Madog

Hey Justin, have you noticed post #302 in this thread?

This answer has been given before, but i really can't be bothered to type it again. Use the search forum or RTFM.

Hey, good idea. Have you guys thought about contacting Sabre-TLA ? I think this would integrate really well with the documentation provided with the Maple Flag missions like Mission Data Cards, maps and specialized checklists.

Hey, first of: +1 second: you can take the long and hard road into the template-hell to produce your own keypresses. Check this file out: C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\aircrafts\Uh-1H\Input\UH-1H\keyboard\default.lua . Per Mod and per controller category (joystick, keyboard, etc...) there is at least one default.lua and possibly several hardware-specific .luas to be found. These files are used to control which options per action is present in the controller configuration menu in game. Using notepad++, and searching for "Armament Off/Safe/Armed" i found these lines: {combos = {{key = ']', reformers = {'RShift'}}}, down = device_commands.Button_20, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON_SYS, value_down = 1.0, name = 'Armament Off/Safe/Armed Up', category = 'Armament System'}, {combos = {{key = '[', reformers = {'RShift'}}}, down = device_commands.Button_20, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON_SYS, value_down = -1.0, name = 'Armament Off/Safe/Armed Down', category = 'Armament System'}, These code segments contain several elements: combos = {{key = ']', reformers = {'RShift'}}} Determines which keys are pre-bound with the default keyboard layout to this function This bit determine what happens when the key combo is pressed down (hence the down = part, other options seem to be up = or pressed = for a held button). down = device_commands.Button_20, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON_SYS, value_down = 1.0, The value_down part is what i think is the cockpit postion of the switch. I think this is just simple math, evertime you press the armament switch up key combo 1.0 is added, everytime you press the armament switch down, 1 is substracted. There is also a value_up for when the key combo is released. Seen a few lines down with this: {combos = {{key = 'J'}}, down = device_commands.Button_23, up = device_commands.Button_23, cockpit_device_id = devices.WEAPON_SYS, value_down = 1.0, value_up = 0.0, name = 'Jettison', category = 'Armament System'}, Whats programmed in the default layout of the Warthog throttle is for example this: {combos = {{key = 'JOY_BTN31'}} , down = iCommandPlane_L_ENG_OPER_Ign , up = iCommandPlane_L_ENG_OPER_Norm_from_Ign , name = 'Left Engine Oper Ign / Norm' , category = 'Engine Control Panel'}; So basically one key press, DirectX button 31, one action for down, one action for up. I do not quite get how to combine serveral infos onto one down = statement like they did for the UH-1 with the default.lua, but i guess with a little trail and error it should be possible to produce something like seperate key presses for threeway switch up = armament up, threeway switch middle = armament middle, and so forth. Good luck :)

Hey, also, remember that the pro guys tend to do stuff because it is done like this in real life, not neccersarily because it gives them an actual advantage in the simulation. So while in real life DTS data may easily be more inaccurate than newly measurements by ground personel, i tend to think that inside DCS all hight sources are the same. Meaning JTAC and DTS in game probably both rely on the same hight map. So it might just be a thing of doing stuff "by the book". Madog

Hey, welcome to DCS World :) No, the axis of all the aircraft available are analog axis, meaning increments, as fine as your controller can create. Maybe your controller is not set up properly, you can check what controller input correspondes to what axis output in the game in the options menu: Go to: Options -> Controls (tab on the top) -> Layer: Su-25 T (on the top left) -> Drop down the Category menu (one step to the right) and select axis commands --> click on the axis you want to analyze (for your particular problem: Thrust) in the right column for your gamepad (column headers tell you which column represents which controler. --> click on Axis tune (to the bottom right), a popup window will appear --> in the new window you can see a graph (thin blue line) representing the possible axis travel, a small red square representing the current in game output, and a black square with a red center representing your current controller position. The little red square always travels along the thin blue line, you can not manipulate the black square besides by moving the controller handle, but you can use the sliders on the right to manipulate the blue line, and thus what output is generated by which input. Now if you sloooooowly move your controller and the red square jumps along the line, you may have a hardware problem with your controller, or some external software (controller driver, or similar) may manipulate the raw output of the axis. If in the options screen the red square moves smothly along the line, you should be able to get the same response ingame. Let me know your findings, Madog

