PeaceSells

UPDATE: Managed to squeeze some more brightness from these button lights by editing the .json file (see first post for new download link), but it's still not good for total darkness. At day or even at dark times, as long as it isn't totally dark (at night and away from city lights, for example) it's very visible. It seems that those button lights currently behave reflecting ambient light, instead of emitting light themselves, so you're good as long as you have some ambient light. I also recommend using the default gamma of 2.2. Besides this lights problem, values lower than 2.2 make ground vehicles look completely dark on their side that don't face the sun directly. AFAIK, gamma of 2.2 is kind of a convention agreed beyond DCS, intended to provide more realistic visuals (and I don't mean prettier visuals). I know DCS tends to look prettier at lower gamma (usually), but remember realism...

Currenlty it's not ideal for night time or low gamma values... do you mind telling if you are flying at day or at night, and what gamma value you have set in the Options > System screen?

Don't forget those who don't have Windows on C: drive and those who have DCS stable branch instead of DCs openbeta...

Hey man, thanks for your reply... thanks to you I've just tested it at night (because I honestly don't remember the last time I flew DCS at night, specially the Ka-50). I had tested it before though during day time using gamma 1.0, 1.5 and 2.2. During day time with gamma at 2.2 and 1.5, the button lights are very bright and visible here, even brighter than in the old DCS 1.5 (I use gamma at the default 2.2). For the buttons at the overhead panel (data-link), though, they are less bright but still visible. With gamma at 1.0 (minimum possible) all button lights are less bright, but still visible. At night they also appear less bright but still visible. I'll see if I can find a way to enhance the brightness at night and at low gamma values...

Spent some time in Photoshop with the cockpit's textures and did a fix for this. Decreased the intensity of the OFF version of the light and increased the intensity of the ON version of the light. While I was at it, I joined these textures with the ones I did earlier to fix the HUD's and windows' opaquiness, increasing visibility. All done in the Mods folder. This should be a fix until the official one comes out... Feel free to give feedback. https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=219669 https://www.dropbox.com/s/bilu2n4lo3nwhxx/Ka_50_cockpit_fix.zip?dl=0

Fix for the textures of the cockpit button lights that don't work currently in DCS 2.5. For both English and Russian (default) cockpits. This also includes a fix for the HUD and windows opaqueness that increases when the sun is low behind the aircraft: --------------------------------------------------- EDIT: At night the button lights are still too faint, specially if you use low gamma values. Recommended leaving DCS gamma at the default value of 2.2, but at night, away from city lights, it's still faint. I believe it's due to these button lights not behaving as light sources, but instead as regular surfaces that don't emit light, only reflect. So this mod make it brighter as long as there's some ambient light present, but in total darkness it's still not visible... ATTENTION: If you use the provided modified .json file, DCS updates rewrite this file back to un-modified version, so you'll have to manually copy the modded file again if you want to continue using it after each DCS update. Last version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n982shihw1zltn4/Ka_50_cockpit_fix_1.1.zip?dl=0 Original version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bilu2n4lo3nwhxx/Ka_50_cockpit_fix.zip?dl=0 (click on the "Download" button on the upper right corner of the screen) --------------------------------------------------- Please let me know of you encounter any problems or glitches. The installation instructions are included. Files are installed on the Users folder, so it doesn't actually change original DCS files, and you activate/deactivate the mod through the in-game Options > Special > Ka-50 screen. You also choose between English or Default (russian) cockpit versions. Feedback is welcome... Thanks!

Nice! Can't wait for the next video!

Yeah, I'm no fighter pilot too, but watching videos like these below show me how perception of speed IRL is much higher than in the game. I don't know though if there are any videos like these made for VR, that would be ideal...

How is the perception of speed when using VR?

Yes, it seems that the quality of the trees was reduced in order to preserve performance. On the other hand, you can see the new Caucasus has a TON of trees. Many many trees. I've the impression that there was a bit of an obsession with covering the maximum area possible with trees, which resulted in reduced individual tree quality and increased individual tree size scale. The side effect is a hit in image quality and a hit in sense of speed when flying, which IMO outweights that 'wow' factor of seeing large areas covered with forests. I'd love to see the amount of trees reduced, but tree quality (and maybe even view distance) increased. It would give a better look on the map overall and increase sense of immersion. Caucasus is such a cool map.

