How to turn an iPhone/iPad into a wireless touch screen controller for use in DCS

[aFringeDweller]

Hi guys.

There's an app in the App Store called Air Display. It costs 10$, which I guess is a fair price considering you get a wireless touch screen for both Mac and Windows.

 

Setting it up to display one of the MFCDs (I guess an iPad has room for both) was relatively easy by following this guide, however I found out the hard way that there are a few thing you have to do differently: Don't touch anything in the Windows control panel (skip the part about setting up the monitor in windows and enabling extended desktop).

 

Use the Air Display's tray icon to access "Display Arrangement" and position the iPhone in the top right corner of the main monitor. The upper edge of each monitor has to be aligned perfectly.

Follow the guide's instructions on how to write your monitor configuration .lua file. The iPhone runs at 480x300 resolution (according to the dev, the windows implementation is still in beta and we'll probably get higher resolution soon). Here's a link to my .lua profile if you want to compare (my primary display is 1920x1200).

Then follow the guide on selecting the .lua in the options and entering your new resolution.

 

When you're finished admiring the live MFCD video on your iPhone, you may start wondering what the point is. After all you can't press any buttons and the video you're seeing is already there on your main monitor. Then it's time to check out...

 

TouchBuddy! It's a free app that runs a profile (specific to your game of choice) on your external touch screen. It's a very simple program but it allows for some pretty advanced stuff - multiple screens (tabs), clickable buttons and toggles, advanced macros, live video modules and much more. Currently there doesn't seem to be any profiles for DCS A-10C that fits on a 480x300 screen but I'm in the process of making one myself with help from some of my buddies at 1st Virtual Fighter Wing (PM me if you want to beta test).

 

TouchBuddy's ToolKit is pretty easy to use (after playing around with it for day I know everything I need to know to create a profile) so you can easily make your own profiles for whatever game you like. To give you an idea of what's possible my current DCS A-10C profile features a screen with the Up Front Controller (much faster to type input with than using a mouse in the cockpit) and a screen with radio shortcuts. Ordering a 100% refuelling from the ground crew or requesting a specific weapons loadout (which normally means pressing 6 keys) now takes 150 milliseconds. I've only been working on the profile for a day so you're more than welcome to provide ideas for more features.

 

I know there's an iPad app called iControl DCS that does some of the same things. I've never tried it (don't own an iPad) so I can't compare these two different solution. But I want to point out that Air Display is half the price of iControl DCS plus it can be used as a secondary display for any app in both Mac and Windows.

 

That is all.

[Ghost_unit13]

Or have a try with http://www.ipadpit.nl it's free.. All you need is the tool touch ir with a autohotkey plug in... All for 6$ :)

Edited June 13, 2011 by Ghost_unit13

[boarder2]

Or have a try with http://www.ipadpit.nl it's free.. Al you need is the tool touch ir with a autohotkey plug in... All for 6$ :)

 

I would strongly suggest going this route if you're not going to pick up iControl DCS.