Forzamotorsport.net Forums

No, Che - you are not making be buy another 2 HDTV TV's and another 2 360's :P

I can barely afford my XB360 and one HDTV let alone anything more indepth.  Besides my girl is gonna kill me as it is.  But I drool at your settup.  Also your dog is chewing on his butt in the second photo.  Mine does the same thing.

Oh wow thats great!!  Nice set up!!  i wish i could get my hands that!!  

And if I want a 'realistic' experience - I would go and drive a real car...

d-suhiti, what's your point?

Che that's pretty amazing.  Looks like it'd require a few bucks to set it all up, that's for sure!  I can only imagine what it's like running on it though.  Gotta be cool.

I'd love a 3 screen setup...but not as much as I'd love an M3.  That's what's got my money.  (Don't worry...Forza 2 is a close second.  Where else will I get to drive an E46 M3 GTR?)

Can I come over?

Thats a pretty kick ass set up, I want one but dont have the know how. Guess Ill be stuck playing Forza 2 on a single TV with the driving wheel. Oh the Humanity

i would realy love to have that setup home!!! only thing when time come's for cleaning behind there will not be easy

I currently have 2 360s, and 1 hd tv and a standard. So I will probably use the standard for a rearview mirror. Working on getting another HD, and another elite for IPTV. As for wheel, seat, and speakers, don't currently have any, but plan on the wheel and a pioneer 5.1. Should be good enough.

by the way, where did you get the refurbished tvs at. Also are they better then the visios cheap lcds>

Scratch that about the seat, forgot I got a car seat from a 1992 Legacy turbo in my basement. Better then nothing.

Yea a smoking setup for sure! Sure couldn't afford 3 xbox 360's 3 copies of forza2 and 3 40" HDTV's tho. Would be nice to experience it tho. I would imagine it would totally bring you onto/into the track and be able to see and make smoother minute adjustments in the wheel to get the right line.

My favorite feature is the dog licking himself in the background.  I'm not sure how that adds to the realism of the setup, but if Che says we need it, then I'm getting one.

Is there a technical explanation of how one goes about setting that up?

First of all, AMAZING!!! I wish I had the funds and let alone the space for a set up like that (56" takes up a lot of space), but I'll be happy with just the game in my 360 tray loading up I already have the surround sound system and a comfortable lazyboy, just need the wheel and pedals.

Oh, the woes of being a college student... that right there is equal to how much I owe in student loans!

this seems to extreme

got a question che....would it be possible to setup a side mirror view?  i was planning to just use 2 small lcd screens as side mirrors instead of 2 HDTVs for the rest of the 180 degree view

[quote]  With a 180 degree view (vs 90 on  a single screen)  [/quote]

I'm curious:
Why do the extra screens only provide 45 degrees each, if the front screen has 90 degrees?

Does it run at a 90 degree FOV if you only have one screen as a compromise, but change to 60 degrees per screen on a 3 screen setup to give a more realistic feel?  or was this a typo?

Traxus, I think its because they are seen as side angles. Your eyes are looking straight, so the middle one would give a larger degree view. Think of it with out the sides, most of what you see is the tv, but a little of your vision sees around it. The 2 extra screens are to eliminate that effect. When using a 3 screen setup like that, you aren't switching looking from one screen to the next, you stay focused forward. If you look close at the pics, you can see that the middle one gives a wider view.

Why is the dog licking his "ballzac" in the background?

That would be amazing, but I don't have anywhere to set one up :(

I just want to play the bloody game before I decide on the best set up..!!!!! release the demo microsoft

Err... i can't stand three screen any things. There is always a big gap between screens. Like in his photos, that would get on my nerves. No thanks, M$ has enough of my cash.

Crimson - it doesn't bother you when you're driving in real life, does it? (A-pillars in a car are MUCH larger than the gap between those screens)

I Drive Like a Scurvy Dawg said:
Why is the dog licking his "ballzac" in the background?

Man and I thought I was going to be the first to comment on fido!

Whats the pups name? Love golden labs BTW.

Where is the best place to mount a Buttkicker for Forza? And if I already have a surround sound speaker setup (Creative Labs 6 point surround with subwoofer and Decoder DDTS-100), how do I include the Buttkicker in this setup? Thank you for your help.

In answer to your question, Scurvy: Because he can!!
Excellent setup Che. Makes me more than a little jealous.

I see you have 3 Black 360's but what is that on top of them????? i think i want one!!

Looks awesome, i'm looking at 3 * sony PFM 42B1E @ 599€ to get my own multiscreen setup

The 2 extra 360's do they need any storage ? or can i use 2 core systems without hdd and memory card ?  

Another question, does this needs to be configured in game every time or is there like a "save screen layout option" on your master 360 ?

