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'Winder

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Posts posted by 'Winder


  1. first of all thank you for this great long TrackIR-fanboy (i assume) post, we really needed one of those.

    no but serisously: i dont think you understood what i meant to say. i was simply trying to point out that FT actually does have their own SDK that could be used to make FT compatible with ArmA2, for example. i just wanted to clarify this because people kept saying stuff like "well FT is just stupid if they had their own SDK then all their compatibility issues would be gone" or things to that effect.

    just so you dont feel like you have to post this big reply where you try to make me look like a fool: i dont unconditionally support the FT side of this. if NP wants to protext their own software then by all means i think they should, its what i would do. but i would still like to see FT implementation in games such as ArmA2. my guess is that the future holds head tracking support like we have joysticksupport now. *keeping fingers crossed*

    regarding the lag comment of yours: FT setups arent necessarily laggy at all, actually. if you just use the cheapest webcam there is, then maybe. but there are several options (WiiMote, PS3Eye) that give you great framerates and ping. so dont just bash the FreeTrack idea if you havent tried it to its full extent...

    We (those of us that are interested in ArmA 2, head tracking, and top-tier sims), do need these kinds of posts, because they clarify misconceptions and misrepresentations by some (granted, not all) FT users that confuse reasonable people with red-herring arguments. If your intention was just to communicate the fact that there is a FreeTrack SDK available to game devs, you shouldn't write things like, "they dont rely on NPs software," which communicates something much larger and much less truthful.

    I agree with you that it's not fair to assume that just having an SDK will solve FreeTrack's problems. You need to get it in the game! And that takes time, and often someone "knocking on doors" on a relatively full time basis. Plus, what are prospective devs supposed to do when evauating the technology?

    "So, uh, Marek, I'd like you to consider putting FreeTrack in your new title."

    "Ah, OK, that sounds interesting. How can I test it out in our game?"

    "Well, first you'll need to put our API in. You can get it from our SDK, here. Then, you're going to need to get a Wii Remote. If your PC doesn't have the right bluetooth stack, you're going to need to buy BlueSoleil. Next, build an attachement to connect your Wii Remote to your monitor. I used some wire hangers and paperclips, but feel free to use whatever you like..."

    "Um, let me stop you there. I don't have time to cook up some contraption. Get back to me when you have ready made kit for me to check out."

    Homebrew enthusiasts have to accept the fact that one inherent obstacle to popularizing this kind of setup with professional game developers is simply that you don't have much organizational structure and support, and hardware-dependent software with no actual hardware isn't very compelling.

    Oh, and by the way, don't assume that I haven't tried FreeTrack. I'm not talking out of my backside here. I've tried FT 2.2 with a Wii Remote, PS3 Eyetoy, and a high-end Logitech webcam. They all suffer either from a lack of resolution, low framerate, or poor image processing. But, that's not what this thread is about. ;)


  2. it worked in arma 1. cant be that hard to implement it in arma 2.... you have the files and the knowhow...

    "It" was TrackIR. FreeTrack wasn't "implemented" in ArmA 1, like it's never "implemented" in any game. It hacked into the game, like with almost every other "FreeTrack Supported" game, through the TrackIR API.

    i dont buy a track ir cause its overpriced and i dont want to support their monopolist behavior.

    ...

    oh btw arma1 is listed in the compatible title list. some kinda advertisment for you? imagine armed assault 2 appears in this list.. it will get you "some" additional customers.

    First, do you know what part of NaturalPoint's "monopolist behavior" involves, which you could be helping to support? Establishing relationships with game developers, convincing them to integrate the technology, and giving them technical support on said integration. Because, you know, they're a real company with actual responsibilities, accountability to their product, and so on. Those efforts take time and money. The result is that some game devs do integrate head tracking. Do you think that BIS just came up with this newfangled idea on their own? Like essentially every game that TrackIR and FreeTrack users enjoy head tracking in, NaturalPoint proposed the integration and supported it with their own time and resources (taking nothing away from BIS and others that "got" the concept and ran with it).

    As far as the "compatibility" list--it's rather misleading, as the vast majority of the titles are really only compatible with TrackIR. FreeTrack and it's community just happens to piggyback on this compatibility.

    Bi had a good working interface in Arma1 but replaced it with a broken encrypted interface in Arma2. This makes it pretty clear they are willing participants in the head tracking cartel.

    Oh, Quarrion. You're so poetic. "Head Tracking Cartel." Clever. I can't wait for the sequel to Blood Diamond, exposing how the powerful NaturalPoint Cartel uses all of it's dirty blood money from TrackIR sales to entertain rich, fat Americans at the expense of the indigenous Africans that harvest them.

