How many people use Track IR? I find it's invaluable in making it through turn one

http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtRW8XCDBz8

Tried one of the free alternatives and hated it.

It's fantastic in flight sims , but i just cant deal with it for racing.

Quote from The Moose :

Tried one of the free alternatives and hated it.

It's fantastic in flight sims , but i just cant deal with it for racing.

Also tried the free alternative (free-track.net + clip + webcam) but i don't think you can compare it to track-ir, since the best you get from a webcam is about 30FPS with pretty big lag.

Don't know how fast Track IR is, but used right i think it's a nice addition to the experience although i think 2 additional screens would be a better investment.

Quote from Flughafen :

Don't know how fast Track IR is, but used right i think it's a nice addition to the experience although i think 2 additional screens would be a better investment.

True, I agree. By the way, there should be an option on the poll for those who saw it and liked it but they cannot afford buying it (or something like that anyway...).

why post in here? do only CTRA racers use track ir?

I am wondering why this post is in the CTRA section, but I wrote a review about it... And I personally can't race without it anymore, I get very VERY frustrated when I can't look around anymore. I didn't bother with the cheap do-it yourselfers because I have heard bad things about them, it took me awhile to save up but it was well worth it...

Quote from anttt69 :

why post in here? do only CTRA racers use track ir?

Because I think a poll of just the CTRA scene reflects, in my opinion, the best racers in LFS... So I was curious what their preference was to this.

I've not used the free alternatives, but Track IR is VERY fast. Its instant, I move my head, the view moves, no lag, nothing. It also has a very nice dead zone which allows for small movements around the center view to stop it wandering.

In traffic I find it very useful. Many times I can go wheel in wheel with SS cars and be safe and being able to glance to an apex whilst 2 or 3 abreast in a corner is also very useful for staying on the track.

The only downside I find is if I am drinking whilst playing, I lift my head to drink and i'm looking at the sky in LFS

Quote from yeager :

Because I think a poll of just the CTRA scene reflects, in my opinion, the best racers in LFS... So I was curious what their preference was to this.

Not at all true and thats quite a stereotype you have against a lot of people.

Quote from blackbird04217 :

Not at all true and thats quite a stereotype you have against a lot of people.

Umm it's my opinion. I race mainly in CTRA, when I race on other servers I find the quality of driving lowers dramatically. It might not be true or well researched, but it's why I posted this thread in the CTRA section, is that such a problem?

Didn't say it was a problem but for the most part I have found that almost everywhere I go in LFS is a very good place.

Quote from The Moose :

Tried one of the free alternatives and hated it.

It's fantastic in flight sims , but i just cant deal with it for racing.

Exactly this.


Although it was the proper TrackIR4, not the free one.. :P

I've tried FreeTrack, but for some reason I got really bad tearing effects on screen when looking around (my laptop monitor can't handle rapid lateral movements it seems. ) Plus I felt it was very hard to figure out the direction of the car when I wasn't looking straigh ahead. I guess that would come with more practice, but it was difficult. I'll buy an external monitor some day, and then I'll give it another go.

The problem for me when using these headtracking systems is that they just work totally different than in reality. You only move your head while you have to keep your eyes focused straight forward to still see the monitor, which feels weird to me. This is quite the opposite from what you do when looking around in the real world where head movement mostly only follows eye movement.

I can see that this is a good way to operate another controller axis without using hands or feet and you probably can get used to it very well, but it's just not for me.

Quote from EagleEyE :

]You only move your head while you have to keep your eyes focused straight forward to still see the monitor

I thought this was gonna be a problem and was *VERY* skeptical about it, but this isn't an issue at all, in fact it feels just as natural as real life unless you think about it far too much. Just putting the tracker unit on your head and hoping in the sim is the way to go; if you put thoughts into turning to look around then you will notice those tiny issues... I also bet it has a lot to do with sensitivity, because I only move my head 15 degrees left/right to look the 90 degrees in game, your head can be a very sensitive tool.

I just cant get on with it when racing and it has nothing to do with the accuracy and speed of the free versions of headtracking devices
(which are actually incredibly similar to trackIR when set up correctly, much to the annoyance of those that spend £100 odd on the real thing )

I just move my head far to much when I'm racing for some reason. I really lean into those corners It's very odd indeed with headtracking.

Three screens is the way forward for me with racing. I'll leave the headtracking for flight sims ,where i find it incredibly useful rather than annoying.

It sux big time,
and the reason is just very clear,

when you play lfs you need to feel what your car is doing ,
you can feel in in your force feedback wheel , and you can see it in the camara movements...

so if you use track ir you dont see the camara movements anymore,
so its not smart or nice for lfs,


greets,

Reintjan

You can adjust very easily, some people it might take more than a week or two to adjust. I did notice that was the hardest thing to get used to but it still didn't take long at all in fact just keep your head still when going around the corner and its completely fine...

@The Moose: I tend to tilt my head and body into the turns as well, and it never became a noticeable problem - probably due to the"deadzone" spot that I have setup is big enough to deal with that before the head rolls, although it is there. And its very simple to remove that roll altogether by simple turning off that axis of freedom.

I'm waiting patiently for 3D VR goggles to increase in resolution and reduce in price. When they get to the right balance, I'll be up for them! Frankly, with the advances in PDA screen technology, I'm really surprised we haven't seen them on the market at an excellent price already. Unless anyone know where to pick them up for <£20?

I have the same problems as The Moose - I move my head to much while racing and that is very distracting.
I'm also not used to wear a cap - and while racing in lfs I allways start to sweat very easily and with that cap its even worse

So for me it's just a fun application/hardware only rarely used. (only on cold winter days )

It Took a lot of tweaking, but I was able to get Free Track to work very well. I messed with it on and off for the better part on a month. By the time I was done I have almost instant response. I fixed the screen tearing problem by turning on Vertical Sync option in LFS. I haven't used it in a while though. I messed up the molex that clips to my headphones and haven't got back to radio shack to get another yet.

-Willi- I had the same problem with a hat. I used the molex to clip a tube with a LED at the end to fix that issue.

Quote from Flughafen :

Also tried the free alternative (free-track.net + clip + webcam) but i don't think you can compare it to track-ir, since the best you get from a webcam is about 30FPS with pretty big lag.

Don't know how fast Track IR is, but used right i think it's a nice addition to the experience although i think 2 additional screens would be a better investment.

I had very little lag with Freetrack tbh (using a 4 LED setup)

Although i never felt comfortable with it in LFS, i'd definitely recommend it for flightsims, especially IL2 and the like.

Quote from SamH :

I'm waiting patiently for 3D VR goggles to increase in resolution and reduce in price. When they get to the right balance, I'll be up for them! Frankly, with the advances in PDA screen technology, I'm really surprised we haven't seen them on the market at an excellent price already. Unless anyone know where to pick them up for <£20?

Indeed. But aren't they relatively cheap already, at least compared to three monitors? I'd love to try them some day. Now that
is what I call immersion.

Quote from SamH :

I'm waiting patiently for 3D VR goggles to increase in resolution and reduce in price. When they get to the right balance, I'll be up for them! Frankly, with the advances in PDA screen technology, I'm really surprised we haven't seen them on the market at an excellent price already. Unless anyone know where to pick them up for <£20?

Here:

http://edimensional.com/produc ... 46fd89e2313262f316ade7b3d

... but you need to add another zero I'm afraid.

Plus, wearing these could make it a bit tricky when you need to type an abusive message to a fellow combatant.