DCS-Map - Virtual kneeboard in your browser

[Eule]

Hello!

 

I am working on a virtual kneeboard right now. It features an interactive map, checklists for all DCS Modules, Frequencies for all airports, a way to write down own notes, some calculation tools for fuel flow, range, etc and many more features are planned.

 

This virtual kneeboard is meant to be used in a browser on your PC, Laptop or tablet. I started the project for myself because I was searching for something like this, but couldnt find it. On the other hand - I wanted to learn some new thing about web development.

 

Some days ago I decided to make this small project public to you - the community. To that not only I have fun with it, but maybe you too :).

 

Let me know if you have any wishes for the design, features or just some criticism.

 

 

Checklists

(NOT STARTED / WORK IN PROGRESS / DONE)

Helicopter:

KA-50

Mi-8MTv2

UH-1H

Sa342

 

A-10C

AJS-37

AV/8B

C-101

F/A-18C

F-14

F-5E

F-86F

Hawk T.1A

L-39

M-2000C

MiG-15bis

MiG-21bis

MiG-29

Yak-52

 

Flaming Cliffs

Su-33

Su-27

F-15C

Su-25

A-10A

 

WWII

P-51D

FW-190D-9

BF-109K-4

Spitfire Mk. IXc LF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OLD POST:

 

 

 

Hello Community!

 

 

I am working on a small project for the last days. Its mostly for myself for learning and yeah ... of course for my own DCS play sessions. And I thought, maybe you - the community - would be interested in it.

 

 

So what is DCS-Map?

DCS-Map is not "just a map" but more likely a full virtual kneeboard with many informations diretly at your fingertipp (tablet, second monitor, etc). It startet as the idea of a simple map with some frequencies labeled on it. Know the idea is a kneeboard with all the informations you need from start-up to landing. I just dont wanted to use the ingame kneeboard, so I thought I could use a real life kneeboard. The second idea was a digital kneeboard in my browser.

 

 

Is it even a good idea to make it public?

I thought some days about it: Should I even speak about my small project? Will it get mostly negative feedback or will it be ignored? Today I think, even if the project gets ignored by the most players, it will maybe find some use by a small group of players. And if so - the work will not be only for myself but for a part of the community.

 

 

 

What is planned?

If you ask me about my plans with DCS-Map, then the list is endless. I have many ideas by myself but maybe you have some too. Let me know!

 

• Player can take notes on the virtual kneeboard and access them
  
• You can access map informations for every airport directly on the map or as a list
  
• Checklists for all DCS World modules (from startup to landing)
  
• The user can draw on the interactive map (you know ... like a real map on a kneeboard ;) )
  
• own tileserver with the DCS Maps, not this OpenStreetMaps like now (just a placeholder)
  
• user can change his own virtual kneeboard (colors, maybe layout, etc)
  

Ultimate Endboss Features:

 

• User Accounts
  
• User can join a squadron
  
• Squadron can draw, save and load maps (interactive, together)
  

 

 

DCS-Map is not a standalone application. It needs to be run by a local Server or can be visited on the dcs-map website (coming when scripts are ready for it).

 

 

So how does it look right now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah - I know it looks a bit ugly. But I went though some designs and this is the most effective way. Left side is the kneeboard menu, the middle the content area and the right the info panel with some infos.

 

 

Now ... let me know what you think. What do you think should be part of this virtual kneeboard? Do you even see a usecase for yourself? I am happy about every way of feedback :-)

 

 

 

 

WARNING: VERY work in progress :). Design just functional, not feature complete (just some days of work as a "beginner")

 

 

Greetings :thumbup:

Eule

Edited November 17, 2018 by Eule

[Backy 51]

Hello Community!

 

 

I am working on a small project for the last days. Its mostly for myself for learning and yeah ... of course for my own DCS play sessions. And I thought, maybe you - the community - would be interested in it.

 

 

So what is DCS-Map?

DCS-Map is not "just a map" but more likely a full virtual kneeboard with many informations diretly at your fingertipp (tablet, second monitor, etc). It startet as the idea of a simple map with some frequencies labeled on it. Know the idea is a kneeboard with all the informations you need from start-up to landing. I just dont wanted to use the ingame kneeboard, so I thought I could use a real life kneeboard. The second idea was a digital kneeboard in my browser.

 

 

Is it even a good idea to make it public?

