Kiowa Integrated Overlays (KIO-WA AI and MFK Overlay)

[Bailey]

KIO-WA is an in-game clickable AI command overlay for the DCS OH-58D Kiowa Warrior that can use with your mouse or point device. It also frees up keybinds and HOTAS buttons and works in VR.  https://github.com/asherao/KIO-WA

 

Kiowa MFK Overlay is a clickable Multi-function Keyboard overlay that works great in 2D and VR. https://github.com/asherao/kiowa-mfk-overlay

It is still a work in progress and collaboration (that means you!). We can work together to shape this in a way that we like over time. I have provided some building blocks. Suggestions are welcome. The code is heavily commented with notes. I hope that it is friendly to those who want to get into this kind of modding. I encourage adding your own innovations to this utility and sharing your creation and modifications with the community. 

Old KIO-WA Demo Video

Edited July 2, 2024 by Bailey

[todd022]

This is the way. Thanks for your work!

[Hayds_93]

Awesome  

[speed-of-heat]

this may sound like a dumb question but could you do something similar with the AH64? 

[Bailey]

2 hours ago, speed-of-heat said:

this may sound like a dumb question but could you do something similar with the AH64? 

I could look into it, yes. I have no idea if it's possible. If you never hear from me again on the matter, I have not figured it out. 

[speed-of-heat]

roger that!  The reason for the ask is i find the george interface almost unusable , especially in VR 

[Bailey]

8 minutes ago, speed-of-heat said:

roger that!  The reason for the ask is i find the george interface almost unusable , especially in VR 

I'm back. Looking at how George is set up (aka, Preston AI in the files ), it seems that he is controlled mainly from the 4-way commands, plus about 4 other specific commands. His actions are decided by his current state, which as far as I know is tracked internally, not visible/accessible to a mod like this. So, if a mod like this were to be made for the apache, I imagine it would visually look like a D-pad on the screen to represent the 4 different options, plus 4 individual buttons.

[Mistermann]

I'll download when I get home from work.  Does the overlay toggle on/off with a key command?  If not, is it possible to add that feature request to your list, @Bailey?

[Bailey]

52 minutes ago, Mistermann said:

I'll download when I get home from work.  Does the overlay toggle on/off with a key command?  If not, is it possible to add that feature request to your list, @Bailey?

The toggle is currently Ctrl+Shift+F9. 

[njoyyoursalad]

This is a must-have mod for any Kiowa pilot!
Thank you × 1000
 

[zenatsu]

The wizard is at it agian

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

23 hours ago, Bailey said:

KIO-WA is an in-game clickable command overlay for the DCS OH-58D Kiowa Warrior that can use with your mouse or point device. It also frees up keybinds and HOTAS buttons. It is still a work in progress and collaboration (that means you!). We can work together to shape this in a way that we like over time. I have only provided some building blocks. Suggestions are welcome.

I encourage adding your own innovations to this utility and sharing your creation and modifications with the community. https://github.com/asherao/KIO-WA

For those who want to try it out, head over to the Git and drop the Scripts folder into your DCS Saved Games folder. It contains the lua hook file and the dlg file. That's it.

This is fantastic! Could you please give us some details on how to install it exactly? Simply drop the "Scripts" folder (which contains "Hooks" and "KIO-WA" folders) into DCS Saved Games? I went to the GitHub link but there is no download link or button to download the Scripts folder. Appreciate it, thanks.

[Slippa]

Yeah, I need step by step stuff too and can still mess it up .

I saw this earlier and thought about it. Been drumming bindings into my head for days but this could be helpful.

You realise this’ll give the Kiowa twice the amount of AI than the Mossie has and if certain people get wind of your magical powers they’ll wear your ears out asking for one?

Clever little thing and quick with it too, nice one .

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

Hope it (or something similar) gets added into the module. There was a "Pie Menu" in the bindings though it can't be used. Not sure if they had intended to have a command rose. 

