Meant to be Seen

cybereality wrote:David has been helpful. There actually *IS* a linear motion mode.
What is not fine, is that there is a bug with this mode. Basically at a certain angle it will quickly snap to a totally different angle (maybe a 180 degree switch) and then quickly snap back to where it supposed to be.

Wow, great news Cyber.
Does the glitch happen so much that it is not possible to play a game in that mode at all ? Or is it a pain in the neck, but for the sheer fun of Stand-Up VR, you could live with it for atleast some limited VR play time ?

Even if a game does not have direct support for it, can the Hydra still be used like an AirMouse (Right Controller) and all other functions (Left Controller) with those non-supported games ? Even if it would be slugish in nature ?

3dvison wrote: Does the glitch happen so much that it is not possible to play a game in that mode at all ? Or is it a pain in the neck, but for the sheer fun of Stand-Up VR, you could live with it for atleast some limited VR play time ?

It happens pretty consistently but only at one specific angle at a time (that angle is different every time you turn the gun on, but once its on it stays at that same angle). It is pretty annoying, but I guess it could still be playable. I think I remember one time it didn't glitch out for a bit, then the glitch started. Maybe its something wrong with my particular unit, because all the other modes seem to work fine. I don't know.

Could also be something in my room messing it up (if it uses magnetometers). I do have interference between the Razer Hydra and my ASUS 3D monitor. Could be something like that, I don't know. Hopefully there is some way to fix this, because this gun has a lot of potential.

I hope it is just somthing in your room or an easy fix of some kind.
It would be nice to use this gun with the RIFT+Doom3 BFG .

You know, it sounds like such a big glitch, you would almost think it would have to be a defective unit or somthing in your room.
You would not think such a big problem would go unnoticed.

I tried turning off my ASUS monitor (since this had problems with the Hydra) but that didn't fix it. I wonder if the Hydra base station could effect it (it was not on, though). Not sure what else it could be. It also doesn't always happen at the same angle, which leads me to think its a software issue. Really not sure at this point. I will try it in another room with my laptop and see if that fixes it.

Anyway, here is a video so you guys can see the glitch I am talking about. Really quite annoying, I hope there is a fix.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5KJ4wxqdao[/youtube]

Thanks for posting the new video Cyber...
Even with the glitch, I still kinda want it anyways, to be used with the RIFT...Without the glitch, I would have hit the (BUY BUTTON) already.

I tried it in a different room on my laptop. It still had the same issue, so I doubt its cause by interference.

cybereality wrote:I tried it in a different room on my laptop. It still had the same issue, so I doubt its cause by interference.

A flip/glitch like that at a certain angle has the characteristics of an orientation calculation failure (180° = 0°). For orientation you can use a variety of algorithms. Some are actually quite simple to implement but have 'bugs' like this and some of them are very hard and are difficult to implement. Depending on what your product should do, you can decide on which one to use... They are probably well aware of it, but decided it was acceptable because the gun is meant to be used in front of a screen so it should almost never occur if used like that.

It also doesn't always happen at the same angle, ...

However, this made me doubt.

A thought: does it always occur at the same angle if you turn on the gun (or pair it with the driver) at the same location?

It happens at around 180 degrees (facing away from the screen). So I assume this is probably the result of wonky math when it reaches the limits. Its not always at exactly the same angle, but this might be because of the angle the gun was facing when I turned it on (or something to that effect). I sent the last video to David Hay, he said he would ask one of the engineers.

It sounds almost exactly like the glitch I get with the Hydra when turning past a certain point. I think its not quite translating correctly when the turn exceeds a certain point. Its only really noticable when using the test app, not sure if the problem actually occurs with games etc (suspect it does but its just not very noticable).

Hey Cyber, do you know if the makers of this gun are hip to the release of the RIFT dev. kits, and the fact that sales could be found in the RIFT crowd ?

3dvison wrote:Hey Cyber, do you know if the makers of this gun are hip to the release of the RIFT dev. kits, and the fact that sales could be found in the RIFT crowd ?

They are probably not aware, but I will be sure to mention it in the next email I send.

I keep buying and cancelling it...(buyers remorse). I finally went with cause someone returned it for $55.00 off. If it doesnt work out, will still be good on projector.

I've been talking to David Hay, and he seems very responsive. I mentioned that the 3D/VR community is very hyped about the Oculus Rift and that it could be a good market to promote to. He seems interested, and says he is talking to the engineers to fix the problem. He even asked me what HMD he should buy (after he realized the Rift was delayed) so they can get a full VR setup to test with. From what he tells me, it is not a defective unit I have but probably effects most (all?) of the devices. I really hope they can get this fixed, because this controller has a lot of potential.

Will post when I learn more.

Thanks for taking the time to try and get this worked out Cyber...

Can someone confirm if their MAG II can detect ultra slow movements?
If i try to move the gun as slow as i can for ultra fine aiming it wont move the camera at all, this could be because i dropped it from desk height the first day i got it but i'm not sure.
edit: it can detect ultra fine movement on 'light gun mode' but not on the other settings for FPS games.

If you are trying to do extremely subtle movement, it does not pick it up (ie 1 pixel at a time). You can still move somewhat slowly, but it you to turn a little bit more than you would with a mouse. I've only been playing single-player games and the movement seemed OK for that (like L4D). If you are trying to play more competitive online games I could see maybe it would become an issue.

Hey cybereality,
Any update on the 180 deg rotation glitch ?

Also, after having had more time to use the gun, do you still like it ?
And like you said, I mean from the stand point of using it with an HMD/RIFT for single player games, as a way to get more into the game, not for fast paced online play.

