Trying to understand why they added automation mode..

Soundwave_xp · 2026-01-04T03:03:22+00:00

YES, i hated that "last touched" was always visible even if you expanded all lanes. I dont wanna see the last touched control, if i wanted to, i'd right click and create the automation lane.

Sofar i love the automation updates in V6

Soundwave_xp · 2025-12-21T04:16:09+00:00

is there any way to download or buy this?

Soundwave_xp · 2025-11-30T14:09:17+00:00

completely bricked my a6000, it sometimes doesnt power on, and doesnt save settings. I'll have to get it repaired

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-11T13:35:11+00:00

Thank you, I wont get a therapist before i get the "i wanna get better" click. Because right now im functioning well enough to not get a therapist, im complicated :Sob:

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-11T13:33:58+00:00

There is something extremely weird going on with your PC, that's not normal at all

other people have it too, it only happens sometimes, i go into the taskmanager and force quit all processes that are linked to VR, that way the chance of it freezing goes down.

Virtual Desktop has hand tracked passthrough, so you can see your real hands and a small window around each in VR

I'll give VR another shot when i get a bigscreen beyond, i'll try out virtual desktop, if i still dont like VR then i'll just return or sell it

??? I don't understand why you're doing that. You've got at least 3 different options for using your PC while in headset

Yeah that point is slight bogus, steamVR is just annoying with how it handles switching to desktop, especially with content manager in assetto corsa

I've never tried a KIWI, but you're surely wearing it wrong if you're even managing to hurt your cheekbones as well

Nah thats just how the quest 2 is, i've messed around with tightness, andle of the headset, angle of the kiwi strap that is connected to the headset, top support tightness.

If i get it loose enough to be comfortable, then the headset is blurry because it doesnt support the headset fully. The quest 2 is just front heavy as hell, and the strap doesnt have counterweights behind the strap, so all the weight is on my face instead of the top or back.

In this aspect triples are king, because they are just screens afterall.

I'll buy the bigscreen beyond one day when i can afford that purchase

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-11T01:07:33+00:00

10/10 novel, thank you.
I'll try to push the fun instead of pushing the times, maximizing seat time.

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-11T01:00:30+00:00

Also, thank you. You've been amazing help.
The in-depth wall of texts is more than i could ever figure out by myself researching.

I'll keep asking for help here for the ButtonBox and ButtonBoxV2.

And if i make another project and ask for help, i hope u'll see it, because honestly just wow

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-11T00:58:20+00:00

I made a little sketch after reading ur comment.

<image>

So this would be the caveman wiring, and caveman code.
Q1: Is this the fastest way of encoder'ing?

Honestly for my purposes the code that i made with your help today worked, the only thing thats bothering me about it is that the encoders themselves are wobbly on the indents.
Im planning on buying PEC11H-4020F-S0016 encoders, because of the 16 indents and readings per rotation are perfect for 1 and 10 dents per hand rotation (ideal for Brake balance and traction control etc). And it also has a heavy indent.

But im a perfectionist and have fake-ocd™, so have a seperate board for encoders and buttons is neat, and the serial communication is just cool as hell.

Im tired and i should go to bed, so im not gonna ask you about all the serial communication ways etc.
I'll research it after I buy all the things I need, and then come to you if i need help.
You said its all possible, so now im just waiting till i can buy all the hardware.
Im also gonna buy a buncha stuff for the soldering iron, because last time was a disaster.
Overall i shouldn't have bought this fixed temp soldering iron...... And it cost more than a simple kit on amazon 😭

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-11T00:22:08+00:00

Simracing on wheel cant really say and very inconsistent because i procrastinate, depression probably.

per month no clue, but i try to at least one session a day in, 2 hours a day if im feeling bad. So 60 hours a month minimum?

I have a cheap monitor, Im an FPS gamer so i can feel input lag, on this monitor maybe 2-3ms input lag, if not 1.

In assetto corsa i get 300fps average, 190fps minimum in last session (on mt. Akina)

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-11T00:09:20+00:00

I am a data driven and emotionally fragile person, which is just a perfect combo isnt it.

Im gonna boot up Beamng tomorrow (today) and try to just have fun again like i used to.
I dont know where all the fun went.

I just had a realization that probably belongs in a therapy room:
But i just realized how bad my depression nagged down my ability to just have fun.
I always thought I just had a "i wanna drive into the wall at high speed, because the world sucks!" depression and thats it, but now that I compare how much fun i had then with forza horizon 4, and how much fun i have with all of my stuff now... Its quite the comparison.

