Panoramic.

[Macming 0]

Hi there.

 

I suppose I could be called a long term lurker as I've been playing O.F.F. for a while now but never managed to talk myself into MP ( I case I cause a multi-midair) ......Soon Honest !!! Anyway, I came upon this one night while trawling round the net . Going with the style and colour of the monitors it's a few years old and must have cost a pretty penny in it's day. Just wondered if any body recognises it.. Is it yours by any chance ?

[Slartibartfast 153]

Not mine I am stuck with 2 monitors... and it looks like there is a mongo sized setup going on with all that...

[Stiffy 1]

These days I don't think Id bother with that setup if i had that much cash.

 

These days you can get full 3d VR goggles which put you inside the game for about a thousand pounds. Some have superb field of view now too (often better than you get wearing flying goggles!)

 

And of course you can combine that with Track ir to look around... just image in it! actually sitting in off so real that you could almost reach out and touch the dashboard... Must get a bank loan.

[Av8er 0]

Are the Vurtural reality goggles even compatable with OFF?

 

 

[Flyby PC 23]

Don't know if they're ready, but by the nature of it, I think a flight sim will be one of the easier things to transfer into virtual reality. Your cockpit is fairly static relative to you, and most of the interaction with other characters is less complicated than it might be for other types of game because there's no acute scenery perspective apart from clouds, and most of the action is at some distance.

 

When I was a kid, I looked forward to the day when you and your mates could play together on computer, and put yourselves into historical contexts like Waterloo or Trafalgar. I thought it would be awesome for the spectacle, and good fun to recognise your pals visually inside the game. - (As in they actually looked like your pals, expressions and all). Not so hot to see them killed, but it is a game...

 

I have to say, graphics are still lacking a little bit for full on 3d, but with trackir and teamspeak, we're not that far away in flight sims. You can't see your mates faces, but then in the real world you wouldn't either. The overall realism, or immersion factor at least is pretty good.

 

Depending on the nature of how these games progress, I think it's only a matter of time before they feature heavily in our education systems, and teaching, especially history, will never be the same again. I actually think it's inevitable, and the potential is tremendous. Imagine your whole class standing in a London Street during the blitz, or any other historical scenario you can think of. You can go to the moon, swim coral reefs... the sky's not the limit.

[Rickitycrate 10]

I am reminded of a short story by Ray Bradbury I read 40 years ago called "The Velt". As I recall the character entered a room in his house and he could select an enviroment, not unlike the Holo-deck from Star trek Voyager. So the guy runs the African Velt program and the lions eat him, as I recall, could be wrong after all these years.

[Siggi 10]

I've been anticipating VR-goggles for a few years now. A resolution of such quality as to allow full detail, full peripheral vision etc. But I think a game would have to be specifically coded for it.

 

Is the resolution there yet? We're talking, in effect, about a screen only inches away from the eyeballs, and curved too.

[Stiffy 1]

I've been anticipating VR-goggles for a few years now. A resolution of such quality as to allow full detail, full peripheral vision etc. But I think a game would have to be specifically coded for it.

 

Is the resolution there yet? We're talking, in effect, about a screen only inches away from the eyeballs, and curved too.

 

 

Actually modern VR does all the work, games do not have to be coded for 3d. The game is already a 3d environment all the headset does is calculate how to render a dual image from it.

 

Apparently some games work better than others but none of them have to be designed for vr.

[Stiffy 1]

Here are some examples available.

 

http://www.vrealities.com/hmd.html

 

Some are running resolutions up to 4200x2400 per eye

 

Note that there are various diferent types of vr headset, the best type are full 3d head mounted displays.

 

VR has come on alot since the old days... just isnt as much media hype any more so you dont hear about it.

[Stiffy 1]

I am reminded of a short story by Ray Bradbury I read 40 years ago called "The Velt". As I recall the character entered a room in his house and he could select an enviroment, not unlike the Holo-deck from Star trek Voyager. So the guy runs the African Velt program and the lions eat him, as I recall, could be wrong after all these years.

 

 

Ive been trying to work out what that story was since I read it at school 20 years ago!

[JimAttrill 24]

As today seems to be one for nit-picking - here's another nit....

 

/didactic boring mode on/

 

The name for the place I live is the Highveld. The 'v' and the 'd' are unvoiced so the word sounds like 'felt' to English speakers. The original word is Afrikaans 'veld'. Sometimes in English (not here) it is written 'veldt', but never 'velt'.

 

And you don't have to be an entomologist to figure out that 'veld' and 'field' come from the same Germanic root.

