TrackIR - Does it add £130 worth of fun?

[andersson 285]

I would say head tracking is worth 130£!

But you don't have to pay that much even if it's worth it. You can find a used trackIR4, or build one yourself as people have suggested. TrackIR seems overpriced.

But the result of head tracking is no doubt worth it all!!

But if you are used to play with free floating zone you have to turn it off. Head tracking is bugged with free zone.... :(

[DancZer 65]

I want to ask something from those who owns TIR5. Does it have any disadvantage?

I spent almost ~50€ for the first 3 variant(see the list below) but i am still not satisfied.

-FreeTrack+IR slow not really precise(maybe because of the camera, i tried it with a wiimote but it is too big for my notebook)

-FaceTrackNoIR slow and sometimes lose the tracking

-GyroHead very responsive but sometimes drift away and then require recenter

-TrackIR 5 it's not cheap, but has any disadvantage?

What about TrackClip Pro?

Edited March 3, 2014 by danczer

[dmarkwick 261]

-TrackIR 5 it's not cheap, but has any disadvantage?

Pros:

External processing for tracking, so no CPU usage.

Very accurate.

Wider angle lens & increased sample rates than previous versions.

Well supported.

Cons:

Need to wear a hat.

Cost (although you have to offset it with the amount of use it will get, which will be a lot).

What about TrackClip Pro?

Up to you, it uses a USB port and wires you to your PC. Personally I found an accuracy drop while using it.

[Tankbuster 1733]

I would say head tracking is worth 130£!

But you don't have to pay that much even if it's worth it. You can find a used trackIR4, or build one yourself as people have suggested. TrackIR seems overpriced.

But the result of head tracking is no doubt worth it all!!

I picked up a used 4 from ebay a few years back. It's a little tired now - there's lots of tape and cable ties holding it together but it was certainly worth the £80 I paid for it.

[mamasan8 11]

Of course people justify the need for anything they buy. Otherwise they wouldn't buy it.

And noone wants to make a bad decision so even the flaws are somehow excused and justified.

Doesn't matter if it's a Ferrari, TrackIR or candy every day.

Owners of something naturally defend the product and their justification of owning it (unless its total shit).

With that said, money is not always the same. With 10 dollars you could buy 10 cokes or a game on sale. Which would you rather have? They are both 'worth' 10 dollars but I bet the other one is 'worth' more to YOU. Worth doesn't come from money, it comes from meaning.

[MavericK96 0]

I want to ask something from those who owns TIR5. Does it have any disadvantage?

As far as head tracking goes? No. TIR5 is the best you're going to get currently.

You do have to wear a hat/headset as DMarkwick mentioned, but I almost always play ArmA with a headset anyway so that is not an issue.

I haven't noticed any "accuracy drop" using the TrackClip Pro...in fact I think it works better than the normal TrackClip, in that it is a powered source rather than relying on reflected IR light produced by the tracking unit itself.

That said, you are not going to want to use the TrackClip Pro if you don't wear a headset.

[Xalteva 10]

It's awkaward actually unless you have monitors all around you ... oculus is worth the buy though !

[andersson 285]

Actually it's not. Takes a few seconds for the brain to adjust and then it's all natural.

[Tankbuster 1733]

It's awkaward actually unless you have monitors all around you ... oculus is worth the buy though !

Oculus isn't out yet. Have you been lucky enough to get a dev kit?

[Tekkiller 10]

Hi.

I am borderline on getting one, just not sure if it adds that much to the experience?

I have watched all the videos I can but does not really help me decide.

Thank you for any input.

I use it diligently in War Thunder, Rise of Flight and now in Arma 3 (just got the game). I love it and wouldn't want to play without it anymore.