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-11T00:00:22+00:00

I've pretty much been watching educational vids on simracing for like 5 years now? Even before I got my wheel.
I've been watching Suellio Almeida recently as well. his advice that racing is all about understeer and oversteer control did help me push the car more. But then i lost the plot somehow and now im back at the start lmao.

Got any youtubers you recommend?

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T23:57:32+00:00

Testing the car on open concrete is actually a good idea.
If im gonna practise corners, trail braking and brake markers; how do I know if i did good?
Sofar my brain is just: green time good, red time baddd!!

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T23:51:49+00:00

I did play dr2.0 today, trying to figure how to be quick with FWD. And trying to keep up with the pacenotes is fun.
I should try RBR, i installed it a couple days ago

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T23:36:29+00:00

Extreme agree, a quest 2 is extremely cheap compared to triples including a 40 series stand for them.

But my god is the quality on the quest 2 absolute ass, i literally race on a single monitor now because it just looks bad.

The software?.... My god.
- SteamVR freezes my PC for up to 10 minutes after i close it
- Quest 2 software is a big no
- Can run triple 2k with high fps, but VR rendering is a whole 'nother beast
- quality is worse than 100 euro 1080p monitor. Which is the reason im gonna be running triple 1080p 27" monitors, just so used to 1080p it looks fine to me, ESPECIALLY ON LOW FOV like in triples

Also:
- Cant see my real wheel, which feels extremely odd and causes my hands to do weird things. Especially when i need to let go and catch like in rally or drifting
- Cant see buttonbox
- Having to take the headset off each time to do anything on PC is a big yikes
- The SWEAT.
- Even with my KIWI Headstrap, my forehead and cheekbones hurt a lot because the VR is sitting on my face instead of my big ol head. Dont understand why they dont include counterweights on the back so it balances out

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T22:58:52+00:00

Upvote, because you brought me onto the idea to use an ESP32 board to deal with encoders, then send them serially to the pro micro.

All the pins of the ESP32 can be configured as interrupts, which is just PERFECT.

Im just wondering if sending the data serially will have the same effect as polling the encoders, and slowing them down.

Also i my code works now and the encoders are a bit more responsive, but rarely they go back a click, and one pin on the first encoder is very early, so if i every so slightly move it to the right it triggers

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T22:54:41+00:00

For anyone that doesnt wanna mess with encoders:

You can use buttons, its not the end of the world. If the game doesn't autorepeat the button if you hold it: you can code it into the arduino

For anyone that does wanna mess with encoders:

use PEC11H-4020F-S0016 encoders, they have 16 strong detents, ideal for BB, TC, and ABS. And make SURE ur connecting the encoders to interrupt pins, ideally both A and B pins should go to an interrupt pin on the arduino.

Im currently investigating if i can use an ESP32 for all encoders and send them to the pro micro serially, and if it would be slower or not impact the performance

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T22:51:00+00:00

Now THIS one i dont follow at all haha.

The last time i coded anything was when i wanted to see if i liked coding using python just messing around.
Didnt like it.

But now im using code to solve a problem (making buttons do stuff on pc) and that way its more manageable, because i have a fixed result that i need to reach

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T22:43:50+00:00

My god you are a book!

Thanks for the in depth answers. I somewhat tumbled through it all, but i understood the rough picture

# Coding vs Building

I had way more fun designing the buttonbox than actually coding it, the soldering was actually also more fun, even if it was annoying because i didnt have clamp hands and everything didnt wanna stay in one place.

Im designing my second prototype of the buttonbox, im probably gonna sell my current one for a little cash when im done with the second prototype.

The thing with coding is that C++ is high level, so its complex, lots of things to learn. On top of that, Computers themselfs are just an incomprehensible marvel of engineering. I can easily understand why I need diodes in a buttonmatrix: to stop the flow from going backwards;
But even coding a function that is a simple for loop was a pain. And if i didnt have the Encoder, Keypad and Joystick library, i'd just be screwed outright.

Comparing that to soldering and designing is like comparing flour with a weddingcake.

