[How to] Multi monitor MFCD display export set-up guide - Nov 2024 (updated)

[cgjimeneza]

By Jove sir, it works

 

yes, I have to play with MFD screen size and posit, as I have an acrylic rectangle with velcro on both sides, the cougar MFDs are then secured permanently and I can remove the whole acrylic frame and have the mini monitor usable for whatever

So, I would have a glass of wine any day, with you.

PS: Yes, Im quite fond of the works by Patrick O'Brian

 

[cgjimeneza]

new item.

as I added the 3rd mini monitor, my controls indicator window went out of business... it seems the position is based on total height (via a formula)... so it went south as height is now 1080+768 of the smaller monitor, the F-18C, A-4 and the Helicopters (except for the  OH-6) are now covered by the MFD exports.

 

Can anyone give me a pointer to the posit and nominal size so I can edit all the lua files involved and get the indicators back?

 

Edited October 15, 2024 by cgjimeneza

[jonsky7]

On 10/15/2024 at 2:54 AM, cgjimeneza said:

new item.

as I added the 3rd mini monitor, my controls indicator window went out of business... it seems the position is based on total height (via a formula)... so it went south as height is now 1080+768 of the smaller monitor, the F-18C, A-4 and the Helicopters (except for the  OH-6) are now covered by the MFD exports.

 

Can anyone give me a pointer to the posit and nominal size so I can edit all the lua files involved and get the indicators back?

 

 

I'm not at my computer atm but

If you check out this post about moving the crew indicator, I'm sure this is pretty much exactly the same as moving the controls indicator.

 

[cgjimeneza]

howdy.

just saw this

will give it a try.

I ve printed the OH-6 and F/A display luas... will also try to ident diff lines

[Bigity]

Thinking about reworking my setup so the MFDs are at the top so that kneeboard, crew status, and George AI show up in the bottom right of the main monitor.
 

Has anyone tried that yet?

Edited October 24, 2024 by Bigity

[jonsky7]

2 hours ago, Bigity said:

Thinking about reworking my setup so the MFDs are at the top so that kneeboard, crew status, and George AI show up in the bottom right of the main monitor.
 

Has anyone tried that yet?

 

That should work, I havent tested it myself.

See this post about making a displays table so your Windows "Main monitor" doesn't have to be top left.

https://forum.dcs.world/topic/358020-how-to-make-a-displays-table-for-exports-for-monitors-left-ofabove-windows-main-display/

[Bigity]

Jonsky7, first thing - your work on all these items is greatly appreciated!  I've gotten my default kneeboards moved using your process in post 2, and found another post on how to move GeorgeAI.

 

Last thing I need to figure out is how to move the gunner status window in the chinhook.  I found instructions for the Huey but not for the Chinook.

 

 

[jonsky7]

6 minutes ago, Bigity said:

Jonsky7, first thing - your work on all these items is greatly appreciated!  I've gotten my default kneeboards moved using your process in post 2, and found another post on how to move GeorgeAI.

 

Last thing I need to figure out is how to move the gunner status window in the chinhook.  I found instructions for the Huey but not for the Chinook.

 

 

Process is exactly the same my friend,

the file is located

DCS > Mods > aircraft > GCBase > Cockpit > scripts > AI > ControlPanel > g_panel_page.lua

g_panel_page.lua

look for the line 62

base.init_pos       = {aspect + shift_X,firstLineY + shift_Y} 

I changed mine to

{aspect + shift_X - 5.2,firstLineY + shift_Y + 1.6} ---

negative values for X go left, and for Y go down
positive values for X go right, and up for Y

Worked for me anyway

[Bigity]

2 minutes ago, jonsky7 said:

Process is exactly the same my friend,

the file is located

DCS > Mods > aircraft > GCBase > Cockpit > scripts > AI > ControlPanel > g_panel_page.lua

g_panel_page.lua

look for the line 62

base.init_pos       = {aspect + shift_X,firstLineY + shift_Y} 

I changed mine to

{aspect + shift_X - 5.2,firstLineY + shift_Y + 1.6} ---

negative values for X go left, and for Y go down
positive values for X go right, and up for Y

Worked for me anyway

Hah, my fault then.  I assumed that was for the Huey only.  I'll give it a go.

