Vyrtuoz
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Posts posted by Vyrtuoz
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You are right Aginor!
Note that there is a BF 109 model in Tacview, but its name as changed in DCS this is why it is not displayed right now. I’ve temporally fixed that in Tacview 1.3.1 and this will be fixed forever and for real in v1.4.
As for the other objects, I didn’t have the time to add them yet, plus this is not easy to find free and nice low-poly models on Internet. If you want, you can add your own models by following the instructions provided on my website:
http://lomac.strasoftware.com/tacview-3d-meshes.php
Nice!A few remarks, I hope those are helpful:
Models (I don't know which of those are errors and which are intentional.):
- P-51D has the 3D model of a P-51B it seems
- No model for the BF-109 yet (still the old generic arrow thingie)
- MI-8 has generic helicopter model (Apache)
- UH-1 has generic helicopter model (Apache)
- KC-135 looks like a KC-10
- Some ships now also have models. Very nice!
Others:
- The Strategic View is awesome!
- IMO you should make the glide slopes addon a part of stock TacView, perhaps give the user the option to turn them off. Those are really cool.
Thanks for the hard work (and for providing a free version)!
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Tacview 1.3 is now available to everyone!
Don't forget that all licenses of Tacview are still on sale (-30%) till January 4th!
As promised, you can now start enjoying the strategic view. This is a major step for the terrain engine which has been completely rewritten. For now the most obvious improvements are the infinite horizon and the strategic view (like an infinite zoom-out). Thanks to this revamp, other improvements are now possible and may follow in 1.3.x updates. Such as support for higher resolution data like SRTM1 or Google Maps textures streaming.
You can now add/enable any terrain for Falcon 4.0 just by modifying the file:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Stra Software\Tacview\Data\Xml\Data-Falcon4Theaters.xml
You will find detailed instructions in the same file.
The next major step is the real-time flight recording which is going to be available in Tacview 1.4 and should work with all flight simulators offering real-time export capabilities (like DCS or FSX to take two examples).
Other improvements like the following are planned for incoming 1.3.x updates:
- Auto-scale tweaks and options
- NATO icons
- Bookmarks and comments
- Automatic de-clutter
Follow all the news about Tacview development and incoming improvements on twitter:
You can download and register here: http://www.strasoftware.com/download/tacview
Release notes:
- ADDED New terrain engine to display a strategic view
- ADDED You can now display ANY Falcon 4.0 installed on your hard drive (see Data-Falcon4Theaters.xml)
- ADDED The most popular Falcon 4.0 maps are now integrated and Tacview. You don't need to download external add-ons anymore.
- ADDED Chinese translation by 张炯 'Billeinstein' and 姚尧 '@6'
- ADDED Lift vector is now displayed for each of the two selected objects
- ADDED Observer altitude is now displayed in the 3D view
- ADDED Support for up to 8 RADAR locks per object
- ADDED More objects to Tacview database
- CHANGED Restored previous camera behavior when selected object is destroyed, it does not look at the secondary object anymore
- CHANGED Minor tweaks and improvements to playback speed controls
- CHANGED Removed [Reduced Haze] option (it is now useless thanks to the infinite horizon offered by the new terrain engine)
- CHANGED Dropped support for Flaming Cliffs and all pre-DCS World versions of Lock-On
- CHANGED Dropped support for Open Falcon and FreeFalcon
- CHANGED Dropped support for Digital Fighters
- FIXED Bug in date/time loading in some rare cases (xml/csv files)
- FIXED Bug in CSV file loader (picking the wrong data column in some special cases)
- FIXED Trail size slider was not working properly anymore (regression)
- FIXED DCS World export script is now more resilient to wrong/incomplete installation
- FIXED Rare random crash at exit when saving preferences
- FIXED Open/Save dialog box should better remember user preferences like the last folder used
Happy Holidays!
Vyrtuoz
- Auto-scale tweaks and options
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Yes, of course. If the server does not authorize objects export, you will only see your aircraft.
The real time analysis requires the server to allow object exports? Right? -
Real time analysis is on its way! Just a few more months to wait and you are going to get it in Tacview 1.4 :)
Yes Aginor, the issue is well known, it is called “Gimble Lock”. It is going to disappear in Tacview 1.4 or 1.5 when I will either rewrite my 3D engine or the way I’m managing objects data.
