Trackir is working

[Rickitycrate 10]

Trackir came and it is running well. I was wondering if I might get some pointers from you Tir vets as to setting up profiles or downloading, the smoothing slider,and joystick button assignments. I know how to do these things but am curious about your settings. I am using Logitech Wingman Force 3D and that has really added to my experience as well.

 

 

Another aspect of Trackir I have wondered about is, do you guys use it for mouselook in any FPS games?

 

 

Thanks to Olham, UK_Widowmaker and a very special thanks to SIGGI

Edited April 2, 2009 by Rickitycrate

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Hi Rickitycrate!

 

Glad you got it ok (nice one Siggi)

 

Well, it ain't brilliant in First Person Shooters (imho)...things are just too manic usually (and you spend more time Dead than anything else) though some driving games, and a Tank Sim called Tiger V T-34 use it well.

 

To set up, and calibrate prior to an OFF session, I always use the 'Heads' option...That seems to be the easiest method for me.

[HomeBoy 1]

Some time ago, I started a document and put it up on my web site on how to set up TrackIR. I haven't done anything with it in a while but your interest as well as others has motivated me to get back to it. Expect some significant updates soon. Hopefully there is material there that can help you and other TIR users get the most out of the device.

 

Feel free to email me if you have specific questions too as I'm happy to assist where I can. I wish you the best in setting up your TIR.

-mark

[Olham 164]

Hi, Rickity

Great you got it, and running.

If you can tell me how to find the profile data, then I could send you mine.

I started from "Combat", but made it much more aggressive rearwards.

So, after 90°, the head turns much faster, to check the six.

Have fun!

Olham

 

PS: and we expect movies!

[Bigfish2 0]

Congratulations, you will wonder how you ever flew without it once you've got it set up and working. Good guy called SeaVee in the Battle of Britain 2 forums posted a tutorial on using TIR which helped me a great deal - it's a bit Bob2 specific but you may find it worth a look, and you could do worse than download SeaVee's TIR profile as a starting point, as it's optimised for looking desperately over your shoulder as well as for shooting. It's here

[BirdDogICT 3]

Hi, Rickity

Great you got it, and running.

If you can tell me how to find the profile data, then I could send you mine.

I started from "Combat", but made it much more aggressive rearwards.

So, after 90°, the head turns much faster, to check the six.

Have fun!

Olham

 

PS: and we expect movies!

 

I just got TrackIR 4 and TrackClip Pro this weekend, and was able to set it up in XP in under 5 minutes. I've been tweaking my profiles in a fashion similar to Olham's...makes it so much easier to check six frequently. I'm not sure if the infrared TrackClip Pro is better than the traditional reflective TrackClip..anyone have an opinion on that?

 

In addition to BHAH, TrackIR works great in CFS3 MAW, CFS3 ETO, Falcon 4 Allied Force, LOMAC Flaming Cliffs, and okay in IL2 1946 (only 4 DOF). I have to say that BHaH and TrackIR have spoiled me. I blew off some of my older flight sims yesterday...couldn't stand to play them without better graphics and tracking. Goodbye RB3D Full Canvas Jacket, and Longbow 2.

 

BTW, older TIR files aren't compatible with the newer XML files. Anyone know a workaround for that?

 

Cheers

[griphos 0]

I've left the combat flight profile pretty much alone, as it works well for me (once I got used to TIR to start with), although I'm very interested to learn about Homeboy's mods. But the one thing I have done that I think helps immensely is change the profile on the x-y axis, the one that tracks side to side movement. I keep a good shallow spot in the middle so my normal movement side to side doesn't change things much, but when I start the curve, I make it basically a vector toward the top so that it scales very quickly once it starts. That allows me to move a little to the side and my view in the game to go pretty quickly to the edge of the range. This allows me to look around the nose and down over the side much more easily, but doesn't mess me up when I'm trying to aim.

