Aries Radio System

[ApoNOOB]

Thanks for the quick replys, I send the dcs.log just now.

[NeilWillis]

Thanks to Towsim, and all the others who gave advice on Gossipbox.

 

Indeed, running it in administrator mode solves the issue, so I have just changed the properties so it runs that way automatically.

 

Job done.

 

I must say, these latest updates seem to have solved all our issues, and Aries is now running very stably for RAF Air now. I think it is time to adopt it fully.

 

Thanks Towsim for a very very useful addition to DCS World.

[towsim]

@ApoNOOB

DCS.log does not report any troubles while loading the different Aries modules. It takes Aries simply as non existing. It seems, that the required export.lua is never loaded. It is hard to determine from a distance, how your environment was configured. DCS.log says it uses C:\Users\Apo\Saved Games.

This implies, that export.lua should reside in C:\Users\Apo\Saved Games\DCS\Scripts. And Export.lua should have the described entries. Compare this path with the registry entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\AriesWings\DCSsavedGames. The path found there is that what Aries used during the installation. The paths should be the same down to ‘Saved Games’

 

You should even have a look in theTeamSpeak menu: Plugins\Aries Radio\Export.lua entry on/off. The dialog should show ‘Aries Wings is connected to DCS World via Export.lua’. But this information bases on the path found in the registry.

[ApoNOOB]

@ApoNOOB

DCS.log does not report any troubles while loading the different Aries modules. It takes Aries simply as non existing. It seems, that the required export.lua is never loaded. It is hard to determine from a distance, how your environment was configured. DCS.log says it uses C:\Users\Apo\Saved Games.

This implies, that export.lua should reside in C:\Users\Apo\Saved Games\DCS\Scripts. And Export.lua should have the described entries. Compare this path with the registry entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\AriesWings\DCSsavedGames. The path found there is that what Aries used during the installation. The paths should be the same down to ‘Saved Games’

 

You should even have a look in theTeamSpeak menu: Plugins\Aries Radio\Export.lua entry on/off. The dialog should show ‘Aries Wings is connected to DCS World via Export.lua’. But this information bases on the path found in the registry.

I checked the regedit entry and it looks fine too. Screen + export.lua from "C:\Users\Apo\Saved Games\DCS\Scripts" attached.

 

Edit: Also attached export.lua connect screen.

 

edit2: Just seeing on the regedit screen: "C:\Program Files\AriesWings\\RadarEnvironment" is that normal?

Export.lua

Edited February 1, 2015 by ApoNOOB

[towsim]

Unfortunately, I have no experience with Steam. But I assume, that it is normal, that the DCS installation is in the Program Files (x86) folder, even while it is a 64 bit application.Aries expects DCS to have an active folder on start which points in your case to C:\Program Files (x86)\SteamApps\common\DCSWorld.The Aries folder is expected then at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\SteamApps\common\DCSWorld\ AriesWings.

But this seems not to be the cause of the troubles. If no log file is created in

C:\Program Files (x86)\SteamApps\common\DCSWorld\ AriesWings\logs

then

C:\Program Files (x86)\SteamApps\common\DCSWorld\ AriesWings\ AriesAirborneRadio.dll

Was never loaded. Since DCS.log does not complain, that a file was not found, in this case AriesRadio.luac and/or AriesAirborneRadio.dll then there are only two possibilities left:

 

1. DCS loads a complete different export.lua than expected.

2. DCS does not find an export.lua at its default location at all.

 

In both cases there would be no notice, that something went wrong. If it would find the assigned export.lua then there would be complains in DCS.log if either AriesRadio.luac causes troubles (not found) or AriesAirborneRadio.dll was not found.

Edit: The double backslash is not relevant for the moment. The path entry is a preparation for the coming radar applications.

Edited February 1, 2015 by towsim

[ApoNOOB]

I just went and checked this with open beta(stand alone) and it worked. :/

The Steam version seems to be the culprit here..

[baltic_dragon]

The sound output from DCS and that of TS3 is completely different. Aries Radio uses TS3 for the sound output. This can only be influenced with the sound properties in the TS3 options dialog or with the volume sliders in the Aries Radio panel.The sound output of TS3 can be fed into any device independent of DCS. So it is possible to hear the Aries Radio communication in the head phones and the DCS radio calls, DCS cockpit noise and engine sound may come from external speakers. It is even possible to feed TS3 output and DCS output in one and the same device. To hear the DCS radio calls you have to adjust the volume control of the widows output device, the volume control in the DCS options menu and last not least the volume control of the cockpit boxes . The latter may suppress all receptions if the box volume was below a certain level. This can happen because of an Aries bug on mission start. You need to move the volume slider of the Aries Radio panel once to raise the output volume.