[SissiSaatana 1]

Had it long time , haven't regret buying it, I initially bought it for flight sims but have been surprisingly pleased with it in arma 3 infantry gameplay. It took quite a while for me to get fully used to the idea that u might be looking different way than your gun is pointed (specially fast situations (cqb :D)) but once I got I cant go back. I heard good and bad stories about the DIY solutions but haven't tried one myself so dunno about them at least worth looking into. Only two minus I give for track ir is price (I've heard rumors that they are relatively cheap to produce but not solid facts) and that my track clip is always lost when I'm starting to play and I have to meditate on the subject where I left it for 5-10 minutes before I can start gaming xD

[MavericK96 0]

The best thing about it in ArmA 3, besides use in vehicles/aircraft which is excellent, is that on foot it is vital to maintain situational awareness, and the TrackIR lets you do that amazingly. You can be looking around at other squad members while maintaining formation running forward, not having to strafe around and spin your whole body to look around. Also, you are able to keep your weapon on target and look around even while looking down iron sights, making sure you don't get flanked. While I don't use it much myself, the incremental lean functionality is also pretty cool.

This is to say nothing of the other functionality, like being able to do 6 DOF head movement inside a helicopter, including rotating and moving laterally to look on the outside (xH-6, for example).

[bullet purveyor 85]

I want to ask something from those who owns TIR5. Does it have any disadvantage?

I

Yes!

All other games that don't have TrackIR support will be ruined for you.

You gonna try to look around to no avail :)

[EDcase 87]

Of course people justify the need for anything they buy. Otherwise they wouldn't buy it.

And noone wants to make a bad decision so even the flaws are somehow excused and justified.

Doesn't matter if it's a Ferrari, TrackIR or candy every day.

Owners of something naturally defend the product and their justification of owning it (unless its total shit).

With that said, money is not always the same. With 10 dollars you could buy 10 cokes or a game on sale. Which would you rather have? They are both 'worth' 10 dollars but I bet the other one is 'worth' more to YOU. Worth doesn't come from money, it comes from meaning.

Not true actually. Most people who are disappointed by a purchase are the most vocal in denouncing it and making sure as many people as possible hear about their disappointment. Its true that some do not adapt to TIR or any head tracking in fact so there is always the possibility to regret a purchase but that is no fault of the product. It does what its meant to, and very well.

If you don't like it you can sell it so its not a complete loss...

Unfortunately there are a couple of annoying bugs when using TIR with aiming deadzone in ARMA3.

See 'Vote to fix' below

Edited March 6, 2014 by EDcase

[Tankbuster 1733]

The best thing about it in ArmA 3, besides use in vehicles/aircraft which is excellent, is that on foot it is vital to maintain situational awareness, and the TrackIR lets you do that amazingly. You can be looking around at other squad members while maintaining formation running forward, not having to strafe around and spin your whole body to look around. Also, you are able to keep your weapon on target and look around even while looking down iron sights, making sure you don't get flanked. While I don't use it much myself, the incremental lean functionality is also pretty cool.

This is to say nothing of the other functionality, like being able to do 6 DOF head movement inside a helicopter, including rotating and moving laterally to look on the outside (xH-6, for example).

Couldn't agree more with this. In many ways it's more useful on the ground in this game because we spend so much more time on the ground tha in the air. It is an infantry game, after all.

I wonder how many people in here would agree with this - If my Trackir broke today, I'd have a another on order before tomorrow.

[Grissom 10]

I've only heard people talk about it as I don't have Track IR myself, but it sounds like with the leaning feature being added in it's tons of fun even though it takes some getting use to.

[scrim 1]

Personally, I find the leaning via TIR to be of low use and quality. Unless you up the sensitivity to what I personally feel would be very awkward levels, the LOS between the clip and the camera will be broken before you've reached the full extent of the leaning. And leaning that much itself, when sitting down, is extremely uncomfortable.

[andersson 285]

You can assign lean to the head tilt too.

Personally I have lean by both moving and tilting. The left-right head movement has a very big dead zone and then linear steep ends. So it's easy to get a full lean quickly. Then in addition I have a slower lean-movement by tilting my head for more precision or slower, more stealthy, peak-around the corner moves. This way I move my head to get into the approximate lean angle and then I can tilt it to get the exact lean.

+ I have keys setup for the quick full lean.

[Tankbuster 1733]

You can assign lean to the head tilt too.

Personally I have lean by both moving and tilting. The left-right head movement has a very big dead zone and then linear steep ends. So it's easy to get a full lean quickly. Then in addition I have a slower lean-movement by tilting my head for more precision or slower, more stealthy, peak-around the corner moves. This way I move my head to get into the approximate lean angle and then I can tilt it to get the exact lean.

