PAGE LAST UPDATED June 2016 this project appears to be complete, there is no further information on this product. These mice are highly targeted towards Windows 98 / ME, 2000 or XP – only 32 bit OS works with the touchsense software, and for Windows XP you need to use the last software releases (included in package).

My Famous FORCE FEEDBACK MOUSE PACKAGE v3.6 (3.7Gb) (uploaded 11/16)

Complete Immersion TouchSense Mouse Package (immersion.rar, 31Mb)

In 2000-2001 I was working with computers, I heard about this mouse but never actually saw if for sale in shops. I believe that the Logitech iFeel mouse retailed for £40 in the UK – at that time, it was expensive for a PC mouse – it was based on the “Wheel Mouse Optical” which cost exactly half as much (but nothing compared to modern gaming mice). I  isuddenly had a flashback recently and looked on the internet, I managed to get 2 examples of an iFeel mouse as New Old Stock for £10 each on Amazon UK. It was the start of a journey! This was actually my inspiration for researching whether my out-of-use HP Microserver could be adapted to run Windows XP in the first place. I may research whether Windows Vista or Windows 7 32-bit would be as effective. However I enjoy the low resource overhead which Windows XP can offer – and I have also managed to get IBM ViaVoice 10.5 with Office 2003 working very effectively – more effectively than Dragon 13 on my Windows 8.1 laptop, I might add. (these are voice dictation programmes).

The reason I like this – and the concept – is that during the “everyday” experience it is, just, a mouse. It’s not a joystick cluttering up the desk, it’s not using up an extra USB port and only being used 10% of the time. It’s just there, ready to kick in when you launch that game, and give it the awesomeness of a force feedback joystick (remember the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2? Right now they have run out again but here is the link just in case they dig out some more… http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-iFeel-Optical-Mouse-930525-0403/dp/B00005ASFK

What you should know is that it produces what Immersion (the makers of the technology) term as “tactile feedback” rather than true “force feedback” …whatever, it still gives your hand a kick! I’ve found this nice page about the technology in the mouse, complete with pictures of the gubbins: http://www.dansdata.com/ifeel.htm – a member of the Immersion team has been a fantastic help, and has supplied the non-evaluation version of TouchWare Gaming (this used to cost £20) for me to distribute – which you will find in the packages provided.

The touchsense mice appear to have been an anomoly in the touchsense lineup as their other controller devices became supported by DirectInput, part of DirectX – but this was never extended to the touchsense mice which is why the proprietary Touchsense Desktop software needs to be installed and the service running in order for the device to work with haptic feedback. The single exception to this was the WingMan Mouse which was primarily developed as a Game Controller therefore this had DirectInput support.

Now I like the iFeel, and it seems to be the most rated device, because it also uses modern-day 800dpi optical tracking rather than a mechanical tracking ball. It is a subtle ambidextrous mouse (I have the Grey version which I believe was the second, “business” colour scheme, released in November 2001 (it since turns out that this is the second release with an 800dpi sensor. I don’t know that a “mouseman” version was released of this second run), the first version had a more distinctive light blue colouration(but only had an early 400dpi sensor).  There were a few others though – and I do not know if these sold in the UK at all: The Kensington Orbit 3D Trackball (PDF) (yes, trackball!) (I later found the setup guide), the Belkin nostromo n30 “gaming mouse” – with a ball, non-optical (manual here). Odd decision, odd device full stop. And the HP Force Feedback Web Mouse which basically looked very flimsy at a high cost. Logitech did make a “MouseMan” version of the iFeel mouse but I have never seen an example of this in the UK, and also the WingMan Gaming Mouse (German review but best photos) which was a really odd product based on the well-loved 3-button MouseMan of a few years before, which apparently used “full” Force Feedback and requires joystick drivers to operate! (I have the drivers for this and will link below).

Windows XP: I can confirm that I was able to make the iFeel mouse work natively in Windows XP. The trick is to use the last versions of the software (as included) and the installation of the small KB971513 Windows hotfix which installs “Windows Automation API 3.0” – the successor to Active Accessibility. By doing this TouchWare desktop 2.9 and associated touchsense apps, and Logitech MouseWare 9.80 runs flawlessly and without reporting any missed files. Unfortunately TouchWare Business does not seem to work successfully in even Office XP.  My installer on the RAR file sets up this hotfix as well as installing the software. I have not tested this with the WingMan mouse but I imagine this would be useful for this as well, layered on top of the WingMan software. My installer as a standalone package (15Mb)

Windows Vista: I have recently purchased a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit and installed it on dual-boot on my microserver (see other page). The benefit of using Vista is that right now it still has Microsoft support (meaning it is still getting security updates) whereas XP is well and truly abandoned (I am using the registry mod for POSReady support but this is not recommended for users who may not be confident). – TouchSense support for my Logitech iFeel mouse DOES work in games, but DOES NOT work on the desktop. I feel 50 / 50 about this level of support and wonder if the forces are also not as strong – I am still testing this. Additionally the TouchWare Desktop software still has to be installed, but complains as it cannot find the OS support files that it is looking for. iFeelPixel have produced a setup file which does all of the necessary to make it as trouble-free as possible (it isn’t like there are going to be any software updates from Logitech or Immersion now). I have NOT had any success at all under Windows 7.