Any chance in getting a movie of Joel doing 1 lap on his setup ? :)

Will there be an option to choose your own POV in Forza 2? I have an 80" screen with my HD projector and would like to widen the FOV from 90 to something like 120.

BTW - Yes I am a college student too - and behind the electric screen is a 32" HD LCD - all connected to a Yamaha RX-V661 with Klipsch Reference speakers. No I am not spoiled by parents - I am spoiled by myself!

@ the(316)
those are test kits for the 360

For those who think this is too much money, why no set it up with 3 19" widescreen monitors. That would bring the cost down quite a bit.

That sure is the ultimate driving setup but unfortunately theres no way I can afford something like that in the near future :(
I hope MS takes the 3 screen setup they had in Japan to Europe so people can try it out.

I want to see the 6 screen setup!!!

I have enough TV's to do 3 screen but only on 360.....Don't have the money to get 2 more either, have to save the money to get the Playseat.
CANT WAIT TO PLAY IT! PERIOD!!!

Damn im getting this setup alright

Good call on the 3x19" widescreen monitors, then you could run a 3 screen setup for under $1650.
$600 for the monitors
$850 for two xbox elites
$180 Forza x 3

I wonder how those Elites are working out... noticable jump in performance?
Nice setup... and uh, thanks for making me really want one :p

If I only had the cash...but yeah it's awesome and must be an amazing experience !

When you work all day on something, come home and enjoy the same thing as entertainment...that means you have the hell of a good job !!

I wonder how a 3 screen setup would look like using 3 projectors.  I'm thinking a semi-circular or concave screen, with the 3 views lined up as close to each other as possible.  Going for as seamless as possible 180 field of vision there.  Man that sounds like it would be sweet!

Anyway, nice setup, and hell no I would never spend that kind of cash on a single game.  I had to think long and hard about the 360 wheel (which I just ordered) and that was only $130.

Wondering how to set this up?

each screen is plugged into a 360 just like your regular 360. The 3 are networked together by a router and network cables. The sound options (like the buttkicker) is all handled through the audio signal that the 360 sends out. On each 360 you have to be able to select the view you want on some menu somewhere.

This is tempting to do but no room to do it, not to mention expensive. But would love being able to look into the corners. Could be cool to get several friends together and do a setup like this for an evening of weekend.

where is the rear view mirror?  there are gonna be alot of noobies useing the car in front for the brakes.  know do you know where and when to get out of their way and let them go off roading wide?

Thats actually a pretty good idea with the tripod lol

Man, I wish I had the money for a nice 3-screen setup.

If only money grew on trees.

gd but 720p??? thats so last year make the most of fm2's 1080p graphics only an extra $3000 lol

I just need 2 more 40" LCDs, 2 more 360's, and 3 games. I figure it would cost me at least $2000 to get this set-up. Ouch! I will be getting $1700 from my tax return soon, but man, I don't think I could use that just for a game. It would be tempting, but I don't think I can do it.

Some answers:

CTM AudiRS6 asked: "by the way, where did you get the refurbished tvs at. Also are they better then the visios cheap lcds"

Joel: I got the refurb'd screens @ Newegg.com.  They seem to be out of these but I've seen them elsewhere for about the same price. I don't know if they're better than the Vizio's or not, probably not. :)

fclen asked: "Is there a technical explanation of how one goes about setting that up?"

Joel:  Here's a brief overview of how to set this up:
1. Get 3 Xbox 360's and 3 TV's and 3 copies of Forza2
2. Network the 3 Xboxes together (I used an old wired Linksys router + a Linksys WET-11 to hook the router to my wireless net)
3. Plug each Xbox into a TV
4.  Hook the sound system and your wheel into the middle Xbox
5.  On each Xbox, start Forza2, go to Options | Multiscreen Setup and set the center Xbox as the Host, the other 2 as clients.  You will then be asked to reboot (yes, it's made by Microsoft) :)
6.  When the clients boot, they'll automatically go into a wait state until the center box starts a race.
7.  On the center box, pick any race you like & watch the side screens automagically respond by loading the same track.
8.  Enjoy 180 degrees of luscious racing immersion.

TraxusIV asked: "Why do the extra screens only provide 45 degrees each, if the front screen has 90 degrees?"

Joel: You can adjust how much each screen displays.  Default is 60 degrees per screen.  With 1 screen, the field of view is 90 degrees.

Crimson Engage said: "Err... i can't stand three screen any things. There is always a big gap between screens."

Joel: Of course you want to choose screens with minimal frame width to keep the gap small but once you're playing the game, you don't notice the edges.  You can also fine tune just how much of the view is blocked by the gap so the images flows nicely from screen to screen.  As Apoc112 said, it really is like an A-pillar.

Pandoraa said:  "Whats the pups name? Love golden labs BTW."

