Force Feedback Thread - Any news and latest developments here!

Could this application work with a FFB racing wheel? Just by applying forces to the X-Axis.

I’m interested about it. Thank you.

The plane can act a bit funny at times with simFFB it will fight the simFFB trim cheat somewhat. But better than nothing.

The thing I don’t understand is, why there is no FFB out of the box for MSFS2020. If the code base from FSX is still there and all the plugins just tap into that, why doesn’t the simulator provide FFB itself? FSX did as far as I remember.

I don’t recall it having FFB working. I had to buy an add-on for FSX to get any action from my sidewinder ffb2.

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I find it useful to reset simFFB from time to time (using the dinit button)
I thought at first that I could keep the POV hat left and right buttons for panning the cockpit view left and right, however I realized that simFFB was using it for rudder trim, which I do not want or need.
I did not find a way of disabling it.
I’d be happy to assign simFFB trim up and simFFB trim down to any other buttons than tbe POV hat, and keep it for panning the cockpit camera. That would require a bit of additional code, I guess.

Breaking news: a first version of XPForce for FS2020 was released today, and works nicely for me so far with a MSFF2 in the DR400 (remember to read the manual…)

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I’ve found this tool which seems to cover all of my favorite force feedback functions and more should come according to the developer: https://directinputmanager.com/airforceplayer/

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I’ve tried Airforce Player too: it works my Logitech Force 3d Pro, and quite well it seems. It’s also free, at least for now!

Thanks for the tipp. I’ll check it out right away.

To be honest I wasn’t impressed with XPForce at all. Coming from DCS and knowing how good FFB can feel in a plane, I felt dissapointed with this one. There was no feel of the wind gliding over the wing, just dull resistance. Not my cup of tea. Hopefully he improves his software, specially when you think about all the points that are beeing simulated on the wings. There seems to be so much more potential.

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I found this at the FS Force Forum who linked it.
After a few tests, I am very satisfied with this. It is also very surprising that it has this much functionality even though it is still in the development stage.
I’ve found some problems and I also asked for a function and reported them(but I haven’t received a reply yet)

Also I’m thinking of finding other problem and letting there know.
It’s not like run should do MSFS together like XP Force, it’s an independent execution.
Therefore, even if the Airforce Player program is closed with CTD due to a problem, it is only necessary to run Airforce Player again.

If there are fix some problems, and add a few features, I think this program will be the best Force feedback application for MSFS.

Best Regards,

Younghoon

Intriguing. Could any one of you elaborate on what Airforce Player does (or promises to do in the near future) better than XPForce, apart from

  • its lower price
  • the possiibility to relaunch it when it crashes without relaunching MSFS?
    It’s not yet obvious to me after following the link and reading the documentaion?

Another one for the community:
I thought a bit late of asking about FF joysticks for the Dev Q&A yesterday (the question list had been closed at that point)

  • Do anyone at Asobo use a force feedback equipment?
  • Do Asobo have plans regarding FFB (internal implementation, opening more options in the SDK for third parties…)
  • Do they have insight on Microsoft’s plans to revive its FFB joystick line?
  • On why no manufacturer offers new entry-level FFB joysticks: Can Asobo or Microsoft update / deny / substantiate the “patent troll” story that circulates online, but is old and amounts more or less to an urban legend at this point…

Did I miss any of these point already being addressed in a previous Q&A, interview, or communication?

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I’m actually, very satisfied with XP Force than Airforce Player.
I just was angry yesterday when I tested the beta version and found that nothing had been fixed.
I feel like this is something just putting the 1.0.9728 version again and I can’t see anything changed.

Yes, that’s only Independent execution was the best for me, If I had a CTD, I wouldn’t have to run MSFS again.
But Also, the stall vibrations worked as well with Airforce Player for me.
I Just liked these more than anything else of XP Force.
Of course, XP Force still has a lot more functionality than Airforce Player and XP Force is already has a stall function, but it just doesn’t work for X-Plane 11 or MSFS.
I don’t know anything about whether Airforce Player will continue using for free or whether it will be a paid program.

XP Force and Airforce Player are very different ways to set it up.
For Airforce Player can set the force for each desired speed of elevator and aileron, just like FS Force 2.
For XP Force can set the main setting is to control the strength of pitch and roll.
There will certainly be a limit to adjusting the speed perfectly by adjusting it.
There may also be some people who prefer to set up like FS Force.

I haven’t received any answer from the Airforce Player developer yet.
Also I can’t log-in to the forum of there.(I have created a forum account, but I can’t receive an email confirmation with a link to set a new password).

