Author Topic: How to get TrackIR enhanced mode support in AH (Read 2477 times)

jodgi · « **on:** December 09, 2003, 02:41:23 AM »

I browsed various BBS yesterday and found a way to get "enhanced mode" support for TrackIR and TrackIR2 hardware in the current AH version.

I'm often impressed by what some individuals can achieve with some creativity and talent, here goes:

On the TrackIR BBS I found a link on how to get TIR support in a racing sim that supported joystick axes views. As you may know, AH has joystick axes views and this applies to any game that has it.

The original thread: Race Sim Central Forums

I got it up and working by following this link, however I'll just give a quick run through of it.

Use this program to set up a virtual joystick: PPJoy
Instructions:
Install the PPJoy software according to the PPJoy documentation
Start the PPJoy Configure Joysticks utility, press the "Add..." button and select "Virtual port" in the "Parallel port" input box. Now cklick "Add".
Download tir2joy
Copy tir2joy.exe and tir2joy.ini into a directory of your choice.

Fire up the TIR driver software, set the profile you like as normal and set it in enhanced mode (tir2joy needs it).

Now run tir2joy.exe and your head becomes a joystick (?!)

I needed to go to control panel and calibrate my head (hehe, sorry... I find this lightly amusing).

(edit): I also needed to calibrate within AH settings

Last step is to set the view pitch and view yaw settings in AH to the new virtual joystick.

It works flawlessly for me, have at it!

Imagine that we got TIR enhanced mode support in AH before AH2, ahhhh the irony...

Dennis · « **Reply #1 on:** December 09, 2003, 06:02:47 AM »

Nothing short of amazing, jodgi. Thanks for the tip. I've got it up and working pretty well ... although my stick setup now needs some tweaking to let me adjust my head around the cockpit for six o'clock views and such.
Too bad we can't yet combine the customizable views of AH with the hands-free benefits of trackIR. Maybe someday ...

Splash1

jodgi · « **Reply #2 on:** December 09, 2003, 08:31:38 AM »

I've made some suggestions on the head position feature vs. TIR here

Glad you got it to work!

wasq · « **Reply #3 on:** December 09, 2003, 11:59:18 AM »

Wow!

I bought my TrackIR in spring , and at first tried to use it in the mouse emulation in AH, but it was quite awkward, so I decided not to use it in AH. I left it only for IL2 FB use at that point.

Now that it is much more usable, I will start using it for AH as well

. The enhanced mode is so much better than the crappy mouse emulation. If we only got the saved views as well....

Thanks a lot Jodgi!:aok

--wasq

214thCavalier · « **Reply #4 on:** December 09, 2003, 03:44:10 PM »

Jodgi it sounds as if thats what is needed to get us all using our dusty TIR kits in AH.

However i cannot confirm this as ...

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http://www.geocities.com/deonvdw/PPJoy.htm

So if anybody can host the files or email em lemme know !

Dennis · « **Reply #5 on:** December 09, 2003, 04:10:29 PM »

Cav, the site seems to be back up now.
I could e-mail you the app ... but the setup folder is 1.6 megs compressed. If youre box can hold that, let me know and I'll shoot it to you.

Splash1

wasq · « **Reply #6 on:** December 09, 2003, 05:48:37 PM »

It seems to be up for me also, but if you are having trouble with it, here
is a mirror site.

--wasq

214thCavalier · « **Reply #7 on:** December 09, 2003, 07:26:05 PM »

Got it now.

Cobra412 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 10, 2003, 12:19:35 AM »

Well I got my TrackIR 1 to work in AHII. Only thing is it's a bit choppy at times and still kinda hard to get the view back centered right.

Right now I"m using the Enhanced mode and smoothing. I'm not sure if this is due to my reflective dots or settings that causes the jumping or stuttering. And I"m sitting about a foot or so away from the tracker device itself.

Is it that much of a change if you make an "Active Dot" or make a custom dot from the 3M reflective material? I've got a Radio shack right here and could very easily get the materials to build and active dot if need be. Or I could very well just find the right materials for a custom ball/dot setup. I've got a whole sheet of dots left so using them for such a device is no problem. Just curious if it's that much better than making a similiar setup like you have Jodgi.

I'm also really curious if the Track IR 2 is that more advanced over the old model that it's worth the 99 U.S dollars to pick it up. I've read it's 40 fps faster than the current model. But is the miss tracking still an issue? I know they were looking at a better reflective setup opposed to the simple dot as they ship with the component now.

Thanks again for the help Jodgi..Was greatly appreciated.

jodgi · « **Reply #9 on:** December 10, 2003, 06:14:43 AM »

All I can say is that TIR2 just works in all aspects, as simple as that.
I would buy the TIR2 before making a active solution. I thought about that too, but no need now with TIR2.

slimm50 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 10, 2003, 12:02:39 PM »

Pardon my ignorance, but will someone explain to me what TIR is? I'm completely in the dark about this. But whatever it is, sounds interesting to me.

Cobra412 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 10, 2003, 01:49:59 PM »

Here's a site you can check out that gives you the complete details about TIR. It's basically and Infra Red device that sense movement through the use of a reflective material. http://www.trackir.com

Obehave · « **Reply #12 on:** December 10, 2003, 03:42:14 PM »

Thanks Jodji, I'm going to download it and see if it will work for me. I may need a shot or two of Vodka to get through the setup process...

Obehave · « **Reply #13 on:** December 13, 2003, 08:29:50 AM »

Jodji, It works like a charm- you're a smart fellow, hat's off!

WpnX · « **Reply #14 on:** December 20, 2003, 08:16:56 PM »

Jodgi,
Thanks for the info, I love using this thing in IL2 and now, thanks to you, I'm using it in AH. Works awesome! great post Jodgi.