Help with Helios

[SrSosio]

Hello there. I just downloaded Helios as I have a setup like the one attached, but I'm having problems getting it to work properly.

I created two profiles for the apache, one for the pilot, one for the CPG. The pilot one looks like this:

 Screen 2 and 3 are the left and right MFCDs respectively, and screen 4 is the TEDAC. As you can see, screen 4 is not used in the 4th screen for the PLT profile, but it is in the CPG profile, as I want to be able to remove the TEDAC when I'm flying as a pilot (I mean fully remove it, so the monitor configuration in that case would change).

In any case, I save it like that, but when I load a mission, it starts by default with the CPG MFCDs even if I'm in the pilot seat (see attached picture), and I'm pretty sure I'm in the PLT profile because the 4th screen doesn't turn on. So I'm getting part of the two profiles.

CPG profile looks like this:

Also I'm getting this message all the time, both in the editor and the control center, which I don't know what means:

What am I doing wrong? and how do I use the Helios Control Center? Do I need to keep it open all the time? should I be able to switch profiles without closing the game?

Edited June 2, 2024 by SrSosio

[Wostg]

...If I understand you correctly, you want monitor 4 to be freed up when you're playing pilot-only (for movies or browsing or whatever)

Not an expert, but I am not sure if that would work, with 2 competing apache configurations in your helios-created monitorscfg? Keen to see the outcome.

But for now, in Helios, is your "DCS Monitor Setup" does it say "Monitor setup files are up to date" for each profile? (bottom of this tab)

Is your in-game DCS configuration set to the helios profile, and does your resolution match that the "DCS Monitor Profile" tab's resolution? I think you would need to change it every time you intended to play CPG and then for PLT  to make use of the unused monitor for movies. So the width would need to be e.g. 1920 width for just the main monitor but 2944 (1920+1024) width x vertical pixels when you are playing the CPG seat, to encompass monitor 4.

 

 

 

[SrSosio]

Sorry, it's a bit complex to explain and I think I didn't do a very good job in my first post. I'll try to be more concise:

• Monitor 4 is the TEDAC display. The one you can see in my desk. It's a diy device I built. I want to be able to unplug it and store it away leaving only the main monitor and the two mfcds (also diy devices with screens) when I just want to to fly pilot. 
• Even if I don't remove the TEDAC, I set up two profiles, but when loading a mission, which as you can see in the picture (not the screenshots), loads in the pilot's seat, but the mfcds loaded in my screens are the cpg's. 
• I think I may need to not combine profiles if I want to be able to remove one of the screens 

Regards 

Edited June 2, 2024 by SrSosio

[Wostg]

I am guessing the contents of "\Users\SrSosio\Saved Games\DCS\Config\MonitorSetup\Helios.lua" will either have Apache details twice, but DCS will only show the CPG if it's at the top, as created second maybe.

Or maybe it won't show the PLT at all, if they were overwritten when the CPG was created afterwards.

I deleted my old profile for the apache so can't share, but what I did was make only one profile and lay the plt and cpg left and right displays over each other. the idea being that the active one would turn on and the inactive one would blank out, depending on seat. I think there were problems for ..reasons but worth a try?

Definitely do make sure the resolutions are correct, inside DCS, either way.

 

 

[SrSosio]

Resolutions are ok, I think. And yes, the cpg viewports are first in the file. I'll paste the contents of the file later when I get back home. I'll also test doing separate profiles instead of combined. I'll let you know the results of the different tests. Thanks for the help 

[SrSosio]

Ok, got it to work a bit better, but still need some more help:

• I've separated the two output files and with that I've managed to load the pilot's screens properly. I do need to change the monitor setup in DCS every time I want to switch from one to the other (and therefore restart the game), but I think I can live with that.
• If I switch to the CPG monitor profile in DCS, I need to restart, but the mfcds display the cpg's ones as expected, even when the mission loads you to the pilot's seat. However, I now have the issue that the TEDAC monitor does not show up. This is how the CPG monitor setup looks like (remember, TEDAC is on screen 4):

And this is the CPG profile:

_  = function(p) return p end
name = _('H_DCSAH64CPG')
description = 'Generated from Helios Profile DCS AH64 CPG'
AH_64D_LEFT_MFCD_CPG = { x = 0, y = 1080, width = 1280, height = 960 }
AH_64D_RIGHT_MFCD_CPG = { x = 1282, y = 1080, width = 1280, height = 960 }
AH_64D_TEDAC = { x = 2048, y = 0, width = 768, height = 768 }
Viewports = {
  Center = {
    x = 0,
    y = 0,
    width = 1920,
    height = 1080,
    aspect = 1.77777777777778,
    dx = 0,
    dy = 0
  }
}
UIMainView = Viewports.Center
GU_MAIN_VIEWPORT = Viewports.Center

 

Do you think if I join in directly as a CPG role (in a MP server, for instance) it will properly display? I'm not sure if I can test this right now as I would require another player on the pilot's seat. I'll see if I can ask someone.

[SrSosio]

I tested joining a CPG seat directly and it didn't work either.