Mod to solve this problem: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=218852

By request, I've done this small mod. HUD, front and side windows glass textures modified to make them 100% transparent all the time. This is specially useful when the sun is behind the aircraft at early morning or late afternoon, what would make the HUD very opaque. Here is the download link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0uug0bi8q1ma23z/Ka_50_transparent_HUD_and_windows.zip?dl=0 (click on the "Download" button on the upper right corner of the screen) This is my first time doing this, so let me know of you encounter any glitches. The installation instructions are included. Files are installed on the Mods folder, so it doesn't actually change original DCS files, and you activate/deactivate the mod through the in-game Options > Special > Ka-50 screen. You also choose between English or Default (russian) cockpit versions. I've removed the opacity of the glass, but intentionally left the green reflection on the HUD because I guess it's realisctic and it doesn't obstruct your view if you use the brightness knob on the Ka-50 HUD to lower its brightness. Despite that, I guess I should probably modify it to tone it down, but the method I have to do that may have to modify original DCS files, something users probably don't want. I might investigate this further if there's interest in it. Please give feedback... Thanks!

Yes, but this something that is created does have properties, for example it has a something.material, a something.primitivetype, something.vertices, something.indices, etc... you can call and assign values to them in Lua... but for that you need to know their names first... I guess my question is "Can everything that is available for use inside of Lua be seen somehow before you call them so you know they exist?" Yes, I've done that (wouldn't be able to do that HUD if I didn't, would I?), but what about the parameters that weren't used in those mods?

Update and more questions lol... First the update: The video below shows the velocity vector / flight path marker that I've just created for the mod, and an update to the pitch ladder form the video before, so it now moves centered at the velocity vector. Some cool spatial geometry and trigonometry math coded for this. I've also created the DRIFT C/O input switch to switch the velocity vector between 2 modes: wind drift on and wind drift off. With wind drift on, the velocity vector will show the exact flight path of the aircraft (including wind), while with wind drift off it will show the path as if there was no wind. The pitch ladder stays aligned with the world's horizon, while moving around always centered at the velocity vector, as it all should be in the real aircraft. Now back on the topic of finding what functions / variables are available for modders in DCS... Calling get_base_data() from inside the "avLuaDevice" will return me a table with all the functions get_base_data() contains and I can see all of these functions' names by doing a generic for loop on that table. Also, from inside "avLuaDevice" I can call GetDevice() on other devices and that will also return me a table, but it doesn't contain fuctions, it contains a "userdata" which I can't see. BUT I can call getmetatable() for the table and it will give me another table (the table's metatable) and if I use the generic for on this metatable I can find another table inside it (lol...) which contains the functions. Using the generic for on this final table I can see the names of these functions. BUT, trying to use any of these two procedures above to find all the functionality available inside, for example, a HUD element, doesn't work. Calling CreateElement("ceMeshPoly") or CreateElement "ceMeshPoly", for example, returns a userdata that I can't see inside and it has no metatable associated with it. EDIT: It does have a metatable, but it contains two functions: __index and __newindex and trying to call those functions gives me error.... I'd love if someone told me I'm missing something and that there is indeed a way of finding all the functionality inside the element. I've found this VERY helpful post by Gyrovague and it looks like there's no way to see a complete list of functionalities available to modders... EDIT: Lol, forgot to add the link to the helpful post: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=3035016#post3035016

Why see planes at distance instread of at close?