I thought some days about it: Should I even speak about my small project? Will it get mostly negative feedback or will it be ignored? Today I think, even if the project gets ignored by the most players, it will maybe find some use by a small group of players. And if so - the work will not be only for myself but for a part of the community.

 

 

 

What is planned?

If you ask me about my plans with DCS-Map, then the list is endless. I have many ideas by myself but maybe you have some too. Let me know!

• Player can take notes on the virtual kneeboard and access them
  
• You can access map informations for every airport directly on the map or as a list
  
• Checklists for all DCS World modules (from startup to landing)
  
• The user can draw on the interactive map (you know ... like a real map on a kneeboard ;) )
  
• own tileserver with the DCS Maps, not this OpenStreetMaps like now (just a placeholder)
  
• user can change his own virtual kneeboard (colors, maybe layout, etc)
  

Ultimate Endboss Features:

• User Accounts
  
• User can join a squadron
  
• Squadron can draw, save and load maps (interactive, together)
  

 

DCS-Map is not a standalone application. It needs to be run by a local Server or can be visited on the dcs-map website (coming when scripts are ready for it).

 

 

So how does it look right now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah - I know it looks a bit ugly. But I went though some designs and this is the most effective way. Left side is the kneeboard menu, the middle the content area and the right the info panel with some infos.

 

 

Now ... let me know what you think. What do you think should be part of this virtual kneeboard? Do you even see a usecase for yourself? I am happy about every way of feedback :-)

 

 

 

 

WARNING: VERY work in progress :). Design just functional, not feature complete (just some days of work as a "beginner")

 

 

Greetings :thumbup:

Eule

 

Go for it Eule! Even if you and only one other person use it, if you enjoyed creating it, don't worry what others think. Create away! :D :thumbup:

[cubanace]

I think this is a great idea,I would definitely use something like this,thank you for your hard work.

[Hammerhead]

Small project? Wow, I wish I had your talent to make this kind of stuff. I have a few ideas myself but programming languages or even simple scripts have never been my strong points. Of course people will like what you make. And if they don't, that's ok too since they simply won't download it. Like with mods.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eule]

Thank you for your kind words :)

I will post updates from time to time of something new (big) is achieved.

 

 

Right now I am working on getting all DCS Modules in it (just the background construction - nothing hard but annoying).

[slipstream21]

Count me in and good luck.

[Eule]

Some background work is done :)

Latest WIP picture is in the attachments.

 

 

I am not happy with the Area of operation buttons on the right side - but they do their job for now. If you click them, they pan the map around. The user always uses the whole world-map. But there will be lines drawn into it with the ingame borders.

 

 

What is next?

 

• A way that the user can write his notes into the "NOTES" tab
  
• Fix that, if you change from map to notes or the checklist, the map will still be the same. Right now it deletes everything you have drawn and the position is reset. Will be fixed soon, I have an idea for it (easy solution)
  
• Add all DCS Airports into the map with a popup with all the needed informations (TACAN, ILS, ATC Frequencies, etc)
  

Thank you again for your kind words :)

Let me know what you want to see in DCS-Map!

 

 

virtual_kneeboard_demo.PNG

[Eule]

This is how the Checklists will look like. Here is an example of the A-10C Warthog.

 

 

 

[Strut]

This is a great idea Eule, looking forward to it.

[Snacko]

Have you considered making it an app so you could open/close/resize it with hotkeys? And make it stay on top of the game window when it's visible? You could still embed an browser container in an app if you want.

[Eule]

This is a great idea Eule, looking forward to it.

Nice to hear that! :)

 

 

Have you considered making it an app so you could open/close/resize it with hotkeys? And make it stay on top of the game window when it's visible? You could still embed an browser container in an app if you want.

I thought about it this morning. And yes - you are right. I never considered that it would be great to have this as an always on top Application you could hide and show how you need it - just the same as with the NS430 overlay. When developing DCS-Map.

 

 

I hate browser Container and that stuff - better is to get it into a native Application. There are ways to develop native applications just with web-language. So I will look into it and maybe even take a new direction with DCS-Map. And since this gets a whole new direction it maybe is already time for a more creative name :joystick:

 

 

Thank you for your thoughts!

[Aviators]

wuao! Great Idea!

[Tobi1304]

Looks great, can‘t wait to use it!

[Eule]

Great to hear!

I wonder what you people wait the most for. Checklists? Maps? Notes? If I know, I concentrate on that features first and release it early.

