Next Level Racing unveils the HF8 Haptic Feedback Gaming Pad

Ryan Soucy said:

The motors might just be too close together? I'm going to play with it a little more and maybe reduce effects that affect all four motors, like the braking. I need to play more with isolating the effects.

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Na, well, at least in The Simpit's case, the issue was down to user-error. It sounds like he had the settings set so that both the left & right motors activated even when only the left or right should have, as I posted below:

Spinelli said:

Ya, I just watched The Simpit's 3rd video of the HF8 and he now says the separation issue he had was fixed. I'm not sure I understand why he had the problem in the first place. It sounds like he had all motors vibrating. If that's truly the case, then there's no actual issue in feeling the difference between L/R, the issue is simply a software setup that makes both sides rumble and therefore is purposely limiting or eliminating separation.

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Sounds weird though. I mean, why would the software, by default, have the left and right motors both activate even if only the left or only the right should be - especially considering the effects are physics-based. Something doesn't sound right. Or maybe he tinkered with the software and set it up like that without realizing and maybe some others have too? He fixed it though, and says the separation is working good now.

Ryan Soucy said:

I will say that I still cannot get the HF8 software to work. I'm really hoping that we can use the USB connection to get effects via audio. I still need to play with that feature, but I would like to play Mass Effect and Far Cry and feel those FPS effects.

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When running off the USB it runs off the telemetry provided by the game, If you want to use the audio feed you have to use the audio jack.

In which case you can't activate off individual speakers, at best you get two channels to play with. Though that might be fine with the games mentioned.

RCHeliguy said:

That seems to match what this guy said.

He said he complained to NLR that there were not enough sliders for Dirt Rally and then the Dirt Rally support just disappeared.

He also said that it doesn't compare well with a tactile system.

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Karls pretty truthful. It was the first "review" i saw and he doesn't think much of it. I was surprised to see multiple people then saying what a great piece of kit. I'd rather believe Karls review to be fair. The Dirt Rally 2 bit as a proving point.

A bunch of youtubers seriously oversold the device.

Its good for what it is, some people will find it great, But its not a gamechanger.

Personally, I think even with its limitations its superior to a buttkicker, But I can see why others would say the complete opposite.

I'm another one that has a really comfy seat position in my rig. I don't want to change that. As for any other kind of game, I have my comfy recliner for those so I'll pass but I love my NLR FGT Elite rig

Metla said:

Personally, I think even with its limitations its superior to a buttkicker, But I can see why others would say the complete opposite.

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A buttkicker gamer? Maybe.

Multiple large BK-LFE's or CT's with TST's and exciters not even close. Of course comparing a high end tactile system with something in this price range isn't fair either.

From the feedback I've gotten from people, after you have your steering and pedals sorted the next big improvement would be a G-Belt with a tactile system. I mention the G-Belt first because it is a simpler bolt on device with a lot of bang for the buck. A good tactile system involves more work.

RCHeliguy said:

A buttkicker gamer? Maybe.

Multiple large BK-LFE's or CT's with TST's and exciters not even close. Of course comparing a high end tactile system with something in this price range isn't fair either.

From the feedback I've gotten from people, after you have your steering and pedals sorted the next big improvement would be a G-Belt with a tactile system. I mention the G-Belt first because it is a simpler bolt on device with a lot of bang for the buck. A good tactile system involves more work.

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That was my point, One of the strengths is its plug and play and relatively cheap. A system with multiple BK-LFE's would without a doubt be a better experience but its going to take some serious dedication and outlay to get all the components, fit them, wire them up, configure the software.

Or just put on a seat cover and plug in a single cable..

Personally i've only previously run a single buttkicker, and I ran it so hard it made a hellish racket and done some affects well, and was miserable at others.

Just like this device. (but this one is quiet)

also, Free buttkicker in Brisbane if someone wants to swing by and grab it.

Its never going to be fired up again, There is a new king in town.

What games are you guys using with this? I tried using RF2 through sim hub and the only effect that worked (albeit at a constant 100%) were the two “Speed” ones. Exactly the same with Assetto Corsa. I couldn’t get that to work at all with the HFS software.

AMS2 is the only game I have run it with Simhub (so probably a little premature to crown a new king)

I couldn't get anything from AC or ACC with the HF8 software and I don't have rfactor2 installed.

I'm sitting in my rig sipping on a coffee so I might see if my simhub profile works in AC or ACC.

Metla said:

That was my point, One of the strengths is its plug and play and relatively cheap. A system with multiple BK-LFE's would without a doubt be a better experience but its going to take some serious dedication and outlay to get all the components, fit them, wire them up, configure the software.

Or just put on a seat cover and plug in a single cable..

Personally i've only previously run a single buttkicker, and I ran it so hard it made a hellish racket and done some affects well, and was miserable at others.

