Devlog #2: Head Tracking

[p]DID has a history with head tracking. In 1995, EF2000 supported the VFX1 Headgear. Three years later, Total Air War shipped with Union Reality head tracker support. Unfortunately, it supported only two degrees of freedom: Yaw and pitch. You couldn’t roll your head, or at least the game wouldn’t take notice.[/p][p]F-22: Air Dominance Fighter did not ship with head tracking support at all. But this is about to change![/p][p]Our Steam release features head tracking with six degrees of freedom. Not only can you roll your head, you can also move through the cockpit![/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h2]Compatibility[/h2][p]F-22: Air Dominance Fighter uses the TrackIR application programming interface (API) to receive data from a head tracker. This does not limit you to TrackIR though – alternatives like OpenTrack allow you to use your webcam or smartphone as head tracker. ADF is agnostic to the software you use, as long as it talks through the TrackIR API.[/p][p][/p][h2]Setup[/h2][p]Use your head tracker’s app to enable or disable head tracking for ADF. If a head tracker is running, ADF will pick it up automatically – no need to tick anything in the options.[/p][p]While a head tracker is active, ADF will display a little note HT in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This can be helpful in troubleshooting.[/p][p][/p][h2]Virtual Reality[/h2][p]There are no current plans to support VR. Virtual reality goes far beyond head tracking: Stereoscopic vision, interactive cockpit, and integrated menus.[/p][p]Even though the tech in this release is far more modern than in 1997, some peculiarities of ADF’s rendering make stereoscopic rendering hard. In particular, the world is not really three-dimensional – all depth is a clever trick in arranging the polygons, and many things you perceive as being on the terrain are actually below it. And that’s also why EF2000 never had stereoscopic rendering.[/p][p]Stay tuned for our next installment and be sure to wishlist ADF![/p]