WINDOWS VISTA INSTALLATION PACKAGE (5Mb) English – German – Danish (by iFeelPixel)

Manual Guide to installation under Vista

Add the following to the Registry, to stop TouchWare Desktop (the incompatible applet) from loading when you start Windows. The service component still starts successfully, so will work within applications. You can optionally use iFeelPixel to produce the desktop forces.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
“IDesktop.2.5″=””
“IDesktop.2.9″=””

Add the following to the Registry if you have problems using the Scroll Wheel in games, or Button 4 (thumb button) on an iFeel MouseMan (fix provided by Logitech in 1999, but is tested to work in Windows Vista).

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Logitech\MouseWare\CurrentVersion\Technical]
“MouseHookDllEnable”=”0”
“WheelMsgToVmouse”=”1”

(thanks to http://www.dansdata.com for these fascinating internal shots)

FORCE FEEDBACK MOUSE SOFTWARE

SEE TOP OF PAGE FOR DOWNLOAD.

I have now combined all of the previous software into the single resource above. I have created a RAR file as I have found that large self-extracting archives are problematic – you do not need to create a physical disk if you have appropriate ISO reading software. WinRAR trial is available from RARlab.

This includes:

Complete Immersion TouchWare Mouse Package: TouchWare Desktop, TouchWare Business, TouchWare Gaming, Immersion Studio, Immersion Web Designer, TouchSense Web Plugin (IE / Netscape), Developer Tools. This package is also available in this download: Complete Immersion Software Package (immersion.rar, 31Mb).

Force Feedback Mouse Drivers: Logitech Wingman FF Mouse, Logitech iFeel, HP Force Feedback Web Mouse, Belkin Nostromo n30 Gaming Mouse, Kensington Orbit 3D Trackball, Saitek TouchForce.

Additional TouchSense Software: BeOS, Linux Drivers, Netscape Communicator 4.80, Internet Explorer 8.0 for Windows XP.

Game Plugins or Patches for TouchSense Compatibility: Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004, Soldier of Fortune II, Shogo, No One Lives Forever, Battlezone II, Black & White, Quake, Half Life, Infestation, Crimson Skies, Star Wars: Jedi Outcast, MDK2, Nocturne, Star Trek: Elite Voyager, ArmA: Armed Assault, Serious Sam: The First Encounter, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter.

Full Community-Released Games: Tribes II, Soldier of Fortune: Community Edition, ArmA: Cold War Assault (needs valid ArmA or Operation Flashpoint CD Key).

The only racing game WOULD have been Motor City Online – but the online server for that game shut down only two years after the game was released – a revival project was attempted in 2012 but this was very shortlived and there are currently no servers on which it is possible to play this game. Coupled with the fact that the original asking price of £35 per copy of the defunkt game is still being asked for, and only from USA sellers – it feels unviable.

I would advise you to purchase original disk versions of the games if you wish to try them, especially on Windows XP. Online gaming services seem to cause additional issues with earlier games such as these.

…unfortuantely I cannot get a single racing type game to work with the mouse even if they support force feedback. I suspect they require a steering wheel or other “gaming device”. Also note that certain editions of the games work before the developers gave up on Immersion technology. Notably Unreal Tournament III (2007) has NO support for this which is a shame, along with even fairly early games like Black and White 2. Return to Castle Wolfenstein has limited support but you have to enter a console command before playing each map and I feel this to be silly. Half Life and CERTAIN mods apparently also supports the mouse (I have included all the supported mods I know about) but it’s a bit of a mess eg “Opposing Force” the commercial mod does NOT support the mouse.

For completeness I should give mention to Zillions Of Games – lots of feedback-enabled puzzle games. Still a paid product. Not my cup of tea, but maybe yours.

ArmA Armed Assault (ArmA GOLD) is an EXCELLENT representation of this technology – it was the last game released with TouchSense support (this did not seem to be advertised) in 2007, and I feel best represents just what this technology can add to PC gaming. Other notable games are Unreal Tournament  + 2004 – I suggest buying the Unreal Anthology for all extra packs and a trouble free installation. (the most complete First Person Shooter), and Half Life (an absolutely classic game – requires a special Immersion patch).

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