DCS World TARGET profile for TM Cougar and Warthog + MFDs

[Chicki]

Well, dang. Trying to add the Mig21 to CTS. When I try to load the profile "on the fly" I get this error. (See attach, last line). ??? I got it checked as a module I own in CTS. Darn. Thanks.

 

 

Ok, searched the thread. You have a hot fix for this? Great. Shoulda done that first I guess.

 

 

 

Question--you say latest update is not for stable version. How can I upgrade and get the Mig syntax fix and still be able to play stable version. Thanks.

 

 

I figured it out. Works now. Thanks.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Chicki
more info

[Home Fries]

Hi,

 

I've just started using CTS with the F-18 and all seems to be working as advertised except for the trim switch. It seems to require two operations in the same direction to operate as trim then afterward it's like S3 is stuck on with all my other switch operations until I push S3 once more.

 

Edit: After reading up on the F-18 it seems that the trim is much slower to operate than other aircraft so this might not be an issue with the profile... I still have issues sometimes with the controls going into a shifted mode and require the operation of the S3 switch to come out of that mode.

 

The layout seems the same on the AV8B but I never have this issue with the trim switch operation.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Also, I use Track IR so I have no desire to use the H1 Trim switch for FOV is there a way to have it set up for Trim only rather than Trim or FOV.

 

Thanks

If you have TrackIR enabled then the hat switch should default to trim. It will only revert to POV when TrackIR is paused using the HOTAS. I'm not sure what the issue is, but please post your hardware and your dcs_world.tmc for analysis.

My warthog just arrived and waiting for rudders. I am trying this software and it really looks great with all this ready made profiles and automation.

However, I am wondering if it's possible to modify some profiles to assign some keys which I am used to already.

I have been reading this very long thread and didn't see qn answer, apologies if I missed it.

Don't count on much customization beyond stuff that is in the database. There are often dependencies with switches and keystrokes, so it's often not a 1:1 relationship with keymappings.

Hey pal. Really enjoying CTS. Got a question....what does the line in the red box mean? For the Mig-21. Thanks.

 

For those switches, the in-game commands move the switch in a direction instead of to a discrete setting. This allows the profile to get out of sync with the game. You can either click the switches to match the logical state of the switch with the profile, or you can hold S3 and press the rocker switches to put match the logical switch position to the in-game position without actually pressing keystrokes.

[Home Fries]

Folks, just an update on things:

 

When I had a free moment during the trial, I started to build simple profiles for the Christen Eagle II and the Yak-52. Compiling started to give me full stack errors, and further analysis leads me to the conclusion that my code is approaching the limits of what TARGET can handle in a single script. I am abandoning the dedicated CE2/Yak52 profiles, as they work just fine with a customized DirectX profile. My focus will be on combat modules.

 

While I ceased support of the Hawk a while ago, it is currently available to select in the script for people who wish to use an earlier version of DCS World. Starting in 2.45, the Hawk will be completely removed in order to free up resources for future improvements. People who want to use the Hawk profile will need to use CTS Legacy for DCS 1.5.8.

 

Eventually, I will need to remove the non-DCS profiles from the script and make them their own script. This is a longer term issue because I will need to build a new infrastructure for a separate CTS-based script. However, this should at least get us through the P-47 and Mi-24.

 

After that, I'm open to suggestions...

Edited April 28, 2020 by Home Fries

[overalien]

Folks, just an update on things:

 

When I had a free moment during the trial, I started to build simple profiles for the Christen Eagle II and the Yak-52. Compiling started to give me full stack errors, and further analysis leads me to the conclusion that my code is approaching the limits of what TARGET can handle in a single script. I am abandoning the dedicated CE2/Yak52 profiles, as they work just fine with a customized DirectX profile. My focus will be on combat modules.

 

While I ceased support of the Hawk a while ago, it is currently available to select in the script for people who wish to use an earlier version of DCS World. Starting in 2.45, the Hawk will be completely removed in order to free up resources for future improvements. People who want to use the Hawk profile will need to use CTS Legacy for DCS 1.5.8.

 

Eventually, I will need to remove the non-DCS profiles from the script and make them their own script. This is a longer term issue because I will need to build a new infrastructure for a separate CTS-based script. However, this should at least get us through the P-47 and Mi-24.

 

After that, I'm open to suggestions...

