Virtual Cockpit non-smooth panning setting?

[RichNagel]

Is there an option (or a CFS2.cfg entry) that would make the virtual cockpit view's panning behave like the 2D panel view?

In other words, when I'm in VC view my joystick's hat smoothly pans around. In 2D panel view the hat snaps to the various 8 view directions. I'd rather have the VC view function like that :)

[bearcat241]

The two pan types connected to the two view modes are controlled by separate dll modules - g2d.dll and g3d.dll. You'll need some programming skills to re-write the hat switch algorithms in each.

[RichNagel]

Thanks for the info, bearcat241 :) Yeah, I had a hunch that it probably wasn't a just a simple config file entry.

[Oglivie]

I set a joy stick button to "Snap to front view". That will at least get you to front view quickly in VC when panning. The Snap to front view is found in Settings and Controller Assignments.

[RichNagel]

Thanks for the info, Oglivie :) I already did that... makes flying using the VC a lot better :)

[Allen]

The things I go digging around for...

You can get the VC to behave like the 2d panel.

Open your CFS2.cfg with notepad/wordpad and find all POV_MOVE_EVENT_00=PAN_VIEW and change them to POV_MOVE_EVENT_00=SNAP_VIEW Now start CFS2.

[bearcat241]

Thanks Allen...it works beautifully. I stand corrected :encouragement:

[RichNagel]

Thanks a million, Allen! It works great :)

Hehe, "SNAP_VIEW" was sneaking around by itself in the "Controls.dll" all along <grin>.

It would be cool if there were some way to toggle it on and off (i.e. switching from SNAP_VIEW to PAN_VIEW, and vice-versa, on the fly) with a keystroke, but I'm pretty sure that is beyond the scope of the game engine.

I always wished that the CFS2.cfg could be edited and used like Valve's GoldSource games' Config.cfg... using "bind" and "alias" commands to do things on the fly (such as toggling a key binding from one command to another).

[RichNagel]

P.S. One reason that I always wished that I could toggle key bindings and joystick axis bindings on the fly:

It would be super handy to be able to press a key that would toggle/switch the joystick elevator axis to the joystick analog brakes control/command on the fly. After landing, you would simply press the key, and then the elevator axis of the joystick would function to apply analog brakes :)

After coming to a complete stop, you could press the key again, and then the axis of the joystick would function as the usual elevator control.

Hehe, getting side-tracked here, but EONS ago I coded a module for the Aircraft and Adventure Factory addon for Flight Simulator 4.0b. The module was called "Flight Director V" ( http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/fslib.php?do=search&fsec=0&fname=fltdir5.zip ), and amongst other things, it would do something similar to that:


A *VERY* handy function of Flight Director V is the "Elevator Brakes" function. The elevator brakes function remaps Flight Simulator's "Mouse Brake" (when you click the right mouse button and then move the mouse horizontally) to downward elevator movement. You can then press a key on your keyboard to toggle the function on, and then use your joystick or flight yoke to gradually apply brakes when taxiing or landing.

[Allen]

I had to do some messing around in my CFS2.cfg as I messed up the clouds rendering so I had CFS2 make a new CFS2.cfg and while putting back all of my keyboard and joystick settings I saw PAN_VIEW and thought there may be a "SNAP_VIEW" hiding in one of the modules folder .dll or sim1.sim file.

[bearcat241]

My Logitech joystick twist rudder control is automatically bound to differential brakes control on the ground (on the keystrokes its the Comma and Period keys for left and right). I think i like this arrangement much better that elevator binding.

Thanks again Allen for the tip. I had to try it out and i like it, but i'm gonna stick with the smooth pan view in VC for now. I like being able to slide and fix my viewing angle on objects in VC without holding the hat switch in that direction with snap view, especially on the ground and on approaches.

[The B24 Guy]

Good find Allen.

I have added it to my cfg file notes.

Thanks,
B24Guy

[Allen]

We do need a encyclopedia for all the things we find and forget....

