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?

 

[o Tiger Feet o]

Have you run the Game Integration for rF2?

Yup that was it. For some reason Platform Manager still thinks it's on C drive. Manually pointing to D drive sorted it.

Cheers

 

[Moe Ballout]

Has anybody mounted the nlv v3 on seat sliders so the seat can be adjusted back and forth on the simlab p1? If yes please if they can provide a picture to see how they have it mounted thank you

 

[Mascot]

Has anybody mounted the nlv v3 on seat sliders so the seat can be adjusted back and forth on the simlab p1? If yes please if they can provide a picture to see how they have it mounted thank you

That might not be a good idea as it can unbalance the setup. You are better finding the balance point between the seat (with you on it) and the NLRv3 and having that relationship stay constant, and moving the whole assembly back and forth if you need to adjust the seat position. I've posted details in this thread of the solution I came up with.

 

[anton_Chez]

I'll never get sick of those drawings.... !

Mascot is correct. You can have issues with the seat being too forward on the V3. It tends to prefer the seat being slightly behind the COG if you cannot achieve it directly over the top of it. I had issues with the unit stopping when tilted forward. Adjusting my rig so that it allowed me to push the seat further back, on a slider back then, while still being in optimal position for reaching wheel and pedals did the trick.

Now I do not run a slider. I have found the spot where the seat stays all the time. If any adjustments are needed, I can move my pedal tray in many ways, as well as the wheel deck for the steering wheel. I move the other things so that the V3 stays exactly the same always.

 

[Spinelli]

What others have said; it's probably better to move the pedals, wheel etc. than the NLM but if you are going to move the NLM, mount the seat and NLM together so they don't move relative to each other. Have the NLM mounted to the sliders so the NLM and seat move as one.

 

[Flag Ghost]

My NLV3 is mounted on sliders so the COG always remains constant. It works very well. Since the slider bar is too low to reach now I use a strap custom mounted to my seat to pull the bar up. I can take some photos if anyone wants them.

 

[Flag Ghost]

Love the way the NLV3 integrates with my rig. Here a few rig pics with the NLV3 all tucked away. Before looking - Warning: using more than one buttkicker on an NLV3 seat can void your warranty according to Next Level. I'm not going to get into that argument here... just check with them if you have questions. Anyway loving the way the unit integrates.. it is a blast.

https://imgur.com/a/Jcse35D

 

[rikirk]

You built a beauty!

I am still chasing my tail in finding the best settings, specially for post processing.

At the same time I want to report again that NLR customer service is first class.

I have zero regrets with the purchase of the v3.

 

[Steve D]

Love the way the NLV3 integrates with my rig. Here a few rig pics with the NLV3 all tucked away. Before looking - Warning: using more than one buttkicker on an NLV3 seat can void your warranty according to Next Level. I'm not going to get into that argument here... just check with them if you have questions. Anyway loving the way the unit integrates.. it is a blast.

https://imgur.com/a/Jcse35D

That is a really smart looking and unique rig! Love its bespoke nature and all of the individual touches you've made. That Kirkey seat is nice and it's easy to forget that these are a great, lightweight option.

Excellent work!

 

[anton_Chez]

Can't even begin to describe how AWESOME that is. We have some pretty clean rigs here that have integrated the V3 platform, but yours is right up there. Even the photographic quality of the pics look professional as. Congratulations on such a beautiful build. I don't understand how we have not seen any progress posts with it? Perhaps I missed them?

 

[Mascot]

Can't even begin to describe how AWESOME that is. We have some pretty clean rigs here that have integrated the V3 platform, but yours is right up there. Even the photographic quality of the pics look professional as. Congratulations on such a beautiful build. I don't understand how we have not seen any progress posts with it? Perhaps I missed them?

When I first saw them I thought the whole assembly folded up for easy transport - it looked on first glance to be made from a large flight case, hinged open. Really neat rig!

