freetrack and BF2FreeLook

[Wei2242]

Hello. I'm not sure if I'm in the right place, but is this a repository for the head tracking software that was previously hosted at free-track.net? If so, are you also the developer of BF2FreeLook? Thank you.

[Bfreak]

Hello. Free track and it's developer dissapeared long ago. I am the developer of trackhat opentrack which is the new alternative. How can I help?

[Wei2242]

Thank you for replying.

I play a 2005 first-person shooter game called Battlefield 2. Players can play on foot or climb into and control vehicles. The game allows you to change your view direction by "mouse looking" while simultaneously controlling vehicles using a keyboard or joystick. It is possible to combine that mouse look feature with head tracking software and mouse emulation. Unfortunately, the player loses all flight controls whenever mouse looking in aircraft, which usually limits its use to brief periods.

There is an application called BF2FreeLook that was created by one of the FreeTrack developers called Kestrel around 2011. While running alongside head tracking software such as FreeTrack (or alternatives), BF2FreeLook was capable of eliminating the loss of flight control while mouse looking in Battlefield 2. Additionally, the HUD would remain centered in the player's view. It was quite an achievement.

Unfortunately, despite searching extensively, I cannot find BF2FreeLook available for download. Nearly all links point to a single URL on the FreeTrack website, which seems to have gone offline at the start of 2025. I also cannot find a way to contact the developer Kestrel. I do not know that BF2FreeLook would even work for me. I heard that it might only function with a 32-bit version of Windows. However, I would love to try to make it work.

I'm hoping that you already know all of this and have a 64-bit version of BF2FreeLook sitting on your computer right now. That might be excessively wishful thinking.

Is there any chance that you could help me on my search?

Thanks again.

[Bfreak]

Hi Peter, I was unaware of this and would have loved it as I was a huge battlefield fan! Sadly I have no information about it at all. If you can reply to this thread with as much information about it as you have (what protocol it may have used, what developers may have been involved etc) I'll get an email to our developers and see if they were involved which they may have been.

…

On Sat, 1 Feb 2025, 17:56 Wei2242, ***@***.***> wrote: Thank you for replying. I play a 2005 first-person shooter game called Battlefield 2. Players can play on foot or climb into and control vehicles. The game allows you to change your view direction by "mouse looking" while simultaneously controlling vehicles using a keyboard or joystick. It is possible to combine that mouse look feature with head tracking software and mouse emulation. Unfortunately, the player loses all flight controls whenever mouse looking in aircraft, which usually limits its use to brief periods. There is an application called BF2FreeLook that was created by one of the FreeTrack developers called Kestrel around 2011. While running alongside head tracking software such as FreeTrack (or alternatives), BF2FreeLook was capable of eliminating the loss of flight control while mouse looking in Battlefield 2. Additionally, the HUD would remain centered in the player's view. It was quite an achievement. Unfortunately, despite searching extensively, I cannot find BF2FreeLook available for download. Nearly all links point to a single URL on the FreeTrack website, which seems to have gone offline at the start of 2025. I also cannot find a way to contact the developer Kestrel. I do not know that BF2FreeLook would even work for me. I heard that it might only function with a 32-bit version of Windows. However, I would love to try to make it work. I'm hoping that you already know all of this and have a 64-bit version of BF2FreeLook sitting on your computer right now. That might be excessively wishful thinking. Is there any chance that you could help me on my search? Thanks again. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AKK5X3XHUWGVF5VUML772DT2NUDFNAVCNFSM6AAAAABWI6KJX2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDMMRZGA2DONJZGQ> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Bfreak]

Also, have you considered using archive.org to access the free track website at an earlier point in time to see if the URL might be somehow live there?

…

On Sat, 1 Feb 2025, 17:56 Wei2242, ***@***.***> wrote: Thank you for replying. I play a 2005 first-person shooter game called Battlefield 2. Players can play on foot or climb into and control vehicles. The game allows you to change your view direction by "mouse looking" while simultaneously controlling vehicles using a keyboard or joystick. It is possible to combine that mouse look feature with head tracking software and mouse emulation. Unfortunately, the player loses all flight controls whenever mouse looking in aircraft, which usually limits its use to brief periods. There is an application called BF2FreeLook that was created by one of the FreeTrack developers called Kestrel around 2011. While running alongside head tracking software such as FreeTrack (or alternatives), BF2FreeLook was capable of eliminating the loss of flight control while mouse looking in Battlefield 2. Additionally, the HUD would remain centered in the player's view. It was quite an achievement. Unfortunately, despite searching extensively, I cannot find BF2FreeLook available for download. Nearly all links point to a single URL on the FreeTrack website, which seems to have gone offline at the start of 2025. I also cannot find a way to contact the developer Kestrel. I do not know that BF2FreeLook would even work for me. I heard that it might only function with a 32-bit version of Windows. However, I would love to try to make it work. I'm hoping that you already know all of this and have a 64-bit version of BF2FreeLook sitting on your computer right now. That might be excessively wishful thinking. Is there any chance that you could help me on my search? Thanks again. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AKK5X3XHUWGVF5VUML772DT2NUDFNAVCNFSM6AAAAABWI6KJX2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDMMRZGA2DONJZGQ> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Wei2242]

Great ideas. Unfortunately, I've had limited success via archive.org. Some other FreeTrack website files download via the archive, but not BF2FreeLook.

I've already spent quite some time researching BF2FreeLook. I don’t think that I ever came across its protocol. Kestrel might have been the sole BF2FreeLook developer. I'll work on compiling potentially useful information for you and your developers.

If you are a Battlefield fan who is into head tracking, you are going to love the video links that I will be sending you.

You are the closest that I've come to success with this search. I'm excited that this might lead to something.