Hey guys, Lately I've been learning the process of modding for DCS and I got very interested based on what seems possible to do so far. The video below is a partial illustration of what I've been learning so far, a quick test of a HUD with an early implementation of a pitch ladder, with some indicators so I can test it's precision. I've been reading many forum threads, specially the Wunderluft and the F-104, but, when it comes to visualizing exactly what functions, variables, etc. are accessible by code, I feel I'm still not able to see the big picture. Probably because I'm not experienced with Lua, my experience with modding was many many years ago with Unreal Tournament 2004 (any Unreal modders here?), UnrealScript being the language that I knew. The thing with UnrealScript was that every function, variable, class, etc. that was available for use was declared in the base script code that came with the game, so even if there was no guide or explanations on how to use them, by reading their names you could end up learning a lot by trial and error. With Lua it seems different, you can discover many of the available functions/variables inside the "_G" and inside other data by the use of table iterators like the "generic for", but it doesn't seem to be all. I still have to dive more into Lua.org site to have a better understanding of how functions/variables can be found (if at all). Another important aspect I'm trying to learn is which Lua scripts are being called by the engine and when, and which functions/variables inside these scripts are being called by the engine and when. Some of them are explained in the Wunderluft example, like "entry.lua", "device_init.lua", etc., but what else is the engine scannig for in the Lua files? I guess this is my question... how to have an idea of the big picture... Thanks!

I'm not sure, but I suspect it means line of sight drift. As if the missile is trying to keep the target's "image" still, as in trying to not let the image drift to the sides, up or down, which, as I understand means it's trying 'pure pursuit'?

Hey man, I suspect the changes had no effect for you because your DCS was in normal mode, not stereo mode. To put DCS in stereo mode you have to go inside DCS, in the Options, System tab and change "Monitors" from "1 Screen" to "Stereo". BUT as far as I remember, if you're using TrinusVR, you leave DCS in 1 Screen mode and the Trinus software should generate the stereo images. I might be wrong, I never used TrinusVR (my cell phone isn't compatible) and it's been a while since I've fiddled with VR. As far as I remember, the image must be converted to stereo AND be treated to compensate for the lens distortion that occurs inside every VR headset. Without this compensation, you get the impression that the FOV is wrong when it isn't. As far as I remember (might be wrong), Trinus software should do not only the stereo images, but the lens compensation too. In the case of Oculs Rift and the Vive, I guess DCS does this automatically, but DCS must be in VR mode, not in "Stereo" mode. From what I remember, the image must be treated differently for each headset, because each one uses different lenses, distances to screen, etc. Anyway, since I have Windows Phone and there's apparently no apps that do these things on Windows Phone, I gave up on playing VR on my phone. But, answering to your question: It means that, if you sum up left FOV + right FOV = 25.6º + 19.3º = 44.9º, that's total horizontal FOV. If you sum up top FOV + bottom FOV = 23.7º + 28.8º = 52.5º, that's total vertical FOV (but this all is assuming the numbers given in Stereo.lua are tangent of angles, and I have no means to confirm that). The default Stereo.lua file has, for the left eye: Left = { x = 0; y = 0; width = screen.width * 0.5; height = screen.height; viewDx = 0; viewDy = 0; aspect = screen.aspect / 2; eye_shift = -0.032; --tans of side angles projection_bounds = { left = 0.964925826, right = 0.715263844, top = 0.889498115, bottom = 1.11092532, }, you change it to: Left = { x = 0; y = 0; width = screen.width * 0.5; height = screen.height; viewDx = 0; viewDy = 0; aspect = screen.aspect / 2; eye_shift = -0.032; --tans of side angles projection_bounds = { [color="Red"]left = 0.48, right = 0.35, top = 0.44, bottom = 0.55,[/color] } }, And for the right eye, the default Stereo.lua is: Right = { x = screen.width * 0.5; y = 0; width = screen.width * 0.5; height = screen.height; viewDx = 0; viewDy = 0; aspect = screen.aspect / 2; eye_shift = 0.032; --tans of side angles projection_bounds = { left = 0.715263844, right = 0.964925826, top = 0.889498115, bottom = 1.11092532, } } you change it to: Right = { x = screen.width * 0.5; y = 0; width = screen.width * 0.5; height = screen.height; viewDx = 0; viewDy = 0; aspect = screen.aspect / 2; eye_shift = 0.032; --tans of side angles projection_bounds = { [color="Red"]left = 0.35, right = 0.48, top = 0.44, bottom = 0.55,[/color] } } Note that left and right bounds of the right eye are inverted in relation to the bounds of the left eye (your nose limits your FOV on the right of your left eye and on the left of your right eye). Also remember these changes will only take effect if you change the option "Monitors" inside DCS from "1 Screen" to "Stereo". Good luck with TrinusVR...