Just like this device. (but this one is quiet)

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FWIW, my tactile system runs quiet. Part of that has to do with isolating the pedal deck and seat. Part of that is using DSP's to restrict the frequencies each transducer gets outside of the range that you feel. Part of that has to do with the multi-layer SimHub profiles with dedicated layers for each transducer. Part of that is because they are powerful at lower frequencies.

What I hear in this video is mostly my H pattern shifter followed by the D-Box and G-Belt. If you listen closely you might hear the transducers just a tiny bit.

I've got my buttkicker mounted directly to the underside of my seat, and the seat is mounted on the rail using rubber grommets an inch thick.

Noise comes directly from the buttkicker as I turn it up far past where its practical to be run, and Im well aware of it. But if I'm trying to simulate a 800hp engine revving its guts out, I'd expect it to shake more then my wifes hatchback on a shopping run.

End of the day, for what I want, its not very good. I have considered building a much more detailed system a few times but never committed to it, and now I have a seat cover that does an excellent job of simulating revs...

Metla said:

AMS2 is the only game I have run it with Simhub (so probably a little premature to crown a new king)

I couldn't get anything from AC or ACC with the HF8 software and I don't have rfactor2 installed.

I'm sitting in my rig sipping on a coffee so I might see if my simhub profile works in AC or ACC.

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That would great if you can test for me, thanks.

Ride11 said:

That would great if you can test for me, thanks.

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Worked great for me, I just made a clone profile, assigned it to ACC within simhub and ran ACC. It gave a note that I had to edit a json file manually for it to work, which I ignored and it all functioned perfectly. The suspension effects might be a little more delayed then AMS2 and perhaps the wheel slip was a little more understated....

I have exported my simhub profile for ACC if you want it.

So my issue here is that the vibrations are very muted despite it being 100% on simhub. Is there a driver that needs to be installed?

In simhub there is a master volume slider as well as a slider for each effect, when I first set mine up the master slider was at 50 percent.

There is also the dial on the control panel, though I'm not sure if that has has any effect outside of the HF8 Software.

Well, I'm more impressed than I expected to be. I really thought about sending it back unopened based on what I've been reading here.

Understand my use case however: My baseline rig is GS-5 with G-belt mounted on 3x gen 1 actuator D-box, so I don't expect to add anything to that. But those pricey things don't help me at all in non-racing games.

I wanted HF8 for the audio effects when playing NON-racing games.

I have tried other solutions in the past (Subpac V1 and V2). Those had good audio feedback, but terrible comfort for a sim rig with dedicated racing seat.

This thing? Definitely a lot more comfortable than I expected. It is plug and play. As soon as I connected it and fired up SpiderMan, it worked immediately. It feels like you are wrapped in a controller with rumble effects, and I like it. For me, it adds immersion. It reminds me very much of watching a movie at the theater with d-box seats.

I'm pleasantly surprised so far. I will try more games. I don't think I will add it to racing games, as it's already enough of a hassle to get d-box and G-S5 working together, but I'm glad I opened the box

Metla said:

Worked great for me, I just made a clone profile, assigned it to ACC within simhub and ran ACC. It gave a note that I had to edit a json file manually for it to work, which I ignored and it all functioned perfectly. The suspension effects might be a little more delayed then AMS2 and perhaps the wheel slip was a little more understated....

I have exported my simhub profile for ACC if you want it.

https://file.io/9olcE9Pkp38J

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Thanks mate. I had another crack at it and turns out I had the most of the effects under effect profiles turned off. Tested again in RF2 and it works no worries. Had a bit of a play and have a fairly descent base to start working from.
A few comments for anyone interested:
I had the pad installed directly onto a fibreglass seat with no padding, this is very uncomfortable for someone like me with not much natural padding, particularly on the seat area, the back area is fine. I couldn’t sit in it for longer than 15 mins without it being painful. I then put the normal seat padding under the seat area and it’s much better, I think the sensation is actually better like this anyway it’s much more natural and closer to what you would feel in a real car. I will have to lower my seat now though.

I don’t have any significant lag coming on/off kerbs etc like others are reporting. I wonder if those that do are using the HFS software and not SimHub as I am.

The HFS software is useless!
Having to create an account and login to use something like this is ridiculous.
It didn’t work at all on the games I tested (I didn’t try audio mode though). It’s very limited in what it’s supposed to do. I would suggest that anyone not worry about it and go straight to SimHub.

Overall I think it’s pretty descent and with some more tuning in SimHub will be pretty good, I’ll be keeping it. Would be a completely different story without simhub though

Hey guys just joined the forum I’m trying to find some decent settings for this thing! The software that came with it didn’t work for me at all… it said the pad was “on” even though i had it turned off and no sims I tried worked with it.

Sim hub works but I’ve never used it before and finding it difficult to get feeling right. Was hoping someone could share their final settings if they have any in sim hub

Metla said:

also, Free buttkicker in Brisbane if someone wants to swing by and grab it.

It’s never going to be fired up again, There is a new king in town.

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I would take it off your hands I can give you some cash for it!