Hey, i think i did not explain properly: you'll need to create a key (a "folder", so to speak) named KA-50 with a new string named path in it. Have a look at the attached pictures, i hope this shows better what i mean. Hope it helps, Madog

Hey, another hint that helped me out a great deal: with the default settings the trim is pretty rough, meaning one click does trim more than one knot of speed. To make trim more sensitive, i choose one of two methods: 1) apply a curve to the axis, this way trim gets more sensive around the stick center also. 2) shorten the minimum key press length. I did this in target by using the " SetKBRate 75, 33);" command. The result is a much more sensitive trim function, where i can perfectly trim the aircraft to a certain speed, this is very very helpful when refueling. Of course you will have to use TARGET to use this. Also, with this method i was able to terminate all curves from the stick and still be able to refuel properly.

Hey, i think what is missing, is a certain kind of success without a kill. I think, A-10s on CAS irl just usually get some kind of order like "bomb here" or "strave that". without killing everyone on the ground it certainly has some kind of effect, may it be physiological or psychological. In DCS the only way to achive the games goals is by actually killing units, of course the mission maker could use some kind of "bomb in area" trigger to simulate contidions more similar to real world conditions, but i have yet to see this and the build-in JTAC certainly only cares for kills. This is, imo, more of a gameplay issue than a question of proper simulation, and the DCS gameplay is all about "kill this, destroy that" not about simulation the pilots experience.

Hey, i was wondering: where do you guys get your knowlege on the theory of cropping bombs and the practical applications of the theory. Are there books, you could recommend on the topic?

Solved: no tabs for modules Hey, you can easily fix the EMC by adding the neccersary Registry paths yourself. For example, to enable the A-10C tab you have to add a key named "A-10C" under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World and insert a string named "Path" with the path to your A-10C module (default: C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\aircrafts\A-10C). The code of the corresponding exported .reg file looks like this: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\A-10C] "Path"="C:\\Program Files\\Eagle Dynamics\\DCS World\\Mods\\aircrafts\\A-10C" The keynames "KA-50", "FC3" and "CA" can be used to enable the tabs for the different modules respectivly. Have fun, Madog

Hey, has maybe been posted, i don't know. Anyway: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/virtualtour/cockpits.asp Have fun!

Hey again, im at home now and can be a little more precise. The templatefiles i was talking about can be found under <installation directory>\Mods\aircrafts\A-10C\Input\A-10C\joystick . The installation directory is C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World by default. Specifically i mean these two files: Joystick - HOTAS Warthog.lua 101.078 Bytes Throttle - HOTAS Warthog.lua 100.690 Bytes Are they present in your installation? They should be converted into configuration files in your DCS configuration directory which can be found here: C:\Users\<your windows username>\Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input\A-10C\joystick Mine are named Joystick - HOTAS Warthog {513ED360-6C79-11e1-8001-444553540000}.lua and Throttle - HOTAS Warthog {A3979F40-6C72-11e1-8001-444553540000}.lua But as far as i can tell, the long string within the curly braces are system specific USB ids, so they would be different for you. I also have got to correct myself: these files are not generated when you start up DCS, but upon entering the control section of the options screen. Also, forget the part about the device names and the filenames, i have just checked mine and the do not match, so DCS must have some other means to detect what is what :) Anyway, i'll attach my two configuration files, so if you swap the device id's maybe it will just work for you. Remember, though that if the templates will get updated these will stay in thier current state. Madog Joystick - HOTAS Warthog {513ED360-6C79-11e1-8001-444553540000}.lua Throttle - HOTAS Warthog {A3979F40-6C72-11e1-8001-444553540000}.lua

Hmm, i have two ideas what could be wrong. 1) DCS Installation: have you checked if there are template files for both controllers within in installation directory? They should be recognizable by the filenames. 2) somehow wrongly installed devices. As far as i could figure it out, DCS seems to search for usb devices which have a specific name and applies the controller template with the same name from the install directory to thier usbid and saves the result in the user directory with the usbid appended to the filename. If somehow Windows does not use the proper device names, DCS won't recognize the devices properly. If both ideas do not lead you to a solllution, i suggest to open up a trouble ticket on digitalcombatsimulator.com, this is often more helpful than the forums. Good luck, Madog

