A new view for the PC pilot

Flight Journal, Jun 2004 by Marks, Bob

TRAKIR2 * SECRET WEAPONS OVER NORMANCY * CRIMSON SKIES: HIGH ROAD TO REVENGE

THE MODERN FLIGHT SIMULATION IS AN amazing feat of current computer technology. With it, the virtual pilot can convincingly fly to exotic locations, fight historic battles and brave weather that would quickly end the career of an actual pilot-one way or another. Despite incredible improvements in the area of graphics and sophisticated flight modeling, inherent limitations in desktop flight simulations impede the quest for a truly immersive experience.

One of the most frustrating is that the virtual world that surrounds the desktop aviator has to be viewed, one section at a time, on a single monitor. This view is usually "steered" by the joystick hat switch, an action that seems downright unnatural. It's technically possible to hook up multiple monitors and wrap them around the "simmer" like a series of windows, but who has the real estate, cash, or spousal permission for that? Therefore, the tantalizing search for an affordable peripheral that offers a better way for the sim pilot to "look around" in a two-dimensional representation of a 3D world continues.

TrackIR2

Enter NaturalPoint's TrackIR2 into the alternative view control arena. This deceptively simple hardware consists of just the TrackIR2 unitan alien-stare "eye" housed in a sleek, translucent plastic case on a metal tripod. The TrackIR2 infrared transmitter/ receiver unit is set atop the monitor. A sheet of self-adhesive reflective "targets" and a CD of the drivers and instruction-manual files round out the package. Setup is simple: install the drivers, plug in the USB cable, and stick one of the targets somewhere on your head but facing the TrackIR2 unit. I put the reflector on the adjustment band of a baseball cap (I wore it backwards), but placing it on the front of a microphone works equally well.

Once it's plugged in and fired up, the TrackIR2 software reveals a sneak preview of how this piece of magic operates. Motions of the head translate into movements of either the mouse cursor or a small indicator within the software, depending on which mode you select. The mouse emulator is interesting, but the star of the show is "Enhanced TrackIR2," a highly customizable mode supported by most recent sims such as Flight Sim 2004 Century of Flight, IL-2 Forgotten Battles and Lock On: Modern Air Combat. Several custom profiles are available on the TrackIR2 site, and the software can be configured to automatically launch when the simulation is fired up. Once this is done, fire up Lock On: Modern Air Combat, hop into a quick mission in the A-10 Warthog, and ....

Whoa. All was great, until I moved my head as if to look at the left wing. My first impression was that the balance function of my inner ear had said "Enough," packed its bags and left for mother's. Not good. The scenery sped by the monitor at a velocity much faster than 1 had intended, and the disorientation was immediate and made me feel a bit queasy. Obviously, the profile I had loaded into the TmckIR2 software was a bit aggressive in the motion department. After switching between the sim and the TmckIR2 software a few times, I nailed down settings that felt comfortable and natural and were unlikely to trigger the loss of a perfectly good lunch.

Once adjusted to ones preferences, TrackIR2 is an incredible leap toward that Holy Grail of flight simulation-the illusion of sitting in the cockpit. It takes a bit of getting used to, though. Years of ingrained habits (such as using the "coolie" hat switch to peer around) die hard. NaturalPoint has built in "hotkeys," so the virtual pilot can turn TrackIR2 on and off within the simulation; that allows you to get used to using this new tool at your own pace. I mapped these keys to my joystick for easy access, and fairly soon, I depended almost exclusively on the TrackIR2 for my visual cues. With practice, tracking a bogey while engaged in a highaltitude fur ball or glancing at the end of the active runway while flying a landing pattern became natural.

Secret Weapons Over Normandy

Way back in the early days of color PCs, a game that harkened to the romantic battles of WW II clawed from the primordial ooze. Produced by LucasArts software (yes, "Star Wars" George), secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (SWOTL) grabbed the attention of thousands of embryonic virtual pilots. With a story-driven backdrop, SWOTL pulled these early pre-Pentium digital warriors into a world of intrigue and imagination. It wasn't by any stretch a simulation, but it was fun. Nearly 15 years later, LucasArts again reaches out to WW II aircraft game fans with secret Weapons over Normandy (SWON). Does the new title live up to the almost legendary status of the original?

Not even close. Sure, like the original, SWON is no simulation and doesn't pretend to be. The idea is simply to point the airplane toward a target and shoot; this makes a gamepad more natural for control than a joystick. In any case, the airplanes fly so similarly that using a more evolved flight controller would be akin to chopping wood with a scalpel.