FreeTrack Forum

I just downloaded the free version ofmicrosoft flight,  and I can't get simconnect to work with it.   Anyone else been able to get it to work?

Flight doesn't support any tracking device... hope they will add soon

Kestrel @ 06/04/2012 - 19h10 a dit:

now you need to explain how  

Anybody had luck with implementing 6dof into ms flight? Today is the first day i've heard about freetrack (after watching movie above), took me and hour to make 6dof fully working device but then 7 hours trying implement it into the game. PPjoy was not succesfull for me, closest i was with emulating mouse into game with right mouse button taped but thats only 2dof and i have to reset view every 30 sec. Kestrel it would be cool if You can point us in right direction.

ok ive manage to make it work 5 dof, everything except zoom
you have to edit your standard.xml file in user/appdata... wherever flight folder is in there, just look for standard.xml
this file have all your controls configurations, i basically make it work thru ppjoy on win7 (therers youtube movie how to make it work on7, and yes its not a virus)
then you need to configure a virtual ppjoy with 6 axis (i'm using 5 for now couse can't get zoom to work)
then edit xml and change code couse you can't configure it in options in flight
sorry for my noob explanation, but im new to simulators, xml and microsoft commands and files
important is this works
# is commentary
what u need is (this is just important section of whole file)
<Axis> #basically axis describe the input method, opposed to down which means pressed
     <AxName>XAxis</AxName> #name of axis, u can change it in ppjoy, i recommend to first configure ppjoy in ms options and use it to some other things like eyemovement, then just edit command
     <Index>0</Index> #didnt figure it out yet, i hting indexes must be diferent in each section
     <EventName>AXIS_PAN_HEADING</EventName> #this event controls your yaw
     <AxScale>1.000000</AxScale> #input ratio (example 2.0 makes it move twice as much in game compared to joy movement, while 0.5 makes it twice slower)
     <AxNull>0.000000</AxNull> #threshold(? not sure abvout this word), if u put like 0.25 it wont move with tiny joy movements, 0 make it move straight away, i sue 0 for x and y, rest with some threshold
   </Axis>
   <Axis>
     <AxName>YAxis</AxName>
     <Index>1</Index>
     <EventName>AXIS_PAN_PITCH</EventName> #pitch command
     <AxScale>0.700000</AxScale> #diferent ratio, u can leave it 1 and adjust in freetrack
     <AxNull>0.000000</AxNull>
   </Axis>
   <Axis>
     <AxName>ZAxis</AxName>
     <Index>2</Index>
     <EventName>AXIS_PAN_TILT</EventName> #tilt command
     <AxScale>1.000000</AxScale>
     <AxNull>0.250000</AxNull>
   </Axis>
   <Axis>
     <AxName>RxAxis</AxName> #RxAxis means its rotation x axis
     <Index>3</Index>
     <EventName>EYEPOINT_SET_LATERAL</EventName> #x movement, so u can lean out of plane
     <AxScale>1.000000</AxScale>
     <AxNull>0.250000</AxNull>
   </Axis>
   <Axis>
     <AxName>RyAxis</AxName>
     <Index>4</Index>
     <EventName>EYEPOINT_SET_VERTICAL</EventName> #move up and down
     <AxScale>1.000000</AxScale>
     <AxNull>0.250000</AxNull>
   </Axis>

i recommend to make this file read only and make backup couse once it reset all my settings and i had to do it again (conflict with logitech extreme i think, not sure)

it works with my 3 point hat, logitech extreme 3d for plane controls and keyboard (and im using usb keypad sometimes), i adjust everything in freetrack instead in this file (smoothing 200 works good for me) but tbh i only had it working for 1 hour and want to spread the news so u can give me some tips
i get to it by reverse enginerring events, try to use events from fsx but thats didnt work, idk, maybe of someone can post a full list of events it can be done better, also i dont know event name for zoom (eyepoint set longitudal didn't worked, and i can't figure out how to make zoom to work with axis), like i said im new at this but for what i know it's the best solution for now (beats tapeing your mose which works like hs.. anyway couse it doesnt center your view back to center, this does)

if someone can explain that in less chaotic manner and better english please do

if u have problems with making it work i will check this post from time to time or u can try to ax me directly in flight pilotname : TomaszuJerzy

peace and good luck, its so much more fun with freetrack

ps. Kestrel can u tell me eventname for zoom or how u did it? peace

Hi there,

I think that this might be a teaser to showcase a new release of the FreeTrack software - if you look at the description on YouTube:

