IL-2 How to Upgrade to TrackIR (Head-Tracking)

[Col Ninny]

To get serious about advancing in IL-2 BoS, you need to getting into a head-tracking system. It's not an arcade game. This video discuss the pros and cons of doing so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMgHxG38PcQ&t=3s

[Jumoschwanz]

Track IR is a downgrade, it is all hype and does not work well as a hat-switch can.

[Igo kyu]

Track IR was a very annoying experience. I got version 4, and in a very short time version 5 came out. I had some issues with 4, somebody said get the current drivers, so I went to get them, and the current drivers were for version 5. Basically, once they've got your money, forget you.

[idefix44]

OS: Seven 64 bits
TrackIR: 4
Driver: 5.1.300

Works fine.

[Igo kyu]

OS: Seven 64 bits
TrackIR: 4
Driver: 5.1.300

Works fine.

Thanks for that, I might even refind it one day. Where does one legitimately find that driver?

[idefix44]

On Natural Point web site of course...

[bladeracer]

Track IR is a downgrade, it is all hype and does not work well as a hat-switch can.

I get lost trying to use the hat, it doesn't have the sensory feedback of head movement. I prefer to tilt my head and have my view change to that position, very natural, no issues. And I don't need a third hand just to see what's happening around me :-)

[Jumoschwanz]

I get lost trying to use the hat, it doesn't have the sensory feedback of head movement. I prefer to tilt my head and have my view change to that position, very natural, no issues. And I don't need a third hand just to see what's happening around me :-)

Pssssst, the hat-switch is located right on the top of the stick, you don't need an extra hand. It takes brains to set up a hat-switch and use it, so I can understand why not many have done it. Expert hat-switching in this video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhLzW7SJh_Q

[bladeracer]

Pssssst, the hat-switch is located right on the top of the stick, you don't need an extra hand. It takes brains to set up a hat-switch and use it, so I can understand why not many have done it. Expert hat-switching in this video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhLzW7SJh_Q


No need to be obnoxious.
I also have damage to my right hand and thumb that makes using hats on the stick impossible, hats on the throttle quadrant are usable but not intuitive.
You prefer a hat, that's fine, but your preference does not make everybody else wrong...

[Jumoschwanz]

I also have damage to my right hand and thumb that makes using hats on the stick impossible, ..

Sure, people who are disabled need special equipment to help them every day.


It just depends on if you are interested in gaming and entertainment, or if you are interested in shooting down other fighters. When a hat-switch is set up correctly, letting go of it always returns the line of sight to the gun-sight so gunnery is always accurate and quick. Also the positions the hat-switch will move to are exactly defined in degrees so the pilot always knows the attitude of his aicraft in each position the hat-switch is in.

With track-IR and VR, with no anchor for the line of sight and no known positions for views, the line of sight is always free-floating. Many kinds of feedback to the human are missing flying a computer sim compared to a real aircraft, so orientation etc. all takes extra time and is less accurate. With the hat-switch and it's views anchoring the position and attitude of the virtual pilot and aircraft the virtual pilot is at an advantage.

So you are correct that Track IR is not better just because I say so, it is better because of objective logic and facts, and also hard statistics.

[bladeracer]

No idea about VR, but as it removes any perception of the real world around you, disorientation is guaranteed. With TrackIR you can still see the real world so you still know which way you are facing and which way is up. If I set up the TrackIR so it jumps instead of panning the view it is indeed possible to become disoriented, just like using the hat or view keys. But I don't become even slightly disoriented with TrackIR, unlike using the hat or view keys. Even in aircraft with zero visual references on the canopy, because I am aware of which direction my head is turned I know perfectly well which direction my view is directed, thus zero disorientation. I spend plenty of time "flying" without head-tracking as well so I know both methods, head-tracking works so much better that it's not even the same game anymore.

Like most things in life neither works best for everybody. Head tracking doesn't work for you. Everybody else is not you, it works fine for most that try it, although it can take a short period to acclimatise to it initially. I actually tried TrackIR in ARMA3 for the first time last week and it was absolutely seamless. I have never before thought to try it in anything other than flight simulation.

I have tried phone-based flight games where you actually move the whole phone almost like a flight yoke, that I found very non-intuitive, what a mess :-) And yet for kids brought up on the technology it probably works fine.

Your description of the hat switch always returning perfectly to sight alignment is one reason most us prefer head-tracking, it requires conscious effort to realign, and maintain alignment, with the gunsight, which adds to the immersion of the game. It's probably why you don't like head-tracking, you prefer to play without feeling like you're controlling an imaginary aircraft around you. That's fine, you do what you like, the rest of us can do what we enjoy. To get similar experience with head-tracking, set up a quadrant button to F12 to immediately recentre your head tracking software and it will instantly recentre on the gunsight. I wish I had something like that when I'm shooting in real life :-)

I'm not disabled, and I don't need any special equipment, I just have lots of various injuries sustained during a very exciting and interesting life. Pain and inconvenience are a small price to pay for my experiences.


Sure, people who are disabled need special equipment to help them every day.


It just depends on if you are interested in gaming and entertainment, or if you are interested in shooting down other fighters. When a hat-switch is set up correctly, letting go of it always returns the line of sight to the gun-sight so gunnery is always accurate and quick. Also the positions the hat-switch will move to are exactly defined in degrees so the pilot always knows the attitude of his aicraft in each position the hat-switch is in.

With track-IR and VR, with no anchor for the line of sight and no known positions for views, the line of sight is always free-floating. Many kinds of feedback to the human are missing flying a computer sim compared to a real aircraft, so orientation etc. all takes extra time and is less accurate. With the hat-switch and it's views anchoring the position and attitude of the virtual pilot and aircraft the virtual pilot is at an advantage.

So you are correct that Track IR is not better just because I say so, it is better because of objective logic and facts, and also hard statistics.