[Quekel]

I Love it!!

 

Would be awesome to have a single app for all of this, it is a lot of work and i think a lot of people could help you with this!

[Snacko]

Great to hear!

I wonder what you people wait the most for. Checklists? Maps? Notes? If I know, I concentrate on that features first and release it early.

I think a lot of people already have checklists to use? I would do that first.

 

Sent from my Moto Z Play using Tapatalk

[TechRoss]

Oh boy I started down this road with a stand alone window application. The more you work on it the bigger it gets. There is so so much that can go into this. Good luck.

[Strut]

I agree with Snacko, checklists would be great first off the bat, then maps. As for a name, just a thought, we used to use aid memoirs for certain things and placed them in a waterproof folder about the size of a hand held note book with transparent sleeves so you could also write on them, we called this a "Vuey Tuey" spoken like "Viewy twoee", just an idea !

Edited November 14, 2018 by Strut

[ESAc_matador]

FOr us VR users... if you manage a way to take notes... that would be a huge success.

 

In any case, very interesting. Many of uss are using kneeboardbuilder, but...

 

Also, people is using combatflite... have a look and see if you can integrate, or something.

[BoneDust]

FOr us VR users... if you manage a way to take notes... that would be a huge success.

 

In any case, very interesting. Many of uss are using kneeboardbuilder, but...

 

Also, people is using combatflite... have a look and see if you can integrate, or something.

 

+1

 

Looks like a great app! :thumbup:

[Eule]

Oh boy I started down this road with a stand alone window application. The more you work on it the bigger it gets. There is so so much that can go into this. Good luck.

Lets see how far I can go :)

 

 

I agree with Snacko, checklists would be great first off the bat, then maps. As for a name, just a thought, we used to use aid memoirs for certain things and placed them in a waterproof folder about the size of a hand held note book with transparent sleeves so you could also write on them, we called this a "Vuey Tuey" spoken like "Viewy twoee", just an idea !

The name I just had in mind was DCS FIP (DCS Flight Information Panel).

Easy to remember and just says what it is :D

 

 

FOr us VR users... if you manage a way to take notes... that would be a huge success.

 

In any case, very interesting. Many of uss are using kneeboardbuilder, but...

 

Also, people is using combatflite... have a look and see if you can integrate, or something.

I will try to do my best for you VR Users! But .. I cant promise anything :)

Kneeboardbuilder let you build your own kneeboard (I dont use it), right? Well ... DCS FIP (the new name of DCS-Map ;) ... because it is more than just a map) is very static at the moment - you cant change things other than in the integrates notes application. But maybe I get DCS-FIP to a point where it can be used as a overlay on DCS like Discord or Steam and aso the content can be adjusted by the user. We will see. Combatflite on the other hand ... I have big respect to the programmer on that. Looks great! I dont know if I can get my map that far ;)

[Strut]

The name I just had in mind was DCS FIP (DCS Flight Information Panel).

Easy to remember and just says what it is :D

 

 

Sounds good to me Eule, good luck with it.:thumbup:

[Snacko]

FOr us VR users... if you manage a way to take notes... that would be a huge success.

 

In any case, very interesting. Many of uss are using kneeboardbuilder, but...

 

Also, people is using combatflite... have a look and see if you can integrate, or something.

That would be great if he could also make it appear in VR. I have no idea how to do that. A standalone app would not appear in VR.

[Eule]

That would be great if he could also make it appear in VR. I have no idea how to do that. A standalone app would not appear in VR.

 

 

You have to work with the DirectX or OpenGL of the game (depends on what it uses, did not look into it). It is possible :). But that does not mean that it will be easy and developed right away :D. First the basic stuff - second special features like VR stuff.

[Eule]

Just want to let you know that this is not abandoned. :music_whistling:

 

 

Right now I am in Norway as a part of the Bundeswehr (german military) while the NATO's exercise Trident Juncture 18 goes on. In the "freetime" I had I begun with the development of DCS-Map (lets call it DCS-FIP - Flight Information Panel for now :) ). Right now there is more to do while we approch to the date we will leave Norway AND in addition I can proudly say that I am in the last stage at becoming a military helicopter pilot. So there will be very much training and learning approching at me when I come home to germany.

 

 

For sure I will keep on working on DCS-FIP - but not with the speed I did to this point. I am sure that you will understand that.

 

 

I will just let this video here ... focus on your dreams my DCS friends!