    Buuuuut... you're wrong. The new interface isn't "broken." You just can't access it unless you pay for it by purchasing a TrackIR. How unreasonable.

    I don't know how BI is associating itself with such company, it seems that trackir is still only supporting 4DOF in ArmA2, and they are advertising full support (6DOF) in their website.

    As I mentioned in the other post you made about this... any reasonable person would expect that this was a mistake. What do they possibly have to gain from deceiving us about such a small detail? And would they really expect to "get away" with it? Please.

    I guess we can only start ignoring games from BI and wait for better ones from EA (Battlefield).

    This really sucks.

    Good thing that Battlefield supports FreeTrack, huh? Not to mention TrackIR.

    i wish all the bad to NP, and i will never buy a trackir in my life!!

    trackir users dont want free track to work because they feel bad after wasting 180euros on something that i got for free... so they become jelous

    ...instead of payinga ridiculous overloaded price for a trackir...

    Just remember that all the while that you're "wishing all the bad to NP," they're still investing their own time and money to get head tracking in games. Something that FreeTrack's developers do not do.

    TrackIR users aren't jealous of your low resolution, high-latency, bluetooth homebrews. Just like we wouldn't be jealous if you cooked up your own homebrew keyboard out of Legos and some copper wiring you stole out of an abandoned warehouse. We defend the idea that it's good for a small company that provides a device uniquely helpful to our niche gaming interests to be supported instead of demonized and ripped off by a bunch of whiners.

    Oh, and the "ridiculous overloaded price" of a TrackIR 4 is now $99. Not terribly more than a high-end webcam, and it's manufactured in the US instead of an Indonesian sweat shop.

    they dont rely on NPs software. freetrack has many output options. one of them is the (old non-encrypted) trackIR interface, one of them is the FlightSim-api and one of them is their own freetrack interface.

    please nobody write a post saying its freetracks fault cuz they dont have their own SDK, THEY DO HAVE ONE!

    Hahahahahahahahahaha.... ahhhhhhh. Hah.

    If FreeTrack doesn't rely on NaturalPoint's API, how do you explain this ("spoilered" to save space):

    	Supported Titles				TrackIR API	TIRViews	SimConnect	FreeTrack SDK	FSUIPC	HeadTracker
    
     18 Wheels of Steel: Haulin'					x						-
     Aces High II							x						-
     Air Battles: Sky Defender					x						-
     America's Army						x						-
     ArmA: Combat Operations (Armed Assault)			x						-
     Arvoch Conflict						x						-
     Rowan's Battle of Britain					x						-
     Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory			x						-
     Battleground Europe: World War II Online			x						-
     Beyond the Red Line						x						-
     Colin McRae Rally 2004							x				-
     Combat Flight Simulator 3							x				-
     Condor: The Competition Soaring Simulator			x						-
     Crashday							x						-
     Cross Racing Championship 2005				x						-
     DCS: Black Shark*												-			x
     Descent: D2X-XL						x						-
     DiRT								x						-
     Driver's Republic						x						-
     Enemy Engaged: RAH-66 Comanche vs. KA-52 Hokum		x						-
     Enemy Engaged 2						x						-
     Euro Truck Simulator						x						-
     EVE Online							x						-
     Evochron Alliance 2.0						x						-
     Evochron Legends						x						-
     Evochron Renegades						x						-
     F1 Challenge									x				-
     Falcon 4.0							x						-
     Falcon 4: Allied Force					x						-
     First Eagles: The Great Air War 1918				x						-
     Flight Simulator 2002												-		x
     Flight Simulator 2004: A Century Of Flight					x				-		x
     Flight Simulator X										x		-
     Flyboys							x						-
     Future Pinball						x						-
     FreeSpace 2 Open						x						-
     GTR								x						-
     GTR 2								x						-
     GT Legends							x						-
     Grand Prix Legends						x						-
     GRID								x						-
     Harrier Attack II						x						-
     IL2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles				x						-
     Insurgency							x						-
     iRacing							x						-
     Jane's F/A-18							x						-
     JetPakNG							x						-
     Jumpgate							x						-
     Jumpgate Evolution						x						-
     Live For Speed						x						-
     Lock On: Modern Air Combat					x						-
     Lock On 1.1: Flaming Cliffs					x						-
     LunarPilot							x						-
     Mediterranean Air War (MAW)					x						-
     Micro Flight							x						-
     MiG Alley							x						-
     NASCAR Racing 2003 Season							x				-
     NASCAR SimRacing						x						-
     netKar PRO							x						-
     Nitro Stunt Racing						x						-
     Orbiter							x						-
     Over Flanders Field (OFF)					x						-
     Pacific Fighters						x						-
     Project Torque						x						-
     RACE: The WTCC Game						x						-
     RACE 07: The Official WTCC Game				x						-
     RealFlight G3							x						-
     Red Baron 3D							x						-
     rFactor							x						-
     Richard Burns Rally								x				-
     Rise of Flight						x						-
     Rise: The Vieneo Province					x						-
     Ship Simulator 2006						x						-
     Ship Simulator 2008						x						-
     Silent Wings							x						-
     Simax Simulation Driving Simulator				x						-
     Space Shuttle Mission 2007					x						-
     Starshatter							x						-
     Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed			x						-
     Strike Fighters: Project 1					x						-
     Superkarting Demo						x						-
     Targetware Series						x						-
     Test Drive Unlimited						x						-
     thriXXX Technology Series					x						-
     ToCA Race Driver 2								x				-
     Tower Simulator						x						-
     Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006				x						-
     Trainz Classics						x						-
     Turismo Carretera						x						-
     Vehicle Simulator						x						-
     Virtual Sailor						x						-
     WarBirds							x						-
     Wings of War									x				-
     Wings Over Europe: Cold War Gone Hot				x						-
     Wings Over Israel						x						-
     Wings Over Vietnam						x						-
     WWII Battle Tanks: T-34 vs. Tiger				x						-
     X Motor Racing						x						-
     X-Plane / X-Cockpit						x						-
    