Today, I tested the #5 Patch of MSFS with Airforce Player today, It’s pitch moves crazy when did touchdown.
the reason is that it moves like crazy after touchdown. From #5 patch update!

PS : In fact, I don’t care about anything for best(XP Force or Airforce Player) do Force Feedback for the MSFS, but I am just very hope MSFS will support Force Feedback soon!!! and It’ll be the best!!!

Thank you for this extensive feedback! :+1:t3:
I gather from it that there is not much for me to expect from Airforce Player now or in the near future. All the more given that XPForce never CTDed on me, which means I’m not actively looking for independent execution of the two programs.

You may be interested to know that a beta of XP Force was released that tentatively fixes the stall-warning in MSFS

No problem!

Yeah it’s not that big a deal. At least, it is working! and Yes! That’s it. I really wanted to try the stall function.
But also, Roll Exaggeration It has to be fixed.

I’ve been waiting for FS Force, but I haven’t heard from since August 23.

Have a nice Friday! :wink:

I thought it was worth bumping up this thread and ask if there is fresh news about the development of the feature in MSFS or of new controllers like joysticks or yokes.

We know Microsoft owns the patents, and in the last development update, “force feedback support” is #37 in the wishlist, marked as “under investigation” and “to be determined”

Any way to know more about it?

Will we get force feedback support and controllers FF capable eventually anytime in the next years?

How can we get this question asked on the next live stream?

Just to clarify something on this subject, those patents applied to hardware manufacture of devices and have also expired. They were posted to demonstrate the “patent troll” story is a myth when it comes to certain claims. There’s no reason for FFB to not be implemented as a core feature of the game other than they (MS / Asobo) don’t want to spend the time implementing it.

Unfortunately that’s what it really boils down to and as someone who thinks it should exist as a core function of the game and not require third party applications, I can see why it’s not a priority. There’s just a lot of other areas with higher priority.

The only thing that we can do is raise the question “Is there any further news about implementing FFB?” next time there is a Q&A. The last statement (that I am aware of) was effectively “the code is there, it’s just missing data”, which I suspect amounts to (not) having access to flight model information to drive it.

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Thank you very much for this clarification… the goal is to open up the discussion as much as possible so that FF can get more attention.

It seems to me that the problem is circular… If there was a market for FF hardware, it would be worth implementing FF as a core feature, but that’s non a priority because there’s no FF hardware that would use it, and so on…

Is it though? I consider FF as much essential as VR as far as immersion is concerned…
Once you try it it really changes the whole experience, making every single aircraft a different, no, a unique experience, where you can feel the difference about flight dynamics way more than just comparing performance and numbers on a performance table.

Truth is, the VR community is larger and louder, given so many VR devices out there.
A VR user would tell you: “Once you try it you can’t go back. A sim without is not even worth to be considered if it doesn’t support it…” and in spite of the fact that VR wasn’t a priority for Asobo at the beginning, it suddenly became one.

Well… FF works exactly the same way. There’s just not enough user base.

The few that use FF are willing to spend a little fortune to buy a Brunner yoke and that should be enough to see the market potential for this feature and relative hardware.

I think I may be missing something very easy to do here but I’ll ask anyway… how do we achieve this?

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I don’t necessarily disagree but to pick a few points…

I believe it is, though I’m not saying they don’t want to implement FFB, more that they have to do other things before they can contemplate doing so. Saying that, they might think FFB is pointless but that’s where we can try to convince them it isn’t. The reality is, we don’t know what their internal decision is other than it (FFB) wasn’t there for release and only with the voting system has it appeared on their “roadmap” as under investigation.

Heh, I suspect the majority of people wanting FFB are people like me with a nearly 20 year old Microsoft Sidewinder FFB 2, or similarly mass produced stick from the past that is still going strong.

Right now, we can’t…I don’t think we can anyway. When they schedule the next Q&A session, they’ll open up an area of the forum for us to create threads that are ultimately the question we would like to ask. The rest of the community can then vote on those questions. From this, a selection is made and the questions are put to the developers over an hour or two stream.

Edit: Oh…there is an open Q&A scheduled for Oct 20th. Probably a bit late to get a question up and voted but I’ll look and see if there is an existing one.

Another edit: Alright, rather than accepting defeat I’ve created a question that is currently awaiting approval. When / if it gets approved I’ll post a link here.

Further edit: Ok, in an attempt to not break rules. The question has been approved, that’s about all I can say.

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Came by to mention how much XBox rumble support would matter to me.

Thanks for creating a thread we can all bookmark and keep an eye out for any sign that this is possible.

We have no confirmation that an addon is even possible right?