 

Hey,

Sorry to be getting back to this, but there is one thing that doesn't add up for this response - whenever we have trouble with hearing the tanker / radio transmission from other craft (the one that shows on the top-left part of the screen, as opposed to "sound to..." which are in the box on the top-right part), not only the sound is missing, but also the text that should normally be visible. I assume that even if the volume was totally down, the text should still appear on the screen, but it doesn't. The problem must be linked to Aries, as if we run the same missions with Aries off, then everyone can hear every message. We didn't test the new release yet if the problem persists, but I thought I'd flag it up. Thanks!

[towsim]

That is the tricky thing of DCS, if the volume of the cockpit box is too low, you will neither hear any reception nor see any written text in the top left corner. DCS simulates this as pilot error. Do the following test without Aries:

 

• 
  
• Go onto a frequency of a known station, from which you get voice answers and written answers.
  
• Start the communication via the menu.
  
• Now turn the volume turn button of the cockpit box slowly down while triggering voice answers from that station. From a certain level on, you do not receive voice or text any more.
  

When you use the volume turn button you should know, that there is no stop mark at the zero position. When you pass the stop mark the volume is set to full level again.

The obvious bug, caused by Aries, is a wrong initialization value, probably 0.0 for the volume, on mission start. To circumnavigate this bug, move the volume sliders of the Aries panel once a little bit. The slider value is given to the Cockpit box and the communication should work again.

[baltic_dragon]

Thanks, will test it and let you know!

[Kimi_uy]

Hey,

 

I have the radios working fine, the only problem/wuestion i have is why do the a-10's radio sound veeery bad? Am I missing something? Do I need to set the uhf antenna?

 

Im running v1.973Beta.

All the other aircraft work just fine.

Edited February 4, 2015 by Kimi_uy

[NeilWillis]

Radio sound quality is affected by the range and position to the receiver as well as by the sound quality sliders in the Teamspeak/Plug ins/Aries Radio/Radio Communications Quality facility.

 

If you test it on the ground it will sound pretty bad, but in the air things will improve.

[towsim]

As NeilWillis explained, the quality is basically influenced by distance and line of sight. It is difficult to say, what is bad quality and what is real. We had our discussions in our community when we tried out the voice degradation. After comparing the quality in Aries Radio with real radio communications, we came to the conclusion, that Aries is on the right way. I can remember the situation when we had visitors in my tower cabin. Even when they were native English speakers, they did not understand what was spoken on the radio frequencies.By my experience, it takes about 4 – 6 month for an OJT to understand radio speech adequately. The other is a disadvantage in the model support. Only three models have a build in mask degradation. That is A-10-C, MIg21 and F86. Compared to all other aircraft, they have a poor quality. Nevertheless, all this attributes can be configured or completely switched of in the quality dialog.

[chromium]

About quality, I may report that terrain proximity degradation is really a deal flying helos: in AMVI we experienced a lot of quality degradation even between helos at 50 mt of distance while at less than 10 mt AGL, clear LOS between them, hills/mountains behind the helos.

 

I don't know it this behaviour is expected and realistic, but I simply would like to report this to you, as surely you know what should be right.

[towsim]

I have to admit, that the terrain shadow map is not up to date. This could be the reason, that the terrain checker detects you under ground or in mountains at some locations.The new map is already measured out directly from the DCS simulation area. Unfortunately, I did not find the time to implement it in Aries Radio up to now. But it will come…

[Kimi_uy]

Alright, thanks for the answers.

[Dojo]

Towsim et al,

 

We've been doing quite a bit of flying with 1.973, and mostly things are stable However, many members, myself included, are getting random TS crashes. Rejoining TS during flight after a crash, Aries becomes half duplex: the recovered crash member can hear others, but no one can hear them.

 

I can assure you that all programs are installed with admin privileges and are being run within an admin context.

