[Merged] Planetside 2 & TrackIR

[FastAndFree]

Originally Posted by HoovesMcG

You can also use Free track

http://www.free-track.net/english/

Its the EYE with third party software that runs great! all for about 20 bucks. Would you use it now since sony made the eye?

It works with any USB camera though of course your mileage may vary depending on which one you use. It even works with Wiimotes

[Livefire]

Originally Posted by Mauser101

I first purchased TrackIR specifically for an FPS game, ARMA2. Some of my more simish gamemates raved about the product in their flight sims and were very excited about it being implemented in ARMA2.

I'd just gotten my tax return to so thought I'd do the economy a favor and get it. It really is a wonderful product. The level of immersion it added to ground combat was absolutely wonderous. You do a lot of sitting around and waiting in ARMA2 and having the ability to swivel your head around to know what was going on around you without actually moving your character was great, if not sometimes lifesaving. The fact that TrackIR was not implemented in BF3 was a MAJOR failing considering free-look was already in and because the TrackIR guys basically write the software for the game. It really does not seem to add to the development cycle of a game to any serious degree.

Would have been particularly useful in BF3 considering the limited field of view in aircraft and especially on the ground in hardcore games since you so often only knew were to shoot because the enemy was moving around.

Additionally, to those who claim it adds an undue advantage, I really rather disagree. Does it give some degree of advantage, I can't say that it doesn't but it's not much. Mostly it's just good for scanning around you which you do by moving your mouse about anyway. The only difference is you move your head slightly from side to side. As I said it adds immersion and that is something that should always be aimed for.

Do you think the Ultimate BF3 Simulator adds an undue advantage or does it simply make the game more fun?
BF3 Ultimate Simulator

I'm going to build one of these in my house one day

[Kaotc]

Originally Posted by HoovesMcG

Lol wow. You know natural point released an sdk to allow devs to include it in their games. The sdk is free. Even if they charged for their software ( whih they dont). They have no legal rights to freelook. Which is all track ir needs to function. You think developing, perfecting,marketing, packaging, shipping their own version of track ir instead of coding 3 lines of freelook code is a better idea? You might need an economics 101 lesson.

You just assuming there is a fee and not researching natural point products or technology just makes you look ignorant. Not cool or smart like you are.attempting to be.

What i really dont get is why you hate the idea so much when you arent going to buy one. Why do you care if its in the game or not?

If others want to enjoy the tech and it might bring even more players to the world of PS. Why would you lobby against it?

Im not asking for it to be the primary control device. Just a device that is supported as much as a joystick would be.


EDIT: You know what I just realized. The sony playstation EYE, is one of the best cameras people use for Facetrack NOIR.

http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/home/default.htm.


You can also use Free track

http://www.free-track.net/english/


Its the EYE with third party software that runs great! all for about 20 bucks. Would you use it now since sony made the eye?

yet again, you are missing the point, many company's will release SDK's of their software for free, to be used, by independants to mod things, and expand the technology

i do not believe for one second that if a company like SOE, picked up that SDK and used it to make a game, that Natural Point would just sit there and go 'ah its ok, we dont want a cut of that pie...' that my friend, is economics 101...

To my other point, thank you for reinforcing it, Sony already have a product that does this, if they wanted this technology they would use that, what is so hard to understand?

Lastly, i dont hate the product? i dont see anywhere i have said that at all, it is cool.

you seem to be hell bent that Natural Point is the be all and end all.... it is not.

[Mastachief]

Keep it simple, mouse and key board only. Thanks.

Maybe a joystick or those really obsessed flight people.

[NewSith]

Originally Posted by Mastachief

Keep it simple, mouse and key board only. Thanks.

Maybe a joystick or those really obsessed flight people.

Wheel and pedals for speed junkies! QUAD[EDITED] underground championship!

[Stormhall]

Sup I'm the new dude in PSU I've never played Planetside before I'm stoked for number 2 and I've played OFP Cold War Crisis (ARMA Cold War Assault) and the freelook is an amazing feature that should definitely be implemented into planetside 2 and Logitech Web Cam here I come.

