Well, after two months with my TIR2, I'm becoming a bit frustrated, Jim. I wish there was a better interactive utility for mapping out what one is looking at and the distance one is sitting.
I've tried all sorts of whacky stuff from stickers on my face to the ring in my nose but there is just no consistency from session to session. Every once in a blue moon it works like a dream; I look back right up and I see back right up. More often than not, however, because I'm viewing the wideness of three monitors from an increased distance of about a foot from what one would expect from a single monitor, the TIR2 craps out before it reaches the back, the light goes out, or stuttering starts occurring, or just general visual meyham. Without TIR2 (as a newcomer to IL2) I probably have about 50% efficiency with the bots, with the TIR2, I probably have zero effeciency. It simply takes so much grooming to keep it tracking that I'm distracted from the game. I've discovered that if I strap myself into a chair, head locked in a halo-esque device set strictly within a very small virtual sphere that's entirely too close to the monitor for a triplehead setup, it works. Heh, talk about enhancing the immersive experience. Anyway, I'm venting now. Back to the matter at hand, if either Jim or anyone else has a secret formula for getting a triplehead system working smoothly and consistently with the TIR2, I will name my firstborn after you. I can see where this device would greatly improve the immersion of IL2 but, frankly, my reach has exceeded my grasp and I'm about at my wit's end screwing around tweaking with it everytime I want to play a simple game. Deep breath.
In a nutshell, it's always either too jumpy or too narrow in it's reach to be of use. To set it to reach the full 180 degrees of a triplehead means it moves entirely too quickly when trying to aim (the sensitive setting is too abrupt of a changeover to be of value, imo, and I spend too much time reorienting myself after the *jerk* to the point where I'm usually a heap of burning debris by the time I figure out where the TIR2 has transported my view.
As a caveat, I play without the cockpit. With the cockpit, there are enough visual clues to tell one when one has reached the limits of view. Without the cockpit, (which I find distracting, despite the purists) the reticle is like chasing a bubble in a windstorm. I've set things up so that the TIR2 stops tracking when I need it to so I can aim but it's just another control I wish I didn't have to deal with. So, in a way, I'm blaming my gaming preferences for the some of the problems I'm experiencing. I may end up with the cockpit eventually but for the moment these old eyes simply can't maintain a situation awareness unless I'm using no-cockpit mode.
[ January 15, 2004, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: bash ]
Triplehead Revisited
Re: Triplehead Revisited
Bash:
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I think you have a bit of a unique situation, as with 3 monitors your need for a TrackIR2 should be less, as the point of our device is to provide control over your virtual world and let you see the whole of it, but with 3 monitors you can already see a bunch of it.
Okay, time for suggestions. I think the best thing to do is get more resolution out of the TrackIR2. That will involve turning the Speed setting way down, and that means moving the device much closer to your target. I would place the device BEHIND you and put a large target on the back of a hat, there is one already there if you have a TrackHat. This way the device can be close to you without being in your way. You will have to inverse the X axis. How you mount it is up to you. The other thing to do is create a much bigger target, like 1" square, and put it on the brim of a hat, like a large pop up target at a shooting range. This will give you twice the throw of normal head movement and a bigger target to keep track of. Also, you could simply put a target on the end of a stick and mount the stick on your headset. One last thing; make the target out of a 1" foam or plastic ball from a craft store and put the reflective material around it, this will give a perfect return signature from all angles and should make the experience MUCH better.
Hope this helps, let us know.
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I think you have a bit of a unique situation, as with 3 monitors your need for a TrackIR2 should be less, as the point of our device is to provide control over your virtual world and let you see the whole of it, but with 3 monitors you can already see a bunch of it.
Okay, time for suggestions. I think the best thing to do is get more resolution out of the TrackIR2. That will involve turning the Speed setting way down, and that means moving the device much closer to your target. I would place the device BEHIND you and put a large target on the back of a hat, there is one already there if you have a TrackHat. This way the device can be close to you without being in your way. You will have to inverse the X axis. How you mount it is up to you. The other thing to do is create a much bigger target, like 1" square, and put it on the brim of a hat, like a large pop up target at a shooting range. This will give you twice the throw of normal head movement and a bigger target to keep track of. Also, you could simply put a target on the end of a stick and mount the stick on your headset. One last thing; make the target out of a 1" foam or plastic ball from a craft store and put the reflective material around it, this will give a perfect return signature from all angles and should make the experience MUCH better.
Hope this helps, let us know.
Re: Triplehead Revisited
Thanks, Jim. I'll give those things a try and get back to you on what worked and what didn't.
Regarding your first assumption that a tripleheader has less need for your device, would that it were true. The opposite exists unless you run in side-window mode (which makes the world look like a fisheye lens). Here's what I see... the top is 640 x 480, captured at the default lens; the bottom is what I see at 1920 x 480, same settings, scaled to equal width. The screenshots were back to back with only a resolution change in between so the clouds exist nearly identically in each shot. You can see there's alot of information missing in the bottom screen capture. In a game where most of the action takes place vertically, you can see why we tripleheaders can really use a device like yours.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing like seeing everything bigger and more in tune with the peripheral vision of our eyes, but there's is actually more need to roam one's view around in a triplehead than in a single setup, imo. Anyway, thanks for the tips. I'm not giving up yet.
[ January 15, 2004, 05:50 PM: Message edited by: bash ]
Regarding your first assumption that a tripleheader has less need for your device, would that it were true. The opposite exists unless you run in side-window mode (which makes the world look like a fisheye lens). Here's what I see... the top is 640 x 480, captured at the default lens; the bottom is what I see at 1920 x 480, same settings, scaled to equal width. The screenshots were back to back with only a resolution change in between so the clouds exist nearly identically in each shot. You can see there's alot of information missing in the bottom screen capture. In a game where most of the action takes place vertically, you can see why we tripleheaders can really use a device like yours.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing like seeing everything bigger and more in tune with the peripheral vision of our eyes, but there's is actually more need to roam one's view around in a triplehead than in a single setup, imo. Anyway, thanks for the tips. I'm not giving up yet.
[ January 15, 2004, 05:50 PM: Message edited by: bash ]