Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Kumeda

VON PLUS Gui (VPG) Easy adding of coustom voice channels

Recommended Posts

BFdu6YJ.jpg

NEWS

Version 0.55Alpha is available now.

What this project is about

This is my first project using the possibilities of Armas Editor and Scripting tools. In ARMA3 it is possible to use extra VON (Voice Over Net) channels next to the standart channels like global, side or groupe. The possibility of what you can do with these VON channels in ARMA3 until now is still very limited and cannot be compared to what is possible with the ACRE Mod. But VON channels can still give more freedome in the way people communicate with each other and all that without the need to be on a Team Speak server. I have played on some servers (Tier1 very nice) that used these coustome VON channels and it was a very neat experience for me. Until recently i didnt even know how this works until i found Subroc's mod one of BI's forum members. As there are only a vew mods out there that allow the integration of VON channels and as Subroc's moved on to other projects it came to my mind... "Would it not be cool to have an easy to use script for VON available with a nice GUI on top of it?" . Therefore I decided to put some effort in it on what Subroc has started. In that way this project I will call VON PLUS GUI was born.

Problems with coustom channels

ARMA3 is still in Beta and unfortunately there are some bugs with the coustom channels that cant be solved without BI's help. That are :

1) Removing a coustom channel while still beeing selected, doesnt deselect or removes it from the list of active channels -> TICKET from Subroc

2) Using a coustom channel inside a vehicle cant be heard by persons outside the vehicle -> TICKET from genko

3) Not a bug as such but a needed feature. It is not possible to swap channels by command so that you can use a gui for swapping betweend channels -> TICKET by myself

So if you have the time please VOTE them up so that BI might change it!

Despite these problems for communication with ground units the coustom channels are working. I do think this project is also prove of concept and will most likely make puplic games even better.

What VON PLUS can do for you

+ VON PLUS is Beta ready

+ The GUI is completlely new. The script has been reworked almost completely (except for some copy paste action).

+ You can theoretically add up to 10 lines.

+ You can limit the lines between 3 to 10 lines by option (2 or 1 actually do work but arent well implemented yet)

+ You can limit the number of lines that can be opend at the same time (your station only supports a number of open ports)

+ active channels are beeing highlighted in the tab list at the bottom for a better overview

+ You can use jump and scroll action to navigate through the channels. Jumping is done by cklicking on the small symbols, scrolling by using the left right arrows which come in 1,2 and 3 step mode (Click on the channelheader in the middle).

+ easy change of channel names

+ easy change of overall displayed gui size (.. also the problem of text sizes isnt solved yet)

Release Information

0.5 Alpha - 05.07 2013

I streamlined the code a bit to make editing easier. I also got hold of a minor bug through which not all 10 channels could be opened. Added an early "readme". ... i still could not test it on our public server yet. It is very likely that there are still problems with respawn and such.

Download VPG 0.5 Alpha

0.52 Alpha - 05.07 2013

+ Rearange of tablist by starting with Channel 0 instead if 1 in the first tab

+ Adding option to limit the count of usable lines between 3 to 10 lines by option #max_chat_lines (by editing GUI_OPTIONS.hpp)

+ Adding option to limit the number of lines that can be opend at the same time by option #max_station_lines (by editing GUI_OPTIONS.hpp)

Download VPG 0.52Alpha

0.55Alpha - 10.07

+Adding of station and transmitter system -> look for init_station.sqf and edit

+Station can be blown up/ switched ... also you still have to do the integration yourself

+added check Radio / checking can be turned off Menue will appear and reapeare if you put your radio down or take it again

+if you cant select anymore channels checkboxes are crossed out and simple sound is played

+made a small example of "Blow up the Lamp" where the lamp is your station :)

+renamed some functions for better overview

+with respawn you should now keep your selection!

+ any Bugs you may find are actually a feature, but should be reported anyway ;)

- possible problems:

-> are having less than 3 Channels this might still break the gui script in some way

->implementation of MP isnt quite done yet as i still have to figure out what hapens on what machine so all stuff that includes all clients might not work correctly (like JIP when station was destroyed). To get that done I will need to test that on a our clan server at some point. But before I do that I want to integrate all most basic features I think of at the moment.