+ I have keys setup for the quick full lean.

I never tweaked the leaning and turned it off as it made my neck hurt. I might go back and revisit the settings.

I have noticed I can 'strafe' my head in game now in the Hellcat. I installed ToH at around the same time as it the game updated to 1.12. I don't know what bought on this strafing ability.

[the_demongod 31]

Won't Occulus Rift completely negate TrackIR when it comes out? Not wanting to derail, but I'm holding off any tracking until OR comes out.

Actually Dslyecxi gave it a pretty crappy review for arma. He said its resolution is not high enough to support a game that requires you to focus on distant details so much. There are spaces between the pixels which makes it kind of like looking through a screen door.

Edited March 17, 2014 by the_Demongod

[cjph 0]

Being a cheapskate I built a Freetrack unit (three IR LEDs soldered to a battery box and attached to my headset) a couple of years ago with Arma II with the intention of moving to a TrackIR if I liked it (there is a separate thread about a €10 freetrack build). I spent some time with the settings but found it awkward to use, but probably more down to my suffering a stiff neck and the extra weight and movement making it worse. In the end, I gave up and have purchased a cheap USB foot pedal with the intention of simply using it to control the freelook key. I've not used it in anger just yet.

I am jealous of those who can get on with it as many users I have played with swear by them.

cj

[thirith 27]

Actually Dslyecxi gave it a pretty crappy review for arma. He said its resolution is not high enough to support a game that requires you to focus on distant details so much. There are spaces between the pixels which makes it kind of like looking through a screen door.

Keep in mind that Dslyecxi's impressions are from one year ago, and the OR is quite a bit further than this, in terms of resolution, the screen door effect and latency.

[almanzo 144]

First of all, when considering Oculus Rift. For all the love I have for the technology behind it, it has no life in ARMA for a very, very long time. Remember that Oculus needs to render a scene twice, and thus needs a stable 60+ fps in order to even function. Forget about Oculus Rift for a long time for use in ARMA. For other games it might be great, and I would LOVE to have the ability to use it in ARMA as well, but I find it unlikely.

I've tried the oculus, and Dyslecxi made a very good point. The resolution so far is pretty bad. The new version has 1080p instead of 720p, but the amount of frames around pixels is to huge for a resolution upgrade from 720 to 1080 to matter that much. I am pretty sure you need at least 4k resolution to have a decent experience in ARMA with Oculus. Now do the math, how long will it take before we are able to run ARMA III in 4k resolution with stable 60+ fps? A pretty darn long time, if you ask me.

For the TrackIR: I started out with freetrack, using a webcam and my own LED-cap. It worked fine enough to get used to how it works, but it was to light sensitive so the light in my room very often distrupted the signal from the LEDs on my cap. You can have this problem with TrackIR as well, but only when you have your computer close to a window with the sun shining directly on the screen/TrackIR camera. I would also like to point out that the Trackclip Pro is a bit fragile, I have unfortunately wrecked my first one. It's small, and the point where the rack for the leds connects to the rest of the device, it's only two small plastic pins that holds it together. One of them broke on my old one... I used it for a while after that, taping it together... but you loose alot of the ability to adjust it, so be careful not to break it.

But that being said, I love my TrackIR. I can't play ARMA without it anymore though, I feel totally handicapped when I don't use it. And it takes some time to get used to playing with it, and I would suggest playing around with the profiles to find one that suits you. There are huge differences here, especially considering dead zones. I see people like having dead zones, while I personally hate them, and it took me a while to find a setting that I was satified with.

One more thing though, I find my self constantly trying to turn my head around while watching ARMA videos on youtube. After using it for a while, it litterarly becomes second nature. I only use it for ARMA as well, and I haven't regretted buying it at all.

[fn_Quiksilver 1633]

I use trackIR when driving/piloting vehicles, but dont use it when on foot.

On foot, I find it awkward due to alignment of body and head. When in vehicle when body is fixed alignment, I find it great.

[dmarkwick 261]

I use trackIR when driving/piloting vehicles, but dont use it when on foot.

On foot, I find it awkward due to alignment of body and head. When in vehicle when body is fixed alignment, I find it great.

This slight confusion is why I disable floating zone in game. With TrackIR, it's far better with it off IMO.