Playing with no Tracking device...

[Guest deleted@50488]

Now that I'm 99% sure my TIR5 died I've started to play IL-2 again with the coolie-hat....

I wasn't actually expecting it to be so easy to use, although I miss my TIR.

 

Wonder how many of you play IL-2 without a tracking or VR device ?

 

And, btw, among the cheapest / do it yourself alternatives, which one(s) would you recommend ?

[Willy__]

4 minutes ago, jcomm-in-combat said:

And, btw, among the cheapest / do it yourself alternatives, which one(s) would you recommend ?

 

The cheapest method always gonna be buy the IR leds and build it yourself. Heard good things about Delan clip to use with TIR, never tested myself though. Was it only the clip that broke or the receiver went kaput aswell ?

 

Before I bought my TIR I used to use a PS3 camera with DIY clip and it worked pretty well. 

[JonRedcorn]

I built the custom clip and used the ps3 webcam with the filter mod. Used open track, although I never really used it, the little I did it worked very well. If I didn't have a rift I'd use it all the time.

[angus26]

I haven’t ever used tir, but a friend has let me try vr(it’s incredible). I use the hat switch on my joystick to look around. I am at a pretty good disadvantage when it comes to looking around, but I still enjoy il2 regardless.

Edited July 10, 2018 by angus26

[ShamrockOneFive]

I'm still using the hat switch and some key combos to look around myself. It's not ideal and I want a Track IR but that will have to come in time.

[catchthefoxes]

trackhat, a PSeye camera and a snip of 35mm color film and tape

[-TBC-AeroAce]

Look at my avatar picture! I build it from some 20 c parts and a bat pack! 

 

AND LOTS OF SUPER GLUE!!!!!!! I did not have a solder Iron at the time so I just taped the connections! It worked really well with free track but YOU have to get the geometry correct with a ruler!!!!!!! 

 

Anyone can build a track hat for under 20 dolla! If u want help PM me !!!!!

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by AeroAce

[Haza]

23 minutes ago, AeroAce said:

Look at my avatar picture! I build it from some 20 c parts and a bat pack! 

 

AND LOTS OF SUPER GLUE!!!!!!! I did not have a solder Iron at the time so I just taped the connections! It worked really well with free track but YOU have to get the geometry correct with a ruler!!!!!!! 

 

Anyone can build a track hat for under 20 dolla! If u want help PM me !!!!!

 

 

Wow a real Heath Robinson.

[Psyrion]

I still use the mouse in my left hand. I'm kinda looking into trackhat clip but we'll see.

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

It depends. If you just fly casually against AI, TrackIR isn’t really necessary. Bomber pilots on long missions might also find head tracking quite tedious.

 

However, it is necessary for competitive online play. Hat switches lack the speed and precision of head tracking. Furthermore, using the thumb for view control can disrupt the hand movements required for accurate shooting. 

 

The experience also heavily depends on the ergonomics of your stick. Some types don’t have a switch that’s comfortable for constant use in view control.

 

After some significant TrackIR use, I often instinctively rotate my head to look around even when I’m not using any tracking. I’d say that it’s the most important controller for Il-2, closely followed by pedals (not including the stick, of course).

Edited July 11, 2018 by Mitthrawnuruodo

[SharpeXB]

Hmmm. Donating blood here pays $20-$50 a visit. I’m pondering how much of my own blood I’d give up if my TrackIR stopped working. ?

[BraveSirRobin]

If my TrackIR breaks I’ll stop playing until the replacement arrives.

[danielprates]

I use a joystick with a thumb mini-stick,  on which I set my "look-around" commands. Its better than using a mouse since it frees my left hand completelly for me to use it with the throttle lever. For SP its quite enough. But as someone said above,  MP will demand no less than a trackIR. My method falls short on MP,  I can clearly feel that everybody else has more situation awareness than me.

[DD_Perfesser]

Geez man. TrackIR just has a special camera made to take CPU load off a computer made last century. You're paying a huge premium for something no longer needed.

A Ps3 camera is a better beast than anything up to TiR5.  The software is the same. The TiR clip has always been .... less than battle worthy

....