DOWNLOAD 0.55Alpha

Whats up for the next Version - TO DO -

0.56 Alpha:

+lets automatically scale GUI text size to make it dependen only on GUI size relative too the screen size

+moving some options into mission params

+making code more simple better

+... dont know yet

For near futur releases:

+Remove all open lines

+Turn On/Off mode for closing "all" lines and opening all lines with one click

+station style real allowing only using one station at a time instead of the already implemented simple style that just limits the number of ports

+the new station style needs the adding of preset for more comfort

For far future releases (Beta phase):

+Focus on server use

+Higher access editing functions

->Channel name

->Channel color

->encrypt Key

For far far future releases ("Official" phase):

+ Documentation

+ customisation

+ mod version?

Additional ideas

1) making it tragable .. so that it can be moved to a desired location on your screen

2) Different skins of tarn or colors :D maby a night mode ^^ .. some minor form changes that it is less quadratic

3) what i realy would wish for is an option to do quick selects of channels so that you can change channels you are speaking through with the GUI ... as said that is not possible at all yet.

4) for a mod version it might be possible to swap channels with an extension .. this might be a way unti BI introduces some build in functions

Installation and VPG Options

--WIP--

Credits goes to..

subroc who gave the initial scripts and idea

kylania who helped me to save alot of time

gonk for giving his peace of mind ;)

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

thanks, I will give it some testing later today. I was thinking it would be nice to attach it to the radio we usually drag around that seems to do nothing in most missions. eg... no radio in your inventory... no custom channels..

I have also made a separate Ticket for the Vehicle Problem. Ticket. Trying to have One Bug, One ticket...Good work on this feature.

Edited by gonk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ill defenately look into that. Thanks.

---------- Post added at 23:45 ---------- Previous post was at 22:17 ----------

Im going crazy.. does someone knows how to #include somthing from a subfolder? I want to put some not changeable options in an definition "options.hpp" file. My functions are relative to "options.hpp" in an folder above it. From my functions i want to include "options.hpp" but as it seems Arma knows only upwards path definitions? i tried using #include "..\options.hpp" but that doesnt work??????

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

First impressions...

What is with the labels ? If you want the alphabet, you may want to look at using the Phonetic Alphabet not the Latin Alphabet.

The channel 0 does not work. I am guessing it is supposed to be 10.

If you are trying to simulate a radio you should limit the channel selection to one station only. Reason is, you can only ever transmit on one station at a time and receiving on 10 all at once can be a little confusing.

Hopefully the vehicle bug will be fixed soon as this will be a big help for Transport/CAS.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you gonk for the quick repley. Haha yes the labels were some random stuff i just put in for testing purposes. In the already newer version 0.5 Alpha the inital labes are by the greek alphabet, but now you can adjust them to your wishes very easily without the need to go into the script. Also the channel 10 bug is resolved. The channel numbering might be a bit confusing at first glance. I didnt use an actual channel 10 in number but rather channels 0 - 9 as the numbering of arrays starts with 0. Therefore i dont have to translate the displayed channel to the used array index (less mistakes while programming). Another reason is that a singel digit is better readable than a 2 digit number. However the numbering in the bottom tabs begins with 1 instead of 0. The reason was that by clicking an a given channel the channel is always displayed on the 2nd position of the screen (in the middle of the three channels). In that way you see by clicking on channel 1 the channel 0,1,2 on the screen. But im thinking about changing that by putting 0 in the first tab so that by clicking it you will see channels 9, 0, 1 instead. This should make the shown numbering more logical.

Im not quite sure if I understand the idea about the stations correctly. A station could mean a static set of available channel for example let station A be channel lines 0-4 and station B lines 5-9. But that would mean that your always restricted to one station and cant hear what is broadcastet on the other station. Another option which would be easier to implement and more flexible is a limiter to the number of lines you can open. That way the mission designer can decide if he wants only 1,2,3 ...10 lines available at one time.

By the way I was thinking about an function of giving each line an optional encryption key. The idea is that a specified person (for example Team Lead) gets access to higer editing functions and can change the key while everyone that wants to use that line needs to input the key once before he can open that line. If it would be possible to remove the other chats groupe,side ect. I could think of a nice PvP action where you can try to search dead enemys for radio encrpytion keys :D. ... so i dont know how difficult that is. Firstly i will try to polish the basic functions.

