Will TrackIR make my ED experience $150 better?

Rashhaverak · May 22, 2015

I'll say yes. I bought trackIR for this game specifically, and it is awesome. The ability to look left and right and have the screens come up, as well as the ability to look up left/right and have those screens come online is nothing short of kickass.

It's totally worth the money. Not to mention I use it to look around the cockpit and view during combat, and during exploration, and during fuel scooping, and while looking for a new target at a RES site.... to name a few. I'll never play this game without it. EVER. It says it has a 5ft max range but I use it at about 6-10 feet back from my TV and it still works.

Aussiedroid · May 23, 2015

Been using one for months in ED now and I would say it is a must

Really add to the experience.

Egg90 · May 23, 2015

I've just ordered the bits to put together an EDTracker & from what I've read it will definitely make Elite £20 better, if not a lot more. If you're not the DIY type they will make you one for £38 (you want the more expensive version). I would never pay trackIR money for this feature, well not my current wages anyway!

p.opus · May 23, 2015

Here's the bottom line: Both products are good and use slightly different technologies to reach the same result.

1. If you live in the UK you should think about ED tracker. It's about 38 Pounds Sterling and significantly less expensive than a Track IR. It is based on gyroscopic tech, it is impervious to lighting condtions in the room. Although it does suffer a bit from drift and has to be recentered periodicaly

2. If you live in the US, you might want to consider a TrackIR 4. One can be had for 99 bucks with a hat on Ebay with free shipping. I'm not sure the 5 is worth the extra 50 bucks, although it is more "accurate". The money you save on and ED tracker in the US is likely to be eaten up by international shipping charges and the exchange rate. This is based on IR technology and while it won't "drift" it is sensitive to various lighting condtions in the room.

Either way you go, head tracking does add quite a bit of awesomeness to your experience.

For me, the deciding factor was Flight Simulator X support for the Track IR out of the box. It just plain works with no fiddling about. That and after shipping and exchange rate the EDTracker would have been just as much cash.

Your mileage may vary.

Ken maddux · May 23, 2015

I hardly play any game that does not support track ir . Was well worth the cost .

Jenner · May 23, 2015

Yes. Yes it will.

DamnTheseVoices · May 23, 2015

I only heard about TrackIR after getting ED and let me tell you. If I knew such an amazing immersive tech existed, I would have gotten it a long time ago. It is as close to a VR immersion you can get without doing VR IMO. I could never go back to playing ED or any flight sim without it.

Track IR 5 has the ability to track more axis than potential buyers may be aware of and THIS is the added bonus!

I DID NOT KNOW THIS when I bought it, but..

You not only track up/down left/right, If you move your head "in" towards your HUD, your view zooms in as if you were actually leaning forward. You can zoom in the same if you look at a panel and move your head closer to the panel it zooms into that panel a little bit more. Same with pulling your head back and zooming out.. It's fluid and dynamic mind you NOT an "on rails" type of zooming.

Also, if you are looking at the screen and "tilt" your head left or right, the view rotates cw and ccw to the same degree as your tilt. This zooming and tilting works seamlessly throughout all axis and is amazingly fluid.

Having one now and looking in hindsight, I would honestly pay to buy a TrackIR5 even if it normally cost the price of a high end GPU ($500+) without hesitating.

ChrisMag · May 23, 2015

I bought a Track IR 5 for playing ED and have zero regrets. It really does improve the feel of the game. Is it mandatory? I'd say no, if you're mainly trading. If you're doing combat, then yes, it's worth the money.

I tried the DK2 the other night at a friend's house and while it's very immersive, the resolution is mediocre and it's not the most comfortable thing to wear while playing. Additionally, I'm not sure how well I could get used to the effect... I'm certain I wouldn't be able to do a several hour session while wearing one.

The bottom line is, I'll be waiting for the CK1 before even considering a VR headset. In the meantime, the IR5 will do the trick for my personal needs.

I made a short clip a while ago the first night I got a Clipper. I was dead-tired so forgive the sloppy play, but this should give you a good idea of how it "feels" with use. The big advantage comes when flying in proximity to objects like asteroids in a ship which carries a lot of inertia because you need to scan your surroundings to avoid collisions, and because you can always turn instantly the way you might in an Eagle or Vulture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VFpKkLo-58

As a motorcyclist, the "head look" is a fundamental part of riding. It's required for riding fast. "Looking where you want to go" is the concept. In ED, if you're always staring straight ahead, you will have a much harder time maneuvering and tracking your target.