Edited July 11, 2018 by DD_Perfesser

[CanadaOne]

No tracking device here. Too many posts saying my beloved MS FFB stick doesn't get along with TrackIR and causes a lot of stuttering.

 

I find the hat switches and padlocks pretty good.

[Redwo1f]

Facetracknoir with a webcam actually works okay too (and might be a pretty much free option to tide you over - I use it in combo with an old xbox360 Kinect cam, LOL). But I also have to admit, the hat pan on this sim works pretty decent in comparison to many others and is quite tolerable (I use it sometimes too when I just want a quick jaunt and don't want to fiddle with the webcam)

Edited July 11, 2018 by Redwo1f

[SAG]

Opentrack with a homemade clip and a PS3EyeCam. works great! i flew with that for years before i got VR. Honestly, i think anyone that doesn't have headtracking either doesnt like it or feels like twisting some wires and leds together is too hard for them.

[BraveSirRobin]

43 minutes ago, CanadaOne said:

No tracking device here. Too many posts saying my beloved MS FFB stick doesn't get along with TrackIR and causes a lot of stuttering.

 

I find the hat switches and padlocks pretty good.

 

Padlock isn’t available in realistic MP servers.

[angus26]

3 hours ago, AeroAce said:

Look at my avatar picture! I build it from some 20 c parts and a bat pack! 

 

AND LOTS OF SUPER GLUE!!!!!!! I did not have a solder Iron at the time so I just taped the connections! It worked really well with free track but YOU have to get the geometry correct with a ruler!!!!!!! 

 

Anyone can build a track hat for under 20 dolla! If u want help PM me !!!!!

 

I thought it was a sparkly crown for some reason 

[SAG]

I  made this post ages ago....

 

 

 

[Gambit21]

I played old IL2 with my hat switch and never felt the need for head tracking.

Then with RoF the direction changes just happened too quickly with this WWI planes and the hat switch wasn’t cutting it.

That’s when I got TrackIR.

 

I could go back to the hat EASY with BoX - but not the WWI stuff.

[ZachariasX]

It is only relatively recently that I could make TiR work for me. And I couldn't go back. Tracking during maneuverung is far easier than without. Also looking "around" the window frames helps a lot. The 109 is still a pain, gut it gets much better keeping an eye on the bogey. I use mouse view only for looking out during cruise flight. Especially at high zoom settings, this is easier than head tracking.

 

Padlock is a crutch compared to TiR and I don't use it anymore, even offline. I feel there is no need for it anymore. What it remains however, is a cheat to detect enemies close by.

[Guest deleted@50488]

 Wow guys! Thanks a LOT for all your replies ! 

 

I will certainly try to decide the best way among the many suggestions  made in the thread.

My TIR5 costed $0,000 to me - it was offered together with the hatclip and trackclipro by a great Brazilian friend who didn't really like it with MSFS or X-Plane. By that time I had just discovered combat flight simulation, first by the hand of DCS's P51d, and then through IL-2 BoS. 

 

I usually say TIR5 was the most important controller I ever used in flight simulation, although this looks ridiculous because the joystick and the rudder pedals are actually the fundamental pieces of the puzzle in this hobby. I still remember when I got my first Thrustmaster RCS ?  Wow!  What a difference it made... I presently use Saitek Combat Rudder pedals.

 

Well, regarding the TIR5, the hatclip and trackclip pro are both in good shape, just the camera broke. I might use the hat clip to attach the LEDs if I decide to build one of the ( do it yourself ) models suggested in your posts. I never used a PS, so I didn't even know PS3 had such a device ?

 

Using the mouse certainly is also a very good alternative. Yesterday I actually managed to score some kills using just the "coolie-hat", but I hold the stick mostly with my right hand - in simming and IRL flying the gliders, although IRL I often train my left hand too, so, I'll give it a try !

 

 

Edited July 11, 2018 by jcomm-in-combat

[J2_Jakob]

3 IR LED cap + Logitech C170 webcam (not that great, but IR filter is quite easy to remove) + Opentrack. Works very well after some tweaking. On the interwebs there's a ton of advice on how to make the hat and what the ratio of distances between the LEDs should be... Anyone can do that. ?

Edited July 11, 2018 by LsV_Jakob

[sniperton]

7 hours ago, CanadaOne said:

No tracking device here. Too many posts saying my beloved MS FFB stick doesn't get along with TrackIR and causes a lot of stuttering.

