GIANTS Software - Forum

Love the game but was annoyed with equipment handling with controller on my lap so decided to build these. I slightly based the idea on Saitek device but found it a little limited.

This setup allows be to configure all necessary axis to both sticks. Each stick has 3 axis and 3 buttons. I also have modifier switches (below) to be able to even bind more axis if required. Both panels also have small sticks and buttons to provide regular controller feel for "on foot" action. There are also shoulders buttons and triggers on the underside.
Right panel is where I placed all work related buttons, engine starter and cruise control wheel etc.


Right panel has more game control oriented stuff assigned.


As I already rock Simhub setup which is using game telemetry to illuminate certain buttons like engine on, or cruise control.

Only pain is that the game FS22 does not accept controllers with more than 32 buttons so had to use joy2key but its just minor issue.

Edit don_apple: topic moved from "General Discussion" to "Community Corner".

Looks awesome!

Are there any plans to release the 3D print models? I would love to print these for myself too.

Also, what are those joysticks called? I can't find the ones with extra buttons on the side.

Burekcina wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 8:48 am Are there any plans to release the 3D print models? I would love to print these for myself too.
Also, what are those joysticks called? I can't find the ones with extra buttons on the side.

Joysticks are modified. They are based on JH-D400B-M4 joystick with one button. I designed top housing to accommodate additional 2 position switch. Super useful for forestry equipment.



I designed the whole thing to be very cheap. I estimate that single panel shouldn't cost more that £20-£30 to make, provided access to free 3d printing.

Additionally on the side of each panel there there are rj45 sockets for additional diy equipment to plug in. At the moment I have diy shifter knob plugged in to the right panel. It adds another two 2 position switches for gear ranges and one momentary button for change of direction of driving. And also as I mentioned that I run Simhub I get vibration feedback according to engine RPMs.





I'm also working on adding turn signal/light control wheel stalk which will be plugged to the left console.

Electronic and wiring part I based on easy to use Freejoy software running on blue pill and single 3x shift register extension board both cost under £10. This combination will give you 43 buttons + 8 axis to play with. There are also ton of other stuff you can hook to the controller like encoders (got one hooked to cruise control), leds and etc. And all this with easy to use gui (no coding required).

I'm considering making some kind of guide video how to build these.

Keep up the good work, it looks really good. The setup is almost identical to Timberjack forwarder controls that i used to operate.

I'm currently using dual joysticks as it works great with excavators but would also love to build something like this for forestry.

How is that gear stick shaker programmed? Would it be possible to use it in a seat or sim rig, like Buttkicker?

Burekcina wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 11:46 am How is that gear stick shaker programmed? Would it be possible to use it in a seat or sim rig, like Buttkicker?

Absolutely. I'm using Simhub for years. It has be been developed for simracing fans but has grown to multiple others sims. Thanks to its modular approach you can connect a lot of hardware to it including tactile stuff like audio based shakers (like buttkicker) or dc motor shakers (like to one I got in the shifter and pedals) or wind fans. Check below for more info:

https://www.simhubdash.com/
https://github.com/SHWotever/SimHub/wiki

wasyl00 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 9:00 pm

This setup allows be to configure all necessary axis to both sticks. Each stick has 3 axis and 3 buttons. I also have modifier switches (below) to be able to even bind more axis if required. Both panels also have small sticks and buttons to provide regular controller feel for "on foot" action. There are also shoulders buttons and triggers on the underside.
Right panel is where I placed all work related buttons, engine starter and cruise control wheel etc.

Edit don_apple: topic moved from "General Discussion" to "Community Corner".

How did you set up your modifier switches? I am guessing it would let me set up to switch between the camera or equipment functions.

Got inspired to do my own variant. Could you provide links or part numbers for the switches? Especially interested in the 3 way modifier switch and the switch on the joystick.

Wow. Awesome panels. How would I even start to build something like this for myself? Any tutorials I can learn from?

Looking to build one myself. Keen on a tutorial. Planning to build a simple JD replica panel as its mostly what im used to. Any idea on what i might need would help. throwing myself in the deep end as a first project to learn.