What this is
Trueforce For All exists because the community captured how Logitech's wheels talk to the PC and built a telemetry based effect engine ourselves. I want to try the same thing for Fanatec's FullForce, the high-fidelity haptics layer on supported Fanatec bases. Only a handful of games support it natively, and I'd like to bring those effects to games that don't.
The problem: I don't own a FullForce-capable Fanatec wheel, so I can't capture the data myself. This is a call for Fanatec owners to help.
What we're trying to learn
FullForce is probably one of two things on the wire:
- A separate vendor data stream the game sends to the base (this is how Logitech Trueforce works, and the ideal case), or
- Just higher-fidelity standard force feedback with no special channel.
A USB capture tells us which. That single answer decides whether this project is even possible for Fanatec, so even one good capture is a big deal.
Who can help
Anyone with:
- A FullForce-capable Fanatec base and wheel on PC (Windows).
- At least one game that supports FullForce, where you can toggle it on and off.
- 20 minutes.
Please confirm in a comment which base, wheel rim, driver version, and game you have before capturing, so we know the setup.
The capture we need most: an A/B pair
The most valuable thing you can send is the same short scenario captured twice:
- Capture A: FullForce ON
- Capture B: FullForce OFF
Everything else identical (same car, same track, same section). Diffing the two shows us exactly what FullForce adds. If you can only do one, do FullForce ON.
How to capture (Wireshark + USBPcap)
- Install Wireshark from wireshark.org. On Windows the installer includes USBPcap; make sure that box stays checked.
- Reboot if the installer asks (USBPcap needs it).
- Plug in your wheel and open Wireshark.
- In the interface list you'll see one or more USBPcap1, USBPcap2... entries. These map to USB controllers, not individual devices, so you may need to try more than one. Pick the one that shows traffic when you turn the wheel.
- Click the record button to start.
- Launch your game with FullForce ON. Drive roughly 30 to 60 seconds covering: sitting still, gentle throttle, a curb or two, and some gravel or a rough surface. Short is fine.
- Stop the capture. File > Save As, format pcapng.
- Repeat with FullForce OFF for the second file.
Descriptors help too: if you're comfortable, capture the first few seconds right after plugging the wheel in, so we get the device's report descriptors.
Please include with your files
- Base model, wheel rim, and Fanatec driver/firmware version.
- Game name and whether FullForce was on or off in each file.
- Anything you felt in the wheel during capture (curb, gravel, engine) so we can line it up with the data.
Privacy and safety, please read
- USBPcap records the entire USB controller, not just your wheel. If your keyboard or mouse shares that controller, their traffic is captured too. Do not type passwords or anything sensitive while recording. If you can, plug the wheel into a controller that has nothing else on it.
- This is passive listening only. Nothing is sent to the wheel, no firmware is touched, and this does not modify or risk your hardware.
- Captures compress well. Please zip the pcapng files before attaching (GitHub accepts zip up to 25 MB). If they're too large, link a file share instead.
How to send
Attach the zipped captures to a comment on this issue, or if you'd rather not post publicly, say so and I'll share a private upload option.
Thank you. Every capture moves this forward, and contributors will be credited.
(Alternatively, if you have a FullForce compatible wheel you aren't using which you would be willing to donate to the community effort, that would help as well!)
What this is
Trueforce For All exists because the community captured how Logitech's wheels talk to the PC and built a telemetry based effect engine ourselves. I want to try the same thing for Fanatec's FullForce, the high-fidelity haptics layer on supported Fanatec bases. Only a handful of games support it natively, and I'd like to bring those effects to games that don't.
The problem: I don't own a FullForce-capable Fanatec wheel, so I can't capture the data myself. This is a call for Fanatec owners to help.
What we're trying to learn
FullForce is probably one of two things on the wire:
A USB capture tells us which. That single answer decides whether this project is even possible for Fanatec, so even one good capture is a big deal.
Who can help
Anyone with:
Please confirm in a comment which base, wheel rim, driver version, and game you have before capturing, so we know the setup.
The capture we need most: an A/B pair
The most valuable thing you can send is the same short scenario captured twice:
Everything else identical (same car, same track, same section). Diffing the two shows us exactly what FullForce adds. If you can only do one, do FullForce ON.
How to capture (Wireshark + USBPcap)
Descriptors help too: if you're comfortable, capture the first few seconds right after plugging the wheel in, so we get the device's report descriptors.
Please include with your files
Privacy and safety, please read
How to send
Attach the zipped captures to a comment on this issue, or if you'd rather not post publicly, say so and I'll share a private upload option.
Thank you. Every capture moves this forward, and contributors will be credited.
(Alternatively, if you have a FullForce compatible wheel you aren't using which you would be willing to donate to the community effort, that would help as well!)