[RichNagel]

It would be super handy to be able to press a key that would toggle/switch the joystick elevator axis to the joystick analog brakes control/command on the fly. After landing, you would simply press the key, and then the elevator axis of the joystick would function to apply analog brakes. After coming to a complete stop, you could press the key again, and then the axis of the joystick would function as the usual elevator control.

I discovered the next best thing several months ago:

I purchased and downloaded FSUIPC v3.999. Note that the newest version is 3.999z9b, but that newer version seems to be bugged when using it with CFS2, but the older version 3.999 works just fine.

Anyhow, among a slew of other things, using FSUIPC you can remap the downward elevator axis to analog toe brakes. I've also configured FSUIPC to use a hotkey that will essentially lock the elevator to it's centered position, as these taildraggers don't seem to like dropping the elevator when coming to a stop <grin>.

One thing to note is that the remapping is ALWAYS enabled. Any downward elevator movement displays the "BRAKES" text message while flying, but I can live with that.

The way that it works is, the harder that I push my joystick downward, the more analog toe brakes are applied. After touchdown, I press my CAPSLOCK key to assist with locking the elevator to it's center position, and then apply nice and smooth analog toe brakes with my joystick.

Hehe, it's SO MUCH nicer than "TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP-RATTA-TAP TAP" on the usual brake key LOL! :)

I've also used FSUIPC to add a few other functions that the game doesn't normally support:

I've assigned the hotkey SHIFT+X to reset the simulation rate (speed) to normal.

I've configured the throttle axis to apply methanol and water injection (as well as afterburners, if I decide to fly a modern jet engine aircraft in the sim <grin>) when I push my throttle to it's extreme full-throttle position. When I pull back ever-so-slightly on my throttle, I'm still at 100% throttle, but the methanol and water injection is disengaged.

Lastly, I've configured FSUIPC to use a hotkey (T) to automatically set my prop engine mixture to a relatively lean setting for high altitude operation (anything above 5000 MSL) with a single keypress. I also configured FSUIPC to use the hotkey SHIFT+T to set the prop engine mixture to full-rich for low altitude operation (although, that function is also already configured in CFS2: CONTROL+SHIFT+F4).

Anyways, this really works great, and FSUIPC adds a lot of extra functions (like the above) that I REALLY LIKE and are really handy in CFS2.

P.S. Note that this doesn't even make a DENT in what FSUIPC can do, there are LOADS of other things that can be accomplished in the sim when using it :) You can even enable FSUIPC to use it's own internal joystick axis calibration (instead of CFS2 handling it), which allows you to adjust the "slope" of the sensitivity of any given axis.

FWIW, here is my "FSUIPC.ini" configuration file that does all of the magic (the "!0=//" are file comments of the specific settings that I use to accomplish all of the above):



!0=// Double aileron and elevator axis sensitivity:
!0=//
!0=// [JoystickCalibration]
!0=// Aileron=-16383,0,0,16383
!0=// SlopeAileron=-15
!0=// Elevator=-16383,0,0,16383
!0=// SlopeElevator=-15

[JoyNames]
AutoAssignLetters=No
0=T.16000M
0.GUID={B0F29EE0-8C0E-11E6-8001-444553540000}

