Newbie in need of Camera (Pilot Head) Keybindings Help...

[Argus001]

Hi guys.

I just downloaded this game and am playing for the first time. I'm essentially like a drunk, headless duck trying to figure out how to even get my head pointed in the right direction.

Right off the bat, I've got a ton of problems.
1. The camera starts 100% zoomed in, which appears to be the default (what?)
2. The camera is by default in pan mode, meaning any input is relative. I thought "snap" head view means that the head would "snap" to that position? It doesn't.
3. I read somewhere that to make the head snap to positions rather than pan, I need to use F9 to toggle through modes. Problem is, as soon as I snap to any position or let go of the button, it immediately zooms in 100% again even if I had zoomed out. What on earth?
4. I can't set a combination of two keys to look at an angle (ie, A = Left, W = forward, A+W = Left Front (45 degrees to the left))

This is all extremely unintuitive. I want it to behave in the following way:

1. WASD to look forward left right back.
2. Space to look up / modify the above (ie, W + Space = forward and up (45 degree angle)
3. If I hold these keys, it holds the given absolute view. If I let go, the camera recenters to the front (forward) position.
4. I'm in this mode by default.
5. I'm zoomed out fully by default, and zoom is not affected by pressing WASD/Space. If I'm zoomed in, I stay zoomed. If I'm zoomed out, I stay zoomed out.

This is what I'm used to in other combat flight sims and is for me the most sensible setup. One can't think about "state" (where my head is pointing currently and how far to move it relative to that in order to look where I wanna look) -- I just want to think about where I want to look and have my head end up there (right up = Space+D).

Not being able to figure these things out is why I ultimately gave up on this game in the past. It's unplayable in its default configuration for me. But, the game seems really good, so I really want to sit down and configure this into some sensible, intuitive system that I can use. I need help, though, because my efforts so far have only met with intense frustration. Is there a way to recreate the above behavior>

Edited April 30, 2023 by Argus001

[Zooropa_Fly]

First off the bat - I'd highly recommend getting some kind of head tracking.

 

Pilot Head : Zoom In

Pilot Head : Zoom Out

Map keys or stick for these - handy to have on your stick.

Assuming you want zoomed out as default - zoom out and press F10 to save that as the default view for that plane (applies to crew positions too).

Make sure you're centered on the gunsight.

If you go into Settings\Camera - you can adjust the speed and inertia of the zoom.

 

That should get you started..

Good luck !

 

S!

[AtomicP]

If you have some spare cash, save yourself the pain of trying to move your 'head' manually around while attempting to stay focused on the action. I use a LED clip from https://delanengineering.com/. I had a PS3 Eye webcam and they're generally recommended for the high frame rate, but you may already have a decent web cam. In either case, Delan sell what you need with the guides on how to get started.

 

For more immediate solutions, you could try an Aruco marker (it's literally black markers on a white page) stuck to a cap or headphones along with a webcam and OpenTrack software (free). If your room lighting is sufficient, this will allow OpenTrack to lock on to the marker and translate your head movement to the game.

[BlitzPig_EL]

What joystick are you using?

[BlitzPig_Bill_Kelso]

I think he is using his keyboard and mouse to fly the plane.

[BlitzPig_EL]

I kinda thought that Targ, but wanted to be sure.

 

I remember that Raven used his mouse to look around and controlled the aircraft

with the joystick, and he was a damned good pilot.

Edited May 1, 2023 by BlitzPig_EL

[AEthelraedUnraed]

On 4/30/2023 at 9:53 AM, Argus001 said:

1. The camera starts 100% zoomed in, which appears to be the default (what?)

Sounds like you've got a key conflict somewhere, with some joystick axis or something mapped to the zoom axis. Fully zoomed in is definitely not the default view.

 

My advice is to re-check the key mappings for all the view stuff. Clear those that you don't use - there's a couple key mappings that may conflict with one another depending on how you use them.

[JimTM]

In addition to the tips above, the post user manual about keybindings may help you out. There is a section in that post covering Camera and Pilot Head Controls.

 

There's also a lot more help in general in the IL-2 Sturmovik Resources post.

Edited May 2, 2023 by JimTM