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Most static objects are not exported by DCS. I have also noticed that some “half-static” objects (like the buildings you can add to the map) are not exported too. This is a limitation of DCS.
I may be able to find a workaround while revamping my export system for Tacview 1.4. Meanwhile Tacview is already exporting as much data as available with conventional export script techniques. Do not hesitate to notify me if you find ways to export more data, I will gladly add your techniques to my script.
I have a question (using TacView 1.2.8 )I noticed the warehouse (stock DCSW static object) is not visible in TacView. Can I somehow fix that myself (or was it already fixed in the current beta)?
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Interesting work Vicx!
Radar locks are always displayed for any objects. They are not related at all to selected objects. This is just that, so far, I was able to get the radar lock info only for the local player aircraft. If you try the Falcon 4 demo file on my web site, you will see a battle with plenty of objects locking each other.
Also, like written in the current documentation, Tacview does not support more than one lock per object. Tacview 1.4 it will support an infinite amount of locks per object. Meanwhile, I’m going to add support for up to 8 simultaneous locks per objects for the public release of v1.3 to help you with your work.
The syntax to declare additional locks will be obviously AdvancedTelemetry=RadarLock1,ID and so on.
That said, in Tacview 1.4 the import/export format will be completely revamped, and I will gladly add to it any feature required for your analysis.
Vyrt, I am testing some logging ideas which will use the scripting environment instead of the export environment. The export environment is good for aircraft but hopeless for logging anything else.Right at this moment I am trying to visualize ground and search radar activity and I thought I would use the AdvancedTelemetry=RadarLock0,ID feature because the dotted line effect is suitable for the task.
One thing I noticed is that you only see the dotted line for units which are selected. From my perspective there will be other target tracking happening that I might like to see beyond just the currently selected unit and a single designated target. What are your thoughts on this?
Second thing. I know that you aren't exporting mulitple radar locks currently but I was hoping that Tacview would be ready to support it. What syntax would you be using in the logs for multiple targets in the logs?
This shows what works BUT I do want the red box to have red dotted lines going to BOTH the A-10 AND the UAV. What syntax in the log for this?
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You asked for it, now you have it!
This is the Holiday Sale from Dec 20th to Jan 4th. -30% on all Tacview licenses including group buying.
Now you don't have any more excuses not to become an ace!
Those you want to upgrade from Home to Professional just send me an email with your product key and I will return you a special link.
http://www.strasoftware.com/buy/tacview
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Lift vector is added to my list
The ECM display depends on what is available in DCS. It will probably be available in 1.3.x.
Multiple targets radar lock and radar cone are planned for Tacview 1.4 (or 1.3.x) it will depends on what data is available from DCS.
The bookmarks and comments are coming soon. Probably in Tacview 1.3.x.
The online debriefing may be for 1.4+
Vicx, this is a good remark about NATO icons. But don’t worry; we can do whatever we want about them… so I will probably incorporate some kind of nice arrow displaying the unit direction.
I could also keep dead units on the battlefield if you want. I’m going to think about how to do it nicely (yeah, black objects seems to be a good idea).
Thanks for your remarks Vicx this is helping me a lot to develop the brand new export system planned for the 1.4. I have already planned some kind of universal way to export stuff without relying too much on objects types. If you have suggestions about how to export hot/cold radars and all this sort of thing from LUA, please let me know.
Aaron886, about the strategic view: Yes and no :D
- For free and home users, the maximum view altitude is going to be the same. However, with Tacview 1.3 there is no horizon anymore, so you can (or will) notice that you can see as far as you want which is already a huge improvement over the old terrain engine limited to about 120 km.
- On the other hand “Professional” users have now the possibility to zoom-out as much as they want, so they can see the whole earth at once. This can be handy to get a nice strategic view of the whole battlefield spanning over several countries.
I will see how to offer you ways to tweak the opacity of things. Note that the way objects are currently displayed may change a lot in Tacview 1.5 and may not require any more such options.
Jumping from one aircraft to another with the same pilot name was available. But I had to disable this feature because it was triggering some unexpected ergonomic issues. Anyway, Tacview 1.4 should natively support objects respawn so such option would not be required anymore.
TrackIR support is planned since Tacview 0.94, I’m going to see what I can do about it ;)
I hope this answers some of your questions.
- For free and home users, the maximum view altitude is going to be the same. However, with Tacview 1.3 there is no horizon anymore, so you can (or will) notice that you can see as far as you want which is already a huge improvement over the old terrain engine limited to about 120 km.