[Bigity]

Ok got it to work, but now I have like an offset background black box after adjusting the font size/spacing stuff.

 

But progress! Appreciated.

[Bigity]

Started over with a fresh copy of the file and all is well.  Appreciated!

[pr0xyfl00d3r]

Hi All,

I would appreciate some help. I have a setup with three monitors: 

1. Monitor 2 is a 3440x1440 display, and it's set as my main monitor.

2. Monitor 1 is a 1920x1080 display.

3. I also have a display I want to use for MFDs, which is 1344x768, and this will be Monitor 3.

I would like to know if it's possible not to use Monitor 1 within DCS. Sorry if this has already been addressed.

Thank you!

[jonsky7]

5 hours ago, pr0xyfl00d3r said:

Hi All,

I would appreciate some help. I have a setup with three monitors: 

1. Monitor 2 is a 3440x1440 display, and it's set as my main monitor.

2. Monitor 1 is a 1920x1080 display.

3. I also have a display I want to use for MFDs, which is 1344x768, and this will be Monitor 3.

I would like to know if it's possible not to use Monitor 1 within DCS. Sorry if this has already been addressed.

Thank you!

If monitor 2 is your main display then yes... probably.

For most users, DCS counts the top left of your main display as the origin.

I would however move monitor 3 over to the right hand edge. So you'll be able to at least see the kneeboard and some of the other little "windows" DCS has.

If you have a specific problem let me know and I will try to help.

[jonsky7]

12 hours ago, pr0xyfl00d3r said:

Hi All,

I would appreciate some help. I have a setup with three monitors: 

1. Monitor 2 is a 3440x1440 display, and it's set as my main monitor.

2. Monitor 1 is a 1920x1080 display.

3. I also have a display I want to use for MFDs, which is 1344x768, and this will be Monitor 3.

I would like to know if it's possible not to use Monitor 1 within DCS. Sorry if this has already been addressed.

Thank you!

If monitor 1 is turning black when you run DCS and you don't want it to, another user found a setting in

Saved Games > DCS > Config > Appsettings.lua

 

You could try changing the X value at the top to = 1920

 

Quote

windowPlacement = {
    ["y"] = 0,
    ["x"] = 0,
    ["w"] = 7040,
    ["h"] = 1440,
}

monitors = {
    [1] = {
        ["rcMonitor"] = {
            ["top"] = 0,
            ["right"] = 5120,
            ["left"] = 2560,
            ["bottom"] = 1440,
        },
        ["dwFlags"] = 0,
        ["rcWork"] = {
            ["top"] = 0,
            ["right"] = 5120,
            ["left"] = 2560,
            ["bottom"] = 1392,
        },
    },
    [2] = {
        ["rcMonitor"] = {
            ["top"] = 0,
            ["right"] = 2560,
            ["left"] = 0,
            ["bottom"] = 1440,
        },
        ["dwFlags"] = 1,
        ["rcWork"] = {
            ["top"] = 0,
            ["right"] = 2560,
            ["left"] = 0,
            ["bottom"] = 1392,
        },
    },
    [3] = {
        ["rcMonitor"] = {
            ["top"] = 354,
            ["right"] = 7040,
            ["left"] = 5120,
            ["bottom"] = 1434,
        },
        ["dwFlags"] = 0,
        ["rcWork"] = {
            ["top"] = 354,
            ["right"] = 7040,
            ["left"] = 5120,
            ["bottom"] = 1386,
        },
    },
}

 

Edited October 30, 2024 by jonsky7

[pr0xyfl00d3r]

2 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

If monitor 1 is turning black when you run DCS and you don't want it to, another user found a setting in

Saved Games > DCS > Config > Appsettings.lua

 

You could try changing the X value at the top to = 1920

 

 

 

Sorted thank you

[Bigity]

Regarding the section on changing the default kneeboard position (and possibly the crew indicator window), how would I set that up for OVGME so I can disable them for pure script servers?

Just create those lua files in the OVGME mod folder?

[jonsky7]

1 hour ago, Bigity said:

Regarding the section on changing the default kneeboard position (and possibly the crew indicator window), how would I set that up for OVGME so I can disable them for pure script servers?

Just create those lua files in the OVGME mod folder?

