Flight Sim "Set-Up" Questions

[deadstikmac]

    Disclaimer  

I have only been playing the game about a week now. Please don't drag me over the coals... yet.

So after a few days in the TA with a great group of guys i want to take this to a more enjoyable & serious level with the overall game play and play value too me. Here is the thought process...

1.  Three Screens in the standard shape of left angled, center and right angled. Size will be dictated by budget prolly around 30-50 inch viewable.
2. Track-IR
3. Flight Sim Hardware
http://www.fspilotshop.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_9&products_id=2306
http://www.fspilotshop.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_9&products_id=2106 ( for these I am leaning on using 6 or more )
There are a few other things going into the cockpit but overall it is a generic cockpit layout as I like to fly alot of different planes.

Now my questions...

1. Is anyone else using TrackIR?
2. Is anyone else using Instruments for AcesHigh and how was the setup?
3. Has anyone else built a "Cockpit" for playing this game? Screenshots would be groovey.
4. What suggestions would you give someone who is looking to make a "Sim Cockpit" for playing the game.




   ~<Thanks DeadStickMac

[The Fugitive]

I use TrackIR as well as many others in this game. Once you get use to it it is very "immersive".

The newer video cards have the ability to hook up multiple monitors. again, a number of people fly with triple screens, or 47 inch 50 inch or bigger single screens.

I don't believe the gauges you posted will work in the game. The data for gauges is NOT transmitted in the packets other than for your on screen gauges in the cockpit. As for the extra controls thos may be out of the question as well, but there is a work around. ANY USB controller can be used, and the number of them is up there. Some people have pulled apart joysticks and rebuilt them to be switch boxes much like the one you posted.

As for cockpit/simpit, again many have built them.

This is the one I used for years...










Money and imagination are the only real limits! Have fun!

[FLS]

I expect you're getting or have a joystick, throttle, and rudder pedals.
They will have enough buttons that would won't need extra controllers.

You can always add more later. Start simple.

[deadstikmac]

 

Great pics the one labled DoorSkined gave me a great view of the workings. TY Sir!

So the hang up I have now is getting my two monitors two work as one... I am not using any software to devide up the display and im not sure but it looks like I will have to pickup a device inorder to break up the display like I am trying to do. Any pointers?

*yes i alrdy have a few usb devices in mind simple is the best way to start 


 ~<DeadStickMac

[MrRiplEy[H]]

  Disclaimer  

I have only been playing the game about a week now. Please don't drag me over the coals... yet.

First rule of thumb in flight sims: Never tell others you're a noob. It's like swimming in a shark pool and cutting yourself with a knife.  They don't call players 'vulchers' by accident! 

You have to be like: Hi guys I played AH since beta and now I want to build a simpit. Then they won't give you instructions which include keybinding your secondary fire button to alt+f4.

[morfiend]

 Dead,

 If you search through this forum you can find plenty of pix of players setups,all flight sim geeks like to post pretty pix!

  Use 2 monitors wont work very well unless you can offset the view and I dont think thats possible.The bezels will be in the way of the gunsight! I know AH cant be setup with 2 views as in forward and backwards so you need an odd number of monitors,1,3,5 and I'm not sure how or if you could use 5!

   AS for a simpit,theres plenty of sites on the web to give you tips to setup your own and a few guys around here that make and sell parts so search around and PM any players so you can ask privately about prices.


   

[Noir]

If you want to use TrackIR, do it as soon as you can, relearning the game with trackIR is hard. Pedals are difficult to adapt to also.

[Bino]

Hi Deadstikmac,

Welcome!  

Aces High does not offer data output streams to external gauges, due to performance issues, it is said.  

About multi-monitors, search on "AMD Eyefinity" or "NVidia Surround" depending on your video card, and have at least three monitors on hand.

As has been noted here and elsewhere, head-trackers and rudder pedals are both the subjects of very strong personal preferences.  I was lucky: it only took me about fifteen minutes to absolutely *love* the TrackIR.  And since I had a few hours of instruction out in Real Life in a tiny Cessna, I bought pedals for my very first computer flight sim rig.  "Your Mileage May Vary Enormously."

[deadstikmac]

 "instructions which include keybinding your secondary fire button to alt+f4."

That is just funny...

I have searched the forums for everything I have asked about and most of the information was out of date by 10 years or so. Thank you everyone for the help and advice so far.


 ~<DeadStickMac

[Wraith_TMS]

  Disclaimer  

I have only been playing the game about a week now. Please don't drag me over the coals... yet.

So after a few days in the TA with a great group of guys i want to take this to a more enjoyable & serious level with the overall game play and play value too me. Here is the thought process...

