Buying advice please - Next Level v3 Motion Platform

[MarkR]

I'm looking for some advice and thoughts of other owners or people with good knowledge of the product, please.

I always said I'd buy myself a motion simulator if I could afford one and had the room available. Well, that day may have arrived. I'm impressed by what I've seen of the Next Level v3 Motion Platform

This seems to meet all my criteria:

+ Limited space requirements, I don't have room for a huge sim rig but this seems compact enough to work.
+ Works with Oculus Rift VR, that fixed head position setting solution is impressive
+ Great support and regular updates from the developers
+ Available in the UK
+ Works with my current Thrustmaster wheel and accessories.
+ Sub £3k for the full setup, I'm not a pro racer I'm not looking for a practice simulator this is just for fun so the cost/fun balance has to be right.

So help me do the man maths! Is it worth it?

Is there another similar product I should also look at? It would need to be reasonably compact, work with VR, available in the UK without too much hassle and in the same £3-5K price range.

Is there anywhere I can try one or even better several of the systems in the UK?

 

[Mascot]

It will be interesting to read / watch some detailed, unbiased reviews once they are out there and get some feedback from early adopters, especially in relation to realism and immersion factor when coupled with the V3.

Watching that video, a part of me wonders whether the movement might be too much on top of the V3 and has the potential to actually compromise driving performance. However I wonder if that footage is demonstrating the extremes of the movement available, similar to how the V3 has been demo'd and as it is 'out of the box.' Hopefully, like the seat mover, the range and speed of motion can be 'dialed down' significantly within software, which makes the whole experience way more rewarding in my opinion.

@Ecstreme we await your feedback with interest.

I know what you mean. I've just been testing Donington Park 2018 (in a rather nice Porsche 996.2 GT3 mod) and at no point did I feel like the NLv3 was lacking anywhere, even when going sideways in this particular car, which does love to powerslide. If I tried this Traction platform I'd no doubt want one, so at them moment, and for the sake of my wallet... maybe ignorance is bliss?

 

[HoiHman]

I have to say that Next Level Racing has real confidence in the NLMv3 construction. Those lateral forces of the tractionloss add quite a bit extra load i imagine.

The tractionloss unit will become too wide for me personally, but it looks like great fun.

 

[sjb266]

Welp, looks like I'm going to be a beta tester then................


Thankfully I still have sim racing hardware to spend money on

Anton. Jump on board with this. We can source parts and share ideas.. need a fellow Aussie..

https://github.com/SimFeedback/SimFeedback-AC-Servo/wiki/Actuator

 

[anton_Chez]

What is it!?

 

[sjb266]

A DIY platform motion in the same vein as D-Box but cheaper!

https://github.com/SimFeedback/SimFeedback-AC-Servo/wiki

 

[HoiHman]

A DIY platform motion in the same vein as D-Box but cheaper!

https://github.com/SimFeedback/SimFeedback-AC-Servo/wiki

It's not proper to discuss too much about SimFeedback in the Next Level Motion V3 topic.

All i can say it that there will be a brand new Next Level Motion V3 (only 3 weeks old) available for purchase soon

 

[sjb266]

It's not proper to discuss too much about SimFeedback in the Next Level Motion V3 topic.

All i can say it that there will be a brand new Next Level Motion V3 (only 3 weeks old) available for purchase soon

You’ve made a start..?!! Damn you! Please keep me up to date!

 

[anton_Chez]

Interesting. I thought it was, but I didn't know if it was meant to be a traction loss horizontal moving module or what, considering that's what we were all talking about in the prior posts.

Agree with what Hoi says, perhaps we can start a new thread on that and have a chat about it in there? I do have the chassis now to house actuators like that so it's always an option down the road, depending on what I feel like doing with motion.

Hoi, you selling your V3? Is Simon correct in saying you're jumping into full chassis motion?

 

[Mascot]

All i can say it that there will be a brand new Next Level Motion V3 (only 3 weeks old) available for purchase soon

Paging @Furnace Inferno

 

[Furnace Inferno]

Haha, too late I’ve already committed all this years toy funds to that Epson LS10500 and MK Speakers .

Although for the right price (50% off ) I could be tempted.