Thanks cyber, i guess they set it like this so you don't have to hold it so steady. I also got it for the Rift so thanks again for contacting the developers for support, i'm also interested in the 'recoil mag' because it has a rechargeable battery pack but i can't find where to purchase it.

@3dvison: No update from them on the bug. I will ping them after the holidays and see whats up. I have not used the gun as much as I would have liked. I will need to play with it more to see if its usable in more fast-paced environments like CS:GO or BF3 multiplayer. So its probably not going to beat the mouse-keyboard in terms of accuracy and skill, but it is sure more fun.

@Vance19: Yeah, the recoil thing looks sick but I can't find it for sale anywhere. That would really help to get in the action.

sorry if annoying. do not speak or understand English well. but can I ask you help? I want to buy a controller for pc to play fps. what better in your opnion? MAG II or Razor Hydra?
thanks.

Personally I think I like the Mag II better than the Hydra for playing FPS games. Now granted, the Hydra is better if you are a developer and want to code custom support into your game. And the few titles with native Hydra support (ie Portal 2) are pretty compelling. But I think the Mag II is easier overall to work with, and supports basically any FPS game. They are both cool devices though, its not that one is totally crappy.

but the configuration of the hydra would like to configure a generic joystick on PC, right? I think it would not be so complicated.
in your opinion, in terms of precision, ease and comfort to play, which is better?

Well you can use the Hydra like a generic joystick, but then there is not much reason to buy one when you can just use a wired Xbox 360 controller for much cheaper. You can configure gestures with it, but I find them mostly to be wonky and not work 100% of the time (similar to what happens on the Wii). That said, the Hydra is a great piece of hardware, especially for developers. And you have a lot more control over customizing the controls for games and creating your own profiles.

With the Mag II you are basically stuck with a couple of pre-set control schemes (though these will work for many FPS games). The Mag is fun to hold though (like a gun) and has rumble, which is nice. I think the Mag is also easier to use since you don't have to "rachet" as much (sort of like picking up your mouse with the Hydra).

Honestly I don't think its a case of one being better than the other. They are different things.

The Hydra gestures seem to be tied to a specific sitting position/aim point... the moment you turn away from the screen, the gestures dont work. It doesn't seem to recenter the gestures based on where the controller is pointing

When the Oculus Rift arrives in March/April, this could become the hottest device on the planet!

Pro - Mag II gun (Walk and Arm) with Oculus Rift (Head).

Con - 180 deg rotation bug (Walk and Arm) with limit cable restriction (Head).

Though this sounds common-sensical to us now, it was fairly revolutionary at the time the Virtual Reality pioneered it.

Did anyone who has a Mag II ever figure out if it can do xinput or directinput? I can't find the CD so maybe it had some software that could but all I can do right now is WASD emulation which is pretty limiting. I do like the layout, weight and feel of the controller though, and the vibration when shooting is a nice subtle effect.

You can emulate the controller by setting the Mag Cube to 'PS3 Mode' and connecting a wired Xbox controller but the aiming is bugged and unusable. I wish it worked, better to have analog movement and controller button layout. Then you could switch from the Mag II to Mouse and Keyboard like it's a controller.

I tried the latest console update at www.g-matecontroller.com, apparentlly it enables use on Xbox 360. But this update caused Mag II to emulate a Playstation controller.

I've tested it with the Rift and it's amazing with TF2 and HL2 on the default move aim mode (3), it should be well suited to games with official Rift support. Games without independent head movement with vertical aiming enabled don't work so well, aiming up and down will cause serious motion sickness.

It can be used with an external sensor for positional gun tracking, to use without mouse emulation simply skip the calibration process (don't hold the red calibration button). This is also useful as a right controller for HL2 VR Mod.

The Recoil Mag will be on sale at www.g-matecontroller.com soon.

IS the Mag II better than this?



I bought the top shot elite and get comfortable with it.
Its fairly adjustable you can use it with wii with motion plus!

using the gyro via glove pie to emulate mouse movements is easily to be done!!

If the Mag 2 didn't have the 1:1 bug, it would be great. As-is it's only really useful if you want to stand in front of a screen (not for 360 VR). Using a Wiimote will be cheaper, and actually better in the case where you want to stand up and turn around.

Well, I bought the MAG II 3 weeks ago and I must say that it is not a good implementation outside of games in which you are expected to shoot your way through enemies that come only from one direction and you are moving into that direction yourself. Turning around and aiming accurately is simply not possible, since the sensitivity increases a lot if you point too much to the sides.
For a good result, you are expected to turn fast, then to re-calibrate on the fly and then shoot. We all do that with a mouse, but this is simply too time-consuming and really detracts from the immersion.
Anyway, this at least lead me to go back to the GlovePIE coding and make things right.
Only a demo video for now, but soon to post results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OcXppj ... Jn8O351BPw

I bought Mag 2 several month ago, and it works well on pc. but now I want to use it for my xbox 360, I already update firmware for xbox 360, it detected and I can use but the analog and gyroscope didn't work. any solution?

EDIT:
PROBLEM SOLVED, just plug the cube to xbox, plug wired controller to the cube, when the 1 player light up, turn on mag 2 gun and make sure the connection to the cube is connected, after that remove the wired stick from the cube. now the analog and gyroscope function as well.

sorry for my bad english

hello

I am just a new user of this light gun and found this thread while searching some infos and especially files, drivers and updates, upgrades firmware

I would like to know if anyone have these files because links from official editor are now down

I know this is a little late to have it but wanted to have a basic testing product for VR before biuing something more expensive but better

Many thanks for your help