 

 

Hi Home Fries,

With the latest script I have an issue with the Cougar and 3 MFDs with the F18 which I cannot figure out: in Gear Down or Gear Up transitions the joystick X and Y axes freeze up for 4-5 seconds before becoming responsive again. I noticed that there is no MFD2 LED flashing on transition as for other profiles. Instead LED 1 lights up steady and then goes out again. During this time controls are frozen. The script seems to report back some part of an Init routine regarding the airbrake config every time this happens. On other profiles the gear transitions work smoothly with LED flashing and no controls freezing. Another hint might be that when initializing the F18 profile, LED 2 on MFD 2 is lit up steady as if Comm state is active. This is also strange and may be an indicator that the script is stuck in an incomplete initialisation loop? I tried resets, reinstalls etc but made no progress. Would like to try an older version of the script to check some more things but not sure where to get it. Can you point me in the right direction please?

 

 

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[Home Fries]

Hi Home Fries,

With the latest script I have an issue with the Cougar and 3 MFDs with the F18 which I cannot figure out: in Gear Down or Gear Up transitions the joystick X and Y axes freeze up for 4-5 seconds before becoming responsive again. I noticed that there is no MFD2 LED flashing on transition as for other profiles. Instead LED 1 lights up steady and then goes out again. During this time controls are frozen. The script seems to report back some part of an Init routine regarding the airbrake config every time this happens. On other profiles the gear transitions work smoothly with LED flashing and no controls freezing. Another hint might be that when initializing the F18 profile, LED 2 on MFD 2 is lit up steady as if Comm state is active. This is also strange and may be an indicator that the script is stuck in an incomplete initialisation loop? I tried resets, reinstalls etc but made no progress. Would like to try an older version of the script to check some more things but not sure where to get it. Can you point me in the right direction please?

 

 

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LEDs are the least stable operations with TARGET. Stuff like what you describe is often fixed with a reboot, but if it is consistent, then for now try setting "Allow Flashing MFD LEDs on Transitions" to 0 (it's under Global - LED/Lighting Options). If that doesn't work, go to -1 to disable all LED indications.

 

I will look into the Hornet in particular since this doesn't appear to happen with other modules.

[overalien]

DCS World TARGET profile for TM Cougar and Warthog + MFDs

 

Thanks. I tried the 0 setting on LEDs already to no avail. Reboots and vanilla reinstall of the scripts as well as Windows restore to an older backup also did not help. Will try with -1 on LEDS when I get back to the machine. Will report back...

 

Edit: for the A-10 and other profiles with LED flashing active, the transitions are rock solid on my system. I therefore suspect something else than Target Stability....

 

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Edited April 29, 2020 by overalien

[overalien]

Thanks. I tried the 0 setting on LEDs already to no avail. Reboots and vanilla reinstall of the scripts as well as Windows restore to an older backup also did not help. Will try with -1 on LEDS when I get back to the machine. Will report back...

 

Edit: for the A-10 and other profiles with LED flashing active, the transitions are rock solid on my system. I therefore suspect something else than Target Stability....

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

....just to add a last little bit of info which might help: I also run the script on a Warthog HOTAS with 3 MFDs on a second machine and here the script performs flawlessly with the F-18 profile. It leads me to believe that the issue might be lurking in the Commstate Branch (where there are two scripts - one for Cougar and one for Warthog). It is only on the Cougar where i see the strange Commstate Init behaviour as well as the freezing axes - this specific to the F-18 profile only with all other tested aircraft profiles running fine with gear state transitions.

[Home Fries]

....just to add a last little bit of info which might help: I also run the script on a Warthog HOTAS with 3 MFDs on a second machine and here the script performs flawlessly with the F-18 profile. It leads me to believe that the issue might be lurking in the Commstate Branch (where there are two scripts - one for Cougar and one for Warthog). It is only on the Cougar where i see the strange Commstate Init behaviour as well as the freezing axes - this specific to the F-18 profile only with all other tested aircraft profiles running fine with gear state transitions.

 

Thanks for the detail; that really helps a lot and I'll zero in on the Cougar routines. So does this only occur on the F-18 during GearState transition, or is it also when you press the comm switch to activate the CommState routine?

[Jason-118]

Hi Home Fries, thanks for getting back to me.

 

After messing about with several of my aircraft, it now seems that any operation of the trim switch seems to leave the shift key latched on until I operate S3 again. Is this normal behaviour?

 

An example is, if I try to trim the F-18 or F-16 then go to use my FOV zoom slider it doesn't react, I then operate S3 once, and now it works again no problem?

