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.