Transfer steerpoints from the F10 map into the aircraft - DCS: The Way

[Swiso]

6 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

TheWay inputs them as waypoints automatically.

No need to adjust anything, the dial is automatically set and waypoints selected. 

The A10C can accept up to 50 user waypoints, and the weapons and TPOD can be slaved to those waypoints.

Thanks !

[jonsky7]

I have been consolidating some more of the efforts made by the community, and adding a few of my own.
I think these additions are really good and have been using them with success.
I thought I would share them, particularly for those who don't want to make their own builds from Comrade's source code.
Really don't want to come across as stealing other's work, just thought these are great additions that some might like to try out.

Here >> https://github.com/jonsky752/DCSTheWay/releases/tag/2.5.4

1.  ABORT button,  by dwendelen 
In case there's some error in the waypoint entry, usually because you've forgot to set up a screen or something.
The Transfer button changes to an Abort button when the transfer is underway, see pic below

2. SA342 Gazelle implemented for NADIR by me. 
Haven't had any issues so far, can accept up to 9 waypoints. Like the Ka-50, waypoints will be entered from NADIR waypoint 1.
will bug out if you have more than 9 waypoints in your list. Might fix that later.

3. F-15E Smart Weapon entry.
by WangNorthSea

TheWay waypoints can be transferred automatically into Smart Weapon Memory.

I made some changes as it could get messed-up with itself. Instead of the original choice between routes A and B, you can choose to enter
Waypoints (Route A), or
Target points (Route B), which will then be transferred into weapon memory by TheWay. 

It's best not to have any target points in route A when transferring waypoints, and to not have any waypoints in route B when transferring to smart weapon memory. This causes errors as the entry is not the same to enter either type as it is to convert either type to the other, hence the separation.

It is a requirement to have the smart weapon page open on the correct MFD for each seat. A notification is present for info.
Also, don't have anything selected in the Armament page until after entry, this is due to the next station bug that missies out the aft left CFT station.

If you have more waypoints than bombs loaded, it will just overwrite the first bombs until the waypoints are exhausted.
So only have the same number of waypoints in your list as bombs you want to deliver.
 

 

4. FA-18 Pre-planned mission targets into smart weapons PP MSN
by  WangNorthSea

Another great addition by WangNorthSea.

TheWay waypoints can be transferred into Smart Weapon PP MSN.

Again, you need to have the right number of waypoints in TheWay list as Smart Weapons.
But this is where it gets smart.
Eg. You have two stations with 2 JDAMs on each.
If you have 4 waypoints in the list, and select two stations when asked, it will populate PP1 and PP2 for each station.
or if you have 4waypoints and select 4 stations, it will populate PP1 for each station etc.
 

 

5. AV8BNA Target point entry option 
by snakepl88

Choose between entering waypoints and target points in the Harrier. Target points can then be used by smart weapons.
This also changes the waypoint coordinate system to Degrees and Decimal Minutes (DDM) for improved accuracy.
 

 

Cheers

Jon

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2024 by jonsky7

[Fakum]

On 9/3/2024 at 6:28 PM, jonsky7 said:

So myself and another contributor, @Hayds_93 managed to get the CH-47F implemented.

It's pretty cool if I do say so myself 

While we're waiting for it to be accepted into the github repo, if you'd like to try it out you can get it here

https://github.com/jonsky752/DCSTheWay

 

 

How do we get this implemented into the latest repository? I also want to use it for KIOWA as well along with the CH-47

[jonsky7]

18 hours ago, Fakum said:

How do we get this implemented into the latest repository? I also want to use it for KIOWA as well along with the CH-47

"We" can't. Only Comrade Doge has the ability to change the main repository.

I haven't seen him active for a while which is why I thought I would share the above.

I'm sure my version in the above post has the Kiowa included, along with haydes93 fix for the altitude. I don't own the Kiowa so haven't tested it.  

It does have CH47F support.

Edited October 15, 2024 by jonsky7

[Fakum]

@jonsky7I appreciate that you shared your file, I am confused though as to how to update it because your note states to: "Update THEWAY FOLDER" I dont have a "THEWAY FOLDER" in my "Scripts" Folder, I do however have a "THEWAY.LUA" FILE in there. Am I supposed to just take the "THEWAY.LUA" file from what I extracted from your file and replace the one I have?

nullnull

null

 

[jonsky7]

4 hours ago, Fakum said:

@jonsky7I appreciate that you shared your file, I am confused though as to how to update it because your note states to: "Update THEWAY FOLDER" I dont have a "THEWAY FOLDER" in my "Scripts" Folder, I do however have a "THEWAY.LUA" FILE in there. Am I supposed to just take the "THEWAY.LUA" file from what I extracted from your file and replace the one I have?

nullnull

null

 

Follow the installation instructions found here

https://github.com/aronCiucu/DCSTheWay?tab=readme-ov-file#how-to-install

 

Edited October 18, 2024 by jonsky7

[MadKreator]

@jonsky7 great work adding the ch-47( and the other updates you included). Just saw this thread last night, downloaded your update right away. Curious if you have experimented with, or have thought about  selection/option,  when using the Chinook, to have the waypoints added to, or to create an Alternate flight plan, in addition to adding to/ creating the main flight plan. 