 

/didactic boring mode off/

 

(Spot the deliberate mistake )

[sandbagger 1]

E-Dimensions 3D glasses work well enough for OFF, but at present they don't support Vista. I used them on my XP rig OK.

[zoomzoom 2]

Always thought it'd be cool to put an OFF setup, with trackir or multiple screens in one of those plywood boxes that they used to train pilots in in the military around WWII where when you move the stick the whole box moves...ie pitches forward/back/left/ right. This could be enough to give you that pit of the stomach motion movement that is the last missing link in a complete realism immersion feeling. Now to get to building it in my basement.....wait, perhaps I should finish the basement first!!!

 

 

ZZ.

[zoomzoom 2]

Sorta like this, but with a computer screen inside. You dont really need the tail and such, it could be much more compact. But with a computer screen in the front window. Really it could simply be a compact enclosed seat, with the pivot point beneath contolled via cables and pulleys linked to the control stick.....extended of course for leverage.

 

ZZ.

Edited November 10, 2009 by zoomzoom

[Rickitycrate 10]

And you don't have to be an entomologist... you are right Jim about my miss spelling, I knew better. And just when Stiffy made me feel good about my memory, hehe. And no I don't know a great deal about insects.

[Flyby PC 23]

Sorta like this, but with a computer screen inside. You dont really need the tail and such, it could be much more compact. But with a computer screen in the front window. Really it could simply be a compact enclosed seat, with the pivot point beneath contolled via cables and pulleys linked to the control stick.....extended of course for leverage.

 

ZZ.

 

 

They call it a gimble Zoom Zoom. Two pivots at 90 degrees gives the movement, with either servo motors turning them, or hydraulic rams actuating them. I reckon I could make a gimble work with steel section and a few decent bearings, (might even support my weight), but I don't know enough to make the rams work the movement through a computer. Sure it can't be hard, and there's probably a utility control unit you could buy which would cope with what, 4 rams? - maybe 6 if you want a flat spin or dramatic shake when crashing. Hydraulic rams might be quieter than compressed air, (but I'm no expert). You could have a strobe behind your head to simulate hits. I suspect you wouldn't need full 360 movement, especially if your cockpit was enclosed. Even a little movement could still be quite convincing. Everything else, guages etc is essentially just presentation, but if the control gubbins worked well, it would be worth a little effort to at least get real gauges to function. I reckon a simple motor with an offset 'hammer' would simluate the clatter of guns. Probably take a while to get a working prototype safe enough for a kid to use. Even a rather big kid....

 

Nope. I have never given it a moments thought.

[zoomzoom 2]

My concept was simpler. The whole, (much reduced in size) affair is located over a central ball joint. The stick as it extends down thru the floor actuates simple pulley and wires, much like a real planes controls, that are conected to a fixed frame that it can push and pull from. Its easier than it sounds really, but the only drawback for me, (or complexity) is getting the joystick buttons attached to the real flight yoke. Can be done....just a headache. The cable system is light years more simple yet effective than servos etc, as it operates on simple fulcrum type physics.

 

 

All great in theory....now build it you say!!!! lol Wish I had the time.

 

ZZ.

[Flyby PC 23]

My concept was simpler. The whole, (much reduced in size) affair is located over a central ball joint. The stick as it extends down thru the floor actuates simple pulley and wires, much like a real planes controls, that are conected to a fixed frame that it can push and pull from. Its easier than it sounds really, but the only drawback for me, (or complexity) is getting the joystick buttons attached to the real flight yoke. Can be done....just a headache. The cable system is light years more simple yet effective than servos etc, as it operates on simple fulcrum type physics.

 

 

All great in theory....now build it you say!!!! lol Wish I had the time.

 

ZZ.

 

Yeah, not keen on servos. Hate electric stuff, but hydraulic rams would do it. Lots of control, but light to the touch.

 

Not a great fan of cables though, they stretch and are difficult to join. I'm not faulting your preference Zoom Zoom, just thinking what I'd find easiest to build myself with the knowledge I have. I expect you're doing exactly the same. I can picture how a hydraulic solution would work, but I don't know how I'd communicate the sensitivity and smoothness of a joystick output to the hydraulic pump. I reckon I could get the movement right, but it might feel very mechanical and nothing like an aircraft.

 

Think this is closer to your solution - but I don't see how it works 100%.

 

[Stiffy 1]

I think I will have to do things on a bit of a tighter budget for now, going to clip a fan to the top of my monitor and get the missus to throw castor oil at me.