Joel:  His name is Louie and he's an American Staffordshire Terrier, aka Pitbull.  Labs are nice too. And for the record, he's fixed. ;-)

Killer KAKO said: "Where is the best place to mount a Buttkicker for Forza? And if I already have a surround sound speaker setup (Creative Labs 6 point surround with subwoofer and Decoder DDTS-100), how do I include the Buttkicker in this setup?"

Joel: The Buttkicker website is a pretty good resource: http://www.thebuttkicker.com/
In the interest of getting it working quickly, I violated one of their suggestions by mounting it to a piece of wood that's only secured on one end, not both ends.  The idea is that you want to *transmit* the vibration as directly as possible.  If the mount vibrates itself, it's not helping.  For my improved cockpit, I'll mount the Buttkicker directly to the seat frame and it'll be rock solid.  As for how to integrate the Buttkicker, I just added an RCA splitter between my receiver and the subwoofer so it drives the Buttkicker & the subwoofer.  If you don't have a sub-out on your receiver, you can put the splitter on the audio RCA cables and then filter the signal on the Buttkicker amp.

Oman83 said: "For those who think this is too much money, why no set it up with 3 19" widescreen monitors. That would bring the cost down quite a bit."

Joel: Totally agreed! No matter what size you go with, having 3-screens really adds to the immersion & should help you drive better.  My old setup had 3 21" CRT monitors which were way less sexy than the 40" screens I have now but the experience was still incredible.

Regarding the triple screen setup... I need either Che or Joel to answer this !!!
What is the angle that the side screens make to the center screen.  It is hard to tell from the pictures I've seen, somewhere between 30-45 degrees?   I was told by a GAF member that you guys are going to post a detailed FAQ a week before the game launches but I need more time than that to design, buy steel and weld a custom triple screen mount for my 3 x 32" Viewsonic LCD's.   I've got a premium and two cores, a VRX pro cockpit (sparco fighter seat) with Spherex 5.1 and Buttkicker LFE, 360 wheel.   I want to get cranking on a one piece angle/slotted bracket that mounts the three screens,  that piece needs to be bent to a specific angle by my local shop using their sheetmetal break.    HELP???  

Looking nice Joel! Definately an improvement over the CRT's.

Thank you for the info mr_joel!

There will be a more complete FAQ in the future, but to answer CosmicAvenger:

There is a setting in the Multiscreen Setup which is the number of degrees between screens.  That is specifying the angle beween the plane of the center screen and the peripheral screens.  This value also determines the angle coverage of each screen.  The default value is 60 degrees, which also gives 60 degrees per monitor of coverage for 180 degrees full coverage.  To get the perspective correct you need to position your head at the center of all 3 screens.

Another popular setting should be 45 degrees, which means you would set up the screens at 45 degrees to each other.  However in this configuration you only get 135 degrees of coverage.  Again you position your head at the center of all 3 monitors.  Catching on?

The other note is that sometimes it is hard to get 45 or 60 degrees between screens.  If the screens are large, this is usually not an issue.  Your brain is very good at stitching the images together even if they are at the wrong angle.  So you can use the 60 degree setting and have the monitors at 45 degrees to each other, your brain will do the work to compensate.  This is similiar to what happens when you play the game normally, as you walk away to toward the screens, your field of view changes for the screen, but the screen's field of view coverage does not, but you happily play anyway without getting a headache.

CosmicAvenger: My screens are at about 45/135 degrees currently and I haven't done anything to adjust them.  They're actually a little uneven at the moment but like FZNET said, your brain is pretty good at making sense out of what you see regardless.  I would advise against making a fixed mount for your screens until you've had some time to play with the position you like the best.  That's part of the reason mine are sitting on some random pieces of furniture--so I can experiment a bit.  When I build a monitor stand, I'm going to make sure it's adjustable so I'm not locked into a particular config.  

BTW, the material I plan on building both the cockpit and the monitor stand out of is called "T-slot aluminum" which you can find @ www.8020.net or in surplus form on Ebay via 8020Inc.  It's fun stuff to work with and you can cut the extrusions with a standard power miter saw WITH A WOOD BLADE!

Joel

dude ive already got a 60" plasma... however if the lottery winnings were to sway my way then undoubtedly NO question id buy 2 more 60"ers but my dolby 6.1 surround and force feedback should suffice until my parents have more sufficent funds

I just tried a setup like this at the Forza 2 PR Event in Stockholm today, and all I have to say is that I might have to get a couple of TV:s within the next month or so... Totally awesome, playing on a normal TV with a controller is going to feel so much crappier now.

I would love to have it... but there's no way in hell that I can afford it!

What I probably WILL be able to do is 5.1 surround and a better wheel set-up than what I have right now...

Any advice on a good, cheap (under $300) 5.1 system?

