Platform: PC
Manufacturer: ACT-LABS

INTRODUCTION:

It was a bewildering morning when I got the Act-Labs Force RS Racing System up to my office. I was full of excitement with the anticipation of getting my hands on the latest in computer gaming hardware. At the same time I was hesitant to unhook my own controller that I had worked so hard to build such a long time ago. It was almost like betraying a colleague to switch to digital from an analog controller. I mean let's face it, which looks better? A needle on a tachometer sweeping the face of an illuminated gauge or watching red numbers flash ? Digital or Analog, there is a use for both. Act-Labs has made the best of both worlds with their analog to digital input engine that should produce accurate and very consistent data input

My dealings with the people from Act-Labs have been very positive from my very first correspondence. I wasn't sure they or anyone else would be interested in outside product testing or credit the work that I had done in building my own wheel & pedal sets. I feel that I can give them some insight into the end-user's dream list and with that information help them make a better product for us. Now don't write me with your dream lists, ok? Mine is wilder than yours could ever be.... Act-Labs is building on a common platform with upgrades in the works all the time. The common platform allows them to produce upgrades to their engine as well as the hard parts with very little trouble. This makes their tooling cost lower. For us, our hardware will stay current with new technology for years to come. I hate to know I spent money for something and then just threw it away when it was no longer useful. I like the idea of adding something to what I already have.. ;-)

PACKAGING:

The Act-Labs Force RS comes packed in a very cool tote style box with great graphics that depicts most of the major forms of Motorsports. They did a great job with securing the items in the box. There is a transformer and also the RS Engine, pedal base and the wheel. It's hard to pack that kind of bulky stuff in one nice neat package without something getting damaged somewhere between their pick-up and your delivery. Everything in the box is neatly packaged and well protected. It also comes with a manual, written in five languages, and a CD. Yes, software for your hardware.

: 10

THE WHEEL:

The wheel is a twisted turbine design with a nice looking faux leather cover and a distinctive spoke configuration that always looks centered no matter which way it's turned. The padded 10-inch wheel fits nicely and feels great in your hands. Personally, I'd like to see an add-on for a little larger wheel for stock car racing, but the 10-inch size works well. There is a four-way hat switch in the center where the horn button would normally reside. An ingenious idea, plus plenty of other buttons for almost any use. There are also two paddle style shifter levers that fit well behind the wheel and are in easy reach. In keeping with Act-Labs' continuing development, they also offer an add-on solid rocker style paddle instead of the two individual paddles that come with the stock RS. It simply replaces the old two-piece paddle with a single paddle that activates buttons #1 & #2.

The wheel base has a sturdy clamping device that secures the unit to most desks that have a ledge of two inches or less with no trouble. Now as with any new hardware you add to your system, you will have to load drivers for it to work properly. The assembly of the Force RS really only takes a few moments to connect. Once you have all the hard parts in place and hooked up, the manual suggests that you load the drivers first and then do a cold boot to get the drivers loaded. There are some newer drivers that are available here which will help with some of the newer applications of FF. I would however suggest that you load the drivers from the CD first and reboot one more time just to make sure all of the drivers have been loaded before you update. One other tip that bares mentioning is that the Force RS system comes with a USB plug and a serial port plug. You can use either one, but not both. With the RS system, you receive a control module that plugs into the back of the wheel base. With the RS shifter, you will get another module that goes in between the RS engine and the wheel base.

All of these modules make for a bit of a bulky package sitting on your desktop. One thing that adds a little more bulk to this package is the power pack that provides power for the wheel, which for me added another power strip to my office. Just what I needed ;-\ ! But as I said before, this product will be updateable for many years to come because of this set-up, so I guess we'll just have to make room for it.

: 8.8

FORCE FEEDBACK:

I fought the idea of FF for a long time because of the lack of unique support for FF and because there weren't many quality units on the market. I just always felt that FF was more of a gimmick than it was an enhancement. We are still in the infancy of FF, but hopefully there will be more software written exclusively for racing and for FF that will really show all of the effects possible with the Act-Labs Force RS. The forces that are controlled by DirectX are a bit on the weak side. Here's what I mean: if you clout the wall in a real dirt car, the wheel will turn harshly and abruptly in your hand. Enough to make a nice bruise on your thumb if you hold the wheel the wrong way. This and the subtle feedback when the car loses traction are not as prominent as they could be. After reading the FAQ, I reset the return spring force to Zero as the instructions stated and even then I didn't feel the wheel go limp in my hands as I felt it should. However, this is more of a software situation than it is the wheel.

All one has to do is open up the I-Force Immersion Studio and play around with some of the preset effect values for the RS to realize and appreciate all of the things that this wheel will do. The Act-Labs RS will literally jump off the desk with the forces set properly. I got rather amused trying to hold on to the wheel while it was reacting to the effects that I was entering. I guess I never realized just how many effects you could put through the wheel that would let the driver feel every inch of the road. Each of these will satisfy even the most serious hardcore Sim Racer.

The software producers have not put their best foot forward in regards to FF yet. Sure there are many sims out there that support FF, but not many have really implemented all of the feedback effects that are possible with this product. I think many sim producers have written a basic code for the feedback, and seem to be satisfied by what they have. I won't mention any names, but some have reused the same FF coding from initial releases and never changed or updated for newer builds. This is a shame because there is so much immersion that could be added to any sim title with just a minor tweak of their feedback implementation. They say that sim racers are never satisfied.?? Probably true. We hollered for years to get FF. Now that Act-Labs has shown me what an enhancement it could be, I'll get on my soapbox again and say :"We want more!".

: 8.8

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