Hey, you can Check the functionality of your Warthog from within target. On the top of the Software there is a button that starts another program, 'device checker' or similar ( writing this from memory). First check every button of the stick and throttle to be sure the devices are working properly. For the game to detect the devices properly be sure to NOT load a profile with target. This is because, target disconnects the both stick and throttle and connects another device called Warthog combinded, which looks to the os as though it would be only one usb input. Dcs only automatically detects the single stick and throttle, for the Warthog combined it just uses the standard joystick profile which is very simple. So, you will have to decide if you'd like to use target or autodetection. I personally prefer target profiling, because it enables you to use advanced programming over the ever-chaning dcs input templates.

Hey, nice video, what was the final result of your attacks?

Hey, check this out: http://www.simhq.com/_air9/air_272a.html Also have a look at the v476th battlebook. Madog

Hey, there actually were three campaings shipped in the early days of the A-10C module (although it was not yet a module back then). The other two, Devils Cross and The Shore can still be downloaded here http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/84753/ They were taken out because the were constantly broke with every update of the game since the AI bahviour, triggers, scripts constantly changed and still change today. I gather this is the main reason why there are no big campaings, the creator would have to constantly maintain them and keep fixing them with each and every update. So, no i do not wonder that there are no campains :) If you are looking for good missions and campains, search for stuff made by Mbot, who made the campains i mentioned, Grimes, or Dragon. Regards, Madog

Hi, i concur, that the curent controler setup has quite some drawbacks. I wonder however, how do ED and or 3rd party developers create the controller templates that come with a module? Are they written by hand? I am asking, because if some kind of tool is used, maybe it would be feasable to realese this tool as a bridging solllution for the current situation until the system itself can be revised. Nate, can you shed some light on the developing process regarding controller setups?

New IG! Wooho!! \o/

Just as a reference: Landing difficulty: Norwegian. http://www.chilloutzone.net/video/helikopterlandung-level-norwegian.html

Flipswitches in Cockpit should be useable as separat on / off bindings. I have quite some trouble binding on/off switches which are only represented by a single button press to the flipswitches on my HOTAS Warthog since i need to bring the physical switches to certain positions depending on the initial state of the in game switch at skmulatikn start.

Hey, a great additon gameplaywise would imo be animations that do not necerssarily give away the status of a target. Right now every kill goes either like "hit" --> "boom" --> "burning wreck" or like "hit" --> "burn and if driving roll out" --> "boom" --> "burning wreck". This enables the player to really unrealistically judge the state of the given target. With a certain random element some other death animations could be played. For example: "hit" --> "rollout" or "hit" --> "nothing" or "hit" --> "burn" --> "burning wreck". Of course this would be more apropirate for lower damage taken values and non exploding munitions, but i think it is a relativly small change that would enhance the gameplay quite a bit. What do you guys think? Madog

Never mind, i had some syntax errors in the template file. It would be nice if the parsing engine would produce some kind of error with an information which line causes problems.

Hey, in DCS: A-10 i created custom template .luas for the "Thrustmaster Combined" device the Warthog Joystick and Throttle become once you activate a T.A.R.G.E.T script. It used to work this way: Create a custom template .lua, name it "Thrustmaster Combined.lua", place it under "DCS A-10C\Config\Input\Aircrafts\A-10C\joystick", delete the already created joystick configuration under "Users\Madog\Saved Games\DCS Warthog\Config\Input\A-10C\joystick", start the game, visit the option page, exit the option page via the ok button. What happend was that a new controller configuration file was created from my custom template, everything was fine. I tried the same procedure with DCS World, using modified paths, of course, but it did not work. No matter what i do, DCS World decides to use the default.lua template to create a joystick profile .lua. Note i have not migrated the old template from DCS A-10, but created a new one from a copy of the "Throttle - HOTAS Warthog.lua", also i have placed the new template in the "DCS World\Mods\aircrafts\A-10C\Input\A-10C\joystick" directory where the other template files reside.... Can someone tell me if custom template files are still accepted, if i have to change something else, or if they will no loger work at all? Madog