 

I'll send a pic of my profile settings on this axis when I get home.

[Rickitycrate 10]

My thanks to all of you. Homeboy, I just recently got setup with BOB2 and will gladly check that link you posted. I am wondering about the stick button assignments in regard to the Mine assignments conflicting with the TrackIR assignments. Do I need to undo the Mine on some buttons to reassign them for TIR? Haven't really gotten that far yet. So far I can say that it is super sweet to have such an increase of vision and the natural aspect of following E/A when at close proximity. My flying thus far is more deliberate than chancey as it was without TIR. Still learning and adapting.

[Olham 164]

Jim, I forgot one important thing.

There is a hotkey called "precision" - put that on an easy to reach thumb button.

You press "precision" short before you want to shoot. It makes your head turns

slower, as if you stiffened up. So, checking six is bad with it, but shooting more

precise. After shooting, you press it again, and can yaw fast again.

[Siggi 10]

My thanks to all of you. Homeboy, I just recently got setup with BOB2 and will gladly check that link you posted. I am wondering about the stick button assignments in regard to the Mine assignments conflicting with the TrackIR assignments. Do I need to undo the Mine on some buttons to reassign them for TIR? Haven't really gotten that far yet. So far I can say that it is super sweet to have such an increase of vision and the natural aspect of following E/A when at close proximity. My flying thus far is more deliberate than chancey as it was without TIR. Still learning and adapting.

 

I don't think button-assigments would conflict with each other, you'd just get the button click doing two things simultaneously.

 

I had all sorts of aggro with my assigments, so I deleted every single one of them in the game and added back only those that I use (precious few). :yes:

[Rickitycrate 10]

Yes Siggi, flying DiD doesn't call for too many buttons to be mapped anyway. Thanks for the tip Olham.

[griphos 0]

Here's my axis profiles. Everything is stock Combat Flight but the X axis. I don't think you have to get too finicky about these settings. As you can see, my scaling is pretty sharp in X, but that really does help me see around the nose and over the side MUCH better than the stock setting. In the stock setting, when I would move sideways enough to look down over the side, I would run out of the sight of the monitor receptor and it wouldn't register my downward movement. This way, I only have to move a bit to the side to reach the terminus of that axis and then when I look down or up, it registers cleanly.

 

[HomeBoy 1]

My thanks to all of you. Homeboy, I just recently got setup with BOB2 and will gladly check that link you posted. I am wondering about the stick button assignments in regard to the Mine assignments conflicting with the TrackIR assignments. Do I need to undo the Mine on some buttons to reassign them for TIR? Haven't really gotten that far yet. So far I can say that it is super sweet to have such an increase of vision and the natural aspect of following E/A when at close proximity. My flying thus far is more deliberate than chancey as it was without TIR. Still learning and adapting.

 

Hi Rickity,

It is my opinion that the HotKeys in the TIR software should be changed to something that is not used in the game you are playing. Since the TIR software provides the ability to create different profiles, you can easily use different hotkeys for each game. I set my hotkeys this way:

 

Pause - ALT + CTL + Y

Center - ALT + CTL + X

Precision - ALT + CTL + Z

 

which cause no conflicts with any of the games I play. Since I program all my keys in my controllers, it doesn't matter how complicated the key sequence is. My controllers have never complained about having to send "ALT + CTL + X"

 

If you don't have joystick buttons to spare for TIR, you could easily find single letter commands to change your hotkey to. For example, you could use "B" (Brakes) for your TIR Center command since OFF doesn't use that command. You might, just to be completely safe, want to go into the key assignment section of the game and delete that assignment for Brakes just in the unlikely event that it could cause some conflict.