"FreeTrack 2.3 6DOF head tracking and View Oriented Cursor (VOC) in Microsoft Flight online."

Searched for "FreeTrack 2.3" - doesn't exist anywhere - no mention of it on this forum. So is this an internal release of the software?

Searched for "View Oriented Cursor" - virtually no results come back. So what is this and how do we configure it?

The subject for the YouTube also says "Microsoft Flight 6DOF head tracking FreeTrack TrackIR"

Does this mean that it was using a TrackIR for the camera? Or was it just a "tag" to get on the list of YouTube results? Wasn't TrackIR camera support dropped in FreeTrack 2.x?

For me this adds up to a teaser and we should just sit tight. A lot of work was put into producing the video - with the FreeTrack splash icon - and with NO explanation for how it was done I think it's intended to generate interest/hysteria given the lack of TrackIR support in MS Flight is driving people mental right now.

Me, I am waiting to donate based on getting this working. Honestly, I am.

I've invested a lot in Flight Simulation and am getting pi55ed off with none of them working quite right. Happy to donate and use MS Flight more heavily if I can get 6DOF - and will wait for more DLC in future.

Come on Kestrel, spill the beans mate! Please!

Thanks a lot.

Kind regards,

James Gillies

JimboG @ 21/04/2012 - 16h15 a dit:

Searched for "FreeTrack 2.3" - doesn't exist anywhere - no mention of it on this forum. So is this an internal release of the software?

Perhaps FreeTrack developers have come up against some corporate policies, who knows (or they just need time).

JimboG @ 21/04/2012 - 16h15 a dit:

The subject for the YouTube also says "Microsoft Flight 6DOF head tracking FreeTrack TrackIR"

Does this mean that it was using a TrackIR for the camera? Or was it just a "tag" to get on the list of YouTube results? Wasn't TrackIR camera support dropped in FreeTrack 2.x?

It's obviously and simply a tag.

JimboG @ 21/04/2012 - 16h15 a dit:

I've invested a lot in Flight Simulation and am getting pi55ed off with none of them working quite right. Happy to donate and use MS Flight more heavily if I can get 6DOF - and will wait for more DLC in future.

MS Flight is everything but a simulator.
Anyway, what flight simulators do you have that don't work as you wish? I've got FSX and with proper tweaking and add-ons it's a neat little number.

Gian92 @ 23/04/2012 - 16h39 a dit:

JimboG @ 21/04/2012 - 16h15 a dit:

Searched for "FreeTrack 2.3" - doesn't exist anywhere - no mention of it on this forum. So is this an internal release of the software?

Perhaps FreeTrack developers have come up against some corporate policies, who knows (or they just need time).

Sure.... but it was put up there two weeks ago - and with no explanation of how or why the video exists, except in response to people wanting to get 6DOF with MS Flight. Don't post somthing like that unless you're prepared to answer at least some questions on how it was done.

JimboG @ 21/04/2012 - 16h15 a dit:

The subject for the YouTube also says "Microsoft Flight 6DOF head tracking FreeTrack TrackIR"

Does this mean that it was using a TrackIR for the camera? Or was it just a "tag" to get on the list of YouTube results? Wasn't TrackIR camera support dropped in FreeTrack 2.x?

It's obviously and simply a tag.

No I am sorry, but it wasn't obvious - which is why I asked the question. As there is no explanation as to how the head movement is being tracked by which camera method (web Cam, TrackIR etc) you have to ask, "Was it actually TrackIR?" - Also, given that the video was posted by one of the developers of Freetrack it would seem a little irresponsible to post with a tag saying "TrackIR" if there was no TrackIR actaully involved - especially if they had been asked to remove support for those cameras back in version 2.2

I did my homework before I asked the question.