PS: I couldnt test the bug yet but i voted your ticket up anyway ;)

PPS: Check for radio is comming with next version !

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think the biggest problem at the moment is that the Custom comms does not work when a player enters a vehicle. Once that is fixed I think the take up of this will be a lot more wide spread. I like the encryption key idea, make radio valuable and may then limit who gets one so they don't fall into enemy hands.

Station ? which part ? I just trying to work out if this is trying to be a RADIO or just a custom comms tool. Either way it would be very handy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Station ? which part ? I just trying to work out if this is trying to be a RADIO or just a custom comms tool. Either way it would be very handy.
I like having the ability to adjust this tool to the way one wants to play. I dont have any idea how a real radio works therfore i asked how it works ;). But as i have read your post it came to my mind that if possible there is no reason yet why there couldnt be another option like "station_type" beeing either real or simple. As i have already implemented the simple way (thats what it is , right?)..i only have to find out how to add the other layer. Just look forward to the next release ;)
Once that is fixed I think the take up of this will be a lot more wide spread
..i hope they do :\ Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Awesome. I always thought there should be be some lightweight alternative to ACRE - and this is exactly what's needed.

Great job!

DarkWanderer

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I tested it by adding to a DOM mission. The respawn breaks it. Can that be fixed on your side, or is it best to add the init to the respawn script ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I dont know yet have a look at subrocs thread they had a similar problem. Im not at the pc now but look for the line that adds the menue and use the eventhandler like it was done there

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok I did look on what they said in subrocs thread. As it seems you need to add an Eventhandler to the player that if he dies he get the menue back. You can do that either by adding the eventhandler to every unit you place or what should also work .. by editing the init.sqf inside the VON_PLUS_GUI folder. Look at the bottom of the script for the line

_setCh = player addAction ["Open Radio Menu","VON_PLUS_GUI\Resources\LoadGUI.SQF"];

this is what creates your menue Option "Open Radio Menu". Under it paste now in the following line

player addEventHandler ["Respawn",{ _setCh = player addAction ["Open Radio Menu","VON_PLUS_GUI\Resources\LoadGUI.SQF"];}];

tell me if that did help than i will add that into the next version

PS: as im getting used to arma scripting ill have some great but still super secret ideas :yay: on what can be done but i dont know yet how long it will take to make it happen and also i have some other important stuff to do before that,until than stay tuned for a major release! (MUHAHAHA :devil:)

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

well that sort of worked.. I ended up with Two "Open Radio Menus". Without that line I get none...

Thanks

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Maby you get 2 menues because you do respawn at the beginning. Delete the first line and leave the new line with the handler that might work if not load your mission up somewhere that i can have a look at it

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

it is ok on the Domination...in the original format

There was one domination that it broke on... but now it is ok on the one we use on the server, without the addevenhandler... thanks.. too many dominations going around. :)

If I backtrack and find the one that breaks it I will try again. But using the eventhandler only, you do not get the open radio menu until you die.

Needs a little bit of logic to use one or the other.. not both. That may cover more missions.

Anyway I will run with it on the server and see what other bugs... other than the vehicle one... that it does not work on.

Request... ability to remember the last channels selected after respawning... saves have to setup the radio every time I die... and I die..a lot.. :)

Edited by gonk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Request... ability to remember the last channels selected after respawning... saves have to setup the radio every time I die... and I die..a lot..

This is also very strange. I added a simple respawn and tried the mission as LAN (for some reasons if i try to host in the internet i dont have access on the slots?). Well at least in Lan mode i dont get a double menue action and also the values stay stored. I guess this has something to do with the namespaces I use and the difference of dedicated and client ...or i changed something to the good? I have to look into the way variables are stored in arma anyway...

As i get on with some new features nicely so far im ready too tell what im working on.... For once I am trying to give the mission makers more flexibility on how to setup their VON system...and what thy can do with it. What you have to do for this this looks now pretty much like this..