[HoovesMcG]

Originally Posted by Kaotc

yet again, you are missing the point, many company's will release SDK's of their software for free, to be used, by independants to mod things, and expand the technology

i do not believe for one second that if a company like SOE, picked up that SDK and used it to make a game, that Natural Point would just sit there and go 'ah its ok, we dont want a cut of that pie...' that my friend, is economics 101...

To my other point, thank you for reinforcing it, Sony already have a product that does this, if they wanted this technology they would use that, what is so hard to understand?

Lastly, i dont hate the product? i dont see anywhere i have said that at all, it is cool.

you seem to be hell bent that Natural Point is the be all and end all.... it is not.

Trust me when it comes to head tracking TIR IS the end all be all. No doubt about that.
Man you are stubborn.

Well here it is from the horses mouth. Seth from Natural Point was kind enough to provide me with this information.


And I quote.

"The process is pretty simple. We don't charge devs for the SDK. They just need to send me an email requesting it. (Either directly at [email protected] or through our contact forms.)

I'll have them sign an agreement that says they won't distribute the SDK to other people without our permission. Once they do that, I'll send them a link to the documentation.

They'll integrate about 20 lines of our code to be able to talk to our software (which is, in turn, talking to our hardware). After that, they should be receiving 6 DOF data from our system. They're then free to map that data to whatever they want in their game (usually the in-game camera)." END QUOTE



So how is that Economics 101 class going for ya. Pretty bad it looks like. You have NO idea what the technology is, you have been spouting garbage about this technology, you don't have to SAY you hate it. Your ignorant attitude and constant berating of the business model says it for you.

Video tracking BTW (the PLAYSTATION EYE) is far inferior to the LED tracking of Track IR. How ever it does do the job for a smaller price, but it ALL uses the same software (roughly). Its all in the hardwear and with that you get what you pay for.


So, that is the process. Simple enough. So please SOE, Matt Higby, who ever is responsible for making this happen, Please take a look!

[Shogun]

since freetrack can even use normal webcams (and most players own one of those) implementing some freelook features would make sense.
it may be a gimmick but it could add to immersion. and almost all players could try it with webcams so it would not be a feature just for a few crazy guys who bought expensice tracking hardware.
the step from supporting freetrack or tracknoir to supporting real trackerhardware doesn´t seem too big. like hooves said, implementation is supported by the hardwaremanufacturers and not a big deal.

so i would like to see freelook in the game and i would not mind if a dev spends some hours to support track ir or other stuff as well. but freetrack should be supported as well, so everyone can use this advantage without having to buy expensive hardware.
it´s the same with the mouse. everyone has a basic one to use in the game, but those who pay for a nifty hardcore gamermouse get better performance

[HoovesMcG]

Originally Posted by Shogun

since freetrack can even use normal webcams (and most players own one of those) implementing some freelook features would make sense.
it may be a gimmick but it could add to immersion. and almost all players could try it with webcams so it would not be a feature just for a few crazy guys who bought expensice tracking hardware.
the step from supporting freetrack or tracknoir to supporting real trackerhardware doesn´t seem too big. like hooves said, implementation is supported by the hardwaremanufacturers and not a big deal.

so i would like to see freelook in the game and i would not mind if a dev spends some hours to support track ir or other stuff as well. but freetrack should be supported as well, so everyone can use this advantage without having to buy expensive hardware.
it´s the same with the mouse. everyone has a basic one to use in the game, but those who pay for a nifty hardcore gamermouse get better performance

Finally someone who "gets it" ^ applause!

[HoovesMcG]

So I read "Somewhere" that someone testing PS2 was able to look into a turn while sliding around on a Quad bike. Does that mean Freelook is in? and by proxy TRACK IR??? I really wish they would give us an answer. that they are even looking at the tech.