 

[o Tiger Feet o]

Hi guys you might be interested in this info.

I contacted force2motion and got this reply:

"The price will be about 5999,00 € for the Traction+ Motion system and 799,00 € for the GTtrack cockpit. It will be available to before end of November. Feel free to visit our shop in the next weeks. We will offer a pre-order possibility and provide more information, when we get them."


On that basis the traction part will be around 2999euro/£2999....

 

[o Tiger Feet o]

Actually I was wrong... Very wrong!

"Hi, no sorry. The traction+ system costs 5999,00 without the v3, The v3 is 2999 plus."

 

[Mascot]

Actually I was wrong... Very wrong!

"Hi, no sorry. The traction+ system costs 5999,00 without the v3, The v3 is 2999 plus."

Ha ha! Dead in the water. That's utterly ridiculous.
@Next Level Racing: send me one for review purposes and I might change my mind.

Seriously.

 

[Steve D]

Actually I was wrong... Very wrong!

"Hi, no sorry. The traction+ system costs 5999,00 without the v3, The v3 is 2999 plus."

Ouch!

Think I might well consider the actuator-based DIY-project mentioned earlier!

 

[Mascot]

Ouch!

In our favour nobody in their right mind will be buying one at that price so hopefully there'll be a warehouse full of them to offload for pennies in the pound come January.

 

[Steve D]

In our favour nobody in their right mind will be buying one at that price so hopefully there'll be a warehouse full of them to offload for pennies in the pound come January.

Complete non-starter at that price, if accurate.

You were also spot on in your post yesterday about the NLMv3 providing such a good overall experience in it's own right and the subtle sensation of traction loss, which you can certainly respond to, is a part of that. (However that's being achieved within the restrictions of 2DOF)

 

[o Tiger Feet o]

If the prices are correct there are 2 big positives.

Everyone in this thread has just saved ~£2000
And Next Level Racing will have a very easy time on their supply and demand spreadsheet

Maybe a new Pimax VR instead....

 

[sjb266]

It's not proper to discuss too much about SimFeedback in the Next Level Motion V3 topic.

All i can say it that there will be a brand new Next Level Motion V3 (only 3 weeks old) available for purchase soon

Is that the Prusa i3 Mk3.. was about to buy one.. are you doing PLA or PETG?

 

[anton_Chez]

Maybe a new Pimax VR instead....

Um, I have one of these coming, too.......

The meme is becoming scary now.

On a serious note, the first thing that I thought of when I saw that price was the Stage IV. For around $10K AUD, you get a cockpit, rear traction loss and the seat motion. I know that the yaw achieved with the new force2motion system is (on paper) superior to their solution (only the rear moves on the Stage IV as opposed to the front and rear track of the Motion+) but, at nearly double the price (10K euro when you factor in the new cockpit, V3 and the traction loss module) it's a SUPER hard sell, even for me.

I've never liked the bulk of the Stage IV and is one of the reasons I stayed away from it after seriously considering it. But with the new traction loss module you are still required to have a larger space to cater for a wider footprint. It does look nicer, however.

In the end, as others have mentioned, the traction loss trickery, of my setup particularly, is very impressive for the phyiscal capabilites of the hardware. Between the OSW and the V3 I have a great sense of what the car is doing at all times. Combine tactile with it all and I don't feel I am missing anything at all. I also have concerns (after watching the video) with the amount of movement going on when combining the two modules together. There is potential there for things to feel 'off', at least in my opinion.

The actuator project definitely seems more attractive to me. You get a completely suspended vehicle that would provide a pretty complete motion experience. Provided they are strong enough and gave the same response time and movement speed of the V3 platform, I'd be happy for sure. If slower, I think I'd rather just stick with what I have. The hardware that merely adds to the experience is double the cost of the platform that creates the motion experience from a static one.

Not sure what to think about this to be honest. I'd have to wait for official pricing before making a proper opinion. Once the local distributor gets a hold of that here in Australia, it's going to have to cost upwards of the $10K AUD mark. Ouch.

 

[Mascot]

Um, I have one of these coming, too.......

In case you haven't seen it I started a Pimax/sim thread following the NDA embargo lifting yesterday:

https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...o-lifts-not-great-news-for-sim-racers.159526/