Track IR? Anyone?

[Sincraft]

Ok sorry if this is a dead horse topic but in all honesty - is it worth the $179?

I found rudder pedals annoying (and buggy) from CH products.  I don't like to not be able to sit comfortably while playing this game so I went back to my twisty. 

Is this along those same lines - immersion but restrictive?

[Fulmar]

There's a guy in my squad that runs it and he enjoy it a lot.  I tried the cheaper Free-Track route, but because unhappy with the check 6 view ability and keeping my head still to view down the gunsight was tough at times.  You can set a button to a locked check six view, but I just went back to using the HOTAS.  It was a $30 venture for me and a 3-4 hours of build time.

There with pics of Fugitive and my own setup.
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,223422.25.html

[SIK1]

I like my trackir, and couldn't imagine AH without it. That was not the case when I first got it though. I thought I had wasted the money on it until I got the profile tweaked to my liking. The six view can be frustrating especially in certain planes, ie. corsair.

Of course I couldn't imagine flying AH without rudder pedals either, and would never want to go back to a twisty stick.

[Sincraft]

Yea I saw the freetrack idea - but the whole idea to someone like me that is VERY obsessive about stuff - well it would probably drive me nuts and I would have to perfect it.
That would take me hours and hours.  Not that I wont tinker to the point of crazy with the retail version - but I have to put a # on my time.
Is it worth it to me to find, build and the extra tweaking that I would have to do to build it myself?

And from what I hear the tweaking software on the retail version is far superior.

Although the Wii mote version does sound interesting, again we are getting up there in price and time.

I work 9 hour days, 5 days a week and drive almost 3 hours each day. 

I'll probably opt for the one that is made for me.   I'm going to checkout scambay though and see what I can pull from there.

I've gotta keep my free time open for golf and HOPEFULLY flying my RC aircraft again soon!

[falcon23]

I recently got one and I must say it has helped me my ACM quite a bit,especially when in a dogfight.It is more natural for me to just move my head than to use the hat switches..

 It has a bit of a learning curve,which is to me,knowing where you are in the space,and if you are losing altitude,but for me,I now "KNOW in my KNOWER",that I need to maintain my altitude when in a turn-fight to stop from turning right into the ground,although it still happens once in a great while.

           SOme say it does not let them know where they are in the "SPACE" of 3d,but it has truly been a great help for me..

                 Then again,I need all the help I can get..


                                                    FALCON23

[Sincraft]

what I am wondering is,

when I check 6 can I 'lean' and get a good look?

Can I switch it off with a keyboard shortcut and go back to the joystick hat?

Is there a way to map a button (preferably on the joystick) that allows me to center the gunsite quickly?

I'm a big fan of leaning my shots.  I really like the views I have in the YAK for this reason as I can predict what I am going to get as it seems like it has a side lean over view when looking straight ahead already (as opposed to the iron maiden 190 cockpits!)

[gpwurzel]

Yep, you can lean on the 6 views - mines currently set up to lean the opposite way - but I believe there is a way to make it so you lean in the right direction etc(if that makes sense - what I mean is, I lean left to look right, lean right to look left)

You can map a button to pause trackir, and recenter the gunsite in a single push - I use this a lot, you wont believe how much movement you have ingame when flying.

For me, I much prefer flying with it, rather than without. It makes the game so much more immersive - tho initially it comes at a price as you get used to it.

Top tip, make your profile as aggressive as you can stand - and stick with it. I also use the mapped views via a hatswitch as well, but initially just use the trackir to force yourself to become accustomed. It truly is a good peice of kit.

hth,

Wurzel <S>

[Gixer]

Ok sorry if this is a dead horse topic but in all honesty - is it worth the $179?

No.

It's great for FS9/FSX and VFR flying & racing car sims but for AH it's definitely not worth it. Mainly because after two or three sorties of neck twisting you will be over the novelty of looking around the cockpit and for some planes made almost useless by the six views.. Plus the device itself has a cheap nasty feel to it and looks like it will break within 12 mths. Mine is sitting in a box unused.

For nearly $200 they are a rip off.


<S>...-Gixer

[Lusche]

I can't fly without it anymore. I even stopped flying other sims that don't have that level of TIR implementation that AH does (most notably Il2). The biggest plus of course is immersion. I have no views mapped anymore on my stick since I got my TIR.

If you are neck twisting, your setup is wrong.
You can tweak TIR settings by a huge amount. Two different settings from two different players can be very different. Deadband, movement agressiveness, disabling of certain axis, and so on.

If you get an TIR, it's very important do fiddle with all that settings for some time, until you find a confortable setup. It took me about a week to getting used to it and to find the right settings for me. Again, what is considered a good setup by one player would drive the other one mad. For example many pilots do have a "forward view" button that whil fix their view on the gunsight, they press it when abut to shoot - I on the other hand never fix my view or disengage TIR, I take full advantage of the reflecting gunsights.