[FastAndFree]

Originally Posted by Shogun

since freetrack can even use normal webcams (and most players own one of those) implementing some freelook features would make sense.
it may be a gimmick but it could add to immersion. and almost all players could try it with webcams so it would not be a feature just for a few crazy guys who bought expensice tracking hardware.
the step from supporting freetrack or tracknoir to supporting real trackerhardware doesn´t seem too big. like hooves said, implementation is supported by the hardwaremanufacturers and not a big deal.

so i would like to see freelook in the game and i would not mind if a dev spends some hours to support track ir or other stuff as well. but freetrack should be supported as well, so everyone can use this advantage without having to buy expensive hardware.
it´s the same with the mouse. everyone has a basic one to use in the game, but those who pay for a nifty hardcore gamermouse get better performance

For the record, it doesn't work very well (or at all) with stock webcams, they need a bit of tweaking which while simple, can be irreversible.
You need to remove the IR filter (and add a visible light filter but that's external and trivial). On some models that's a coating that I presume is impossible to replace once removed, on the more popular models it's a lens over the photoreceptor chip(?) which while theoretically replacable, easily breaks during removal. The camera still works without it but looks rather weird with strange/no colors

Originally Posted by HoovesMcG

So I read "Somewhere" that someone testing PS2 was able to look into a turn while sliding around on a Quad bike. Does that mean Freelook is in? and by proxy TRACK IR??? I really wish they would give us an answer. that they are even looking at the tech.

We could do that in PS1 too since some ground vehicles did have something like freelook

[HoovesMcG]

Originally Posted by FastAndFree

For the record, it doesn't work very well (or at all) with stock webcams, they need a bit of tweaking which while simple, can be irreversible.
You need to remove the IR filter (and add a visible light filter but that's external and trivial). On some models that's a coating that I presume is impossible to replace once removed, on the more popular models it's a lens over the photoreceptor chip(?) which while theoretically replacable, easily breaks during removal. The camera still works without it but looks rather weird with strange/no colors


We could do that in PS1 too since some ground vehicles did have something like freelook

lol FOR the record. webcams can use facetrack NO IR and it works fine.
with no messing around with the camera. however it suits you to have newer (note: not more expensive jus tnewer) webcam, as new ones have a higher FPS.

So if you could do it in PS1, what was the method? IE: was it with your mouse while pressing a button? Can you look around in aircraft as well?

[FastAndFree]

Originally Posted by HoovesMcG

lol FOR the record. webcams can use facetrack NO IR and it works fine.
with no messing around with the camera. however it suits you to have newer (note: not more expensive jus tnewer) webcam, as new ones have a higher FPS.

So if you could do it in PS1, what was the method? IE: was it with your mouse while pressing a button? Can you look around in aircraft as well?

You need to remove the IR filter for freetrack as it works by tracking IR leds (I have one). Without it and a visible light filter it has trouble telling tracking the LEDs, even in darkess. Your monitor is constantly shining on your face after all


Actually I just meant that you could look around from all non-Lightning ground vehicles, so you could look into a turn in PS1 alredy. No key included, just look away from the center with the mouse.
It doesn't work in hover vehicles/aircraft because there the mouse turns the vehicle so your view is locked to the center

[HoovesMcG]

Originally Posted by FastAndFree

You need to remove the IR filter for freetrack as it works by tracking IR leds (I have one). Without it and a visible light filter it has trouble telling tracking the LEDs, even in darkess. Your monitor is constantly shining on your face after all


Actually I just meant that you could look around from all non-Lightning ground vehicles, so you could look into a turn in PS1 alredy. No key included, just look away from the center with the mouse.
It doesn't work in hover vehicles/aircraft because there the mouse turns the vehicle so your view is locked to the center

AH well Im pretty sure that PS2 is using joysticks. So I hope they implement mouse look. which will suit track IR just fine.

I agree that Freetrack needs the camera mssed with, but FACETRACKNOIR only uses a camera with no IR tracking points. Hence a new webcam works just fine.

[Coreldan]

Still want