This shouldn't keep you back. I use a DIY cap/PS3 camera/OpenTrack combo along with an MS FFB2, and I experience no stuttering from that.

[Ehret]

I use a trackball in the left hand and a stick in the right. It's very flexible because I can use keyboard's mod keys (shift/ctrl/alt/...) with my left thumb at the same time. A trackball can not run out of the space so continuous target tracking and rapid changes are possible.

[Dakpilot]

Trackball mouse are huge improvement on normal mouse for look around, (after small familiarisation time) I prefer them universally, but some do not get along for normal mouse use

 

Cheers, Dakpilot 

[BlitzPig_EL]

If my TiR failed I'd be grounded until a replacement was obtained.

 

I simply will not fly without it.

[CanadaOne]

1 hour ago, sniperton said:

This shouldn't keep you back. I use a DIY cap/PS3 camera/OpenTrack combo along with an MS FFB2, and I experience no stuttering from that.

 

I think you're smarter than me.

 

I can handle building things with LEGO, beyond that...

[unreasonable]

@BlitzPig_EL   Same here. That is why I have an unopened spare!  It just makes sims for me, after the initial effort of finding a profile that suits and learning to keep my head movements small and precise. Now I hardly ever lose track and have to reset. 

[=EXPEND=Tripwire]

Wow. I don't think so could have gone back to pov hat switches even back when I had TIR1 with only 2DOF and even more so with 6DOF in my TIR4. 

 

Now I'd quit playing if VR stopped working. No going backwards for me. 

 

Sorry to hear of your head tracking loss. 

[w00dy]

Well lucky for me i'm left handed when using a mouse and right handed for using a joystick.

 

I guess I could be classed as some freak of nature 

[Kawolski_VII]

I'm the opposite. Lefty with the stick and righty with the mouse. Finding a left-handed stick was a bit of a pain though. 

[D3adCZE]

My tracking device is mouse in left hand. Completely satisfied.

[Leon_Portier]

I´m using a paperclip I printed out, a regular ol´ webcam and opentrack, the method is called Aruco track. Costs nothing.

[seafireliv]

12 hours ago, =FEW=Psyrion said:

I still use the mouse in my left hand. I'm kinda looking into trackhat clip but we'll see.

 

I used to fly like all the time and was pretty good with it. Doubt I could do it now. Track Ir is just too immersive and convenient.

[RedKestrel]

I can recommend the EdTracker as a mid-range device. Basically plug and play, so you don't have to do any DIY if that's not your thing. It tracks head motion with accelerometers and magnetometers so there's no webcams to deal with and no worries about backlighting (an issue for me, since my apartment has a HUGE window right behind me)

Downside is it is only 3DoF, though with some creative tweaking in opentrack you can get lateral movement, zoom, etc. Just not exactly like TIR. honestly I kind of like not having the full 6dof as it means I can shift in my seat somewhat and not throw myself for a loop.

The cost is more than DIY headtracking but much less than a full-on TrackIR rig. There are wireless and wired version (I have wired, if I was doing it again I might spring for wireless)

https://www.edtracker.co.uk/

[=621=Samikatz]

Delanclip with Opentrack and a little bit of fiddling. Works just as well as my friend's TrackIR5 and feels a lot more sturdy. I don't understand why TrackIR is over £100 more, seems like charging for brand recognition to me

[TWC_Ace]

I used to have TiR5 and now I have Edtracker pro (wired version). Cant say any bad word about it and its working flawlessly and its only 45£. Its even working better than TiR in regard of tracking on extremes (with TiR light could be the problem and I used to lost tracking when looking extremely up and down even with tuning the software and camera position). Edtracker uses pseudo 6DOF but its enought for me. All you need is edtracker software and opentrack software to fine tune the curves and to make actual roll as lean out view.

IMHO sims shouldnt be played without any tracking device. Its just a no go.

http://www.edtracker.co.uk/shop/products

Edited July 11, 2018 by blackram

[Garven]

First few weeks that I had this game I was using a left handed t16000m and the mouse to look around in my right hand.  I used the hat-switch to move my head position.  Did okay in MP.