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Rider Weight Tracking Suggestions/Solutions/Improvements

Started by Myst1cPrun3, April 28, 2019, 04:17:23 pm

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April 28, 2019, 04:17:23 pm Last Edit: April 29, 2019, 10:15:46 pm by Myst1cPrun3 Reason: --UPDATED--
I have been fiddling with the head tracking in GPB, using my oculus rift to do the tracking and have come up with some suggestions, improvements and feedback/fixes for (Hopefully) the next beta, if PIB reads these :) I'll try to be as simple and concise as possible, but this will probably be an essay so here goes:

1) Movement

Overall the movement is good, and very smooth with the visual transitions of the rider, and functions as intended.
That is not to say it is without issue, as the real world head movement needed to affect the rider is too large.
EG: In order to tuck forward/back I have to physically get out of my chair, which is definitely not ideal.
The left and right movement is pretty close to perfect, and is certainly more manageable when compared to F/R, although could benefit from a small boost to the sensitivity.
I understand wanting to have a 1:1 ratio of movement to maintain maximum realism, however in most cases this is not practical, and for the F/R lean it doesn't even feel like 1:1.

2) Axis

The axis are fairly standard, and as a result there is probably some confusion as to why I'd bring these up.
If you imagine a standard 3D graph, with a standard X,Y,Z layout, the L/R leaning runs along the X (Horizontal Left/Right) axis as it should, however the issue comes with the F/R leaning.
The issue is in the name, F/R, which is Forward/Rear, and as a consequence it runs on the Z (Horizontal Forward/Back) axis. This feels like an issue, as, from the admittedly small amount of track riding experience I have, and several hours on-board videos, the head movement to replicate this seems more on a vertical Y axis (Up and Down).
Granted there is a small amount of front to rear (Z) movement, however that is secondary to the up and down (Y) movement, certainly in GPB.
I do however understand the weight transfer IS to the front and rear of the machine IRL, however that appears to be with the lower body in seat positioning under braking, and acceleration.
The reason I bring this up, is because while running on a Y axis for head tracking may not be 100% realistic, as I've previously mentioned its F/R the weight movement IRL, however it would feel more natural for being sat in a chair, and for me personally, something that feels natural is more useful/immersive as a training tool than a 1:1 simulation in some situations, such as this.
TrackIR has the option to stop it registering some axis, and it certainly felt very natural when I was running with that after setting up the sensitivities and dead-zones, however I also appreciate there are some large differences in TrackIR and an Oculus.

3) Current Temporary Solutions

While its not ideal, if someone is set on running rider tracking I'd have to suggest running the second first person view, (The one that is not affected by manually tucking in/rider movements) and running automatic F/R leaning. This, for me, felt more natural than running full tracking.
NOTE: The more aggressive with the throttle and brake the faster the rider sits up and tucks in, so don't change how aggressive you speed up/down, just make the gaps between letting off and applying the brakes slightly larger, and vice versa.
(Smoother not Slower)

4) Development Fixes

For a release into the Game by Pib, I'd recommend sliders to control the ratio of real head movement : in game rider movement on each axis (X,Y,Z)
This would allow it to be more easily tailored to each persons setup and desires/needs when it comes to GPB.

Next, I'd recommend changing the F/R (Front/Rear) lean on the Z axis to U/D (Up/Down) on the Y axis. This would certainly feel more natural in its movement, after all we're in control of head tracking not bum tracking, so it feels a little weird to control where you're sat with your head.

Finally, an option to mix both rider tracking with manual tuck-in/rider lean. For instance, using the L/R tracking with my headset, but leaning F/R (U/D) with assigned controller buttons, and the same with using buttons for L/R vs Rider Tracking for F/R (U/D)

In this picture you can see just what I mean, where the green arrow is what movement is required to sit-up/tuck-in, bu the yellow is the actual movement of most riders.
While this is not 100% to scale, it does have some semblance of scale in that the green arrow is much bigger than the actual movement, no matter what axis its on.

Quote from: PiBoSo on December 04, 2018, 02:33:02 pmThis is just being used to try and get an alert in Pibs forum alerts, not an actual quote XD