Note on Steering Management
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Abandoning the Keyboard or What to Do Next

"That's it! Enough playing on the keyboard," I thought, switching from one keyboard to another (from a simple one to an ergonomic, then from ergonomic to gaming, and so on in a circle). What to try next is quite obvious – "steering wheel, pedals, gear shift," but it's unclear what to choose. The selection was astonishing and reminded me more of a shelf in a good computer department store. There was a simple, yet brutal Defender Forsage Turbo (Fig. 1) in sports configuration, the cool Dialog GW-23FB Gran Turismo2 (Fig. 2), and even the not-so-comfortable Genius SpeedWheel RV FF (Fig. 3), where the buttons of the built-in gamepad got hit in the heat of driving. But the choice was made immediately when I saw, freely and easily accessible in plain sight, Logitech wheels. No, Logitech is not our partner, and I'm not advertising them; it's just that any simulation fan has a special relationship with their creations. But it wasn't all that straightforward: Logitech MOMO Racing Force Feedback (Fig. 4) and, of course, the Logitech G25 Racing Force Feedback Wheel (Fig. 5). I chose the latter, and I think many will support me.

Fig. 1

Step One: Getting Ready to Drive

Although I was going to play with the wheel for the second time in my life. Well, aside from the old arcade machines with something resembling Need For Speed, you know, the ones found in pizzerias (do we really only have NYP in Novosibirsk?) and gaming centers (yeah, the machines with Tekken 6 and RE 5 will only reach us when T9 and RE8 are out). As it turned out later, I don't know how to properly operate a manual transmission, and after standing for a minute in neutral, desperately pressing the gas pedal, I still didn't move. Well, the main thing is to admit your mistakes and figure your way out of them. The only solution was an automatic transmission... Said and done.

Fig. 2

Next, I choose a view from the cabin. Of course, it’s nice to see your multi-wheeled iron steed, but it’s much more enjoyable to watch the turns of the wheel from the driver's seat. The camera is adjusted in such a way as to see not only what’s happening on the road but also a significant part of the "wheel". I carefully ease off the gas pedal, confidently hold the wheel, and watch as all the indicators inside the cabin come to life, while the virtual wheel slightly alters its position in sync with my gentle trial movements. What immediately caught my eye was the synchronization of the real and virtual wheel. You know, it happens in some games that our movements are displayed a bit more sharply, or we turn the wheel slightly, while the game character almost spins it. So, I was pleased to note that such unpleasant "specifics" are absent in Rig’n’Roll – everything depends on how confident, skilled, and precise our movements are, rather than some arbitrary coefficient applied during the developers‘ calculations.

Fig. 3

Step Two: First Impressions

Strangely enough, I still haven't gotten used to abandoning the keyboard. As soon as I hit a dead end where I can’t turn around, or if I miss the turn, my hand instinctively reaches for the reverse key, then to the gas pedal, and then neutral, first gear, and back to gas again. But it’s more a matter of habit, as I somehow managed to miss the entire classic, which should have been experienced specifically with this controller...

What I particularly enjoyed was twisting the wheel all the way to the stop and letting go, allowing the return system to work, while the virtual depiction exactly repeated these actions, which correspondingly affected the truck's movement. Although I am somewhat repeating myself here, as I already mentioned that any interaction immediately finds a response – no empty movements just to "catch" sensitivity (which, of course, requires some tuning...). Of course, each truck has its own approach; habit and skill are needed since sometimes it’s enough to lean slightly to the side to turn, while in other cases, you have to literally turn the wheel all the way to the stop to, say, pass an opponent or change lanes.

Fig. 4

I tried the speed-shifting system a la Formula 1. Not being a fan of "the formula," I believe that in terms of realism, this method significantly loses, but the convenience is evident, especially when you need to flee from the police with a "heavy" load (imagine two containers with fragile dishes!!!) not for speeding, but for accidents, driving on the wrong side, and many other serious traffic violations (in short, a normal money pit).

Conclusion or the Hard Truth About Simulators

So these are my impressions of playing with the wheel. Beautiful, impressive, realistic. Personally, my long-standing attachment to the keyboard let me down, but even I quickly realized that there are games designed for the wheel, and "Truckers 3" is one of them, just like its predecessors.

Fig. 5

Link: Rig'n'Roll