[Wei2242]

Progress!

Project Reality (PR) is a modification for the retail Battlefield 2 (BF2) game. The Project Reality team made PR:BF2 a standalone game with a different executable file. BF2FreeLook v1.1 is listed as being compatible with retail BF2 v1.41 and 1.5. Because of the executable change, BF2FreeLook v1.1 apparently did not function with PR:BF2. Someone (possibly a third party) then "fixed" BF2FreeLook to function with PR:BF2.

While preparing my sources for you, I found an expired Dropbox link for the fixed version of BF2FreeLook that was compatible with PR:BF2. Archive.org had the linked file!

Therefore, I now finally have a copy of BF2FreeLook. It runs on my 64-bit Windows 10 installation. However, it states that it is in "Standby" mode since "BF2 not running". I have tried running it and my retail BF2 v1.5 as a normal user, an administrator, and under Windows' compatibility modes for 95, 98, and XP. I have had no luck getting it out of standby mode.

It could be that the fixed version of BF2FreeLook is only compatible with PR:BF2 and not the retail BF2 that I have. Or it could be that it is only compatible with 32-bit versions of Windows as others have written (see below).

It is progress, but bitter sweet. Perhaps you will gave success getting it to function appropriately.

With your expertise, you might be able to develop your own version that is compatible with operating systems that are more modern.

Perhaps I could run both applications in a 32-bit virtual environment. I will keep tinkering with it. In the meantime, I have compiled links for you. Please let me know what you think.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160810085344/https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99721526/fixed_BF2FreeLook.exe
The archived version of the expired Dropbox link

Videos of BF2FreeLook in use
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEnD0jitcII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0McnB4hlYc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15r_pvxGIiE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE0Y29pQtG8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2hth347rw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkjKVoQfr8U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO8FK8g42gc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W3iArGzO48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME_lrX8j1uk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km_LR_pSlVY

https://web.archive.org/web/20240815180833/http://forum.free-track.net/index.php?showtopic=2998
Original official "press release" of BF2FreeLookv1.1

https://web.archive.org/web/20210616082652/https://www.free-track.net/download.php?id=BF2FreeLookv1.1
Original official download location of BF2FreeLookv1.1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeTrack
FreeTrack's Wikipedia entry states "FreeTrack is coded in Delphi 7 and uses DirectShow and DirectX." Kestral was the developer of BF2FreeLook, and was a co-developer of FreeTrack. Perhaps BF2FreeLook is also coded in Delphi.

The FreeTrack Project Team:
Developers: The_Target and later Kestrel
Documentation: Babasior
Graphic design: Poncho
Translation: Gweeds and Tristan68
Website: Didja

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_compatible_with_FreeTrack
"Battlefield 2 - [Yaw, Pitch, Roll, X, Y, Z] - BF2FreeLook"

https://forum.realitymod.com/viewtopic.php?t=103651
"Hey guys, especially the pilots among us, here is the best message of 2011: kestrel, a real expert in programming, made headtracking possible in bf2 pr without losing control of flight controls!!!!!!!!"
"look at facetracknoir, with that you dont need any lamp, led, or something like that, also works with bf2freelook"

https://forum.realitymod.com/viewtopic.php?t=122794
"Direct your complaints/requests to the developer of bf2freelook. Nothing we can do about this until he opens up the code or sets it to detect the new executable. Sorry"

https://veterans-gaming.com/forums/topic/7778-project-reality-headtracking/
"Bad news: No. This tool doesn't work anymore. When PR got it's own EXE years ago the tool stopped working. Says it right there in the FreeTrack Forum: http://www.free-track.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2998&page=1
PR has changed even more since then and there are a lot of little things the tool checks for. If you want to find somebody to go through the trouble of reverse engineering and fixing it or starting from scratch, try the PR forums."

https://www.lost-soldiers.org/v2.php?site=forum_topic&topic=546&type=ASC&page=6
"formerly, there was the opportunity to download Bf2Freelook from Kestrel and use it to remove the hud at the mouselook: unfortunately, he only works with 32-bit W machines: nowadays, most of us are in 64 bits, especially useful for new games: for my part, and to skirt the problem, I spawn some airplanes tweaked with the ObjectTemplate.toggleMouseLook 0, with or without the hud to have choise: not ideal but it suits me!"

https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/Talk-VR/TriDef-drivers-are-awesome/m-p/127114
"My top experiences so far: -Battlefield 2(opentrack+BF2freelook.exe for aircraft) with Oculus Rift DevKit 1.1"

https://forum.realitymod.com/viewtopic.php?t=102568
"BF2FreeLook brings view controls normally expected of PC air combat games to Battlefield 2; head tracking, mouselook, snap and pan view controls are available for pilot, bomber copilot and driver positions with no loss of vehicle controls."

https://www.moddb.com/games/battlefield-2/news/bf2-mountains-dogfighting
"And, for an even closer experience of reality, I strongly advise you to use the Kestrel app of FreeTrack Project: BF2FreeLook v1.1
Thus, the cockpit view becomes panoramic and makes it easier to follow the positions of the opponents: immersion in the game is then greatly improved."

https://www.moddb.com/games/battlefield-2/addons/mountainsdogfightextended
"for the mouselook, the problem is that you lose the controle of the airplane, during use; but, if you have a 32 bit computer, you can try the Bf2Freelook software; very efficient !"
"Lol whoops, many thanks. I checked out the BF2 freelook but for some reason, it doesn't detect my bf2 (legit version) so I gave up on it."

https://forum.realitymod.com/viewtopic.php?t=111533
Description of BF2Freelook being used with Project Reality and AutoHotkey to facitate joystic POV hat switch view control rather than face tracking.