Updated https://simpit.dev/ - home of the #Space #PewPew #SimPit inspired by a #VF1 Valkyrie cockpit (#Macross)
That's a glorified #DIY joystick controller with an LCD ('MFD') and plenty of #RGB for my #Linux PC
Newest additions are my #XR sheniagans (and some notes on #Breezy and the usage of #IMU data as #headtracker), the games #AceCombat and #XWVM (#XWing / #TIEFighter) and a bunch of videos were updated.
Best viewed WITH an ad-blocker and patience (slow af).
Star Citizen with head tracking from XR glasses in SBS mode on Linux PC – Yes it works!
So I was asked if my head tracking approach of reading the IMU data from my Viture Pro to OpenTrack and SBS (side-by-side) mode with ReShade would also work with StarCitizen.
Guess it does 
Pick your poison to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWUC2Y3TRh4 / https://makertube.net/w/8L7gVN8NnLvjhQCPGNmd6W
I start Star Citizen via Lutris (and not with Steam), which requires slightly different settings once ReShade is installed:
Enable Gamescope: ONOutput Resolution: "3840x1080"Game Resolution: "3840x2160" (set this also ingame!)Custom Settings: "--scaler stretch"Can this get you banned? Who knows Jury is still out on this. Do I care? Nope. I won’t miss my puny starter pack.
YMMV.
The proof of concept code to read the IMU data can be found at https://github.com/bekopharm/xr_to_opentrack (pending changes).
It works with the Breezy GNOME xr_driver: https://github.com/wheaney/breezy-desktop (but the Vulkan one works probably too but that’s untested). It should also be compatible with other glasses that have IMU for Breezy available.
There is an unlisted SBS version of this video linked in the description. You will need XR glasses that do FULL SBS though to watch it!
Demo: FreeSpace 2 Open with head tracking from Viture Pro XR glasses IMU data – on Linux PC
Until now I used OpenTrack with my DIY IR tracker or the Neuralnet tracker. I knew that my XR glasses feature IMU data though and the xr_driver of the Breezy Desktop project allows to access the data via IPC on Linux PC. So I did what Linux user do: I wrote a script to access the IMU data and forwarded it via UDP to OpenTrack:
Pick your poison to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njuumLUvqrM / https://makertube.net/w/2bNyxJhdyydTeFq17onikv
This reminded me that I also wrote a proof of concept to implement the FaceTrackNoIR (or OpenTrack) protocol into FreeSpace 2 Open on Linux PC ( https://makertube.net/w/7VtfAjW7EiAUS5aiPwG7if ) so I gave it a spin to test the data bridge. That was smooth sailing!
The mod is Diaspora: Shattered Armistice, still awesome today: http://diaspora.hard-light.net/ (Warning: This may fuel a desire to re-watch the BSG series again 
).
The bridge code can be found at https://github.com/bekopharm/xr_to_opentrack (pending changes).
It works with the Breezy GNOME xr_driver: https://github.com/wheaney/breezy-desktop (but the Vulkan one works probably too but that’s untested). It should also be compatible with other glasses that have IMU for Breezy available.
It has been a while that I tried #StarCitizen. With the new #Neuralnet Tracker plugin (AI haha) for #OpenTrack we get head tracking without annoying IR LEDs or reflecting stripes just by reading the webcam video feed. This is apparently fast enough to try #headTracking without a dedicated #headTracker nowadays. And all that on a #Linux PC. Took some fiddling but the concept still works. What a time to be alive.
Demo: https://makertube.net/w/groS1wpAhP8XYE75vJwX32
I had the chance to play Flight Of Nova (https://flight-of-nova.com/) for the first time today. This was on my wishlist for quite some time now. Dived in blind and had no idea what to expect. 3 tutorial missions later: Oh boy… this is hard. I can see myself sinking many hours in this.
Anyway, as usual, my focus is on interfacing with my home cockpit (or simpit) and while there is no ship telemetry [yet?] I was able to get it running just fine via Proton and with my DIY headtracker using OpenTrack. Heads off, seldom that I see a game that detects my joystick just fine, has great ingame calibration, offers me a windowed mode and a bunch of ultra width resolutions without having to resort to hacking config files or use gamescope to resize it 
Head tracking is, as usually, TrackIR only so far (I guess the native Linux PC version does not have UDP in place here but I couldn’t check due Steam refusing to download another version today). Anyway, you can see me fooling around with the buttons and do an A+ crash landing in the end – sunny side up 
Not too shabby considering that this was my 3rd landing at all.
Pick your poison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2A_uVbUKWU / https://tube.tchncs.de/w/iV21V6EZxNCTsC8bvsCQDt
Demo Flight Of Nova with Headtracker and HOTAS (on Linux PC) - crash landing my spaceship again
https://tube.tchncs.de/videos/watch/9112672c-e8dc-4a6a-9518-9d87f6264f9d
Behind the scenes recording so you get the idea of the setup followed by some Star Citizen gameplay:
DIY headtracker and Simpit and Star Citizen gameplay (on Linux PC)In use:
* A Linux PC
* A DIY Headtracker
* A DIY Joystick “Primary Buffer Panel“
* A X52 Pro HOTAS
* 3 Cameras + Recording Software
* An AMD RX5600XT in tears
* …a Beko learning How To Fly in SC xD
So you _still_ think you can’t space pew pew on Linux PC? Think again. I do it all the time: https://beko.famkos.net/2021/10/16/space-pew-pew-on-linux-pc/
Updated: This content is obsolete. Two years later I rebuilt the cardboard version with something more sturdy and raised a dedicated project website describing the builds: SimPit.dev
This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
https://beko.famkos.net/2022/01/09/learning-how-to-fly-playing-star-citizen-on-linux-pc/