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This one is not a bug, this is the way the terrain is in DCS. I filled the gaps in the beta 2 to make it nicer.
display problem at 900,000ft -
The new strategic view is the view you can see from high in the sky like in the screenshot attached to my post. Plus more improvements which are coming in the following 1.3.x versions like NATO icons, very long trails, automatic de-clutter, and all that kind of stuff.
As for the options, this is just that it takes time to improve everything step by step. For instance the trails size is already configurable (it was not working in 1.2.8 ) and soon, you will be able to filter labels per object type.
Vicx, can you elaborate about radars colors? Like doing a fake screenshot of what you would like to see?
For now, because of LUA I have no idea on how I could prevent real time flight recording during network flights. It would be almost free for anyone to change the script to disable any protection I would try to put in it. That’s why for now we have to rely on the (too) strong DCS protection system or the honesty of other players…
Do not hesitate to post all you whishes right away. It is always better if I have all of them as early as possible so I can integrate more at once while conceiving new versions.
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Patience :D It is planned for Tacview 1.4
what about real time analysis? -
Done!
There a lot of tiny fixes and improvements, but the most obvious and the biggest one is the famous strategic view! Keep in mind that it took me a long time to code it. So many related improvements are going to follow in versions 1.3.x. (like longer trails to take just one example)
Is there a list of changes? :) -
Just to let you know that the first beta of Tacview 1.3 is available. I still have a few things to fix before being able to publish the final release, but at least the registered users will be able to enjoy it before Christmas!
- ADDED New terrain engine to display a strategic view
- ADDED You can now display ANY Falcon 4.0 installed on your hard drive (see Data-Falcon4Theaters.xml)
- ADDED Chinese translation by 张炯 'Billeinstein' and 姚尧 '@6'
- ADDED Observer altitude is now displayed in the 3D view
- ADDED More objects to Tacview database
- CHANGED Restored previous camera behavior when selected object is destroyed, it does not look at the secondary object anymore
- CHANGED Minor tweaks and improvements to playback speed controls
- CHANGED Removed [Reduced Haze] option (it is now useless thanks to the infinite horizon offered by the new terrain engine)
- CHANGED Dropped support for Flaming Cliffs and all pre-DCS World versions of Lock-On
- CHANGED Dropped support for Open Falcon and FreeFalcon
- CHANGED Dropped support for Digital Fighters
- FIXED Bug in date/time loading in some rare cases (xml/csv files)
- FIXED Bug in CSV file loader (picking the wrong data column in some special cases)
- FIXED Trail size slider was not working properly anymore (regression)
- FIXED DCS World export script is now more resilient to wrong/incomplete installation
- FIXED Rare random crash at exit when saving preferences
Have nice flights!
Vyrtuoz
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- ADDED New terrain engine to display a strategic view
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Sorry, I forgot to answer... The AGL graph is tricky to generate because I need to load the corresponding terrain (which can be quite huge). I will try to see what I can do about it in Tacview 1.3+.
And the AGL altitude graph, is that possible? -
Have a look at the following page: http://lomac.strasoftware.com/tacview-order-en.php
Basically, the home edition maily offers the advanced telemetry so you can learn more about aircrafts, like radar locks (when the data is available), gear, flaps, throttle…
The professional edition mainly offers charts and telemetry data export. In a few weeks you will get the strategic view in Tacview 1.3. And later, in Tacview 1.4 the real time flight recording (if the simulator enables it, like with DCS).
You can also learn more about the advanced features on my Twitter channel:
What is the difference in the paid or free versions? (Having not used it before)-
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Sorry for this time SuperKungFu. I didn’t have the time to setup something specific for this black Friday. But I will try to do something for the next event.
curious if the paid version of tacview would be on sale for black friday or cyber monday? Was going to recommend a few friends to get it. -
@Stuka
You are right Stuka, the trail size control is not working as expected in Tacview 1.2.8. This will be fixed in the next update. I’m going to check what is going on with the A-10C IAS and fix it too. Some parameters may have been changed; I will update my export script accordingly.
@Sleksa
I was able to record and playback your MiG-21bis track with Tacview 1.2.8. Could you try to delete your export.lua DCS World script and ask Tacview to reinstall its export script? Often other add-ons (e.g. cockpit or radio add-ons) are generating LUA errors and preventing Tacview’s export script from being executed.