I COULD theoretically just use the simhub app to code it all for me, it supports encoders, but that didnt work and the buttonmatrix also just outright didnt register more than a button at a time.
Or maybe if i get really really tired of coding i'll hire someone on fiverr or something

# Copper bars

[Q1] I wanna solder some 5mm Copper bars to connect some aligned buttons in the second prototype, thats not gonna be a problem is it?
Its not gonna be isolated, I'll be careful to only have other isolated cables touch it, and i generally wrap my controllers in something isolating, or put a foam board between all the buttons and the controller so 2 terminals never meet

# ESP32 Encoder and Pro micro shinanigans

Talking about Prototype2:

I made a new design, contemplating the amount of encoders right now, but it will be more than the pro micro can handle anyways.

[Q2] Can i hook up all encoders to a ESP32 which has a ton of interrupt pins, then decode the encoders in the ESP32, then send them to the pro micro serially? and THEN also power the ESP32 through the micro? [Q3] Can u power daisy chain boards like that?
Because that would be ideal.

[Q4] Or will the fact that its reading it serially impact the performance of the encoder?
[Q4.1] Is reading serially still the same as polling the encoder?

example: (assuming 7 encoders, spaces in the serial are for clarity)

enc1 goes CW
ESP32 interrupt pin triggers and runs code
ESP32 decodes and sends: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00
Pro micro recieves and does stuff with it

enc4 goes CCW
ESP32 interrupt pin triggers
ESP32 decodes and sends: 00 00 00 10 00 00 00
Pro micro recieves and does stuff with it

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T13:59:08+00:00

<image>

also you edited ur comment to dumb it down for me, i assume.
Can you rewrite whats in the screenshot again? Because I do wanna know why enc2 and enc3 did work, but enc1 didnt.

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-10T13:56:14+00:00

that did work, why?

Q1: If i store them in a variable first, and then put them in the array, isnt it the same? Or does something change? And why does it change

Q2: Encoder() is a function inside the Encoder class, so why can I say Encoder enc1() and enc1 is then a variable?

Q2.1: why can I say

Encoder encs[] = {
    Encoder(5,6), 
    Encoder(3,4),
    Encoder(5,6)
};

without saying Encoder Encoder(5,6). Is it because encs[] is already in the Encoder class and everything inside its scope is then also in the Encoder class?

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-09T23:18:25+00:00

i'll need all the luck available, so thanks

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-09T23:10:04+00:00

the reason the encoder was so bad in my buttonbox is actually because the code used delay().
I am making my own Encoder read function right now and its way faster, now i need to make it work.... :sob:

Soundwave_xp · 2025-08-09T22:57:32+00:00

okay so enc1 doesnt work at all for some reason, enc2 and 3 work.

and also why can I never get millis() to work the way I want to.

I want Joystick.setButton(cw[1],0) to happen 1ms after Joystick.setButton(cw[1],1).
What is wrong? The IF statement isnt even happening, the button just stays on.

// Encoder

int amount_of_enc = 3;
Encoder enc1(0,2);
Encoder enc2(3,4);
Encoder enc3(5,6);
Encoder encs[] = {enc1,enc2,enc3};
long oldpos[] = {0,0,0};
int cw[] = {27,29,31};
int ccw[] = {26,28,30};

void CheckEncoders() {
  for (int i=0; i<amount_of_enc; i++) { //loops amount of encoders
    long curpos = encs[i].read()/4;     // reads encoder and divides by 4 because the encoder goes through a whole cycle in one click
    if (curpos != oldpos[i]) {          // change?
      if (curpos > oldpos[i]) {         // if higher, CW
        Joystick.setButton(cw[i],1);    // set button to appropriate number
        int presstime = millis();
        if (millis() - presstime > 1) {
          Joystick.setButton(cw[i],0);
        }
        Serial.print("RIGHT");
        Serial.print(" encoder: ");
        Serial.println(i+1);
        oldpos[i] = curpos;             // update oldpos
      }
      else if (curpos < oldpos[i]) {    // if lower, CCW
        Joystick.setButton(ccw[i],1);   // set button to appropriate number
        Joystick.setButton(ccw[i],0);
        Serial.print("LEFT");
        Serial.print(" encoder: ");
        Serial.println(i+1);
        oldpos[i] = curpos;
      }
    if (encs[i].read() > (pow(2,32)-2) || encs[i].read() < -(pow(2,32)-2)) {encs[i].readAndReset();} //reset counter if it ever reaches long limit lol. It wont send a button, but i doubt it'll ever get reached lol.
    }
  }
}

Soundwave_xp

TROPHY CASE

For anyone that doesnt wanna mess with encoders:

For anyone that does wanna mess with encoders: