Track ir 5

[groundfeeder]

Well I might bite the bullet and spend the my slowly devaluing dollar to get track Ir 5.

What i would like to know is from the current users of the platform, likes, dislikes, and what SIGNIFICANT advantages it brings to the game.

Does anyone think it makes you a better stick in the game or would the money be betteroff spent elsewhere?

[Lusche]

Well I might bite the bullet and spend the my slowly devaluing dollar to get track Ir 5.

What i would like to know is from the current users of the platform, likes, dislikes, and what SIGNIFICANT advantages it brings to the game.

Does anyone think it makes you a better stick in the game or would the money be betteroff spent elsewhere?

As a longtime TrackIr (4) user and fanboi, I have to say: there is no SIGNIFICANT advantage in using one in Aces High. It doesn't make you a better stick in game. It has some minor advantages, like looking around the cockpit bars in a German fighter for example by just tilting your head to the side a bit. But basically it does not enable you to see anything that you could not have seen with the excellent AH hat view system. If your SA sucks, because you simply forget to look around with the hat buttons, it will still suck with TrackIr because you will forget to look around with that too. TrackIr won't cure target fixation.

What you may find is a huge increase in immersion... but the transition takes some time and  a lot of tweaking - no controller is depending more on setting up for a user individually than the TrackIr.
I love it, and I would never fly without it anymore, but I doubt it had made be a better stick.

[ImADot]

Some find TIR a bit disorienting and can get headaches or nausea.  Some swear by it and think it makes them better fighters.

In my experience, it adds to the immersion and make it easier [for me] to keep an eye on the opponent and keep my SA current.  With an aggressive enough profile, you don't need to move your head much to get the in-game head to get all the way around to check your six.  I've got a 24" widescreen on my desk and sit about 3' (arm's length) from it.  I only need to point my head at the edge of the monitor to check my six, so I can still see the display fine and my TIR doesn't lose sight of the emitters on my ProClip attached to my headset.

Will it make you a better pilot - no; only practice and training will do that.  Will it help keep track of the cartoon world around you - perhaps; it all depends on your brain and giving yourself enough time to get used to it.

If you're a DIY kind of person, search the 'net for "freetrack" and you can build your own [lower res] TIR rig.

[lulu]

 

I use it. It requires accurate profiling or You will suffer nausea of some kind.
With it is not easy to look back. Interesting thing is to see gyro-gunsight at work.
 

 

[humble]

Those who use it swear by it...or at it. I've got trackir4 and flip flop. Even with the track5 software I have occasional issues. I also "grew up" in the hatview era and am very comfortable with that system. Had I started later then I think I'd be all trackIR.

[SIK1]

As a longtime TrackIr (4) user and fanboi, I have to say: there is no SIGNIFICANT advantage in using one in Aces High. It doesn't make you a better stick in game. It has some minor advantages, like looking around the cockpit bars in a German fighter for example by just tilting your head to the side a bit. But basically it does not enable you to see anything that you could not have seen with the excellent AH hat view system. If your SA sucks, because you simply forget to look around with the hat buttons, it will still suck with TrackIr because you will forget to look around with that too. TrackIr won't cure target fixation.

What you may find is a huge increase in immersion... but the transition takes some time and  a lot of tweaking - no controller is depending more on setting up for a user individually than the TrackIr.
I love it, and I would never fly without it anymore, but I doubt it had made be a better stick.

Pretty much what Lusche said.

I never got nauseas or dizzy but I did have a difficult time adapting at first. Until I got the profile tweaked to my liking. One thing I ended up turning off was the roll axis. Even with the initial difficulty I was comfortable with it in about a week, and now I can't imagine flying without it.

 

[Boxman]

It makes tracking multiple foes much easier. I would put it ahead of rudder pedals in importance.

Being able to keep your eye on opponent in grey-out also very very usefull.

[groundfeeder]

Guess i need to clarify the better "stick" comment. When flying with the HAT I tend to loose sight as the views jump from one to the other, fixation isnt an issue with me so i dont think it would be with track.

I was wondering if it made it easier to keep the target in sight a bit easier and if the transition from view to view is as smooth as it looks in some videos' or is that a learned procedure.

[jdbecks]

I use it for all my other games, but I can not get the hang of it in AH2, I think its because you can do a complete check 6 view and I find it more cumbersome to look to the rear and lean to the side, so with AH2 I use the hat switch...But I do like using it for other sims

[ImADot]

Guess i need to clarify the better "stick" comment. When flying with the HAT I tend to loose sight as the views jump from one to the other, fixation isnt an issue with me so i dont think it would be with track.

I was wondering if it made it easier to keep the target in sight a bit easier and if the transition from view to view is as smooth as it looks in some videos' or is that a learned procedure.

There is no transition from view to view with TIR; it's all one view, which you pan around in.  It's kind of like using the mouse pan view, with the mouse (with a frikkin' laser  ) sitting on your head.  With a decent profile and a little "getting used to it" time, you will have no troubles keeping the target in sight as well as checking around you for his buddy trying to sneak up on you.

[FLS]

Those who use it swear by it...or at it. I've got trackir4 and flip flop. Even with the track5 software I have occasional issues. I also "grew up" in the hatview era and am very comfortable with that system. Had I started later then I think I'd be all trackIR.

Humble I liked flying with TrackIR 4 but I didn't like it for fighting. I got TrackIR 5 and use it all the time now. The increased area coverage and resolution made the difference.

[Sperky]

Well I might bite the bullet and spend the my slowly devaluing dollar to get track Ir 5.

Woke up with the same thought today as well... 

To those that use TIR....is it possible to use hat switches and TIR simultaneously? There seems to be a lot of comments regarding the challenges of checking your 6 using TIR...could that be solved by keeping that view mapping on the hat switch while using the TIR?

[Lusche]

There seems to be a lot of comments regarding the challenges of checking your 6 using TIR...

I suspect those that do have such challenges did not have set up & tweaked their TrackIR properly. I have no such troubles since I started to use a very aggressive basic profile with some additional adjustments on the curves of each axis.

But to answer your basic question, yes you still can use buttons in addition to the TIR. Many combinations are possible. But I do not use them in fighters at all.

[ImADot]

Yep, as Lusche said, you can use both.  The hat switches will over-ride the TIR input.  Sometimes I'll use my forward-view hat switch to "steady" my head a bit more than the small deadzone I've already got programmed into my TIR profile.  Also, my profile is aggressive enough that I have no trouble checking my six in any airplane I've flown.  I usually lean forward a bit, then turn around and move to the side - just like I'd do in real life if I wanted to see behind me.

[hokioi]

If you're a DIY kind of person, search the 'net for "freetrack" and you can build your own [lower res] TIR rig.

Yes try free track if you don't want to spend the money.
 I use it and it's simple to make.  3 IR LED's,  3 resistors and wire all  from radio shack, a 49er ball cap and a USB  cable I hacked off an old printer. A ten yr old logitec webcam I dug out of a box of old computer junk in my closet. For about 15 bucks not including the hat and old webcam I put together my system in a few hour 's. Fun stuff. Works great too ! 6 degrees of freedom.

http://www.free-track.net/english/