I really want this and want it to be great - but no TIR and no VR = no sale, I’m afraid. This ain’t the 90’s!
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Since it is probably impossible for me to fly it in VR with my current hardware, TrackIR support in some form is also pretty essential for me.
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My guess is it’s missing because it’s the 1st alpha and they have bigger obstacles to work on, not because it’s not planned.
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Yeah, that was my thought, too. Apparently implementation is very simple, so would make sense.
I won’t get mad if they implement it in the release version. 
I guess that if I were coding something, which I have precious little knowledge and experience of, I’d try to find the bugs in my own code before I started adding others code, in the mix…?
So, it makes sense that some add on code is left out, right now.
Speaking of TrackIR…
I love NaturalPoint for what they brought to flightsimming, with TrackIR! It was a true game changer.
But it’s been a while since we heard anything from them, isn’t it…? TrackIR 5 is still the latest version, right? I stopped using it the day I got VR.
But I still think TrackIR has a place in flightsims.
I’d like to see a TrackIR 6, that fixed the shortcomings of the 5. Maybe something using more sensors and IR LEDs, like the tracking used in VR, which is much more precise than TrackIR…
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I was gifted a trackir kit just before I got my my oculus (you know who you are. You star) and I have found it to be much more useful for civilian simulators where I need to read checklists and manuals and find it a much more relaxing experience. Track ir is DEFINITELY still relevant. I love it. I actually couldn’t be without it for civilian sims as it give me so much more freedom than Vr. But for DCS the vr is unbeatable
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Technically…(this is an admittedly a boring post…please feel free to skip the dull bits)
The dull bits
…Alpha testing is a set of structured tests, evaluating where or not the program/app is working as it should.
For example, a testing item may be something like From the main screen, using the File drop down menu, select the “Open” option. A Open file pop up dialog box appears. Yes/No
That might be followed by From the main screen, select Ctrl O. A Open file pop up dialog box appears. Yes/No
…and so on. The idea is to test the program/app’s functionality in the manner it is meant to be used. That last bit is important because awe all know, humans have the proclivity to specifically not use programs/apps in the manner they are meant to be used. Additionally, just because have completed Alpha testing, doesn’t mean that you have caught every possible of designed permutations (hold that thought).
Thus Beta testing.
Beta testing is essentially a bunch of operators/players who will attempt to use the program/app the way that they think it should be used. From my example above, perhaps a user forgets to use Open from the Main screen and tries Ctrl O from a sub screen? Maybe it works or maybe it crashes the app. If the latter, we now have a Beta test data point.
…and maybe sometimes the Alpha testing has missed something (retried that thought). was Beta testing a app for FSWidgets called QuickPlan. I was using it as designed when I clicked on a NDB in Washington state to use as a waypoint in the flight plan. When the plan appeared n FSX, this waypoint showed up in the UK. I reported it. Turns out that that NDB happened to be located on exactly a degree of longitude -call it W 122º00’00". As such when the app went to convert it into FSX something in the algorithm substituted 60’00" for 0’00" which really screwed things up so FSX plotted it out at 000º00’00". You get the picture. The Alpha testing could have tried hundreds of variations without discovering the one. For the good folks at FSWidgets it was a fairly straightforward fix…they had the FAA move the offending NDB 15 yards west… or maybe just did some math stuff…regardless, it is fixed.
Getting back to MS and there Flight Simulator testing. If they are actually calling t Alpha testing then they are smoking [deleted due to Mudspike’s firm anti-drug policy].
As far as no TrackIR being a reportable item…ehh…if they are not designing it in to begin with, then technically it is not a reportable issue…Alpha or Beta.
I put my FXS to rest about 6 moths ago. So as much as I want this to be the true successor to FSX, I am not encouraged by what I am seeing at the stage when it comes to the development of the app…their lose terminology when it comes to standardized software development concepts…the ambiguous statements I various less releases…now no TrackIR…and the polo shirts…just say’n
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One would think that you, of all people, would appreciate the importance of uniforms… 
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The fun bit is that the people who, on news that VR wasn’t going to be included in the initial release, posted long sermons on what that wasn’t important to them, can now get their own replies sent back to them, replacing the word ‘VR’ with ‘TrackIR’. 
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I can say having worked professionally in Quality Assurance (QA) in the gaming industry, I never saw a breakdown of the terms alpha and beta testing with specific definitions. I actually like yours quite a bit, and if I was still in the business I’d steal them for the new employee handbook. With that said, when I was in the industry, we (my company Acclaim Entertainment) used the term alpha to refer to testing when we were not near feature complete, say < 80% completion. Beta was anything after that.
Knowing for instance that you get a hard crash scrolling up instead of down in a menu is a good thing to know as soon as possible. Same with the more esoteric stuff that was not a normal manner of use (inserting special characters into save game names, etc). The earlier we could find that, the better it was for the dev team. So for us at least, we tried to break everything all the time every time. Sure on a new build we’d make sure things worked as a regular use might use them, but after that it was off to the test cases and trying crazy things.
So I personally wouldn’t be too worried by the usage of the term alpha vs beta testing, but that’s me.
Stay careful in your age and with that condition @b12 
I am maybe not standard example of sim enthusiast ( @chipwich will say I have lack of commitment ) but I never jumped on the TrackIR and still am resistant to VR.
For looking around I used mouse in my left hand.
Now I have small trackball ‘mounted’ to my X55 throttle.
But missing TIR support in any new sim is like… missing helicopters or the like… not good sign imo
On the other hand ‘only’ 23% of all respondents own some kind of head tracking according to '18 Navigraph survey
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You have all my respect man.
That really looks nasty, so… glad you can freely talk about it.
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Wow. That’s a condition I’ve never heard of but really feel for you mate. That’s a killer scar on your back as well. Glad it doesn’t stop you doing your simming my friend.
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@B12
Mad respect for how you are handling that condition!
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Actually these definitions were taught during one of my graduate school courses back in 1992 although I do not remember which class. So somewhere out there they are spelled out in a text book.
I know that since that time programing and software development have radically changed. I sort of just assumed that these terms and methods had gone by the wayside. That said, what ED does with their DCS World seems to fit the definition of Beta testing…for the “Brave New World” of software development.
(with apologies to Aldous Huxley 
)
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Well, at least you have a very valid excuse. I just suck at dogfighting.
EDIT: ThoughtI’d add this as an example of my dogfighting “prowess”
You are a real trooper. We are lucky and privileged to have you in our community.
Your situation has got to thinking…I wonder if “they” could adapt the TrackIR algorithms to a VR headset. Essentially “multiply” small head movements into larger virtual head movements. The application in your place is obvious. I would think it would also allow people with other paralysis to get more “virtual freedom” as it were.
If they do, they must name it after you. The @B12 System. 
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Being completely immersed, I would think that amplified head movements, such as with TIR, would be quite nauseating.
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You Da Man Buddy! #Respect I’ll remember this next time I start Compaining about my on coming Arthritis.
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I was going to say the exact same thing.
With TIR it can be disorientating (in game) as we are so used to working with 1:1 with our vision.
Enclosing yourself in a VR headset I don’t think would go over well with nearly anyone who tried it.
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