One Elite Dangerous fan scavenged parts from multiple VR roller coaster rides to craft the ultimate space faring sim rig, so I hailed him to find out more

Elite Dangerous players are something else, I swear. Case in point, one player sold his very snazzy model of the time-travelling Delorean from Back to the Future, and used the proceeds to build an immersive, space faring rig. I guess they don't need roads where he's going.

The rig in question is called the SimStarr, and the man behind the project goes by the handle CMDR Wacko. The rig is also only one half of the project, with immersive space-faring streams via Twitch and YouTube being the other. CMDR Wacko has previously explained how the project got its start but, as someone who loves builds that are more than a little extra, I knew I had to find out more.

When I reach out to the SimStarr's pilot, he reveals that a love of the Robert Zemeckis-directed film series pervades the entire project.

"I’ve been chasing the dream of a dedicated simulator since I was quite young, ever since I rode Back to the Future: The Ride in the winter of 1991," CMDR Wacko tells me. "When I got home, I recreated the ride out of pizza boxes and have been trying to get something 'good' ever since.

"I’ve gone down a lot of paths, especially VR, until I landed here with motor-driven telemetry and a curved screen."

The SimStarr in its current form is in part salvaged from two different VR roller coaster rides. Covid burst that particular entertainment bubble, leaving the remnants to be sold for scrap. CMDR Wacko tells me he then found much of what he needed for his own custom, 6DOF motion rig from Facebook marketplace trades and Amazon liquidation stores for as little as two dollars an item.

However, the entire project did cost more than just a few bucks total. When I ask how much more, CMDR Wacko begins, "That’s a tricky question, and I often get pushback for not having the kind of answer people are looking for."

He explains that he and his pals have enjoyed "a long history of refurbishing and repurposing old equipment, and this project is kind of the apex of that attitude." Given this experience of buying and repurposing scrap, it's hard to cleanly put a total dollar amount on the project.

"So the honest answer is: I don’t really know how to buy this with money," He explains.

"That said, I’ve seen the base motion platform sell anywhere from literally free to around $3,000. Once you have that, you can mount almost any configuration above it. Simrig frames alone can run anywhere from about $100 to $10,000 depending on whether you’re buying aftermarket or new."

Though that's not what CMDR Wacko paid for his rig, with these figures in mind, I found myself asking an obvious question: 'What's your day job?' The commander is candid in his response, saying, "I do gig work delivering food. I don’t usually name the app because they don’t pay me enough to advertise for them haha."

Suffice it to say, the SimStarr is CMDR Wacko's true passion. "I consider the SimStarr device only half of the project; the other half is the livestream content it creates," He tells me, "I like that its unusually long actuators make it performative for an audience, so it’s not just fun for me, but for anyone tuning in.

"They don’t just see me in a chair going 'weee!' They see the whole rig move the way they’d expect in science fiction. I consider that its own feature, and it makes me happy to be entertaining in that way."

The SimStarr is compatible with a wealth of racing and flight simulator games that offer telemetry support, though CMDR Wacko admits, "I love space so much that I hardly ever try them."

That said, the sim racing side of gaming has still offered flashes of inspiration. CMDR Wacko highlights the 'hyperspace lever' on the SimStarr's dashboard. "It’s a modified 3D print of an e-brake from the sim racing side of the hobby," he explains. "It’s cheap, easy to build, takes up little space, and is fun to use. It’s the one thing I recommend everyone add to their setup at home."

Unfortunately, as Star Citizen does not offer the same telemetry support, you're unlikely to see it on a future SimStarr stream. Instead, CMDR Wacko says MechWarrior 5 and Star Wars: Squadrons are currently top of his list to try on stream next. He also has plans to play "the original Crazy Taxi and the ever-elusive Back to the Future: The Ride" with each of these being "full projects in themselves."

The commander is undeterred, saying "I’m determined to make those dreams happen!"