I have a stupid setup dat surprisingly works very well. Before i had 360 i bought a hugely expensive theatre system i a built in 2 super woofers and amp in my leather sofa so when u watch movies when u feel it you WIIL feel it and when i got da microsoft wheel i was gettin bit annoyd the fact that the pedals kept movin around iswelso i cut a huge whole in da middle of da sofa coz im a idiot and my dad helped me build a sliding mechanisim so a kind of rack slides out to fit the pedals in but still have the steering wheel on my lap till i can think of what to do....any ideas would be great thanks

JBL Control Ones!  Nice choice.

I have 2 of 3 screens ready to go. Ordered a CyberKart setup too. All I need is the 3rd screen and XBox, oh and 3 copies of Forza 2.

Pics will follow...

i must say che, that looks absolutely friggin fantastic!

Since I saw this setup 1 day ago I started shopping for 3 new monitors. I'm going to use a wide screen LCD computer monitor. I think 24" is ok. I already have 2 x 360s so one more would not be a big deal the problem, probably a 360 Elite to be the master. The real problem is the cost of the monitors. I'm shopping for 8ms response time or less and 1000:1 contrast plus wide screen. When you put all these requirements together, the monitor cost is $600 each.

Well, my wife is  gonna F@!(@ kill me but I sold my boat a year ago and I think that I deserve a new toy!

Do you think that 3 monitors will give you an edge when playing online?

The other problem I see is if after speding $2000 on a new setup the On-Line multiplayer experience sucks. I already have cable @ 5Mbps I'm thinking going 10Mbps but if all the other players are slower than I don't know how good this is going to be.

Nice setup...



[img]http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/7821/turtledogjs7.jpg[/img]

Seems to be a common theme when a dog is included in a picture!

very nice, i wish i could afford one. by the way i like the fact that in the 3rd pic the dog is doing some personal hygiene matinence...

I seriously doubt that anyone will get more xbox360's just to do this.

Hi everyone! Whee!

WOW only if i was rich.

everybody thinks its ches setup..

Che said :

"d-suhiti, what's your point?"

I have no idea lol - i was just mambling random stuff. That looks seriously awesome. Too bad most of us dont have the $$$...

I would so pay $20 right now for 30 minutes on that thing.  SA-WEET!

idrvfast - Yes, I'm a fan of the JBL Control 1's indeed.  I've bought several pairs @ B&H Photo & Video for only $79.  I also have Control 5's in my home theatre + a pair on my Guitar Hero rig. I've found some great deals on them used on Ebay, pawn shops, etc.

m0nty JE - That CyberKart cockpit looks like a lot of fun! I helped another guy at work make a mount for his wheel for his Bob Earl (http://bobearlracing.com) cockpit.  He says it's very comfortable and he's very happy with it.

ZyDAS - I'm glad to hear you've become inspired to get your own 3-screen setup!  There are some great deals these days on 22" widescreen monitors for about $300 at Costco, Newegg, etc.  I went for the 24" Dell Ultrasharp for my PC but it was almost $700 and I couldn't justify spending that much 3x again for that size.  I decided to go a lot bigger for slightly more money.  32" Vizio's were my previous choice at around $500 ea. until I hit on the 40" screens for $750. If I did it again, I'd go with higher quality 32" screens I think -- 40" is overkill.

Will 3 monitors give you an advantage online? I think so but I'm sold on the immersion factor of the wheel + 3 screen regardless of how competitive it is. I consistently get beaten by a guy at work who plays with a gamepad on a small single screen.  However, every time he walks by my office to see me racing in my mini cockpit, he gets jealous at how "fun" my setup looks.

Regarding the online multiplayer experience sucking, it sounds like you have a WAY faster connection than I do (750 down, 170up) but racing on Live still works well.  I'd worry more about who you race with than your network connection.

Joel

"Regarding the online multiplayer experience sucking, it sounds like you have a WAY faster connection than I do (750 down, 170up) but racing on Live still works well.  I'd worry more about who you race with than your network connection. "

Are you serious?  That connection is rather pedestrian for someone of your background!!!!  Isn't it well under the XBox Live suggested connection speeds?

Shiny - I live out in the sticks and this is what my DSL service turns out to be.  It's been upgraded from 512k to 768k to 1.5mbps down but the upload speed has remained about the same.  Cable might be better but people in my neighborhood complain a lot about bad service.  Regardless, I'm not hurting too bad nor is my online gaming experience.

Joel

i dont quite get what the butt kicker is...but man that is a filthy setup

yah nice set-up...i bet the game is rediculous with that set-up.  Also being able to shoulder check must be nice!

mr_joel - Do u actually think 22" ws is big enough ? like u said, i can pick up an Iiyama 22" - 5ms - 1000:1 - 300 cd/m² - vga only lcd for only 265€, this seems to be the perfect screen with the perfect price ( don't forget i live in Belgium ). Only i'm affraid if u will lose the sim effect ...

