Track IR and FE 2

[RIBob 39]

Mods, please re-post to appropriate forum.; probably a dupe.

I just today got Track IR (latest (2019) iteration) working in conjunction with FE 2.  An amazing, and immersive difference!  I have tried this TIR device/program with other flight sims, and at this point, it works well with FE 2 and EAWPRO.

The trick is to install the program, get it running, and then shut down.  After re-start, go back to TIR main folder, and look for mouse emulator application.  Make a shortcut to this application to a convenient place.

After that, start TIR, center your headview, diminish TIR screen, and them click on mouse emulator program shortcut.  Then start the game.

An incredible difference!  Cannot overstate the necessity to use the feature in order for it to become second-nature.  Haviing just begun to do so, I'll NEVER go back to the very limited hat switch.

YMMV. 

Disclaimer: No personal financial interest in mfr/vendor.

[+streakeagle 871]

You shouldn't need mouse emulation for FE2, 5 out of 6 degrees of freedom TrackIR support is built in.

[RIBob 39]

Thanks for the info; I'll try  TrackIR w/o mouse emulation and see how it goes.  Do you have pertinent links to such info which might assist me?   

A newbie here to Track IR, and so asking for all possible help.

Which DOF is not "built-in"?  Having 5 out of 6 seems odd.  Any way to overcome the missing DOF?

Thanks in advance!

RIBob

Edited August 19, 2019 by RIBob

[+streakeagle 871]

The game developer decides which things to support or not support. TK/Third Wire was an early supporter of the original TrackIR with 3 DOF. When "Vector" was released supporting 6 DOF, he added moving left/right, up/down, but did not add the ability to tilt your head. The left/right and up/down are also very limited movements. All Third Wire games support TrackIR in "Enhanced Mode", which means the game was designed to use it fully/correctly.

Once you can get TrackIR working correctly in your games, the key is to create custom profiles to match your preferences. I like to disable all of the TrackIR button functions except "Recenter", and I map that one to the POV hat center "push-down" position on my throttle in all of my games. I also uncheck the "trap" option so that I can still use that same button in games to reset my view to the default forward view... so one button brings me back to the default view and recalibrates my TrackIR center at the same time. I just have to be looking at the center of the screen when I do so to get the re-center correct. It takes some time playing with the axis profiles to find out what you like. Smooth? Fast? Deadband? Flat curve? Ramped curve? I can't tell you what to do. Just pick and axis and try switching between the default profiles as well as playing with the speed and smoothness settings. You may like different profiles for different games.

Edited August 19, 2019 by streakeagle

[+mue 715]

12 hours ago, streakeagle said:

The left/right and up/down are also very limited movements.

To allow larger lateral head movements the following entries in the [CockpitSeat001] section in the <aircraft>_cockpit.ini can be changed:

MinMovementX=-0.1
MaxMovementX=0.1
MinMovementZ=-0.1
MaxMovementZ=0.1

[RIBob 39]

On 8/18/2019 at 9:08 PM, streakeagle said:

The game developer decides which things to support or not support. TK/Third Wire was an early supporter of the original TrackIR with 3 DOF. When "Vector" was released supporting 6 DOF, he added moving left/right, up/down, but did not add the ability to tilt your head. The left/right and up/down are also very limited movements. All Third Wire games support TrackIR in "Enhanced Mode", which means the game was designed to use it fully/correctly.

Once you can get TrackIR working correctly in your games, the key is to create custom profiles to match your preferences. I like to disable all of the TrackIR button functions except "Recenter", and I map that one to the POV hat center "push-down" position on my throttle in all of my games. I also uncheck the "trap" option so that I can still use that same button in games to reset my view to the default forward view... so one button brings me back to the default view and recalibrates my TrackIR center at the same time. I just have to be looking at the center of the screen when I do so to get the re-center correct. It takes some time playing with the axis profiles to find out what you like. Smooth? Fast? Deadband? Flat curve? Ramped curve? I can't tell you what to do. Just pick and axis and try switching between the default profiles as well as playing with the speed and smoothness settings. You may like different profiles for different games.

I am a newbie to TrackIR, so am just beginning to experiment.  I also understand that there are very worthwhile competitors, most having a lower price.  So far, the "mouse emulator" works well with FE 2.  I don't normally favor any mapping of view buttons, as I find, so far, that "finding the cockpit" after looking away from it, is a more natural thing for me, and more realistic as well.  YMMV.  I certainly admit I have much to learn, but the addition of Track IR has made a wonderful addition to my situational awareness.  Previously, I had to struggle to shoot down 3 or 4 enemy aircraft in the instant action (or whatever it is called) portion of the game, and it is FAR easier to do that with TrackIR than without.  I admit I don't have a lot of flight time on FE 2, maybe 10 hours or so, but at even most difficult internal game settings, the AI is not terribly intelligent, even on highest settings.  Perhaps there are Mods that will enhance such things.  I will look into it.

At this point, I'm trying to get TrackIR integrated with "Crimson Skies" with no luck so far.  Yes, I understand that it is a semi-arcade game, but once set at "High" difficulty, it is not bad at all, and worth a second look.  There are  NoCD versions of the game available on the web.  I suggest looking for "widescreen crimson skies", which is patched-up, and includes a "csfix" module that allows it to be played on Win 10.  YMMV, but it is a fun game, and a worthwhile diversion from more "serious" stuff.  Again, YMMV.   If your Gfx card/computer allows such, enable the "Shadows" feature within the in-game graphics choices.  Doing so, for me, enhanced the visuals to a remarkable degree--actually transformed the visuals.

Disclaimer: no financial interest in the product/vendor, or anything else.  

Edited August 21, 2019 by RIBob

[RIBob 39]

On 8/19/2019 at 9:11 AM, mue said:

To allow larger lateral head movements the following entries in the [CockpitSeat001] section in the <aircraft>_cockpit.ini can be changed:

MinMovementX=-0.1
MaxMovementX=0.1
MinMovementZ=-0.1
MaxMovementZ=0.1

Interesting, and valuable.  For what sim(s) are these recommendations pertinent?  What were the original values for these settings?  Are the settings discrete, or variable? If so, within what limits?

Does a change in these settings pertain to all aircraft within the particular game?  Is this advice pertinent to SF2?  FE2?

[+streakeagle 871]

This is an ini file for each individual aircraft the filename is the name of the aircraft followed by "_cockpit.ini". This is applicable to both SF2 and FE2 games as they are essentially the same engine and use almost the same codebase.

[+mue 715]

7 hours ago, RIBob said:

What were the original values for these settings?  Are the settings discrete, or variable? If so, within what limits?

The original values you can find in the original <aircraft>_cockpit.ini files. Note: Not all <aircraft>_cockpit.ini files contain those data. I think most stock SF2 aircraft do not, but most (all) FE2 aircraft do. If the data are missing I _think_ the game uses 0.0 as limit, that means no lateral head movement.
The values describe the allowed minimum/maximum lateral head movement in meters. Unfortunatelly IMHO the trackir implementation of the lateral head movement in the game is not fully correct. Because if you change those values, besides changing the movement limits it also changes the movement scale. IMHO the movement scale, i.e. how much real head movement translates into virtual head movement, should only be defined by the trackir profile and not by the game.