> I envisioned it as this: picture three spinners on their sides, one pointing straight > upwards, and the other two pointing at 45 degree angles to the left and right, > respectively. All three spinners rest against the underside of the trackball. This > way, the game could calculate the Armadillo's direction and "velocity" by the amount > of spin the player gives one spinner over another by virtue of the direction and > force applied to the trackball. This could not be possible with a trackball alone, > which is more suited for position calculations.
You used to be able to get three-axis trackball-like input devices for SGI and Sun workstations. I think they were called "speedballs". They were expensive, temperamental and unreliable. However, to the best of my knowledge Armadillo Racing uses regular two-axis optomechanical pickups, with the axes at 45 degree angles. It's just a trackball at an angle, albeit a big, heavy, two-handed one on nice, smooth bearings.
|