[General]
UpdatedByVersion=3999
GenerateRain=No
StormsAutomatic=No
PatchWeatherToADV=Yes
PlanLoadNoPosition=No
ApplyVisFix=No
AutoTaxiWind=No
WindTransitions=No
CopyDewPtToDayNightVar=Yes
WindSetVariance=No
SubterraneanWindFix=Yes
MagWindsToFST=No
WindVarFactor=7
StormProbability=0
StormMinTemp=10
StormParameters=1030530
CloudForJetTrails=No
SendWeatherAlways=No
SendWeatherInterval=60
RainStopper=75
RainStarter=75
WhiteMessages=No
ThrottleSyncAll=No
GraduatedVisibility=No
LowerVisAltitude=6000
UpperVisAltitude=25000
UpperVisibility=6000
GenerateCirrus=No
WindShearSharp=No
UpperWindGusts=No
GustsRelative=Yes
ExtendMetarMaxVis=No
PatchSimApAlt=No
MouseWheelTrim=No
MouseWheelTrimSpeed=1
!0=// Parking brakes release threshold for elevator brakes.
BrakeReleaseThreshold=50
AxisInterceptIfDirect=No
DontResetAxes=No
DisconnTrimForAP=No
ZeroElevForAPAlt=No
AutoClearWeather=Yes
ExtendTopWind=No
WindSmoothness=5
SmoothPressure=No
PressureSmoothness=5
SmoothVisibility=No
VisibilitySmoothness=2
MaxSurfaceWind=0
WindLimitLevel=200
WindDiscardLevel=400
WindAjustAltitude=No
WindAjustAltitudeBy=2000
MinimumVisibility=0
MaximumVisibilityFewClouds=0
MaximumVisibility=0
MaximumVisibilityOvercast=0
MaximumVisibilityRainy=0
OneCloudLayer=No
ThinClouds=No
ThinThunderClouds=No
CloudThinness=1000
ThunderCloudThinness=10000
CloudTurbulence=No
CloudIcing=No
WindTurbulence=No
SuppressAllGusts=No
ExternalOptionControl=Yes
AutoTuneADF=No
KeepFS98CloudCover=No
ShowPMcontrols=No
MagicBattery=No
RudderSpikeRemoval=No
ElevatorSpikeRemoval=No
AileronSpikeRemoval=No
ReversedElevatorTrim=No
SuppressCloudTurbulence=No
SuppressWindTurbulence=No
SpoilerIncrement=512
JoystickTimeout=20
PollGFTQ6=Yes
BlankDisplays=No
AxesWrongRange=No
AxisCalibration=No
SuppressSingleline=No
FixWindows=No
LuaRerunDelay=66
MainMenu=&Modules
SubMenu=&FSUIPC ...
!0=// Reset simulation rate to normal (Key = SHIFT+X).
SetSimSpeedX1=88,9

[JoystickCalibration]
AllowSuppressForPFCquad=Yes
ExcludeThrottleSet=Yes
ExcludeMixtureSet=Yes
ExcludePropPitchSet=Yes
SepRevsJetsOnly=No
ApplyHeloTrim=No
UseAxisControlsForNRZ=No
FlapsSetControl=0
ReverserControl=66292
Reverser1Control=66422
Reverser2Control=66425
Reverser3Control=66428
Reverser4Control=66431
MaxThrottleForReverser=256
AileronTrimControl=0
RudderTrimControl=0
CowlFlaps1Control=0
CowlFlaps2Control=0
CowlFlaps3Control=0
CowlFlaps4Control=0
MaxSteerSpeed=60
!0=// FSUIPC joystick calibration for left elevator brakes.
LeftBrake=0,16383
!0=// FSUIPC joystick calibration for right elevator brakes.
RightBrake=0,16383
!0=// FSUIPC joystick calibration for throttle axis.
Throttle=-16383,16383
!0=// FSUIPC joystick calibration for aileron axis.
Aileron=-16383,0,0,16383
!0=// FSUIPC joystick calibration for elevator axis.
Elevator=-16383,0,0,16383
!0=// FSUIPC joystick calibration for rudder axis.
Rudder=-16383,0,0,16383

[Sounds]
Path=C:\Games\FLIGHT\CFS2\Sound\
Device1=Primary Sound Driver
Device2=SigmaTel C-Major Audio

[Axes]
!0=// Elevator brakes.
0=0Y,1,D,7,8,0,0
!0=// Throttle axis Delta value.
1=0Z,1
!0=// Throttle axis prop engine methanol and water injection.
2=0Z,B,16352,16383,66202,0,66202,0
!0=// Throttle axis jet engine afterburner.
3=0Z,B,16352,16383,66296,0,66296,0

[Buttons]
ButtonRepeat=20,10

[Keys]
!0=// Lock elevator axis to center for elevator brakes (Key = CAPSLOCK).
1=20,8,65762,0,65762,0
!0=// Set prop engine mixture to rich for low altitude operation (Key = SHIFT+T).
2=84,9,65773,16384,65773,16384
!0=// Set prop engine mixture to lean for high altitude operation (Key = T).
3=84,8,65773,7680,65773,7680