[Creaghorn 10]

god, i'm so stupid.

i set everything for my own gusto as good as i could. overall smoothness at 100. smooth at the beginning and getting more aggressive when looking around, so i can check my six (although wondering if realistic, because if one is strapped into his seat he might not be able to check his six perfectly in real). i remapped the the centering key to "delete", and precision on "end" (though never using prescision) because it's a block of keys for itself, so it won't happen that i hit it unintentionally.

what always disturbed me was the fact that if i want to look out of the cockpit straight down, i had to lean quite far left or right, and then looking down, often with trackir losing touch of my reflectors and dancing around.

does anybody think mr. creaghorn came to the idea to simply make the apropriate axis more sharp, so that he only needs to lean a little to the left and the virtual body moves all the way to the left?

stupid stupid stupid. sometimes one must read topics, where he thinks he already knows everything about. sometimes you learn the most obvious.

 

creaghorn

[Olham 164]

Creaghorn, here's more suggestions for you:

 

- Precision is on my joystick button 2 (the bomb drop or cannons thumb button)

- Re-center is on button 4 (right of button 2)

- Wingman Help is on button 2 - the right pointing finger button

 

I found these very helpful for quick reaction in my dogfights.

With "precision", your shooting may improve - it's like stiffening up your body and neck,

and so you can aim a lot better.

[Creaghorn 10]

Creaghorn, here's more suggestions for you:

 

- Precision is on my joystick button 2 (the bomb drop or cannons thumb button)

- Re-center is on button 4 (right of button 2)

- Wingman Help is on button 2 - the right pointing finger button

 

I found these very helpful for quick reaction in my dogfights.

With "precision", your shooting may improve - it's like stiffening up your body and neck,

and so you can aim a lot better.

 

thanks for your suggestions.

precision i don't use. because if i focus somebody, i don't move my head much anyway.

i have a saitek evo force, and all the buttons for the thumb are occupied with attack, rejoin and help. the upper two buttons with engine on and off. the other buttons down the base of the joystick are IMHO more difficult to reach than a key on my keyboard. so i put only the ingame map on it.

 

by the way. i thougt about modify my joystick somehow to be able to hold it with two hands, with the trigger between the hands for the thumb, like the real joysticks of the german scouts had been. only thing i would have to do is to tie a grip on each side with cable clips. but it turned out to be more difficult than i thought because you will have to make the base of the joystick complete unmoveable. maybe with strips wich glue from both sides and glue the joystick on the table in front of the monitor. maybe i'll try it some time.

[almccoyjr 7]

........ I have to say that BHaH and TrackIR have spoiled me. I blew off some of my older flight sims yesterday...couldn't stand to play them without better graphics and tracking. Goodbye RB3D Full Canvas Jacket, and Longbow 2.

 

Cheers

 

Hey BirdDogICt,

 

Don't blow off RB3D; think of it as a classic b/w film that's withstood the onslaught of technicolor. TIR will work with reload; you'll have pitch and yaw and that'll breathe new life into RB3D and all of the great mods that were spawned. Dgvoodoo even helps with the graphics.

[BirdDogICT 3]

Hey BirdDogICt,

 

Don't blow off RB3D; think of it as a classic b/w film that's withstood the onslaught of technicolor. TIR will work with reload; you'll have pitch and yaw and that'll breathe new life into RB3D and all of the great mods that were spawned. Dgvoodoo even helps with the graphics.

 

Almcoyjr,

 

Actually, I wanted to keep RB3D, and had it working well with dgvodoo with my old ATI X1950XTX. Since I upgraded to an ATI 4870, the glide wrappers don't work very well at all, despite hours of tweaking. I was looking forward to playing RB3D with TIR, but was frustrated by the amount of time I spent tweaking an old classic when I could be playing BHaH instead.

 

Any ideas on how to set dgvoodoo settings for the 4870? The 4870 is supposed to support OpenGL 2.1. Maybe should try Glidos or Zeckensack instead. I'll have to look into it.

