Using the
TIR with the Vector clip is nothing short of amazing. It took little time
to get used to the new movement. The addition of the 3 points as opposed
to just one along with the newer hardware in the TIR3 makes the tracking very
precise and very smooth. In games that support the full six degrees of
freedom, the experience is hard to describe. There has never been
anything that gave me the immersion and situation awareness that the new
TIR/vector has.
I have used it
with LOMAC, MSFS 2004, X-plane 8 and Aces High ][. All games that support the TIR natively, although only Aces High
][ supported the full six degrees of freedom (sans head tilt) but in all cases the
addition of TIR makes the game a true experience. To be sure I found the
TIR most useful in combat situations. Thats not to say the civilian pilot
wouldnt get enjoyment and use from it, but rather that while its great in
civilian simulations, it is critical in combat to have every
advantage.
One feature which I found useful in AH][ was the way that
the TIR software worked in conjunction with the hat switch. For those
unfamiliar with AH][, it has a fully integrated 3d cockpit and allows you to
move your virtual point of view left right and forward and back. This
allows you to look back at your six o'clock and lean left or right to see around
the fuselage of the plane. With the TIR on, you can pan around using the
standard enhanced panning, but if you need to, you can still use your hat switch
and (for example) check 6, and use the TIR to shift left, right up and down
while looking back to see every possible angle. This is especially helpful
in planes with poor rear views. This is automatic and happens whenever you
hold the hat switch in a given direction.
The TIR software also has build
in the ability to turn the tracker off or re-center it with the pressing of a
button. The is great help for those situation where you need to keep your
view centered above all else (bombing comes to mind), or also when you are
climbing out to a target and will be looking at things not directly at the
monitor and dont need your view jumping all over the place while you reach for
the potato chips.
The Re-Center is a feature that helps if your TIR gets
'lost', and isnt sure where you head is pointed. This happens most
frequently when looking DOWN, and is a direct result of a design decision with
the vector clip. Its not a critical problem, and can be avoided 95% of the
time with a proper setup, but even in the best cases it will occur every once in
a while and you will find yourself needing to re-center.
As you move your head up and down, the two lower
points move towards the top point on the sensor. If you turn left or
right, the two lower points appear move closer to one another, but if you lean
left/right/up/down, the points all move together in that direction. It is
this absolute positioning combined with the position of each point relative to
the others that makes all the difference. You now have a full six degrees
of freedom.
·Look up, down, left, right
·Lean up, down, left,
right
·Move forward or back
·Rotate your head left or right*
The
movement is much more natural now. It still takes getting used to, but the
high level of frustration during the learning curve is gone
*most games do not currently support head rotation (think the Sony® dog
tilting its head)
