Which should I get to enhance my gameplay?

[Fuse 1]

Thank you, MaxiM! I was starting to wonder why no one else was mentioning Freetrack. :)

[Sundowner 11]

TrackIR - rudder pedals with toe brakes - joystick

In that order.

TrackIR can be used no matter what you are doing in Arma. And as far as "free" and less costly equivalents go - until the Oculus Rift will be available - there is nothing that can be honestly compared to Track IR performance. I was playing with those things since 2004, and thrown all of those inventions to trash when I got my TrackIR 5 Pro last year - the difference is huge. Get it right now.

Rudder pedals: use as many limbs as you can when the game is getting as complex as Arma. You can use pedals with toe brakes to lean when on foot, gas/brake and even precise steering when in a vehicle, and of course rudder and brakes, when the planes come.

Joystick - you can go without one, although I personally am running out of space when trying to fly with mouse, and I have one of the biggest Razor mouse pads available. Good joystick set will make you more consistent when dog fighting, or constantly avoiding gunfire and lining up for attack - at the same time in a helicopter. Just few pointers for selecting good setup:

Go for split joystick and throttle, Hall sensors if available.

AVOID like a plague: force feedback (those designs have limited accuracy) and force sensing (very bad for flying helicopters).

[MaxiM_PL 1]

I'm using a rather original setup for ArmA/TOH: basic joystick with throttle (Logitech Extreme 3D), pedals from my Logitech Formula racing wheel and FreeTrack. It may not be fancy, but it gets the job done and it's very precise :cool:

All I needed to make the FreeTrack as awesome as it can be was this:

http://maxim.republika.pl/3pointhat2.jpg (101 kB)

http://maxim.republika.pl/dayz/ft_camera.jpg

Oh, and let's not forget that FreeTrack is natively supported by Bohemia games and it can emulate TrackIR if needed for other (old) games :]

Edited March 13, 2013 by MaxiM_PL
photos

[Krazzar 1]

Most gaming mice these days have buttons on the sides, with my G600 I have a right, left, and far right click so I set the far right as "look" so I can look around freely and still zoom in at will. This has helped me quite a bit and does not require any new hardware if you have a gaming mouse.

Pedals and a joystick with a full range of movement is important if you're really into flying.

[walker 0]

Hi all

Track IR

Nuff Said Walker

[Fuse 1]

Most gaming mice these days have buttons on the sides, with my G600 I have a right, left, and far right click so I set the far right as "look" so I can look around freely and still zoom in at will. This has helped me quite a bit and does not require any new hardware if you have a gaming mouse.

Pedals and a joystick with a full range of movement is important if you're really into flying.

I use a Razer Naga (I used to play a lot of MMOs), so I've got 14 additional buttons. Trust me, using your thumb for freelook isn't nearly as good as head tracking.

You do bring up a good point, tho. A mouse with lots of buttons does wonders for Arma. I never have to move my hand from WASD thanks to all the buttons on my mouse. Most gamers probably don't need all the buttons on the Naga but there are other options, such as the Naga Hex or similar products from other companies.

[Krazzar 1]

I use a Razer Naga (I used to play a lot of MMOs), so I've got 14 additional buttons. Trust me, using your thumb for freelook isn't nearly as good as head tracking.

You do bring up a good point, tho. A mouse with lots of buttons does wonders for Arma. I never have to move my hand from WASD thanks to all the buttons on my mouse. Most gamers probably don't need all the buttons on the Naga but there are other options, such as the Naga Hex or similar products from other companies.

That's why I like the far right click on the G600, uses my ring finger that usually does nothing and doesn't alter the grip, but it's extremely rare to have the three click system, it's usually just right and left click. For my thumb buttons I set inventory, map, and communications. While not perfect on other mice "look" on a mouse, especially if it's the only binding set to the side buttons, is better than nothing, especially if you don't want to get any additional hardware. Just an alternative I haven't seen brought up yet. Using side buttons regularly on a standard style mouse (like a G5/MX500) will change your grip and most likely throw you off. If I used a side button for look I'd find it cumbersome as well.