 

My hardware is TrackIR 5 with Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS + TFRP Rudder Pedals

 

Here is a link to my DCS_World.tmc

Edited April 29, 2020 by Jason-118

[overalien]

Thanks for the detail; that really helps a lot and I'll zero in on the Cougar routines. So does this only occur on the F-18 during GearState transition, or is it also when you press the comm switch to activate the CommState routine?

 

 

Update: setting LEDs to -1 solved it. Still suspect there is an addressing conflict with LEDs in that particular profile because it initialises with a comm state active LED and the lights don't flash on gear transition, but on the A-10 they work fine. For now no pressure since I solved the game breaker with your recommendation. flying with my son in MP can resume again. Thanks for that!!

 

 

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[overalien]

DCS World TARGET profile for TM Cougar and Warthog + MFDs

 

Update: setting LEDs to -1 solved it. Still suspect there is an addressing conflict with LEDs in that particular profile because it initialises with a comm state active LED and the lights don't flash on gear transition, but on the A-10 they work fine. For now no pressure since I solved the game breaker with your recommendation. flying with my son in MP can resume again. Thanks for that!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

To answer your question properly. Axes only get stuck on gear transition. Sometimes the comms routine tends to lock itself into a toggle on commstate. Pressing comms briefly cancels it out again. That and the lights as described are the issues I had. Hope that clears it up

 

 

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[GhastlyTT]

Is there a way for the user to change the comm switch mapping for the Warthog? The manual says the advanced configuration guide has instructions, but then the guide says only the Cougar can be remapped. For instance, I've always used Comm Up as UHF and Comm Down and VHF in the F16. In the profile, it's Forward and Aft. Can i change this to preference? Thanks!

[msmith301]

This might have been asked but considering how huge this thread is I need to ask because I'm considering purchasing the TM MFD setup for my Cougar HOTAS setup.

When you use the rocker switches in the corners to change the screen layout for the MFDs does that also change the designation of the buttons in between?

Such as when your stepping thru a menu...press 1 then press 4 then press 2 ect....

Or can you only script those buttons to one named key?

Some of the outside switches actually bring the screen back to its main menu but what about the buttons that change what they do as you change the menu?

[msmith301]

This might have been asked but considering how huge this thread is I need to ask because I'm considering purchasing the TM MFD setup for my Cougar HOTAS setup.

When you use the rocker switches in the corners to change the screen layout for the MFDs does that also change the designation of the buttons in between?

Such as when your stepping thru a menu...press 1 then press 4 then press 2 ect....

Or can you only script those buttons to one named key?

Some of the outside switches actually bring the screen back to its main menu but what about the buttons that change what they do as you change the menu?

 

Is this a closed thread??

[Home Fries]

Is there a way for the user to change the comm switch mapping for the Warthog? The manual says the advanced configuration guide has instructions, but then the guide says only the Cougar can be remapped. For instance, I've always used Comm Up as UHF and Comm Down and VHF in the F16. In the profile, it's Forward and Aft. Can i change this to preference? Thanks!

The Warthog layout is fixed based on the A-10C radios (1 is forward, 2 is down, 3 is aft), and 2 radio setups are normally forward and aft. I allowed the offset for 3 radio setups (i.e. A-10C) with the Cougar because its comm switch is offset from the mic switch and I wanted something that would be intuitive for cougar users.

This might have been asked but considering how huge this thread is I need to ask because I'm considering purchasing the TM MFD setup for my Cougar HOTAS setup.

When you use the rocker switches in the corners to change the screen layout for the MFDs does that also change the designation of the buttons in between?

Such as when your stepping thru a menu...press 1 then press 4 then press 2 ect....

Or can you only script those buttons to one named key?

Some of the outside switches actually bring the screen back to its main menu but what about the buttons that change what they do as you change the menu?

 

I'm not sure what you are asking. Do you mean that pressing a rocker switch will change button assignments within a profile? Generally no, but sometimes buttons and switches will be reassigned based on modes. If you mean using the rockers to select profiles, then yes, it works like selecting profiles with your Cougar TMS.

[msmith301]

The Warthog layout is fixed based on the A-10C radios (1 is forward, 2 is down, 3 is aft), and 2 radio setups are normally forward and aft. I allowed the offset for 3 radio setups (i.e. A-10C) with the Cougar because its comm switch is offset from the mic switch and I wanted something that would be intuitive for cougar users.

 

 

I'm not sure what you are asking. Do you mean that pressing a rocker switch will change button assignments within a profile? Generally no, but sometimes buttons and switches will be reassigned based on modes. If you mean using the rockers to select profiles, then yes, it works like selecting profiles with your Cougar TMS.

