements. The hydraulic handbrake is more convenient for drifting, and the shift paddles on the steering wheel can also complete the shifting operation. If you prefer the H gear, you can buy a gear lever separately for an additional 300 yuan.

At the same time, the seat and the bracket are fixed together, so there is no need to worry about the shaking of the seat, which is more comfortable.

The third is the luxury package, which is fully equipped and equipped with G-force seats. The original price is 10,300, and the package price is 9,999.

This set of equipment can basically meet the driving needs of all expert players, and even some professional racers.

The discounts for the entry package are relatively large, which is mainly to expand the player base.

After purchasing a low-level package, if you want to upgrade later, you only need to add some money to buy the accessories you need, and it is not troublesome.