 

Cheers

[almccoyjr 7]

Almcoyjr,

 

Actually, I wanted to keep RB3D, and had it working well with dgvodoo with my old ATI X1950XTX. Since I upgraded to an ATI 4870, the glide wrappers don't work very well at all, despite hours of tweaking. I was looking forward to playing RB3D with TIR, but was frustrated by the amount of time I spent tweaking an old classic when I could be playing BHaH instead.

 

Any ideas on how to set dgvoodoo settings for the 4870? The 4870 is supposed to support OpenGL 2.1. Maybe should try Glidos or Zeckensack instead. I'll have to look into it.

 

Cheers

 

Nvidia here. The only time I had an ATI card was when I tried a 9700. RB3D is really a good, relaxing game. The RB3D seats are a lot softer compared to the "silver platters" I sit on in BHaH...lol!

[Olham 164]

Rickity, here are two of my TrackIR profile curves, just for comparison.

[BirdDogICT 3]

RB3D is really a good, relaxing game. The RB3D seats are a lot softer compared to the "silver platters" I sit on in BHaH...lol!

 

Almccoyjr,

 

I took your advice and decided to reinstall RB3D with Full Canvas Jacket, TrackIR4, and my CH controllers. Now works like a champ (for some reason I couldn't install it in XPSP3 due to a 16 bit process NTVDM.EXE hanging...had to install it in Safe Mode). And you know, it's definitely worth keeping around. In fact, I'm downloading the Hell's Angel's Superpatch right now, and plan to hexedit a little to reduce the "fishbowl effect".

 

I'm so excited, maybe I'll reload Jane's Longbow into DOSBox and experience some really old graphics. And why did I sell my old copy of Wings of Glory?

 

Cheers

[Olham 164]

Yes, BirdDog

Wings of Glory, Dawn Patrol, and Flying Corps - back then, it was outstanding.

I still have them somewhere.

[BirdDogICT 3]

Yes, BirdDog

Wings of Glory, Dawn Patrol, and Flying Corps - back then, it was outstanding.

I still have them somewhere.

 

Olham,

Can't imagine how I ever flew those old games without TrackIR...keeping track of enemies with a padlock and/or hat switch is so lame by comparison. I've been flying RB3D with the TrackIR the last few days just to get used to it in a familiar environment. Mapping precision and F12 to my CH controllers made a big difference in targeting enemies.

 

BTW, I bought the infrared TrackClip Pro, and have finally given up on trying to get it to work as well as the reflective visor-mounted TrackClip. I found the precision wasn't as good, despite many hours tweaking profiles, having another power cable in the way was annoying, and didn't find headphones to be an improvement. As the TrackIR website states, it's partly a matter of personal taste.

 

Cheers

[BirdDogICT 3]

Nvidia here. The only time I had an ATI card was when I tried a 9700. RB3D is really a good, relaxing game. The RB3D seats are a lot softer compared to the "silver platters" I sit on in BHaH...lol!

 

Alccoyjr,

 

Thanks for the advice. It turned out that either DGVoodoo 1.50Beta2 or OpenGlidev007b4 work fine with RB3D and my ATI 4870...had to find detailed instruction on setting them up and follow the instructions to the letter. It appears that my old ATI X1950XTX was a lot more forgiving with Glide and OpenGL wrappers: I reinstalled Longbow2 and it would only run with Zeckensack...it's funny because I never had problems with DGVoodo before. Anyway, I've been enjoying RB3D with TrackIR and can't imagine how I ever kept alive without it

 

Traced the NTVDM problem to Iolo System Mechanic.

 

Ain't technology fun?

[Rickitycrate 10]

Thanks for all the input to this thread. One thing that I found was that my bifocals were not the thing for TIR. My head movements to see the screen through my glasses made the tracker too busy. I got a decent pair of single focus readers today and that is making a big difference for me. The screen is more steady and my peripheral vision is more in focus. Olham, I have yet to try your profile but I will. One thing I see right now is that my track head is slow to return to center so I need to recenter alot. Probably just something in my setup.