 

Please let me know if I can provide anything (logs, etc) to be useful. The crashes aren't consistent, but they are frequent enough to be problematic. Approximately 1 in 5 flights

Edited February 7, 2015 by Dojo

[Ramstein]

I had to uninstall ARIES, it keeps crashing my TeamSpeak. So sad, tried many times...

 

latest version of everything...

:cry:

Towsim et al,

 

We've been doing quite a bit of flying with 1.973, and mostly things are stable However, many members, myself included, are getting random TS crashes. Rejoining TS during flight after a crash, Aries becomes half duplex: the recovered crash member can hear others, but no one can hear them.

 

I can assure you that all programs are installed with admin privileges and are being run within an admin context.

 

Please let me know if I can provide anything (logs, etc) to be useful. The crashes aren't consistent, but they are frequent enough to be problematic. Approximately 1 in 5 flights

[towsim]

@Dojo and Ramstein

Could it be, that the protocol function is enabled in your installation? If yes, please disable it. The protocol system has buffer error which can lead into a crash. The new version for beta testers will be available this week. It includes a new protocol system, completely separated from the simulation. It is an own process. In case of a crash, the simulation is unaffected.

[Dojo]

@Towsim,

 

No, it was never enabled. To confirm, I've checked the HTML file that renders from the TS Aries menu which says Protocol Function is disabled, as well as the fact that the check box in the ARD Configurator is unchecked.

 

Will standby for next version, but at least for me, this doesn't seem to be the issue.

 

Thank you as always!

 

p.s. - to be clear, it is Teamspeak that is crashing, not the simulation.

[JayPee]

Towsim,

 

I haven't seen this question before so it's probably a stupid one but I'm taking my chances anyway.. Have you thought about developing Aries into a standalone product which somehow plugs into DCS? From a theoretical perspective, isn't it much easier if your software doesn't have to function as a bridge between two other programs which by design have nothing in common?

[towsim]

Unfortunately it is not that easy. You need any connection to DCS to evaluate cockpit switches, frequencies and last not least model positions. Since LUA is limited with its internal capabilities and a nightmare for serious programmers, you will find out very soon, that the only solution is a DLL.Up to this assembly, it is a standalone composition consisting of DCS, a LUA interface and a connected DLL.If I understand right, you suggest a standalone version which has no ‘dangerous’ connection to DCS. This can be already set up. If you use the Gossip Box, you have a standalone radio, but no quality degradation caused by distance and position, because the Gossip Box has a fixed position on ground. The second is the sampling of the voice and the transport over the internet. If that would be easy, then we would have more voice communication software on the market. TeamSpeak is not the best solution for radio communication but at least the TeamSpeak Server is rock solid. The reason why TeamSpeak seems to be unreliable is, that the API does not protect the client kernel against some crude ideas of a programmer (me included). TeamSpeak and DCS do not have the same process space. They are precisely separated. The data exchange is done with a shared memory construction, which ensures, that the one does not disturb the other. So all the functional lacks are not found in the architecture, it is caused by 99.9% anywhere between the earphones of the programmer.

Edit:

I forgot to mention. Your idea gave me the push to review some software modules. I probably found some enhancements which will increase the stability.

Edited February 9, 2015 by towsim

[JayPee]

I understand what you mean. And I'm sure you'll be sharing your findings with the rest of us eventually. :)

[Looney]

Have you considered other voice software like mumble or verntrilo Towsim?

[towsim]

Actually not. I focused on TeamSpeak because it seems to be „the” voice communication system for DCS. Nevertheless, I will have a look on it…

[shagrat]

I don't think it is an issue of the voice solution. With the "overlay window" to control Aries, Windows/DirectX needs to shuffle focus between pretty different processes, all the time, at least check for that regularly.

If you change a setting in Aries Overlay it needs to be "sent back" to DCS, if you set something Radio wise in DCS it needs to sync with the overlay / Aries settings...

 

What would happen if you would eliminate the Overlay? Maybe, as an option, so any changes go only in one direction from DCS to Aries?

I know, it would eliminate the clickable interface for FC3 and CA, but maybe it could help enhance stability...

It is just a suggestion and I don't know how Aries is handling things in detail, of course, so just take it as an "idea".

I noticed that many problems (lags, stutter, even connection interrupts) can arise when Alt+Tab to a different window in MP, when you host the mission. So it seems Windows struggles to juggle the running processes when you do that with such a ressource heavy program as DCS.

Again, just an idea.

Edited February 10, 2015 by shagrat