Trueno33 · May 23, 2015

Or you could give yourself a try and build s three point cap to use with freetrack. It will cost you 60 bucks (webcam included) and works just as well.
Plus, you'll have fun, learn a couple of things and feel proud of yourself when you build it

ChrisMag · May 23, 2015

Here's a comparison between a webcam setup vs trackIR 5. It seems the key thing is the sampling rate of some webcams is sub-par, which reduces performance.

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

Asp Explorer · May 23, 2015

I feel kind of sad that my TrackIR5 is now sat in a drawer, probably never to be used again.

If Mods allow, I'd like to propose that the person to write a poem about me that the community finds most amusing, can have mine for free

Mods would have to work out the transfer details though - I cannot stand poets

CaptainKremmen · May 23, 2015

The $30 ED-Tracker made my ED experience $150 better!

TheEponymousBob · May 23, 2015

+40 for the ED-Tracker. Went from thoroughly underwhelemed by head-tracking via FaceTrackerNOIR+PS3-Eye to fully reliant on ED-Tracker.

I paid for the pre-built magnetomoeter version. Mileage, etc, may vary.

Iori · May 23, 2015

Asp Explorer said:
I feel kind of sad that my TrackIR5 is now sat in a drawer, probably never to be used again.

If Mods allow, I'd like to propose that the person to write a poem about me that the community finds most amusing, can have mine for free Mods would have to work out the transfer details though - I cannot stand poets

Why won't you use it?

FoxTwo · May 23, 2015

When I first started playing ED, I already had TrackIR, and I never knew how ED handled without it.

Later on when I had the "exploration bug" bit me, I went thousands of light years out there. I thought I didn't need the TrackIR much so I didn't turn it on for ED for one session... and then I discovered HOW HARD IT WAS to play ED without it.

So I guess you can say yeah, it SHOULD make ED play at least $150 better

Troa Barton · May 23, 2015

CMDR Holycow said:
put the $150 towards 8 months of DK2 use... or save it for the CV1.

This is what I'm doing it's basically the best Track IR

Asp Explorer · May 23, 2015

Iori said:
Why won't you use it?

Because the DK2 makes it kind of irrelevant. But not totally. Both are good solutions, but I just never use the TrackIR now. Having both plugged in leads to insane CPU useage.

Having said that, if you use a triple monitor setup - and I still do - then the TrackIR is superior as it affords you all the head-tracking goodness with lots of screen space, and you can do "normal" things whilst using it. Triple screen still utterly beats the DK2 for productivity.

Iori · May 23, 2015

Asp Explorer said:
Because the DK2 makes it kind of irrelevant. But not totally. Both are good solutions, but I just never use the TrackIR now. Having both plugged in leads to insane CPU useage.

Having said that, if you use a triple monitor setup - and I still do - then the TrackIR is superior as it affords you all the head-tracking goodness with lots of screen space, and you can do "normal" things whilst using it. Triple screen still utterly beats the DK2 for productivity.

Well, my PC struggles to get decent framerate with a single 1080p monitor. Which is also the reason i'm not getting VR yet.

Asp Explorer · May 23, 2015

Iori said:
Well, my PC struggles to get decent framerate with a single 1080p monitor. Which is also the reason i'm not getting VR yet.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but until you've experienced multi-screen gaming, and then compared the same game on VR, it's kind of hard to form an opinion. Both are wonderful experiences, and one is not intrinsically better than the other.

Dweezil_Moon · May 23, 2015

ChrisMag said:
Here's a comparison between a webcam setup vs trackIR 5. It seems the key thing is the sampling rate of some webcams is sub-par, which reduces performance.

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

a PS3 Eye is 9€ on Amazon and can go up to 120fps. I run mine at 80fps@320x200, with facetracknoIR and a 3-Led clip hooked to my headphones. Works like a charm, including rotation along the Z-axis and small displacement on all three axis.
On the other hand .. I also should be receiving a second hand Oculus Rift DK2 today ...

Will TrackIR make my ED experience $150 better?

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.