    "Unsupported" Titles
    
     Tom Clancy's HAWX						x						-
     ArmA 2							x						-
    
    *6 DOF available through hacked beta .dll created by Quarrion for FreeTrack
    
    
    

    Let me know if I've tabulated these incorrectly. If you take the time to count it up, there are a grand total of 4 titles that FreeTrack accesses through means other than either the TrackIR API or a NaturalPoint view mod. Three of them are versions of Flight Simulator, and the other is Black Shark. The only one that had FreeTrack somewhat in mind was Black Shark. Microsoft just uses an aggregated peripheral API for all third party input devices. FreeTrack uses it like TrackIR and any number of joysticks, rudder pedals, etc. It's not like this can be attributed to the FreeTrack devs though.

    The TIR interface is far more widespread than that of FT.

    Why do you think that is? I wonder if it has anything to do with which API has been promoted over the course of many years with time, money, etc?

    freetrack don't rely on trackir interface only, it as ppjoym, simconnect, mouse emulation and it's own SDK.

    ...

    Why doesn't freetrack API/SDK get included in ArmA2?

    The idea that FreeTrack isn't overwhelmingly buoyed by hacking into the TrackIR API is so laughable. See my response to ndepal.

    How long has ArmA 2 been in development? How long have a couple of FreeTrack users been lobbying for integration of the FT SDK? How long ago do you think NaturalPoint supplied BIS with the TrackIR SDK?

    Just because BIS doesn't have the time (or, likely, desire) to integrate a new API in response to your forum posts--a couple of weeks before the game is released--doesn't mean there are nefarious goings on in the background between BIS and NP.

    can i just ask one question:

    what EXACTLY is NP doing (in the black shark example)?

    i know they tried to shut out freetrack users but what exactly did they prohibit?

    did they prohibit the use of the trackIR interface by freetrack or did they prohibit any other interface to be implemented in the game?

    and when they finally agreed to allow 3DOF was that via a seperate API or NP's trackIR?

    if they allowed their software to be used for that then they actually have to be considered generous.

    its quite an important difference because they have every right to protect their own software. if they prohibited any other interface to be implemtented then that is to be considered monopolistic behaviour and would be illegal (in europe at least)

    please reply with valid sources!

    thank you

    If you followed all of the Black Shark drama, several things became pretty clear. NaturalPoint encrypted their data stream to prevent FreeTrack users or anyone else from hijacking their API without permission. Somehow, FreeTrack users (namely Quarrion, it would seem) got a hold of a hacked up .dll that bypassed the encrypted TrackIR .dll. It seems likely that it was a modified beta .dll, which means that it could have been supplied by a BS beta tester. NP and ED seemed to have some discussions behind the scene, and as a result, ED released their own 3 DOF head tracking interface--apparently with NP's approval. But, the "fix" (hacked .dll) still works, so most FreeTrack users that don't mind hacking Black Shark a bit have 6 DOF.

    Beyond that (and even including some of that), it's speculation.


  3. And still one's freedom fighter is another one's terrorist. It simple really: If you fight against freedom fighters that makes them terrorists. Always has been, always will be.

    It's really hard to try to keep civilians out of the harms way when occupying force blends into them and means and ways are limited. Guerrilla wars, escpacely if it is also part of civil war, have always been very ugly, long-long way from war of gentlemen. Terrorists or freedom fighters? Depends from whom you ask.

