Friday 2010-08-13 Dev. update and Discussions

[slm]

Originally Posted by Splitter

One of the current "problems" with IL-2 is an inability to move one's head around the the virtual world. You can look in any direction, but you really cannot lean to the side to see around the cowling a bit while taxiing.

It's just me, but I am much more interested in such functional feature than I am in leaf sizes and whether tree trunks are visible from the air.

This moving pilot's head has been possible in some other sims for quite a while - since TrackIR SW made it possible. I've tried it in MS Flight Simulator and it is quite useful during taxiing, landing etc. This feature also minimizes need for discussions about pilot position inside the cockpit, like in FW-190s. If you can't see well from one position, just move your head.

Although I must say that it would be quite useful if you could enable/disable this head movement. In other words, you could change head position to some place, then press a key to "lock" it and after that head would stay in place. You could still turn the head up/down and left/right. If you wanted to move head position, press a key to "unlock" it and you'd have 6DOF head movement again.

[zauii]

Originally Posted by slm

This moving pilot's head has been possible in some other sims for quite a while - since TrackIR SW made it possible. I've tried it in MS Flight Simulator and it is quite useful during taxiing, landing etc. This feature also minimizes need for discussions about pilot position inside the cockpit, like in FW-190s. If you can't see well from one position, just move your head.

Although I must say that it would be quite useful if you could enable/disable this head movement. In other words, you could change head position to some place, then press a key to "lock" it and after that head would stay in place. You could still turn the head up/down and left/right. If you wanted to move head position, press a key to "unlock" it and you'd have 6DOF head movement again.

Depends on were you can lock it, it would be wierd if you could lock your position when your leaning halfway up, since thats not a position you'd sit in for many seconds.

[slm]

In TrackIR SW you can toggle the whole head tracking on/off. This can be useful for example when you're approaching ground target and want to concentrate on that. Just switch off trackIR. Then you don't have to think about head movements. Similar situation when you're aiming an enemy plane. Switching off TrackIR for a moment can make aiming easier.

So my wish to lock head position is similar to this.

[lbuchele]

For some reason I prefer to aim with TrackIR on, just to deal with the extra difficulty of mantaining my head steady like a real pilot would.

[Sutts]

Thanks Oleg, another great update. That first shot is truly amazing. Trees look great up close too. I'm so looking forward to seeing the aircrew animations....they'll really highlight the human dimension of combat and could quite possibly stir the emotions. No longer are we shooting at just a simple lump of metal.

In terms of the map, will it be possible in SoW to zoom smoothly in and out of the map instead of the fixed zoom levels we have in IL2? I never really liked the interface in IL2 where you have to cycle through the zoom levels with the mouse click. Just a minor detail though.

Cheers

[Splitter]

Originally Posted by slm

This moving pilot's head has been possible in some other sims for quite a while - since TrackIR SW made it possible. I've tried it in MS Flight Simulator and it is quite useful during taxiing, landing etc. This feature also minimizes need for discussions about pilot position inside the cockpit, like in FW-190s. If you can't see well from one position, just move your head.

Although I must say that it would be quite useful if you could enable/disable this head movement. In other words, you could change head position to some place, then press a key to "lock" it and after that head would stay in place. You could still turn the head up/down and left/right. If you wanted to move head position, press a key to "unlock" it and you'd have 6DOF head movement again.

Sorry I was not clear. I have not flown X-Plane or MSFS with anything like TrackIR. What I was talking about was "in game" functionality where you could move your perspective around the cockipit using only the arrow keys. Heck, you can even move your perspective (head) outside the cockpit in this manner and leave it there lol. While the latter is not realistic, it is very useful to be able to change one's perspective inside the cockpit and "leave it there" for a while.

Even though I was unclear, your points are well taken. Some sort of head tracking software adds something to a sim.

I just recently downloaded Facetracknoir which uses face tracking software to achieve a similar effect to TrackIR (except it is free lol). I have only tried it with IL-2 and only in "free flight" training missions while working out the kinks. But WOW, what a difference in experience. While it does not (as far as I can tell) let you tilt your head or move along the X,Y,or Z axis for a change in perspective, it does track your face as a substitute for the HAT switch...you can look up, down, left or right "automatically".

Now I have to try it while shooting down enemies . I do know one key turns it on or off while flying so that probably helps for people that want to get stable for shooting.

I do hope Oleg and Crew look at some of the other functionality items listed recently in this thread. "Volunteering" for specialized missions such as recon, rescue, and such would add a lot to the game. I love me some marksmanship practice, but dodging 109's by ducking into clouds while on a recon mission has appeal.

I wish (there is that word again) that we could get functionality updates like we get graphics updates, but that information is probably too sensitive from the competitive perspective.

Splitter