For a racing seat i'm looking at a Gamepod GT2 (http://www.gamepod.co.uk/gt2.php3)
Looks very solid for not to much money, does anyone has any experience with these ?

Thanks.

SWWWEEEET!

Now I know what to ask Santa for over the next couple of years.....lol.
...."Dear Mr Chrsitmas delivery bloke...A.K.A Santa,
          You may remember me from when I was a kid, the little snot-nosed kid who you caught reading 'Sunday Sport' that Christmas eve......well I have a big favour to ask of ya. Would you be so kind as to load up old Rudolph with a few extra for me this and next Christmas, it would help me out so very badly not having to save my hard earned cash. See the list below of the 'extras'......thanks very much.

-Two HD TV's anyting over 32 inch is sound.
-Two 360 consoles preferably elites (or premiums if you can't get old of the black ones).
-360 Wireless wheel and pedals combo.
-Two copies of Forza Motorsports 2 (if it's out by then.......).
-Hub and router to link 'em all up.
-Some sort of cockpit frame.
-Couple of crates of Holsten Pils to sit back with.
-A tab at Pizzahut for unlimited slices.
-A offwork permit with full pay.
-A replacement me (for the missus and kids to moan away at).

Thanks a lot mate. Oh by the way.....a couple of years ago you thought old Rudolph at took a pee on next doors cat......erm, sorry that was me, tell Rudolph I didn't mean for you to beat him.

-Joker

LOL

So, I would like to point out that it has been noted that having more viewable area so you can look ahead has proven *very useful*, and increases the experience.

With that noted, there is a WAY less expensive way to allow people with only 1 HDTV to have this same experience since XBOX already has a cheap peripheral to to make this happen -- the Live Vision camera.

As a tester of OSes, I completely understand you guys should be in the planning phase for FM3 already.... so why not include this so we dont have to spend 5K on a custom setup and keep our wives happier?! :)

- dow

s007ren - If you sit close enough, the 22" widescreens should work well.  As FZNETstated, you want to put your head in the center of each screen for the best effect.  That gets harder the smaller your screens get.  Though it may not be *optimal* it's quite practical to shoot for putting your head about even with the outer edge of the left and right screens.  My current 3-screen doesn't even achieve that goal yet you still get the effect of heightened immersion, increased sense of speed, ability to look into corners, see cars beside you, etc.  When I re-do the monitor mounts, I'll be able to slide the cockpit forward so my feet are under the center screen and thus my head will be in a more optimal position relative to the side screens.

From the pictures, the Gamepod GT2 looks like a decent setup @ a decent price.

dowroa - Nice!

For those of you who want the best cockpit for Forza2 you can buy we have the answer. Turn1Cockpits.com will be launching it's website and full race training simulator next month. We have spent over a year researching, testing, and evaluating other race seats/ cockpits on the market. We are highly cofident that our product will hands down will be the coolest racing simulator available for the high end consumer. We will post more information here on our launch date.

Dude I Would Be Freakin Jumpin Fences If I Had All Them Features

Ok Joel,

Ordered the 3 screens, they'll be here on May 2nd. I got 3 x 24" widescreen with 5ms response and 1000:1 contrast. I hope this is good enough. I also ordered a buttkicker got a sweet deal for $60 at a music store in Oregon. for sound I'll use an old JVC 5.1 surround that works great.

Also I got two linear actuators, if you guys could tell me anything about the racing wheel protocol I could write code to drive the actuators. For now the actuators will be driven by analog signals which is not ideal. Yes, I'm putting together a simulator with motion. Each actuator can lift 250 lbs and move 1" per second. For now it will be very limited because of the input signal. Later this year if I don't come up with anything better I will see if I can get a sound processor source code for a DSP or PC and make the actuators work based on the sound generated by the game however since the 360 has USB support it would be lovely to receive digital data via the USB directly from the game.

Karlos1 - Cute pup! Mine is very similar-looking but he has a light brown patch on his left eye and he's a rednose.

ZyDAS - Nice! I'm writing this response on a 24" widescreen monitor and I definitely think you'll be pleased with 3 of them for your cockpit.  My old setup with 21" 4:3 aspect screens was still really immersive.  24" widescreens are a lot bigger.  One of these days Che promises he'll re-post the writeup on my Forza1 cockpit so you can see those pics. (hint, hint)

A Buttkicker (full size or gamer?) for $60 is an absolute steal! Now you need a great big amp to power it. If you don't want to shell out for the official Buttkicker amp, any powerful subwoofer amp ought to do.  Quality is not so important as long as it's powerful.