 

[Flag Ghost]

Thanks for the compliments! I just found this forum so haven't posted before. Lots of great information here. I had a few specific constraints while building my rig. It had to be portable (pop down wheels) and had to fit through a doorway so it could be wheeled out of the room. So those drove some of the design decisions you see.. namely compact and somewhat narrow. Fortunately it hasn't kept me from doing exactly what I want with it. Let me tell you the 6000+ watts of simvibe power + NLV3 + VR (as God intended...haha!) is really something special. Currently running Vive Pro but waiting on my Pimax (please hurry pimax!). GS-5 in the plan depending on price.

 

[Flag Ghost]

@anton_Chez you mention your tuning parameters several times here. Is there a post somewhere which outlines them? Thanks!

 

[Steve D]

@anton_Chez you mention your tuning parameters several times here. Is there a post somewhere which outlines them? Thanks!

I posted mine here if interested and my post-processing settings have stayed pretty much as @anton_Chez advised me 'many moons ago' although I think he may have tweaked a little since. Very much down to personal taste though and I take the 'less is more' approach, preferring subtle motion cues over more violent and excessive movements, which translates really well in vr for me.

https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...3-motion-platform.137061/page-51#post-2850924

 

[Mascot]

I posted mine here if interested and my post-processing settings have stayed pretty much as @anton_Chez advised me many moons ago although I think he may have tweaked a little since. Very much down to personal taste though and I take the 'less is more' approach, preferring subtle motion cues over more violent and excessive movements, which translates really well in vr for me.

https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...3-motion-platform.137061/page-51#post-2850924

I keep thinking I should revisit my settings, but TBH they feel great. You never know though, maybe it's just because I'm used to them. Just like with FFB settings I might try something wildly different and have my eyes opened.

 

[Flag Ghost]

I posted mine here if interested and my post-processing settings have stayed pretty much as @anton_Chez advised me many moons ago although I think he may have tweaked a little since. Very much down to personal taste though and I take the 'less is more' approach, preferring subtle motion cues over more violent and excessive movements, which translates really well in vr for me.

https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...3-motion-platform.137061/page-51#post-2850924

Thanks much Steve. I run iRacing most of the time so I will have to see if these translate well or not. I am all for shorter throw movements that tend to match the cars suspension best I can. Actually it seems that I can't bend the graphs in post processing enough to shorten the throws down to my liking. Anxious to get in the rig and see what you have here. Thanks again.

 

[Flag Ghost]

On a side note.. I don't know how many of you guys are running wind sims but man o man does it increase immersion! I've got two big seaflo fans currently and am working on mounting two more for some serious wind volume. Can't recommend them enough.

 

[Steve D]

I keep thinking I should revisit my settings, but TBH they feel great. You never know though, maybe it's just because I'm used to them. Just like with FFB settings I might try something wildly different and have my eyes opened.

I'm with you there buddy. I could well be missing something but I'm very happy with my lot and don't want to be chasing the Holy Grail for ever and a day when there's so much AC, RF2 and R3E goodness to be enjoying! Life's too short!

 

[anton_Chez]

Yes I am waiting for my Pimax to also be delivered, hopefully by the end of the year.....

NEXT, year......

There is a thread here called "Next Level V3 settings highly requested" that some of us have shared our tuning setups on. I think you'll find what I and a few others have done regarding the shorter throw highly satisfactory. Give it a try and let us know what you think !

 

[mr_scamp]

Does anyone know how to fix missing games or change the game path? I had an SSD crap out and had to reinstall everything partly from a backup partly from scratch. The Games Integration window shows several games as Not Found even though there are Profiles for them. The game motion works fine if I manually Activate then start the game from Steam, but the Run the Game button throws an error the game can't be found. My Steam games folder is on a different drive. During my first ever install I never had this problem.

I've tried uninstalling and removing the Motion Systems folder from Documents but it still seems to be holding on to some previous settings. I can't seem to manage to do a clean/fresh install.

Anybody ever solve this? Thanks


UPDATE:
Ok for anyone looking for this answer in the future you edit the game location by opening the profile then clicking the button marked Edit for the Profile Editor.

Followup Question:
Where are these Profiles stored in Windows? Anyone know?