[jonsky7]

2 hours ago, MadKreator said:

@jonsky7 great work adding the ch-47( and the other updates you included). Just saw this thread last night, downloaded your update right away. Curious if you have experimented with, or have thought about  selection/option,  when using the Chinook, to have the waypoints added to, or to create an Alternate flight plan, in addition to adding to/ creating the main flight plan. 

To be honest, it hadn't crossed my mind.

I'm not really a coder by any stretch and I was just getting into the "reverse engineering" of TheWay when I did the Chinook (with help from Hayds93).

There was only the script for "Two options", which came from the "which seat are you in" question.

WangNorthEast has since added a four option question script with his F18 PP MSN function.

I could maybe give four options for waypoint transfer?

New Flight Plan

Add to current

New alternate

Add to alternate

I havent played around with the alternate flight plans in the chinook so can't say for sure that this would be viable.  

[MadKreator]

4 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

To be honest, it hadn't crossed my mind.

I'm not really a coder by any stretch and I was just getting into the "reverse engineering" of TheWay when I did the Chinook (with help from Hayds93).

There was only the script for "Two options", which came from the "which seat are you in" question.

WangNorthEast has since added a four option question script with his F18 PP MSN function.

I could maybe give four options for waypoint transfer?

New Flight Plan

Add to current

New alternate

Add to alternate

I havent played around with the alternate flight plans in the chinook so can't say for sure that this would be viable.  

No worries at all, just curious Appreciate your work on it, regardless!

[Fakum]

@jonsky7 Thanks for the link for install instructions, but I already had that info, the simple confusion is that I currently am running an older version, I just want to update, but the instructions say to  replace "THEWAY" folder, in my Scripts have to execute the installer that is provided in your Folder, but like I said above, I dont have one there now (As shown in the screen capture I provided).

So Im thinking that I have to run the installer in the file package that you provided (whatever that will do since i already have an older version running) then move your "THEWAY" Folder to Scripts folder? I dont want to gaff this up and create a freakin problem here because I dont currently have a folder in the Scripts folder as expected in the instructions.

null

[jonsky7]

11 hours ago, Fakum said:

@jonsky7 Thanks for the link for install instructions, but I already had that info, the simple confusion is that I currently am running an older version, I just want to update, but the instructions say to  replace "THEWAY" folder, in my Scripts have to execute the installer that is provided in your Folder, but like I said above, I dont have one there now (As shown in the screen capture I provided).

So Im thinking that I have to run the installer in the file package that you provided (whatever that will do since i already have an older version running) then move your "THEWAY" Folder to Scripts folder? I dont want to gaff this up and create a freakin problem here because I dont currently have a folder in the Scripts folder as expected in the instructions.

null

The installation for version 2.x.x is slightly different to version 1.x.x if you're still running that.

You will need to copy over the "TheWay" folder, and update the line in the exports.lua as described in those install instructions.

[Fakum]

Well, maybe it wont be so hard to figure out. The best that I can tell is that I am running version 2.0.0.0 which was installed 6-3-23. As I stated before, I dont have a FOLDER called "theway" in my scripts folder, "theway" folder I have is installed in:

C:\Users\Your Name Here\AppData\Local\Programs\theway

I will run the installer in your file and figure it out from there and do as you described above i suppose. Thanks,

[jonsky7]

5 hours ago, Fakum said:

Well, maybe it wont be so hard to figure out. The best that I can tell is that I am running version 2.0.0.0 which was installed 6-3-23. As I stated before, I dont have a FOLDER called "theway" in my scripts folder, "theway" folder I have is installed in:

C:\Users\Your Name Here\AppData\Local\Programs\theway

I will run the installer in your file and figure it out from there and do as you described above i suppose. Thanks,

I think that's the main installation directory youve found there.

Just put the folder "TheWay" that is inside the zipped folder into your saved games/dcs/scripts folder. 

The file you have in there currently, "TheWay.lua" is now inside "TheWay" folder, along with another few files.

You NEED to update the line in the exports.lua file to

pcall(function() local TheWayLfs=require('lfs');dofile(TheWayLfs.writedir()..'Scripts/TheWay/TheWay.lua'); end)

Because this directs to the new location for TheWay.lua

 

[Fakum]

@jonsky7 I wound up putting your folder "theway" inside of the scripts folder (as you mentioned above). Then I ran the insatll.exe you provided in your files (per install instructions for update), then I added that line to my export.lua. 

The app itself starts up and clearly indicates that it is the new version, but its not working right. I havnt done anything else yet, but keep in mind that I have a per-existing "theway.lua file that is in the Scripts folder, I suspect that to be an issue since I would guess now that the update wants to look at the one in your file structure. I also added the line to the export.lua, but there is a previous line in there from the older version that is not the same, I suspect I have to delete that.