You could do that yeah, you'd need to copy the device_init.lua from each of the aircraft you own (or want to apply the mod to) located in the cockpit/scripts folder.

I think the easiest way to do that is:

1. Remove all mods
2. Apply the "fix" to the device_init.lua files using the notepad++ replace in files method as described. (If not done already)
3. Run a DCS repair.
4. Go into DCS main folder, should be a new folder called backup.000 or similar.
5. Copy or move that folder into your OvGME mods folder, change the name of the folder perhaps.
6. Re-apply all required mods.

That should save you making the folder structure and copying the files individually into your OvGME mods folder.
 

Edited November 16, 2024 by jonsky7

[Sindar]

Help me, please. What are the correct names for the monitors for the F-14B now? Previously they were F14_TID, F14_DDD, F14_VDI,F14_HSD. Now it doesn't work. Where can I see the names of the displays for the F-14B that are currently in use? Thanks.

Edited December 7, 2024 by Sindar

[jonsky7]

1 hour ago, Sindar said:

Help me, please. What are the correct names for the monitors for the F-14B now? Previously they were F14_TID, F14_DDD, F14_VDI,F14_HSD. Now it doesn't work. Where can I see the names of the displays for the F-14B that are currently in use? Thanks.

I've not changed the names and mine is still working 

Did you use my guide to do your setup, or did you use Helios?

 

 

Notepad++ 
Search
Find in files
Search for
try_find_assigned_viewport("

filter *.lua
Point it at your game directory.

Edited December 7, 2024 by jonsky7

[Sindar]

4 часа назад, jonsky7 сказал:

I've not changed the names and mine is still working 

Did you use my guide to do your setup, or did you use Helios?

I did everything according to your method. The displays disappeared after the last big update. I'm going to try again following your example.

The first time I just pasted F-14_TDI into the Camera.lua file in the Config\MonitorSetup folder and everything worked. Now changing this file does not show anything. Although the displays specified in this on all other airplanes work.

Edited December 7, 2024 by Sindar

[jonsky7]

28 minutes ago, Sindar said:

I did everything according to your method. The displays disappeared after the last big update. I'm going to try again following your example.

The first time I just pasted F-14_TDI into the Camera.lua file in the Config\MonitorSetup folder and everything worked. Now changing this file does not show anything. Although the displays specified in this on all other airplanes work.

If you upload the file I can take a look.

 

Just to be sure, you said
F-14_TDI 
but it should be
F14_TDI

No hyphen (dash) in F14

 

and is that in the core directory, or your saved games folder?

It won't change on updates if you save the config file in the saved games folder

Saved Games > DCS > Config > Monitorsetup > your config file.

Edited December 7, 2024 by jonsky7

[Sindar]

5 минут назад, jonsky7 сказал:

If you upload the file I can take a look.

 

Just to be sure, you said
F-14_TDI 
but it should be
F14_TDI

No hyphen (dash) in F14

Thank you very much. It worked.

[patogn20]

Thanks a lot! Couldn't have done it without your kind help! Thank you sir! (Apache TEDAC)

[drizzt1700]

Hey folks, I have my MFDs exporting perfectly, but occasionally I will get the effect of all my displays squashed to my primary. This happens randomly, and I'm still figuring out the root cause. The squash doesn't just look bad but because the coordinates are goofed up, it makes cockpit switches effectively unclickable as well. I've tried clicking on my second display, I've tried alt+enter, but neither have worked. When this happens, my only option is to quit to desktop and restart which is non-fun to say the least. Anyone have any workarounds?

[jonsky7]

1 hour ago, drizzt1700 said:

Hey folks, I have my MFDs exporting perfectly, but occasionally I will get the effect of all my displays squashed to my primary. This happens randomly, and I'm still figuring out the root cause. The squash doesn't just look bad but because the coordinates are goofed up, it makes cockpit switches effectively unclickable as well. I've tried clicking on my second display, I've tried alt+enter, but neither have worked. When this happens, my only option is to quit to desktop and restart which is non-fun to say the least. Anyone have any workarounds?

I do occasionally get this if my displays go to sleep, and when they wake up it is all squished. I have no idea why my monitors go to sleep when running DCS as I have that switched off in power options. 

Nothing seems to work for me either, other than restarting the game. Sorry to not be able to offer a solution at this time.