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I’m sure they are better peoples to answer this question than me :)
Anyway, I can give you some hints. I would say that for dogfights, the following parameters are interesting:
- Angle of Attack / G-Force (to known if you are close to the limits of your aircraft / pilot)
- Turn Rate / Turn Radius (to known which aircraft has currently the sharpest turn)
- Mechanical energy and the others energies too (usually the aircraft with more spare energy has more options, because losing energy is a bad sign)
As for ground attack, I don’t know a scientific way to analyse it, but I would say:
- Distance to target (to know how far you are from a threat when you are attacking a SAM or AAA site)
- Altitude
- Maybe ground speed (for bombing)
I let the specialists giving more accurate a better answers about those subjects
hi vyrtuoz..would you be kind as to tell me which of these parameters apply to dogfighting and which to ground attack?
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- Angle of Attack / G-Force (to known if you are close to the limits of your aircraft / pilot)
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Manual export script installation
Hi guys!
I have to admit I have a hard time to reproduce the export issue some of you have. I’ve moved around my saved games folder, I’ve tested and retested the normal and the Steam edition, open beta or not. And the export script was properly installed and working fine in all cases…
So I'm still looking for a way to reproduce this issue 100% of the time...
Meanwhile, the things to focus on for the export script to work is to:
Copy the Export Script
Copy the latest version of TacviewExportDCS.lua next to DCS Export.lua script where ever it is. (you can download the latest script from http://lomac.strasoftware.com/tacview-dcs.php)
Reference the Export Script
Add the following line at the end of the Export.lua script:
local Tacviewlfs=require('lfs');dofile(Tacviewlfs.writedir()..'Scripts/TacviewExportDCS.lua')
Enable the Export Script
In DCS network.cfg script (which should be in \Saved Games\DCS\Config\), make sure that the export script is enabled:
server = {
…
allow_object_export = true,
…
}
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Thank you Rycc! I'm currently investigating what is happening in such case...
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Hi Rycc, I need to know more about your configuration to understand what is happening:
- Do you see empty flight recording files or no file at all in \My Documents\Tacview\ folder after a flight?
- Did you try all the export script automatic installation options through Tacview menu? (just in case your version is not the one expected) For each, try, if Tacview cannot find the simulator folder, just skip to the next option…
- Which version of DCS are you using? Is it really DCS World or an older version of Lock-On like DCS Black Shark or DCS A10-C Warthog?
- Is it the normal or the Steam one?
- Is it installed manually? In which folder?
- Which version of Windows do you have? x86 or x64?
- Did you notice anything strange while following the manual installation steps? Like missing folder(s)?
- Do you see empty flight recording files or no file at all in \My Documents\Tacview\ folder after a flight?
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I’ve tried this track file with DCS World 1.2.10.32095 and 1.2.10.32275 and it was properly recorded by Tacview. So I have no idea what went wrong for you…
I shared a trk file that didn't record period. Not even a 0k file. I can try to find a trk file that mathes and host both for you if that's what you need. Think I still have them around. Lemme kno!Thanks
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All right Markeebo!
As soon as anyone gets a 0 byte .TXT.ACMI file, try to catch your last TRK file and share it to me so I can reproduce and fix the potential bug!
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Markeebo, do you get empty flight recordings or no file at all after a flight?
Can you share me a TRK file of a flight which is not recorded? That may help me to find a possible bug in my export script.
Been using this for year. Have never had an issue. for some reason, this update is not exporting.Looked at the export luas and all appear to be fine but no go.
Markeebo
Tacview 1.3 beta 1 is available!
in Community News
Posted
X-Plane 10 support is planned for Tacview 1.4. I’m going to revamp from scratch the export format, and I don’t want to work twice on X-Plane support (before and after acmi file revamp).
Nice job Vicx, I appreciate a lot your feedback!
In Tacview 1.3.1, dead ground objects at displayed as grey objects to improves situational awareness. Keep in mind that Tacview 1.3.x is just the beginning as a test bed for the incoming improvements planned for Tacview 1.4 and 1.5.
Very nice screenshot(s) Vicx! This is exactly the kind of feedback I’m looking for: clear, constructive and not too hard to implement. I’m going to improve the auto-scale soon too. As for the missiles locks, is there any documentation about how to make a trusted script?