 

Basically MFDs work in a step proceedure.

You first go thru the main menu switch at the bottom until you get the screen you want.

Be it the SMS (Stores Management System) RWR, TWS screen or I was watching a very good tutorial recently by the Grim Reapers about setting up the Harpoon ship killer missile using the MFD.

In that you had to get to the SMS page select your harpoon and then go thru the process of setting up the different settings using the MFD.

In this tutorial they were using the Hornet which has mouse capable cockpit controls however if you wanted to set up your own MFDs or use it for the F-15C which does not have mouse capable cockpit controls but only keyboard and joystick controls could you do it or are they not capable of having different functions for the outer buttons based on what page you cockpit MFD has up?

If I have the TWS screen up and was using the outside buttons it would perform different actions than having SMS page up and using the same MFD buttons.

Hope I explained it better.

[Home Fries]

Basically MFDs work in a step proceedure.

You first go thru the main menu switch at the bottom until you get the screen you want.

Be it the SMS (Stores Management System) RWR, TWS screen or I was watching a very good tutorial recently by the Grim Reapers about setting up the Harpoon ship killer missile using the MFD.

In that you had to get to the SMS page select your harpoon and then go thru the process of setting up the different settings using the MFD.

In this tutorial they were using the Hornet which has mouse capable cockpit controls however if you wanted to set up your own MFDs or use it for the F-15C which does not have mouse capable cockpit controls but only keyboard and joystick controls could you do it or are they not capable of having different functions for the outer buttons based on what page you cockpit MFD has up?

If I have the TWS screen up and was using the outside buttons it would perform different actions than having SMS page up and using the same MFD buttons.

Hope I explained it better.

Pressing the button on the MFD is exactly like clicking it with a mouse. The functions are tied to the MFD button, not the TARGET function.

[Home Fries]

In other news, the latest beta in testing incorporates the F/A-18C MIDS A/B voice channels in SRS. Using MIDS means that assigning a common Push to Talk for SRS across all radios will no longer be possible for the F/A-18. Honestly, this common PTT feature made a lot more sense when the modules were the A-10C, Ka-50, and FC3 and our choices for voice comms were TARS and UniversRadio. Now that SRS can handle everything DCS throws at it, Common PTT is more of a compatibility albatross than anything. I will be removing this feature in a future update and forcing SRS to DirectX buttons only, which should also free up some stacks for additional code.

 

If this beta tests well, I hope to release 2.45 next week once we determine whether there is a DCS patch that requires last minute fixes.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Home Fries

[TheCabal]

Hi Home Fries,

 

i still experience problems switching seats in the Tomcat. In the training session it worked back and forth, for whatever reason it then ceased to work. Online, I'm not able to switch to RIO to do some radar work, not even when trying to add another key on the keyboard just to be able to switch. Jester confuses me so much I want to take things in my own hands and train on servers but somehow... it doesn't work. (or its not suppose to work online? I don't know).

 

EDIT: It’s a Limitation of the Server which holds one place for a human RIO. You can’t be active in both seats. CTS is still the best tool out for DCS, referring everyone nagging about controls towards this gem of a tool.

 

Greetings,

Cabal

Edited May 12, 2020 by TheCabal

[Wikkus]

An ignoramus seeks help

 

Hi Home Fries!

Only recently discovered CTS -- I've been muddling along with pure DX commands until now -- but the recent purchase of the F-16 module made me look for a way to get my TM HOTAS Cougar's dogfight switch to work properly and CTS seemed to be the way.

 

I'm still very much a novice at this (although I'm a Foxy user from Falcon 4.0 days) and am struggling with a couple of concepts; I use the TM HOTASConfig utility to calibrate my stick -- for some reason, since we left Win XP, I've had to do this every single time the PC starts up ????-- and then I launch CTS, check for updates, make any necessary changes, build the script if needed, then hit the play button to load the script into TARGET.

 

All fine and dandy. I can even use the on-the-fly-switcher to change profiles, which is also neat.

 

After I fire up DCS, upon entering the Controls settings page for a particular module, I can add the switch modifiers (30-32) and then load the diff .LUAs for KB and my HOTAS Cougar for the respective module.

 

Where my confusion comes in is that I still have two columns for my stick; one the original DX "hardware" column, the second for the "virtual" (TARGET) stick.

 

Some things are mapped onto one, but not onto the other. For example, my NWS on the F-16 wouldn't work at first, but then I removed and re-added a bind for the hardware stick column to button 5 and it works.

