Reconfiguring Chinese VR rides to run American Software MDBOX

So I bought out this virtual reality arcade and they had NineD VR rides. I am pretty sick of trying to get the Chinese games that came with them dialed in as they are not great even when they work. So here are my goals before I tear into them.

1. Fresh installs of Windows 10 that free the machines of authentication through China and regular intrusions of Baidu junk etc.

2. Install Steam on Each machine and update the outdated headsets.

3. Install motion control software best suited to run existing hardware smoothly and efficiently.

4. Covert Gun Seat into Flight Sim

I am pretty well fresh off the boat with the Dof thing. I built a static 3 screen racing sim which led me into the VR arcade opportunity but as far as actuators and controllers I am at step zero which I hope will be of benefit to whomever might be willing to send me on the correct path. @Thanos has come up in my searches so perhaps that will help.

Hardware pics of project 1, Tank to follow.
List of current machines.

1x Double Egg VR experience, plan to leave as is for now

1x Triple Egg VR experience, Never plugged in by seller, 3x actuators and spins

1x platform, spins, no plans to use

3x Tank, uses 3 linear actuators, 2 in back 1 in front.

2x Seats, 1 currently set as racing sim using PS4 Force Feedback and one with weird gun.
3x linear actuators 2 in front, 1 in back.
Currently running Project Cars and motion is actuated by pedals.

1x Space Car. Same as car above but with more Body Work.

Here is the tank. It runs off of a Unreal Engine Game right now.
MDBOX-NV3020E 220V

Sorry, looks like some of the photos attached multiple times. Not gonna try to edit the original post in case this forum is like others that mess up when you try to edit photos.

Here is the control interface. Probably not important to the topic but figured I could add it in case somebody needs it.

Yes, just shout me an email, I have controller for MDBOX (AMC compatible) that you can use with simtools or FlyPT mover...

Thanks
Thanos

great project! where do you come from?

Thanks!
I am in Northern Nevada.

Hey there, my name's Dave from Australia. Just wanting to see how you are progressing with the conversion of the Chinese machines?

We are in the process of determining whether or not we could convert a six seat/six dof Chinese machine to run a custom program we are working on.

Can you give any details on the actuators and overall build quality of the machines? Also interested in the thanos electrics discussed in your thread.

Our project is a scenic flight based program, so not requiring drastic movements, just to add a sense of realism to the experience.

Hope to hear from you and good luck with your project.

Kind regards Dave

Hi Dave,

I replied to your email regarding the controller(s) you can use on this.

Thank
Thanos

Hey Dave,
Thanos has to build the controller for mine specific. I am looking forward to testing it and based on what I am seeing so far in reading through Thanos' development thread on these I am very optimistic. One advantage you have is building a custom program. I plan on using existing programs on steam etc.
I am interested in some better programs for the egg based games as the ones loaded are poorly rendered and narrated by non native english which takes away from the experiences.
Feel free to post pictures and progress from your project here as well.

So this one was sitting in the crate for a year and a half in a field. When I cracked it open there were signs of water intrusion so I brought it in and let it dry for a month or so.
She fired up and everything seems in order...

Also put some feelers out today with Synthesis VR as to licensing World of tanks VR on the Tanks and if WoT controls can be mapped in game to use the custom yoke and controls.

Thanks for the reply guys.

We are in the process of collecting the 360 footage to be edited and rendered from a Mosquito Helicopter (single man, glass cabin - awesome uninterrupted footage).

Then comes integration of the footage with headset and simulated motion. We are green on these technologies also, but we can certainly see a market for our project.

What headsets are you looking to upgrade the rides to?

The tanks will probably be Pimax 4k or similar.
I have a bunch of Vives but I have plans to use most of them in booths.
I am at a bit of a crossroads on the Tank part.
I have found that Synthesis VR licenses World of Tanks VR which would be great, however it costs .10 a minute to license.
Between the Hardware mods, the Simulator controls software, the license, etc. I am trying to figure out if this even makes sense.
I am going to experiment with one then decide.
Everybody seems to think that just because it is for a "commercial" purpose that you must be made of money and can afford to spend ridiculous amounts of money on everything.

Do you run such a business?
I do... and $89 per machine per year is not trivial.
Especially considering I can actually charge a customer per minute to play the game they actually want to play.
I have 3 motion tanks and 3 potential racing/flight simulators. All of which work without your additional software/hardware now.

I also have a triple egg and a double egg that could potentially be jail broken.

So that is 8 machines that could potentially run this software long term.
As a business why would I build them to be dependent on a software package that has an annual fee? I don't have to change anything.
I can run them 100% as-is and just shit can them in favor of the far more profitable booths or free roam arena scale VR.
Business is about Cost Benefit, not what you believe is "trivial".
I would wager that you do not have any subscriptions that cost you $700 +/- per yer.

I have sent a note to the dev and my business decision will be based on if I can pay a one time fee, or if I will be dependent for life.

To be perfectly clear....
I can leave these as-is and charge.
To jail break these and convert will cost:
AMC MDbox conversion ($265) one time
Simtools ($89 per year) per machine
Headset upgrade ($400 - $500) one time
Time to upgrade implement and learn software (unknown)
Cost to license (.10-.11 a minute)

Again, I would like to do these upgrades but Simtools is not the only show in town.
I have already ordered one of the AMC boxes from Thanos for testing purposes so I am willing to pay up, but I am not rich and unlimited software cost potential is not trivial.
I could certainly understand a maintinence fee for ongoing service if there was teamviewer configuration and support but still not 100% of the purchase price per year.

I hope you've taken into account that Steam games are not normally licensed for commercial use.

This article about operating a VR arcade says that twice the usual cost of the game, per month, per seat, is typical of Steam commercial licenses, though some games instead use a per-minute-played monthly fee.

Indeed.
I will likely be using SpringboardVr or SynthesisVR for licensing games per minute.
There are several ways to license games these days. I have been in contact with both Synthesis and Springboard. World of Tanks as such is currently .11 per minute.
Considering that it is one of the few games out for tanks in VR and the question of whether I will even be able to remap from Vive controls to the current configuration, this is yet another obstacle.
The only games out that really seem fitting are WoT and Battlezone. The up side to WoT is it is custom designed for the VR arcade environment.
The downsides are many, not the least of which is that I can charge $30-$40 an hour for a booth where a customer can play any game they want and I pay between Zero and .10 cents a minute.

All other operating costs aside adding additional software fees to a machine that only plays one or two games when it already plays a game might not make sense. Especially when I can get cheap or free software that may not have all of the features but is easily enough tweaked for one or two games. Additionally, I could just ignore the actuators and use the tank as a non motion sim...
End of the day it pays to be an optimist in business.
I had hoped this software would be a mutually beneficial solution.