As for the linear actuators, I'm not exactly sure what motions you plan on representing with those but it sounds interesting.  Representing actual g-forces for pitch and/or roll would be quite difficult without access to the game physics data.  Unfortunately, the USB bus isn't going to have any of the data you're interested in just waiting for you to grab it.  I suppose you could write a DSP app that processes the sound of the engine & determines speed and thus acceleration based on the pitch of the engine & keeps track of what gear you're in but that would only work well on the 1 car you tuned it for & I don't think the deceleration would be as easy to glean.  Quite a project you've got there.  Keep me posted! :)

Joel

Can i have that. Haha

That's an amazing setup you have there but I can't see me enjoying Forza like that. A game for me is virtual reality and not recreating the real-life environment.

That is one nice setup joel.

Joel,

I did not read this anywhere so please clarify one thing to me. For the 3 screen setup I don't really need 3 x premiums, do I??!?!?!

Can one make the 3 screen setup work with 1 x premium/elite + 2 x core?

Cheers,

ZyDAS - You should be fine w/Core systems for your side screens as long as you've got a memory unit in each one.  I've been looking for 2 Core systems on Craigslist, etc. but so far, I've found more hot deals on Premiums.  With the Elite out now, hopefully more people will be trading up.

Joel

how are they all setup,i dont understand how u can run it on 3 screens,with 3 xbox 360's,how do they all display the same game please anyone help me understand the workings of this system,i would love to build this set up

Joel - I don't know how much you would like to pay for a refurbished Core but GameStop is selling them for $250.

ZyDAS

Joel, curious on your last post, you will need memory cards if you use the Core's for the side screens?

I believe that you need the memory cars to store any system settings that you change.

ZyDAS - thanks for the tip.  I just bought my 3rd Xbox (another used Premium for $275) so I'm all set.

BTW, I was having an issue with ghosting on one of my Olevia screens. It was driving me nuts & their tech support couldn't figure out how to solve my problem either (there's no alignment adjustment like a CRT).  I swapped from component to VGA and the picture snapped into perfect alignment.  I'm just glad I don't have to ship the 80lb TV to/from Newegg for replacment. :)

Joel

nice setup and i will have to say the dog in the back is going at it.... lol

Thats a big WOW!! Nice setup........most impressed. Looking forward to the final version of the game even more so now. I have my HDTV and my xbox 360 wirelees wheel & Pedals......which i must say work fantasticly well. A whorthy investment.

I'm going to follow joel's advice and play with the side screen angles when the game come out before going with a fixed setup.   I was hoping to have everything finished 100% by release cuz I'm only keeping this setup for 6 months then selling it.   Good advice on the t-slot aluminum.

Since I'm running two cores for sides,  I would like clarification/explanation for the two extra memory cards Joel mentioned above?  Aren't basic system setting still saveable w/o memory cards?  

I'm also pretty sure the demo will only run on a single screen with my setup?  But if I had my friends bring over their premiums (with the demo installed on each unit) would I be able to test my triple screen setup???  

Wow, looking good there. I just played the game on the huge 3 screen setup Dan brought with him on the Euro tour, and going back to a single screen is going to SUCK now.

lol, that is a bloody awsome setup! Im being cheecky here but, can someone pay for me! LMAO XD

I can tell your not married or you have an awsome wife who dont mind the guy stuff

that really cool!!!!!!

Ok well i have decided to do this on my own but the only question i have is how did you get the 'side' veiws to work the center is fine but how did you get the other angles of the car to see from side to side??? Also this is freekin awsome and freekin expensive but i cant wait for forza and i want this setup for the 29th when i get it so please message me back id appreciate it and i also have a few more questions too, thanx alot

MrStabby1981 - Heh, I couldn't afford to live in my house if it wasn't for having an awesome wife who understands "the guy stuff". :)

Si!ver_Bu!!et - the answers you seek are further up the thread.

All - I'm working on plans for an all-new cockpit design that will sit in front of those great big screens.  Speaking of which, I just picked up 3 swing-arm flat panel wall mounts @ Costco this weekend ($80 each).  That's about half the price of the cheap ones I was looking at before deciding to build my own stand.  Free's up more time to work on the fun part -- the cockpit!! :)

More details w/pics soon....

Joel

mr joel.. can you post a pic on how you installed the buttkicker to your frame, iv got the same kicker and amp.
Have you tried installing it in diff parts of the frame. i was thinking if it was installed closer to the middle of the frame you would get more vibs to the pedals and wheel.

If you install THICK rubber pads under the frame you can get the same responce using less power.

BEERcobra:

<img class=BlogThumbnail src="/photos/turn10_image_gallery/images/127493/original.aspx" border="0">

<img class=BlogThumbnail src="/photos/turn10_image_gallery/images/127476/original.aspx" border="0">

I haven't tried any other mounts on my temporary cockpit.  I'm trying to do as little work on this one & focus my attention on the all-new cockpit I'm working on.  So, the mount is totally cheezy, bolted right to some scrap plywood which sticks out the back like a diving board.  This is definitely *not* how the Buttkicker folks recommend doing it but if you turn it up nice and high, it's effective.