    Maybe to cable news networks or political entities trying to justify military action, "terrorist" and "freedom fighter" are that interchangable, but not in reality. People that blow up bus stations and dance clubs are never "freedom fighters," because their actions never serve to liberate their people.

    But, I agree with part of your sentiment. Just because a resistence is of the "grassroots" variety doesn't mean they are terrorists. King George probably would have accused the American colonists of being terrorists, if the word was part of their socio-political vernacular at the time, but I'd bet that most present-day Americans wouldn't agree with that sentiment. Similarly, countries like Honduras had their democratically elected governments toppled by the CIA under Eisenhower, in no small part because of the lobbying of the United Fruit Company. Of course, the public justification was the "Communist threat." The principle of muddling characterizations of opponents for political capital or to assuage public skepticism is nothing new.

    Having said all of that... to the OP... :confused: Liiiitle bit strange.


  4. Is it possible to disable the lean left/right feture when your walking around?

    And is it possible to disable track IR in total when aiming in zoomed in mode?

    If you have your zoom mapped to your right mouse button in ArmA 2, you can map the same button to "pause" in the TrackIR software. Just make sure that Trap and Toggle aren't checked, and it should pause while you zoom, and unpause when you stop zooming. Haven't tried this personally, but it should work??


  5. Well, it is usual that a criminal leaves the crime scene asap. :D

    ...

    ROFL Yes, is done in the opinion of himself, IMHO he did not even started.

    It is ok that he drags down Crytek. I guess BIS is paying Clive to destroy all competitors over the time. :cool: :cool: :cool: :eek:

    I think Crytek is a perfect fit for someone coming from OFDR.

    What's CM's apparent strategy for "building" on OFP? "Oooh, look at the pretty graphics! I'm gunna shoot meh that red barrel. Mmmmmm.... fiiii-iiire."

    IMO, the main thing that people point to when discussing Crytek's work is how it (game, engine, Cevat's Italian shoes, etc.) "looks." Which... I mean, it's cool. But, I found Crysis to be pretty boring. A very sexy version of Halo, more or less.

    So, yeah. A good place for someone from Dragon Rising to land.


  6. Intro

    The Basic Rifleman (~20k)

    The ShackTac Platoon (~9k)

    Attachments (~7.5k)

    Communication (~5k)

    Leadership (~13k)

    Battle Drills (~5.5k)

    Tactics (~16k)

    Combined Arms (~17k)

    Vehicle Usage (~12k)

    Finale

    So, over 100,000 words in total, compared to ~60,000 for the first guide. Quite a bit of new content. :)

    Holy cripes, man. You're crazy! That's more than I wrote in my worst term of college, which was filled with Poli-Sci classes and featured the most sadistic professer I've ever met!

    Can't wait. :)


  7. My TrackIR works fine with ArmA2.

    I can look left, right, up, down and zoom in and out, 6DOF as advertised.

    There is however no roll, no side to side and no vertical up and down.

    Would be great to see this added in a patch.

    Edit

    I am confused... I cannot get 6DOF working, I am missing X and Y axis. (Yes, they are checked in the trackir options)

    I would love Y to be integrated into the infantry model, so you could subtlely move up and down from any stance. But, I think the main problem is related to animating the skeleton. If they don't have the animations for this kind of movement already created, the world view model would tear, which would look very crappy. :) Still, with some time, it definitely *can* be animated. I mean, it's programming. With enough time, you can do pretty much anything.


  8. It's funny to see some of the attempts to defend it -

    ...because soldiers do not lean in real life

    Don 't worry guys, just run and gun, and you will love this game.

    and my favorite -

    OFP1 had no lean

    I sincerely hope that there was some sort of irony in those sentences that I didn't pick up on :p

    I saw those posts earlier today, and I think they were intended to be ironic. :)

    In addition to the foolishness of these decisions by CM from a tactical/gameplay standpoint, with TrackIR in particular, it's not like it's a foreign concept to them. Several recent CM titles have had TrackIR support integrated... a couple of them after the community badgered them about it for long periods of time. Myself, as well as many others, have communicated our desire for this tech to be integrated into their game. This has been happening for months, if not years. And now, this is the response?

    I'll probably still check it out, for curiousity's sake--and the hope that maybe they'll reverse course in a post-release patch. But, it no longer excites me like it used to.

    I was a little hesitent about ArmA 2 at first, just because I love single player campaigns as well as online muliplayer/coop, and ArmA didn't treat me too well in the former dept. After reading tons of reports on A2 and OFDR, my allegiance is clarifying.

    ArmA 2, FTW!

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