Head tracking is a great option because it uses movements and a part of your body that usually isn't used so it removes clutter and redundancy, but that's also why I like the G600's additional click. Head tracking will also work better for aircraft when you're using a joystick. Whatever works for you, there's no single best option.

[Frankdatank1218 39]

If you are an avid pilot with no joystick, I would say that is your highest priority.

[LeeManatee 4]

don't be ridiculous. being naive and belive dsl is very stupid move.

you NEED joystick ONLY if you want to fly planes

you NEED joystick and trackir ONLY if you want to feel more comfortable in flying planes ( aerobatics )

you NEED joystick and pedals ONLY if you want to fly choppers. (pedals are not so critical for planes, but for helicopters they are one of the most used tool)

you DON'T NEED trackir for helicopters that much

you DON'T NEED trackir for infantry.

i know that BECAUSE I OWN IT. joystick, pedals, throttle, trackir

never listen to people who advertise something. no matter TV or youtube. dsl is hired by bis and bis have contracts with trackir due it's implementing i suppose

Edited March 13, 2013 by n7snk

[Frankdatank1218 39]

don't be ridiculous. being naive and belive dsl is very stupid move.

you need joystick if you want to fly planes

you need joystick and trackir if you want to feel more comfortable in flying planes ( aerobatics )

you need joystick and pedals if you want to fly choppers

you don't need trackir for that that much

you don't need trackir for infantry.

i know that BECAUSE I OWN IT. joystick, pedals, throttle, trackir

Well, he's not asking what he "needs", he does have all he needs, you're rightabout that. He is asking what will "enhance his gameplay" the most.

[MaxiM_PL 1]

Trust me, using your thumb for freelook isn't nearly as good as head tracking.

Exactly. Headtracking allows you to aim and move your head separately. Any freelook button, no matter how conveniently placed, will take away the ability to turn and look around at the same time. After a while it's hard to get back to that ;]

[Fuse 1]

never listen to people who advertise something. no matter TV or youtube. dsl is hired by bis and bis have contracts with trackir due it's implementing i suppose

Which is why MaxiM and I recommend the DIY alternative. I'm using a webcam and power adapter I already own, so the build is costing me less than $10. It's silly to pass up head tracking in Arma at that price. :)

[chrisb 196]

So I’m thinking maybe trackIR myself, looked online at all sorts of reviews (mostly player reviews) and it seems to be a good thing. A couple of reviews have concerns regards fps performance hit, maybe someone could clarify that here.

Also which model, ‘TrackIR 5’ looks good, but as I don’t really know much about them, which have you players on here got and how have you found using it.

[LeeManatee 4]

i own track ir 5

i use it ALOT when i fly fighter type of planes.

i use it way less when i fly helicopters.

i use it sometimes when i walk around as infantry.

i don't use it while i drive

[Sundowner 11]

With TrackIR many of the computations are done on the devise chip, so you'll get less performance hit than with any other system that is webcam based and does everything on CPU. With Freetrack, I had about 8% of performance drop, with FaceTrack - depends, but usually around 25%. With TrackIR 5, I have none.

TrackIR 5 have wider angle, and higher sampling rate - not as much as the chip on Oculus, but 5-7 times higher than you'll get on a webcam with this resolution. The TrackIR 4 is ok, if someone can't afford 5, but can a 4 - then get it, otherwise, shoot for the 5 Pro variant.

BTW, go to Dslyecxi website, and get yourself a discount ;)

http://dslyecxi.com/trackir5/

[MaxiM_PL 1]

If you have a PC powerful enough to run ArmA III, performance of FreeTrack is not an issue. It barely was on my old PC, but on my new machine it's totally negligible. Also, the angle depends on your webcam, so it's a matter of picking the right one. I have yet to experiment with 16:9 webcam, but my current 4:3 one never limited me in any way.

[Silent_Thunder 1]

Another thing is ArmA doesn't utilize all your cores, so if you have anything more than a Quad core, the impact would be non existant, because it's running on a completly seperate thread.