Automobilista 2 features a rather simple but highly accurate FFB system, very similar to the RealFeel system used in its predecessor AMS1 - in both sims all FFB output to the player are comprised of forces acting on the steering arms, translated over to the steering rack, which are dynamically affected by the ever-changing conditions while driving. Try bending front suspension you'll clearly see steering not centering anymore, as the suspension geometry changed.
Similarly, the steering column torque is affected by car setup - directly by Caster angle (as it changes lateral force leverage on steering axis) and steering lock, as lower lock angles lead to a higher steering ratio, which in turn leads to all forces being dilluted into a higher steering range (the opposite is true when increasing the steering lock). FFB will also be indirectly affected by aero, tyre compound and presure settings - basically anything that affects the peak forces being produced on the tyres will make the FFB ligther or stiffer. This why karts for example have very stiff steering even though these are very light vehicles, the Caster angle is very high and all forces are concentrated on a very narrow steering range.
It´s important to observe the FFB system, like everything else in AMS2 is still under active development - things may still change and evolve, and as they do we will amend this article to reflect it.
Below is an overview of the Force Feedback settings and our recommendations on how to tune them:
PROFILE: Currently there is only one, Default profile - you should only change to "Custom" if you have modified ffb_custom_settings.txt file in MyDocs/Automobilista 2 folder - if you haven´t changed that file, "Custom" will be no different from "Default" profile.
GAIN: Defines maximum force output. The default 100% setting has some clipping built-in, specially on high downforce vehicles as in these the steering column torque can easily exceed 30Nm when car is under heavy load in a fast corners, while front tires are fully gripping and self-aligning torque is very high
For Direct Drive wheels, it is recommended to set gain around 40-50%. This has thus far been tested mostly on a Fanatec DD1 base. Stronger wheels may use even lower Gain values.
LOW FORCE BOOST: Similarly to AMS1, LFB serves as an "amplifier" of FFB when tyres are relatively unloaded, useful specially for wheels with weaker motors like in Logitech G2X wheels, to enhance these lower range forces without necessarily adding clipping to the top range.
If you feel the FFB is lacking or "limp" when travelling at slower speeds or during straights, you may want to experiment with some level of LFB - may be set as high as 80% in Logitech G2X or other similar wheels, while stronger Fanatec / Thrustmaster wheels should be set somewhere in the range of 30-60%.
Even if you have a Direct Drive wheel and are unsatisfied with the force output while tyres are unloaded, you may use Low Force Boost @ 10-30% without concern for clipping high forces as LFB only applies at the lower end of the force range and will never saturate / introduce clipping on it's own.
FX: Adds a little vibration from the engine as it goes through the RPM range (very faint, and linked to the engine´s actual angular velocity); it also adds a "Tyre Scrub" effect, which is a function of tyre vibration that would naturally transfer as vibration onto wheel rim, fed by the physics.
MENU SPRING controls wheel centering spring only while navigating the UI. For DD wheels it should be set to 0 or some other very low value.
EDIT1:
Controller Damping in the UI relates to gamepad & other digital controllers only - it´s NOT a FFB setting.
Currently, we do not control damping and friction from in game. Both are important on DD wheels. We will later model these from physics directly.
Recommended settings for DD1 Fanatec:
Damper: 25
Friction: 5
Inertia: 10
Interpolation: 4 (this is largely down to personal preference. On SimuCube this could be "Reconstruciton filter", some others "smoothing")
Recommended settings for Logitech G2X wheels:
attachFull4987
These are from AMS1 but remain relevant for AMS2, except damper & spring are currently not applied to AMS2.
More to come as we get direct experience with a larger range of wheels - in the meantime you can find several user suggestions in replies to this topic in our official forum.