FreeLook, a camera control: what does it do?

[Uriah]

Under Camera Controls there is an Action named FreeLook.  I can't seem to get it to do anything.  What does it do? 

While I am at it is there a manual for each of the Actions?

[-TBC-AeroAce]

If it is what I'm thinking about it allows you to pan around the map with a cam that is not slaved to a particular object. You will only be able to use it in normal or custom settings and I have forgotten how to use it.

Edited January 29, 2019 by AeroAce

[Requiem]

Press F11 and then you can move around the map as you wish with WASD, up down with R/F, look around with mouse, you can adjust the speed as well with keypad 0 or . or something I think.

[Uriah]

The default of F11 is Camera: free  which is a different thing than FreeLook.   I don't get any response from FreeLook.

[Jaws2002]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_look

 

Free look is a built in feature that allows players to use different hardware or even buttons to control the pilot's view.

 Many players, for good reason i'd say, consider TrackIR  too expensive, and hate the company for patenting the ability to move the head around the game with a ir camera.

There were many players who used some ingenious methods to track head movement with the help of camera or IR camera, even before track IR.   Natural point came in with their patent and went after games that offered built in features allowing players to use other hardware to track player's point of view.

 

I think Free Look is a way for people to use some of those features, while not infringing on, what many consider arbitrary patents owned by natural point.

 

Many years ago, before i got my first trackIR, i used a nice program called "FB View Plus", that allowed me to use the hat switches on the joystick a lot more freely and effectively, by having control over camera speed, field of view and ability to combine multiple views. The program didn't allow you to bypass the cockpit boundaries, it just allowed to to customize the views better.

 

 Jason could tell you a lot more about this, as if I remember correctly, he was a Track IR dealer, at some point, back then. 

 

Edited January 31, 2019 by Jaws2002

[AndyJWest]

Nothing to do with the Wikipedia article. I think I've still got the default setting for this:  Mouse Right Button. When you switch to external view (F2) holding the right mouse button down moves the camera forwards and backwards as you move the mouse away from you and towards you.

[Uriah]

I can use 'Camera: Free' to move all over the virtual world but I have yet to get FreeLook to do anything.  If Jaws is right then that fits with my experience.

[AndyJWest]

1 hour ago, Uriah said:

I can use 'Camera: Free' to move all over the virtual world but I have yet to get FreeLook to do anything.  If Jaws is right then that fits with my experience.

 

Did you try what I said?

[Uriah]

Starting in the normal cockpit view I then tapped key for action 'External free camera at player plane.'  lctl+p  then FreeLook (assigned to right mouse button) and kept it pressed down and moved the mouse about.  The results is no movement of the camera when I move the mouse about.  However, if I let go of the right mouse button then I get the expected results of any 'External free camera' - the camera pans in any angle I choose but if fixed to its point.  Just using 'Camera: Free' gives the results of not only being able to pan about the virtual world but also move the camera about all over the world.  If FreeLook is supposed to do a similar thing then I don't see what it would do different than 'Camera: Free'. 

[AndyJWest]

It isn't doing 'a similar thing'. It is adding functionality to external views by enabling forward/backward movement of the camera. At least, that is what it does on my machine. Your 'FreeLook' is definitely set to mouse right button? That is strange.