I found TIR to be most advantageous in tight dogfights with alot of scissors/barrel rolls, having constantly my eyes on the enmy without ever losing track of my view's position relative to the planes alignment.

Another very important bonus: the thick cockpit frames of the 109's do not bother you that much anymore when your head/view is freely floating inside the cockpit. Just lean a bit to the side.

In most planes, 6 views are no real problem. I just turn my head a bit and lean over. The advantage is that I don't have a single rear view, I can quickly alternat looking left or right around the headrest.
There is one issue however: In most blue planes, particulary in the F4U's the rear views are somewhat porked. See http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,232289.0.html


Its is worth the 179? That's a difficult question.. depends on your budget It's not a absolutely necessary item (like a joystick) but it's fun. But you may check out Free Track too.. seems to me it's working quite good.

[Simaril]

I'm with you, Lusche.

The biggest change came after getting and tweaking the profile that MACE2004 posted a while back. Turned the motion control from impossible to natural...although that guy must have INCREDIBLE head control, since he flies with a very tight dead zone! After using it for 6 months or so, I can still fly without the TIR, and I still do when in later F4Us. But I LOVE the immersion, the feel of actually being there that the Track IR gives. And I agree 100% that it makes a tremendous difference in heavily framed aircraft like the 109 and F4U-1. In fact, I where before I actively avoided them now I almost prefer flying them!


But you can easily play the game without it. There are definitely guys who regret buying it, and feel the money was wasted. But there are also a lot of people who swear by it rather than AT it! I'd say the bottom line is that if it's a financial stretch, you may want to try it (CONVENTION!) or think long and hard about it. If it's within reach and you don't mind taking the (small, IMHO) chance of it not working out for you, then go for it!

[Gixer]

Its is worth the 179? That's a difficult question.. depends on your budget It's not a absolutely necessary item (like a joystick) but it's fun. But you may check out Free Track too.. seems to me it's working quite good.

Depends on budget? Whether you have a massive budget for flight sim gadgets or not. Either way first impression is that you've just been shafted $179 for what looks,feels and must be a $2 item to manufacture.


<S>...-Gixer

[Max]

I found rudder pedals annoying (and buggy) from CH products.  I don't like to not be able to sit comfortably while playing this game so I went back to my twisty. 

Not to hijack your post but I also found the CH Peds to be unwieldy and uncomfortable. Should you ever decide to go back to peds, I recommend the Saitek Pro Peds. They have a large, adjustable footrest and adjustable tension control and Velcro strips to hold 'em firmly in place.

[Speed55]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6014326264338432396&q=AH2+offline+mission&ei=3_NoSKmSOJiErAL1ybzkCg


I just finished a short offline mission with TrackIR and recorded with Fraps. The quality got degraded big time, and i'm not sure where can i upload it for downloads, but you get the jist.

Offline f4f's vs zero's mission, no icons, recorded live. I purposely picked this mission, since the f4f has one of the worst 6 views, so this is about as bad as it gets. Most other planes you have a perfect  6 view.

[potsNpans]

I use Free Track, which is a free shareware program. Cannibalized a web cam, a few scraps of wire, a few other parts from radio shack to total out at maybe $50. It works great and has a sound capability to adjust your personnel preference of view sensitivity or degree that suits your style. FPS are stable at 60, running Pen4 3.0GHZ 2gig mem. with a Nvidia 7800gs 256ram and with hi graphics's settings. You can center view in game, pause it, or stop input to use it for GV, field gun, or P.O.view hat switch when a static view is preferable. They have a support forum to get the details if your interested www.free-track.net. Its utilizes what is called a 6 degree of freedom view, the same as TrackerIR. You view is only limited to the virtual Airframe. I believe it would be worthwhile to research into it further.   

[Fulmar]

I use Free Track, which is a free shareware program. Cannibalized a web cam, a few scraps of wire, a few other parts from radio shack to total out at maybe $50. It works great and has a sound capability to adjust your personnel preference of view sensitivity or degree that suits your style. FPS are stable at 60, running Pen4 3.0GHZ 2gig mem. with a Nvidia 7800gs 256ram and with hi graphics's settings. You can center view in game, pause it, or stop input to use it for GV, field gun, or P.O.view hat switch when a static view is preferable. They have a support forum to get the details if your interested www.free-track.net. Its utilizes what is called a 6 degree of freedom view, the same as TrackerIR. You view is only limited to the virtual Airframe. I believe it would be worthwhile to research into it further.  

My setup lowered my FPS in game on my C2D rig, so I was unhappy.  Not sure if it was the webcam I was using or what.