JimboG @ 21/04/2012 - 16h15 a dit:

I've invested a lot in Flight Simulation and am getting pi55ed off with none of them working quite right. Happy to donate and use MS Flight more heavily if I can get 6DOF - and will wait for more DLC in future.

MS Flight is everything but a simulator.
Anyway, what flight simulators do you have that don't work as you wish? I've got FSX and with proper tweaking and add-ons it's a neat little number.

Forgive my Sunday afternoon rant, I was "teased" by this video enough to be annoyed that I could not see the solution to get it working.

But in answer to your question - all of them have their flaws that stops them from being perfect:

FSX - far too buggy - CTDs arbitrarily.
P3D - still early - no DX11 or modern hardware support yet - but here's hoping. Also quite a pain to set up flights.
MS Flight - No planes. No scenary for four months. No TrackIR. No reponse from MS from their customers.
AeroflyFS - very young. No flight planning, no ATC.
X-Plane - when the 3PD catch up this might be half decent - at the moment it's just not ready yet.

So at this time on a good day the above can be very satisfying indeed. On a bad day none of them make you want to spend more than an hour on them due to pure frustration.

So this thread was an attempt to further the longevity of MS Flight - after all I paid for it.

Tried opening Freetrack after downloading, no luck!  Doesn't like my computer, or Win XP or whatever....

Just irritates me to know end, why Microsoft would deliver a flight sim without Trackir support, they really have their corporate heads "up and locked".

SilverSpur

JimboG @ 23/04/2012 - 20h48 a dit:

FSX - far too buggy - CTD

My FSX runs smooth as silk at steady 30 FPS in any circumnstance with real phototerrain (using online satellite maps through TileProxy), voice recognition (multi crew experience), visual enhancements (REX), serius aircraft add-ons, etc.

With the vastness of support, thanks to 3rd party add-ons, I gladly stick to FSX. Of course you need work on it since FSX is more a Beta release than a stable program, even with SP2 or Acceleration pack (you need to build the right system and tweak Windows and FSX properly) but then you will be paid off.

MS Flight is an arcade game targeted to the mainstream, yet disgusting and unacceptable to any serious flight simmer. It was a shock knowing that Flight is the end of the simulation, at least in the Microsoft environment.

Anyway it isn't my intention to go off-topic too much or complain aimlessly.
I really hope that you'll be able to enjoy MS Flight with tracking support.

Cheers  

SilverSpur @ 23/04/2012 - 21h40 a dit:

they really have their corporate heads "up and locked".

Agreed

Kestrel,

Any chance of a response on this?

I think we've been quite patient to ask you how you achieved the effect you did on the YouTube video you posted.

But despite several requests for details on this forum, comments on YouTube and PMs (at least one from myself) I am yet to see *anything* that confirms or denies what we're seeing as true.

Do us a favour please and confirm:

What you did
What settings you used
Where we can obtain download the software required
When it will be available for us to try out

I am getting annoyed at this silent approach, given the effort clearly put into creating the video. It's not cool to just post it and then say nothing.

If you want me to stay interested and donate to your project give us some feedback. You've been asked some straight-forward questions by others and myself.

If you're too busy with other things kindly inform us.

Getting sick and tired of the lack of response to straight questions asked of software developers....

Thanks a lot.

James

Perhaps it's just a chimera, result of a hallucination and product of psilocybin mushrooms, and Kestrel is the perfidious sorcerer behind all of this, lol

Or he wants your everlasting longing for his own joy or for other obscure, esoteric and unutterable reasons  

The default Stearman in MS Flight is yellow, at least in my version.  This guy is flying a blue Stearman?

Freetrack does work in MS Flight.  All you have to do is download TrackIRfixer and follow the directions.  You will have 6 DOF in Flight with Freetrack.