 

But, I found myself head-scratching last night; when trying to configure the F-14, I believe the Dogfight switch on my Cougar is supposed to control the wing sweep mode, but I can't for the life of me get it to respond, but I note that the actual mapping has 22/24 control Auto/Man wing sweep which ought to be for Jester AI/Intercom and PTT Common/Intercomm respectively, at least according to the reference map.

 

Similarly, I cannot get the NWS to work and attempting to map it in the "hardware" column, sees the modifiers (J-30, etc.) register when I hit button 3.

 

Clearly, I'm doing something wrong here, but I'm feeling a bit lost at the mo.

 

Win10 64-bit, TM HOTAS Cougar & TQS, MFG Crosswind pedals.

 

 

Cheers, Rik.

[=36=Witcher]

This is a known TARGET bug in Windows 10: basically, Windows Store application prevents TARGET to hide the single DX peripherals, so you end up with both those and the Thrustmaster Virtual Controller Root device; you can check you have all those peripherals in both TARGET Device Analyzer, DCS, Windows Joystick Control Panel, anywhere. Another symptom of this happening is, also, a very long loading time for the TARGET script (because TARGET tries for 5 seconds to hide the controller, then it gives up and goes back to the next, etc). In my case, with Warthog Stick, Warthog Throttle, TRFP and 2x MFDs the script tries for 25 seconds to hide the peripherals before it actually starts.

 

If you just want to make it work, after you fire up the CTS script, make sure it is properly loaded, then in DCS clear every device, then only map Keyboard and Thrustmaster Virtual Controller Root (and any rudder peripheral you have, since it's not included in the script anyway).

 

Otherwise, a simple solution is to prevent Windows Store to start automatically when you boot your PC. Just go to Settings->Privacy->Background Apps and disable Windows Store. Reboot, and start the CTS script again. It should load in a few seconds, and you shouldn't have any single peripheral anymore, only the Thrustmaster Virtual Controller Root.

[Wikkus]

This is a known TARGET bug in Windows 10: basically, Windows Store application prevents TARGET to hide the single DX peripherals, so you end up with both those and the Thrustmaster Virtual Controller Root device; {snip}

 

Otherwise, a simple solution is to prevent Windows Store to start automatically when you boot your PC. Just go to Settings->Privacy->Background Apps and disable Windows Store. Reboot, and start the CTS script again. It should load in a few seconds, and you shouldn't have any single peripheral anymore, only the Thrustmaster Virtual Controller Root.

 

 

That, my friend was 100% pure gold! Went with option B as I cannot recall the last time I had any cause to use the Windows Store anyway. Worked like a charm!

 

All the other weird stuff regarding the wing sweep controls was legacy cruft from my previous config. The Tomcat profile works just great! Cannot wait to "fix" all my other modules :thumbup:

 

The one thing I've yet to figure out is a decent curve for my throttle so that the afterburner detent matches the point where it's supposed to light. Right now It lights at ~95% of travel and only gives ~98% total range. Any thoughts on that one?

 

 

 

All the very best,

Rik.

[Home Fries]

The one thing I've yet to figure out is a decent curve for my throttle so that the afterburner detent matches the point where it's supposed to light. Right now It lights at ~95% of travel and only gives ~98% total range. Any thoughts on that one?

 

This should already be taken care of. Put your percent throttle where they meet the afterburner detent into CTS under Throttle Options-Warthog, and then it should all be built in (or at least compatible with the throttle curves included in the luas).

[Chicki]

Hmmmmm, interesting. So should the "user curve" box be checked or no? How do you tell at what percent your throttle is when it hits the AB detent? Device analyzer?

Edited May 13, 2020 by Chicki
more info

[Wikkus]

This should already be taken care of. Put your percent throttle where they meet the afterburner detent into CTS under Throttle Options-Warthog, and then it should all be built in (or at least compatible with the throttle curves included in the luas).

Thanks for taking the time to reply, Home Fries.

 

Still having an issue here as a) I'm using a Cougar TQS rather than the WH, and b) the "Throttle Options - Cougar" page doesn't mention the AB detent position (although it does have min/max percentages, idle detent low/high percent).

 

From running Ye Olde "ThrottleRange.exe" on it, I know the following:

[Throttle]
PhysicalMin=28576
PhysicalMax=42336
MILValue=32032
MILPercent=39
AFBValue=36960
AFBPercent=75

But can't get that to translate into anything I can (obviously) plug into CTS before it build the script :(

 

 

Sorry if I'm being dense.

Rik.