Now that my Buttkicker Gamers have arrived (BTW, the amps are HUGE!!), I've started thinking about where to mount one.  My friend suggested under the pedals which I thought was kind of a cool idea.

The new cockpit will have rubber feet to help isolate vibrations & stop shaking the house as much. :)

Joel

let's try that again...

[img]<img class=BlogThumbnail src="/photos/turn10_image_gallery/images/127493/original.aspx" border="0">[\img]

[img]<img class=BlogThumbnail src="/photos/turn10_image_gallery/images/127476/original.aspx" border="0">[\img]

try again joel.. you can do it!

so are you going to run 3 buttkickers them? 2 gamers one lfe?



still thinking on selling the old cockpit frame? my racing league wants to buy it.
just pm me under this name if you want to talk. we are in no hurry.


www.specforza.com

Mr_joel - If you like I can hook you up with a speaker bracket that will mount to the rear of your Sparco seat, same brackets you have on the simulators at the Turn 10 Studios. let me know if your interested. -R

PS. well done!

I don't like the three screens ther is a gap in between.

i would want ten screens to fully surround me in the game it would be sooo saweet. but there is no way i could even afford 3 screens all i have is an lcdtv and one 360

I have a question!  It looks like it has been raised before, but I didn't see an answer.  Maybe I havent looked well enough.

How are the transformations for each screen handled?  

I ask because we have a 10ftx10ftx10ft immersive space, cube, we would love to hook up to your game.  I'm curious if/how our cube will work with the game. Mind you the floor of the car might not be the most exciting thing to have displayed during a race.

Assuming we could get this to work, our dream is to then get a 6 DOF platform to mount our seat, wheel, and peddles.  It would rock to have some acceleration/deceleration cues, but I don't guess we need the full 6 DOF for those two cues.

We are also kicking around an idea to point a camera at the screen to determine the vehicle velocity and use this information to set the speed of  a fan accordingly.  We think it might add a little bit toward the immersive experience.  This might not work so well inside the cube, but it might be nice on our 37ft curved screen.

Any ideas/suggestions would be awesome.  Your game looks fantastic and I am very excited to play.

Doh

Ok.  I did a REALLY poor job of looking for an answer to my question before posting.  Sorry.  I now see the earlier post with a reference to a forth coming FAQ.

Maybe these will be original questions.  How many viewports are supported?  Will we be able to set viewports for the top and bottom of the cube that will make since?

ZyDAS.  

The approach I am taking to determine the acceleration, deceleration, and velocity of the vehicle is to point a camera at the screen with the speedometer.  On the computer attached to the camera, specify the area around the  speedometer.  If there is a digital readout of the speed we can do some preprocessing and feed the result into an OCR, which can be implemented with a neural network.  This gives us the velocity.  You should be able to calculate Acc/Dec now.  I'm just worried about the delay.

This is nuckin futz i so wish i had the money. All i got is a 5.1 surround sound Bose setup. I still need to by the steering wheel setup and a bigger HDTV. Im hoping to pick up a new tv soon. ive been looking at a 36" Olevia for $800 but i still need to save up for it right now. Maybe santa will drop it off if im a good boy. Cant wait for forza to come out i already got it reserved and im gonna be the first at the store on the 29 to pick mine up and i will definetly be pullin an all nighter once i get it. I hope my xbox wont overheat.

i read up above about projectors.  If you had the 3 xbox's and three projectors could you set it up and change the angles on it so that the picture would be seemless. if you can it seems like it might be a cheaper and cooler setup for this  game. if anybody tries it can you post it and tell how it works.

its an cool setup but u have a bad! racing wheel get the g25

Hey Joel can you explain how you mounted the steering wheel? Thanks

amazing!!!! you are inspirational

im realy not drawn to it.... not because its to expensive but because it really dosent seem that interesting....sorry but no ...but on all acounts congrats atleast you found something you liket

love the setup Joel... to bad Im not in town or id stop by and take it for a spin....  j/k

take care Joel

dude now thats the only way to play

Nice make shift set-up, but not all of us have that kind of space to put the kit in !

The way to go is projectors! I have 3 Panisonic HD projectors, way cheaper than 3 big screen LCD's and you normally get an discount for buying multiple projectors at once. I also talked them into 6 free replacement bulbs. Can't wait to for Forza 2.

Thats temping....

Heh, thats totally awesome. Imagine having a system link multiplayer race with 2 rigs setup in the same room... I think I just wet myself.

Hmm. Since each of the 3 consoles are linked via LAN, does that mean system link multiplayer using 3 screens each wouldn't be possible?