Ciribob's post above also links to a thread that has a launch command line parameter to start DCS straight into a mission: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=158517 Difference is that this specific command line will launch singleplayer, while Ciribob's method will start multiplayer. For me, at the moment, singleplayer is enogh. BTW, command line is: "C:\DCS World OpenBeta\bin\DCS.exe" --net-mode server "C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Missions\YOURMISSIONNAME.miz"

Thanks Pikey! That made me find his explanation on this: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=160829 Will study his code as soon as I have the time! Thanks again!!

It seems that it's possible to start DCS straight into a misison, but using scripts instead of a launch command line: https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3562724&postcount=103 Maybe that's somethig like this that I had read in the past and didn't remember correctly. Now how to script something to do this I still have to investigate...

Yes, yes, but remember you're talking about Arma. DCS server hosts don't do that (as far as I can see in my limited experience). Have a go in DCS server browser, try the public servers and you will see what I'm talking about. Don't let your Arma experience put you off from DCS multiplayer, it's amazing. Defenityely not dead, all I'm saying is I'm almost sure (I don't have any numbers) that there is a much higher turnover in singleplayer - with people learning the game, doing campaigns, free flights, etc. and then slowly abandoning the game (how many times can you do free flights and play the same storylined campaign without getting tired of them?) - than with multiplayers, where experienced players who know everything there is to know about the game hang and never get tired because it's never the same. Maybe most of the money income is due to singleplayer (higher turnover?) but the core loyal player base I guess is in multuiplayer.

I guess multiplayer is where the real loyal and serious players are. As I see it, single player is where people learn and practice, but no one plays it forever. They either slowly stop playing or move on to multiplayer (as with all games, I guess...). I guess now with both 2.5 and the Hornet out, ED will finally have the chance to tune the multiplayer side of the game. It will do wonders for the player base. I understand what you're saying, but that's really not the case with these servers in DCS. If you try one of these awesome dynamic servers, you'll see that they are not trying to everything for everyone, it's really far from it actually. Despite all the effort they might be doing under the hood, it's all to deliver a minimalistic "capture the enemy base" type of mission, that retains the war state between server restarts. No factories, no HQs, no power plants, no planning, no ground war, no strategic strikes, no nothing, just attack the enemy airfield. The catch is that you, the player, communicate via SRS, Discord, etc. to coordinate or plan your actions with other players and that's the real interesting part of it. So that's currently the thing with DCS multiplayer: too much processing power and resources in doing effectively too little. If you ask my opinion based on what I've seen so far, I think ED should do a native military type of dinamic mission editor with planning, etc, to replace the current editor, so that servers wouldn't have to add so much customized script code in order to fill their own needs (remember, this isn't "Altis Life" or "DayZ"). If you look at these amazing popular servers, you can see the common denominator, this is what things tend to evolve to, so why not implement the common denominator natively and let servers adjust minor things to suit their particular needs?

Is there a list of launch command line parameters for DCS? I've seen SateZilla's commands on these threads: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=160053 https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=114030 But I'd like to know if there's any command to launch DCS straight into a mission. This would speed up my testing process on this little mod I'm trying to do (I'm still learning). I remember reading somewhere that someone was using some command line to launch DCS straight into a mission to simulate a dedicated server, but I can't find the post... I might not be recalling this right, though... Thanks!

I just found these today: http://en.wiki.eagle.ru/wiki/Simulator_Scripting_Engine/DCS:_World/Part_1 http://en.wiki.eagle.ru/wiki/Simulator_Scripting_Engine/DCS:_World/Part_2 It says it's for DCS 1.2.6, but I can't find anything newer aside from the Hoggit page that Feefifofum already linked, which says it's for DCS 2.5.2. I don't know if there are differences between versions, I still have a lot of reading to do...