Keyboard emulation Re:Ideas for FPS useage.

[r_stich]

I saw another thread about this topic, but, for whatever reason, thought a new thread might work better.

I play a lot more FPS and RTS games than I do sims, although it was for the driving and flying sims that I bought a TiR3+Vector.

I admit, I haven't tried using mouse emulation to directly control an FPS yet, but, frankly, I just don't see it being very useful, much like using a joystick or even gamepad controller for something more than a lame console ported shooter, like Half Life 2 or Call of Duty.

I can also understand why developers aren't interested in developing inputs that can seperate the view from the aim. It is just contradictory and unintuitive, and those guys are usually concentrating on bigger things, like smooth netplay and anti-cheating. I can see this being useful in a sneak game, but I just don't see it becoming standard.

However, there are a few areas where the TrackIR might instantly become useful, without the need for any modification to the existing game structure.
What would be very useful, I think, would be to have the ability within TrackIR to map different zones of 'headspace' with a key trigger. Similiar to mouse emulation, but instead supplying some limited keyboard emulation.

Some uses:
Stance: Someone else had the idea that when you duck down, the FPS char would crouch, or prone. With the idea above, you could have a lower hemisphere of 'headspace' map to the default crouch or prone key. As long as you are ducking, it is holding down the key. When you come back to a neutral position, the emulated key is released, and your game character resumes his normal posture.

Zoom: ever since Quake 1 most FPS's have had the ability, even if it is only via console commands, to change the field of view. So, obviously, you could map the TrackIR's Z axis to a zoom axis, if it has it, or map 3 planes of z 'headspace' to zoom in, normal, and zoomed out FOVs. Some people might like the to map a zoom in hemisphere to something like the 'aim down sight'.

Lean: many current games have keypresses to lean left and right. I leave it to the reader to imagine how this could work.

In summary, instead of waiting for game developers to "come around" to TrackIR, I think keyboard emulation is something that Natural Point developers can implement, that will instantly make TrackIR useable in EVERY game, past, present, and future participle. Heck you could use it for desktop applications as well.

Anyway, I've got the brand new TrackIR sitting there, but it's waiting for the Battlefield 2 fever to subside.

Stickshift

[warrenEBB]

Well Stickshift,
While the advantages of TrackIR in FPS aren't as immediately obvious/overwhelming as they are for racing and flight simulators, there are genuine unique advantages.

We are currently talking to several major FPS Developers who find TrackIR interesting and would like to support it (even if only for the ability to say "we're the only people with the foresight to embrace this new technology"). It will make their game stand out as new, unique, and more immersive - which is a must in the oversaturated FPS market.

While the added complexity of "view control separate from aim control" is unintuitive for fast paced "twich shooters" (like quake3arena and Unreal Tourney), these games are being put in their place by the mass of other FPS which are improving the realism. Just as pong was specialized into more realistic paddle/tennis games, the FPS genre will diversify towards better simulating reality. There will still be those who prefer the faster/simplified/older design&control approach, but FPS is already shifting heavily away from a "Twitch Shooter" focus. And this is good for TrackIR, which offers enhanced immersion instead of faster/easier/simple kills.

As for triggering key strokes. We endorse a fan made utility called "TrackMapper" (by kafuji), and several people in this forum have also pointed out how it could be upgrated to support 3D space instead of just the 2D plane.
(1 example : http://forums.naturalpoint.com/cgi-bin/ ... 175#000000 )
(read more on TrackMapper : http://kaf.tri6.net/trackmapper/ )

I find this idea very exciting (and will note your interest as well, when hammering away at the powers that be to spend some time on it).
NaturalPoint is currently focused on perfecting TrackIR support in upcoming games instead of finding ways to approximate the proper experience in older one's. I'm sure this isn't what you wanted to hear (and hey, we just got into Jane's F/A-18, so this isn't a concrete rule), but i think your point that emulating in older games will inspire developers is great. I will run this by the bosses.

Please keep posting in these forums, and elsewhere. Developers will take note.

[ July 01, 2005, 08:36 PM: Message edited by: NaturalPoint-Warren ]

[Jim]

I think the keyboard emulation idea is solid, especially using Vector. We will look into it.

[Heinzi]

I found this via google.

I would love to see keyboard and/or joystick emulation for TIR. There arent that many sims (especially helicopter sims) out there and its hard to play the old games without TIR.

I cant get trackmapper to work with SAR4/Medevac, HIND seems to work though with some issues.

[piln]

And another vote from me

Sorry, I've posted almost exactly the same thing in another thread before I noticed this one. But yeah, this would be fantastic, and the moment I could do this in Thief DS, my own video footage would be all over the TTLG forums (and here, of course).

User-customisable key/joy/mouse emulator using all 6DOF, ideally with definable zones so that sensitivity can be just right for the user, or so that a single direction can issue multiple commands in sequence.

I would go HOG WILD for that, I'm not kidding. Hopefully other gamers and developers would be similarly affected.

[ March 10, 2006, 07:19 AM: Message edited by: piln ]

[Spearhead]

I also hope to see a way to map the Axes to keystrokes. This could add a whole new level of control to the games.

I imagine a shooter where there is no TrackIR support in place (or not for all axes) and you could map them to perform new actions.... Especially tilting your head to the side could be very useful...

Lean left/right in games whith leaning. (Ghost Recon, Rainbow, etc)

Switch vision modes in games like Splinter Cell & Battlefield 2 (SF)

Distance from the emitter could be used to control zoom level in cockpits in IL-2 with keystrokes.

The possibilities would be large with a relatively small amount of work needed to integrate them. The option to treat the axes as DirectX controller axes would even expand the usability in Games without internal TrackIr Support.

If I had any experience with creating Keyboard/Joystick software for Windows I'd probably try to make such an application myself.