[Bailey]

Updating to include TRACK UP and NORTH UP toggle. Just gotta reorganize some stuff.

I intentionally made it slightly difficult to download until I had a slightly solid release version. You cad find information on how to download on the git now.  page. https://github.com/asherao/KIO-WA

Keep in mind, the release is the initial version. It does not (yet) contain the work in progress above. 

Edited June 14, 2024 by Bailey

[LazyBoot]

Just as a sidenote, neither of the images you've posted in this thread loads for me at all.

[Bailey]

3 hours ago, LazyBoot said:

Just as a sidenote, neither of the images you've posted in this thread loads for me at all.

Oh no! Thank you for letting me know. I have updated them.

[LazyBoot]

50 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Oh no! Thank you for letting me know. I have updated them.

The new ones work great  

[Mistermann]

Longshot request

This overlay is toggled on/off outside of DCS keybinds.  As a VR player, this doesn't work very well for me as I really want a HOTAS binding for overlay control.  Much like we have with George/Jester, etc. 

Is there any way to update a LUA file to introduce a new UI layer keybind or possibly introduce an OH-58D keybind so VR users don't have to interact with the keyboard in order to toggle?

I can personally program a button on my programmable mouse for this, but would much prefer a HOTAS keybind.  Is this even possible without the DCS SDK?

Thanks.  I love this feature set, BTW!

Edited June 14, 2024 by Mistermann

[Bailey]

12 minutes ago, Mistermann said:

Longshot request

This overlay is toggled on/off outside of DCS keybinds.  As a VR player, this doesn't work very well for me as I really want a HOTAS binding for overlay control.  Much like we have with George/Jester, etc. 

Is there any way to update a LUA file to introduce a new UI layer keybind or possibly introduce an OH-58D keybind so VR users don't have to interact with the keyboard in order to toggle?

I can personally program a button on my programmable mouse for this, but would much prefer a HOTAS keybind.  Is this even possible without the DCS SDK?

Thanks.  I love this feature set, BTW!

 

I do not know if that is possible. I'll be looking into it. A temporary work around is to bind your hotas to Voice Attack, which will send the hide/show keybind. You can use the demo version for this. 

Thank you! I'm quite enjoying it too!

[Bailey]

Currently in the works:

• (Done) Combined Baro/RadAlt button to be a toggle
• (Done) Combined Plan/Route button to be a toggle
• (Done) Combined Turn rate button to be a toggle
• (Done) Resize button to toggle between Compact, Full, and Expanded modes
• Reordering of buttons (basically flipped left to right to support the resize feature)
• (Done) A workaround to have barundus actually land when you tell him to without having to click hover first

Edited June 15, 2024 by Bailey

[Bailey]

I am planning to remove the three sliders, replaced with the 1 dial for altitude, speed, and course.

I am also having trouble figuring out how to use the Turn and Hover Drift commands with KIO-WA. Any ideas or suggestions? I have tried a While loop... but that crashes DCS...oops.

[Bailey]

For the daredevils and others who are not afraid of testing new things, here is an update. After reorganizing the GUI, I plan to do the next public release.

https://github.com/asherao/KIO-WA/commit/305e13122bf5368590ae67e9db6ddc6dd118b375
 

• First version of aircraft detection implemented
• Turn fast, medium, and slow are toggles
• Fly route and fly to point are toggles
• Baro and radalt are toggles
• Land command actually lands
• Orbit command added (WIP, you'll see )
• Turn left/right and Hover drift are WIP
• Resize button added

[YoYo]

Nice work! 

BTW. How it works in VR? Someone test it? George and Petro work very good in VR but here could be a problem due activation by clicks, not by WSAD keys (on HAT for example).

Edited June 16, 2024 by YoYo

[Bailey]

1 hour ago, YoYo said:

Nice work! 

BTW. How it works in VR? Someone test it? George and Petro work very good in VR but here could be a problem due activation by clicks, not by WSAD keys (on HAT for example).

 

I cannot test for VR  Hopefully someone comes by to share their experiences.