That is f'ing awesome!!! I wish i could afford it. He even has 3 elite 360's. If you aren't single u must have had to buy your wife something very nice so she didn't get very jealous. If not u better go buy her something now!! lol

all you need is a fan to blow some air in your face to finish this ultimate setup......i can only afford the fan though :(

i think you should sell that to me... cheap

Ur all wankers!

*drool*

how exactly do u hook up the tv's. cuz i have three moniters in my basement chillin and would love to put the to use.

Only a few gripes with the demo.......

Brake disks shouldnt glow on the first corner of the race, maybe near the end, but definitely not the first corner.

In car view

Manual overide on auto boxes (shift up/down using red / blue)

Apart from those minor issues it looks like its gonna be a cracking game on and offline

cheers

nice..

Nice dude. I wish I had the cash for that type of a setup, :)....See you online when it gets released on the 29th....

I have 12 systems linked in a row on one wall. Hopefully, we will be able to run 4 drivers with three screens each. A 12 person race will be pretty wild also.  
No steering wheels yet, but their coming soon.

wow your lucky... all i get is a 360 on one screen in normal def.

i wish i could get a setup like that, you guys are so lucky... video games for a living... one can only wish...

Cool setup. I have a similar setup that comes in the form of a REAL car, complete with all the mods that you can get in FM2.  I get the complete experience plus g-forces.

I Wish I have the space to bild it, but is in my plans, just to be shure, I need 3 TV sets and 3 360 (with HD) and 3 Forza 2?

Nice.

I need a job that can allow me to afford that and give me tie off to play it

Wow thats a very nice Feature to have for a racing game....

TOO BAD YOU GUYS FORGOT TO INCLUDE SIDESKIRTS ON THE CRX BODYKITS!!

playseat evolution's looks like the way to go for me. ordered black one from amazon (back-ordered til mid-june) but they have the white ones in. the original playseats can be found for cheaper. amazon has a free shipping.  

anyway, i'm starting with the seat & single screen & if it's good i'll work on 2 more screens, etc. (have 2 360's now). very exciting stuff. i've been playing the sh*t out of F2 since i got it yesterday. verynice.

Now I know why I can't compete against some of these people they have better view then you do in your own car.... jealous yes money invested for it... ahh I'll pass

Do the 2 secondary xbox 360's need to be premium, e.g do they need a HDD, or could I just get cores ? Will it still work well if you have a moxture of screen sizes I ahve one 32inch (middle), and 2 x 22 whch i was planning to use for the sides. Faliling that i could get another 22 as the price has crashed on those now. ta,

How do you get it to split the signal to 3 screens?

It is a nice set up but I am good with the 50 inch HDTV and surround sound. I'm not hatin cause the set up is nice.

Forget the 3 HDTV (even reburbed at $750 a pop). I currently run the FM2 on my Infocus SP4805 HD projector @ 1080i with one image @ 95 inches and it only cost me $600. Working on 2 more @ $450 for a smooth VR cockpit (no black bars from the edges of the LCD screens). My virtual cockpit will be round (180 degrees) instead of 3 flat angled monitors. Talk about sweet (you got to do it right boys!)

not my fault if your house gets broke into

*Cough* IT WAS ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*Coygh**Choke**Die*

nice work but i will stick with my 8ft screen thanks

And how will this work if we want to go online with our 3 or 4 screen setups? 3 more Gold accounts... I really would like to know... I allready preordered the 3 extra copies and have 3 extra screens(1 rearview).

And what about LAG? 3 extra screens connecting to the NET can only cause LAG.

And how will this work if we want to go online with our 3 or 4 screen setups? 3 more Gold accounts... I really would like to know... I allready preordered the 3 extra copies and have 3 extra screens(1 rearview).

And what about LAG? 3 extra screens connecting to the NET can only cause LAG.

nice double post homie

I'd really love that setup it's so cool, just 2 probs havent got the money and haven't got the room to fit 3 hdtvs in my room. I'll just have to be jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

man that's a sick set up

SevenShadows said,
"Also your dog is chewing on his butt in the second photo. "

LMAO Man!!

Seriously, great setup.   Would like to try that also in COD2 !!

Very nice set up, I wish I could do that also ;-)

Why in the world do you need 3 360's and 3 copies of Forza2 to run the 3 monitor setup?  Seems bit rediculus to me, and MS (or someone) would offer a cable to split the signal 3 ways.  I've got a 60" HDTV and to get 2 more of those and 2 more 360s is out of the question.

AFTER I COMPLETE THE GAME I'LL WORK ON MY SETUP BECAUSE I LOVE THIS GAME. TO SEE SOMEONE DRIVEN ON THE LEFT OR RIGHT SIDE OF YOU TAKES YOU TO ANOTHER LEVEL OF RACING.

not to bad but cant afford 2 more 360s, games, and tvs.....must be nice to have that kind of money lying around

If you google refurbished hdtv you will get some