This is my $150 dollar "Flight Sim" gaming chair I created. This build was designed to be as functional as possible for as cheap as possible. Blisteringly efficient with my time and money. So some corners were cut. But for the price of some people's HOTAS, I got this. It was designed to play Elite Dangerous in VR, and has improved my experience greatly! It has it owns HOTAS, Xbox controller for menu navigation and typing, and a basshaker to add tactile feedback. If you don't want the bassshaker system, the rest can be hand for probably about $50.
Parts List:
- Gaming Rocker Chair: $5 from Savers
- T.Flight HOTAS: $20 from r/hardwareswap
- Dayton Audio BST-1 Bass Shaker: $53 from Amazon
- TPA3116 Subwoofer Amplifier: $16 from Amazon
- X-Box Controller Keyboard Attachment: $17 from Ebay
- Gooseneck Lamp: $8 at Goodwill
- Heavy Duty Adhesive Velcro: $8 from Amazon
- USB Hub and USB Extension Cable: $20 from Amazon
Things I already had on hand:
Scrap Wood, an Xbox One Controller, a VR headset, a 19v laptop power supply, a camping mat, a 6' long audio cable, 3d printer.
Instructions:
Construct simple wooden mount to support your HOTAS. This is just a 2×6 for the triangular brace and some half inch plywood for the mounting bracket and HOTAS platform. Use a lot of screws as the chair is practically made of cardboard. Also note here the camping mat the chair must sit on. This saves my downstair neighbors' sanity, as the bass shaker no longer tries to vibrate my entire floor.
Attach the HOTAS down with some heavy duty adhesive velcro. Use the soft side on your HOTAS, so they're desk friendly. This way you can remove the HOTAS and play at your desk if you'd like.
Add the wireless keyboard to your controller. I velcroed mine in place since it wasn't that strong of hold. This device allows me to type in system names while playing elite. I chose to incorporate my controller into this build for driving SRVs, and also because it makes navigating the galaxy map a lot easier.
The metal arm seen here is an adjustable desk lamp minus the lamp head. I ripped out all the wiring as well. I drilled two holes into the battery compartment door of my controller and bolted it to the lamp arm. This has been surprisingly durable so far, but could be an area of improvement. A 3d printed bracket would be great, and available if you forgo the wireless keyboard.
It may not be pretty, but this was how I secured the bottom of the lamp arm to the chair. I cut notch as wide as the arm into the piece of wood that forms the chairs front. It was surprisingly sturdy there. I then drilled and screwed straight through that bad boy. Also surprisingly sturdy. I covered this all up with black ductape.
Time to mount the basshaker! If you don't know, this puppy is like subwoofer in that it vibrates with low frequency sound. This can help you feel the punch of a drum if playing music, or the rumble of our boosters in space. Added a length of 2×6 in between the plywood sides of the chair. This is right at the base of the back of the chair. Figured that would balance the vibrations between the back and seat. I took the wire from my hacked up lamp, and used that as speaker wire.
Lastly the control hub. Here you see 3D printed enclosure for the amp. Plugged into it is the speaker wire, bottom left, which was snaked through the chair's innards and out the side. Also, an old laptop power supply and the 6' long audio cable, which goes to my computer. The USB hub is mounted here as well. Plugged in are the HOTAS, the XBOX Controller, and the wireless keyboard dongle. A USB extension cord from the hub gives me the ability to move the chair a bit more freely around my computer. Both the amp and USB hub are mounted with velcro. I love velcro!
Parting Thoughts
This chair has been great fun! Although I wouldn't call it life changing, it was a really fun build to puzzle through and certainly does up the immersion in game. I'd encourage anyone to give this a go and improve on my design!
For added immersion on the cheap, I considered attaching a flight harness to strap myself in (made of the front of a thrifted life vest stapled to the chair). Ideally, complete with a knife mounted somewhere on the chair to cut myself free in case the amp bursts into flames.
For a cheap button box, I saw the idea of mounting a mechanical keyboard numberpad ($15 on Amazon) to the rig somewhere. Throw some stickers on the buttons for labels, and BAM, more immersion. Bind your landing gear, heatsinks, etc to you new buttons. I skipped this as I use VoiceAttack and an HCS voicepack to handle those commands via my voice.
This chair is also fun to listen to music or watch movies in. Although not the most comfortable, the thump of bass or an explosion through your chair is really an experience. Especially if you're something other than sober.
Hope you all enjoyed hearing about my build as much as I enjoyed making it. Give it a try!