1.  Three Screens in the standard shape of left angled, center and right angled. Size will be dictated by budget prolly around 30-50 inch viewable.
2. Track-IR
3. Flight Sim Hardware
http://www.fspilotshop.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_9&products_id=2306
http://www.fspilotshop.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_9&products_id=2106 ( for these I am leaning on using 6 or more )
There are a few other things going into the cockpit but overall it is a generic cockpit layout as I like to fly alot of different planes.

Now my questions...

1. Is anyone else using TrackIR?
2. Is anyone else using Instruments for AcesHigh and how was the setup?
3. Has anyone else built a "Cockpit" for playing this game? Screenshots would be groovey.
4. What suggestions would you give someone who is looking to make a "Sim Cockpit" for playing the game.


   ~<Thanks DeadStickMac

Deadstick, welcome to the game. 

Others have already given you great answers but definitely, go with 3 and not 2 screens, as the beveling will interfere with your view of the cockpit and the gunsight.  Newer graphics cards support multiple screens, but you can start on a budget (screens notwithstanding) by using a software solution to render the game across the screens.  Do an internet search for "SoftTH" for this, developed by a European gent named Kegetys.

TrackIR is widely used in Aces High, as well as other open source headtracking solutions such as Freetrack (works great with AH) and FaceTrackNoIR (also works well with AH).  Search for these as well to learn if they're for you.

Have fun... word of caution... expect wife-ack on your way to your target... 

...

[FLS]

  Use 2 monitors wont work very well unless you can offset the view and I dont think thats possible.

You can offset the view with TrackIR and you may be able to do it with a custom head position but I haven't tried that.
You can also use one monitor above the other with the right stand but I agree that 1 or 3 monitors is better than 2.

I recommend a video card for multi display rather than a hardware or software solution like Triplehead2go or softTH.
I also recommend getting used to TrackIR with one monitor and then deciding if you need more. Using one monitor
will let you maximize your framerates and also should make it easier to adjust to TrackIR.

[deadstikmac]

 

So full blown addiction is the only way to describe what is in the works for the simpit. Again thanks to the help it pointed me in the right direction.

I will have to post a "building a simpit" & go from start to finish with the post. I found alot of things that wpuld be very helpfull to anyone who is doing what I am and running into the same type of problems.

Budget went from 1000.00 bucks to over 5000.00 with out breaking a sweat! So more to follow on this endevor.

 ~<DeadStickMac

[vafiii]

I have a 3 monitor "eyefinity" setup with 24" monitors, a joystick, throttle quadrant, rudder pedals, track ir, a lighted gaming keyboard (with multi-colored lights and extra gaming buttons), a 6 speaker surround sound system and a ceiling fan for added realism (the breeze from the ceiling fan adds an "out door" feel wether I'm in a plane or vehicle or parachuting to earth after being shot down). More than enough buttons with this setup. Only other thing you can do is build an actual cockpit but I only advise this if you are not currently in a relationship and don't plan on ever being in one (lol).

[Infidelz]

X65 with saitek rudders. Wish I had the F-16 pedals
home built F-16 shell
hand made ejection seat with parrallel 50 watt transducers powered by base amp (100 watts)
AE4000 panasonic projector
5x9 foot home built screen (black out curtain backing


be a lot easier to take an old sports car seat and some wood and build something custom from scratch. You want ledges on both sides with about a 5 degree inward cant. I would tilt seat back 15 or 20 degrees. Mine is the full 30.

Viperpit.org will give you some tips, The guys there are great and a big help.

inf
 

[Bizman]

I've seen several baselines in pit building. Before building one, determine what you're after.

The first pit I remember reading about was foldable and measured so that three of them alongside with three computers and their owners could fit into a Toyota Tercel on their way to a con. Quite an achievement given it was in the tube screen era! If my memory serves me right, the built in seat had a subwoofer installed.

Then there's the tube approach, either plastic or metal, tailored around controllers and other gear and of course your personal measurements. The most lightweight gear in this category are the playseats that can be fitted for racing and flying.

A further evolution of the latter is a closed cabin. One builder included a kerosene soaked sponge in the ventilation for immersion...

Players also have built more or less accurate replicas of real cockpits. I've seen a Me made of plywood and pictures of a P51 made of aluminum with sunk rivets.

On this forum there's also been discussion about sim dashboards which can be attached to any desk.

Someone hid his pit under a sliding floor, thus making it possible to use the room as a home theatre, too

So, it's up to you whether you'd like to duplicate your favourite plane's cockpit or build a tailored working environment or just decorate your field of view.