 

I will look at this again tomorrow. Thanks

[Vorlon]

I have not used the "Way" in a few months.  I downloaded and installed the latest version and have the Green dot on the F10 map, but the dot is inside of a large black square obscuring the exact target location.  Any idea's when is happening?

See screenshot

 

Thanks, 

[jonsky7]

19 hours ago, Fakum said:

@jonsky7 I wound up putting your folder "theway" inside of the scripts folder (as you mentioned above). Then I ran the insatll.exe you provided in your files (per install instructions for update), then I added that line to my export.lua. 

The app itself starts up and clearly indicates that it is the new version, but its not working right. I havnt done anything else yet, but keep in mind that I have a per-existing "theway.lua file that is in the Scripts folder, I suspect that to be an issue since I would guess now that the update wants to look at the one in your file structure. I also added the line to the export.lua, but there is a previous line in there from the older version that is not the same, I suspect I have to delete that.

 

I will look at this again tomorrow. Thanks

Yes, delete the old line.

 

8 minutes ago, Vorlon said:

I have not used the "Way" in a few months.  I downloaded and installed the latest version and have the Green dot on the F10 map, but the dot is inside of a large black square obscuring the exact target location.  Any idea's when is happening?

See screenshot

 

Thanks, 

The file for the crosshair is located in

Saved games/DCS/scripts/TheWay

Folder.

Can you open the crosshair picture file and let us know if its the same?

Edited October 20, 2024 by jonsky7

[Fakum]

So the links to do an update are not as straight forward as they need to be. I was already running version 2.0.0.0 and I did NOT have a FOLDER inside my Scripts folder as presumed by the instructions for doing an "UPDATE". To fix the semi failed attempt to update, I had to remove an pre-existing "theway" line in my export.lua and I also deleted the "theway.lua" in my scripts folder. Seems to be working now.

[Vorlon]

9 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

Yes, delete the old line.

 

The file for the crosshair is located in

Saved games/DCS/scripts/TheWay

Folder.

Can you open the crosshair picture file and let us know if its the same?

 

 

[jonsky7]

10 hours ago, Vorlon said:

 

Did you re-copy "TheWay" folder into saved games/DCS/Scripts after doing the update?

The files may look the same but have updates in them.

[Vorlon]

10 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

Did you re-copy "TheWay" folder into saved games/DCS/Scripts after doing the update?

The files may look the same but have updates in them.

No I'll try that next.  I also ran "DCS Repair"

[Vorlon]

15 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

Did you re-copy "TheWay" folder into saved games/DCS/Scripts after doing the update?

The files may look the same but have updates in them.

Yes, I did that too, still have the Black Square

[大黄蜂]

Hi, I have a small suggestion. Can KA50 also automatically input the target point coordinates? Instead of only inputting the waypoint information? Just like FA18, after marking the coordinates on the map, you can choose whether to input to the waypoint or the target point

[Mapi]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb 大黄蜂:

Hi, I have a small suggestion. Can KA50 also automatically input the target point coordinates? Instead of only inputting the waypoint information? Just like FA18, after marking the coordinates on the map, you can choose whether to input to the waypoint or the target point

https://github.com/aronCiucu/DCSTheWay

 

...

Supported modules:

• F-15E
• F-16 (& All IDF Mods Project F16s)
• F/A-18C (& Superbug FA-18E/F/G)
• A-10C and A-10C2
• Mirage 2000
• AV8BNA Harrier
• Mirage F1EE
• Ka-50 Blackshark
• AH-64D Apache (Pilot and CP/G)
• OH-58D Kiowa Warrior
• UH-60L Blackhawk
• Hercules (Requires patch available at ht
• ...

[jonsky7]

On 11/16/2024 at 9:58 AM, 大黄蜂 said:

Hi, I have a small suggestion. Can KA50 also automatically input the target point coordinates? Instead of only inputting the waypoint information? Just like FA18, after marking the coordinates on the map, you can choose whether to input to the waypoint or the target point

It can now! 

https://github.com/jonsky752/DCSTheWay/releases/tag/v2.5.5

Due to the coordinate system used by the PVI-800 it is not pinpoint accurate, but will get you close. (accuracy of about 185m / 610ft) 

Up to 10 target points can be transferred, the tenth point will be point 0.

(Still only 6 waypoints can be entered into the system as is the limit)

Edited November 22, 2024 by jonsky7

[jonsky7]

On 10/18/2024 at 3:30 PM, MadKreator said:

@jonsky7 great work adding the ch-47( and the other updates you included). Just saw this thread last night, downloaded your update right away. Curious if you have experimented with, or have thought about  selection/option,  when using the Chinook, to have the waypoints added to, or to create an Alternate flight plan, in addition to adding to/ creating the main flight plan. 

Done!

https://github.com/jonsky752/DCSTheWay/releases/tag/v2.5.6
 

Changed from 2 options:

1. Add to Flightplan
2. Make a New Flightplan

to 4 options:

1. Add to Flightplan
2. Make a New Flightplan
3. Add to Alternate Flightplan
4. Make a New Alternate Flightplan

Cheers
Jon