Why you need motion and why D-BOX is the answer

We really need to sit down and talk about a certain feature that is often overlooked and seen as an unimportant gimmick which is motion on a sim rig.

We had decades of trying to mix motion systems in so many places. Decades ago we already had cinemas with moving chairs to add some immersion to your viewing experience, amusement parks trying to replicate the same by simulating you being in a cart in a mine full of monsters, spiders, ghosts. Because of their limitations and where they were used people always considered adding motion to your experience as a cheap way to make something more engaging.

That outlook has made implementation of motion in sim racing very peculiar. People with past experiences of motion thought about it like another way to make things just shake around, lean left, right, forwards and backwards.

Luckily despite that many companies moved forward with their designs and in the last few years have seen a fantastic advancement in the technology and software that together can bring a whole new dimension to your everyday entertainment while enjoying your favorite hobby, sim racing.

What is D-BOX? If you are asking that question you were probably living under a rock for a long time! Don’t worry though! We are here to dig you up to the light!

D-BOX was founded on June 19th in 1998 and has been part of the entertainment business ever since with places like cinemas, amusement parks, and home offices.
However the gaming division of D-BOX was established in late 2019 with a goal to bring sim racing experience to the new level. D-BOX collaborated with the likes of Ubisoft, Codemasters (developers of F1 series of games), EA and attended gaming conventions like E3, PAX, Dreamhack, Sim Racing Expo in Germany and world known Gamescom convention.

Here is what D-BOX has to say about their business:
“What’s the difference between the D-BOX Adaptive Gaming Mode, Adaptive Audio Mode and a D-BOX coded game?
A D-BOX coded game provides the best haptic experience (through a unique combination of hand-coded movements, vibrations and textures) since it best reflects the exact desired experience of the game as imagined by its Creative Director. With D-BOX coded games, a D-BOX haptic developer like myself works alongside the game developers and studios to ensure that the experience is as close to physically being in the game as can be.
Adaptive Gaming Mode, on the other hand, allows gamers to create their own game profiles in the D-BOX Game Center, which means that their haptic system will provide them with feedback for literally any PC game based solely on actions that they trigger through their keyboard, mouse, or controller. In Adaptive Gaming Mode, users decide which action will trigger which haptic sequence, and they can also share their profiles with the D-BOX community!
Finally, Adaptive Audio Mode allows gamers to experience textures and vibrations (no movement) based on the game’s audio. By the end of June, gamers will be able to use a combination of these two modes, creating an optimal haptic experience for every PC game — not just coded games. However, the best haptic experience will always be with coded games.” - Bringing Haptics to Gaming Industry

 

Why do you need the motion system on your rig in the first place?

Answer to this question can be 2 fold.

If you are an immersive sim racer and you wish to recreate the feeling of driving a car around virtual circuits and make you feel as if you are really there, motion is that missing piece of puzzle for our body and brain to forget that you are sitting in a seat in your room rather than in a hot, vibrating, loud, angry car.

Heat, loudness, feeling on a wheel and even pedals with the latest Simucube Active Pedal technology is becoming easier and easier to replicate. So is fooling your inner ear that you are actually moving around with the latest technology provided by D-BOX motion actuators.

There are plenty of examples of people who wish to use motion not as a source of immersion but rather as a source of additional information on how the car is behaving on track and use that information to control the handling of a car better!

Yes! It can be used as a way to improve your pace and driving precision on track once you look for those details in how the motion platform is behaving when you are driving and alongside your vision and feeling under your palms from force feedback, it can become one of the most tactile data stream to your brain regarding how you could and should react to your car’s behavior.

Feeling of nose diving under braking, rear squatting when accelerating and leaning left and right in corners is extremely fun but when you have an additional source of information if you are sliding other than just your wheel and your eyes catching the yaw angle of your car getting higher than expected, it totally changes your perception of car handling.

 

 

Getting the ultimate feeling of driving a car is a tempting concept that almost any sim racer considered at least once. There are plenty of perks of using a full setup and it is always worth thinking about as it is one of those things that “once you try, you can never go back”.

D-BOX motion systems are available on our global markets under those links!

https://trakracer.com/collections/haptic-systems

https://trakracer.com.au/collections/motion-systems

https://trakracer.co.uk/collections/motion-systems

https://trakracer.eu/collections/motion-systems

We have three options available for you to choose from:

• D-BOX GEN 5 2250i Haptic System with 2 motion actuators (1.5" stroke/travel range)

DBOX-2250i SKU - which is the entry level option which can be mounted at the front or at the back of your sim rig. If you use an aluminium profile extrusion style cockpit the installation will be easy and very adjustable.

• D-BOX GEN 5 3250i Haptic System with 3 motion actuators (1.5" stroke/travel range)

DBOX-3250i SKU - our in-between offer which comes with 3 actuators which might be an ideal solution to a V-shaped cockpit

• D-BOX GEN 5 4250i Haptic System with 4 motion actuators (1.5" stroke/travel range)

DBOX-4250i SKU - D-BOX’s top tier offering for full front-back-side-to-side movements and highest level of impression. Perfect for those who wish to get the best no matter what to get the feeling as if they are sitting in a car actually being thrown around on a virtual tarmac.

Motion systems are getting better and better also thanks to software development both from motion actuators manufacturers and software developers for many games who understand the importance of having a nailed down experience as it can totally transform your sim racing life.

Sim racing when you go all out might not be the cheapest hobby but when you have something that gives you serenity, happiness and fulfillment after a long day of work, it is worth the cost as life is about enjoying it. We certainly hope you will be able to enjoy your setup no matter which kit or version you go for, it’s all about bringing smiles to your faces. 

Keep safe in life and fast on track!

 

 

Yours sincerely,

Trak Racer Team