#define AllFactions [West,East] //define what faction you use
//ST = STations
ST_NAME(0)="OSCAR"; // Name of Station
ST_CHANNELS(0)=[0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]; //Channels supported
ST_FACTION(0)=AllFactions; //Faction the station belongs too
ST_FACONLY(0)=true; //Station cann be used by anyone (false) Station can be use only by the faction the station belongs too (true)
ST_OBJECT(0)=""; // doesnt do enything yet
ST_ACTIVE(0)=true; // turn the station on off
CreateStation(0);


ST_NAME(1)="MIKE";
ST_CHANNELS(1)=[0,1,2,5];
ST_FACTION(1)=AllFactions;;// like [East,Civ,...]
ST_FACONLY(1)=true;
ST_OBJECT(1)="";
ST_ACTIVE(1)=true;
CreateStation(1);


ST_NAME(2)="SILO";
ST_CHANNELS(2)=[8,9];
ST_FACTION(2)=AllFactions;
ST_FACONLY(2)=false;
ST_OBJECT(2)="";
ST_ACTIVE(2)=true;
CreateStation(2);


//TM = transmitters //Only one allowed at the moment! as there is no selection option available
TM_NAME(0)="DefaultRadio"; // generic name you give your comsystem .. doesnt do anything yet
TM_CHANNELS(0)=[0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7]; //chanels from 0-9 as array
TM_OBJECT(0)="ItemRadio"; // Must be unique for every transmitter if not more than necessary overhead is created
TM_MAXPORTS(0)=5; // how many channels you can open at the same type with this equipment
TM_ONESTATION(0)=false; // only one station at a time

CreateTransmitter(0);
[/Code]

I tried to make the definition so that even if you do not known much about scripting you understand quickly what it is about.

As you probably can tell from the example setup you have here 2 distinct things that have to be defined. First of all we need at least one station and secondly we define what we use to transmit like the radio in our inventory. You can already add several different stations which can be uniqe in what channels they support and their name. Unfortunately until you can choose your Radio or your Station with the GUI there should only be one type of radio defined. But why have several stations anyway you may ask....

Well for once we could add to an ingame object that our station is supposed to be a trigger which will fire and execute a function which deactivats it when the object is destroyed or turned off....in that way i can easily take away a station and its supported channels :rolleyes:! Also the Station can belong to a faction. You could capture the factions station and get access to your new channels...

This is a functionallity i whish to bring in with the next version. What also might be possible in the "near" future will be the addition of another parameter to our stations and that is [b]RANGE[/b] ... ..:yay:... this range will determine if or if not you have acess to the channels of the station. Yeha pretty cool, isnt it?

I believe this will be a very nice thing for mission makers and multiplayer. I can think of missions where you need to bring up a releay station before you can use your communication and if a station could be addad to a moving object you could maby even bring in something like mobile Radiostations (also i cant promise that yet)...

:yay::yay::yay:

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

looking good. range would be a nice feature, but I guess with out the ability to mute ppl on the fly that feature may be a little quirky.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

yep as long as the removal bug isnt fixed any removal action of channels is bound to be "quirky" ... nothing that can be done about it :( unless BI fixes this... but still people do change channels at some point, and once that happens unless you would be in range of your station again you cant get the channel(s) back. If you play in a group the chances that the others cant recive the channel (you shouldnt use anymore because you got out of range) becomes even higher. For the time beeing it would be like a delayed range effekt :D . If BIs fix this the range option should work very well.

Unfortunatelly you cant control who is going to recive your radio messages. Its always all who have the channel open or non of those that doesnt. But if that would be possible you could actually bring in ranges for you transmitters. Even muting could probably be done with that. (A kind of muting would be envoking channel rights for each player individually, so if you have all other channels disabled as long as you use other channels you could hear the ohter people as they dont have acces to that channel. Thats could be done through the cryptkey idea ..but well the "quirkiness".. )

Another good point about the station system is actually something else as well. As you can add real refferences to your channels you could do something like adding 10 Transmitter towers in your base for every channel 1. If you need additional channels you can turn on or of each channel individually ingame for everyone.

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

well the latest dev patch broke the mission I was using your radio script in to test. ie Domination. Sounds are all gone in that mission..effects like grenades/bullets/explosions. I will have to wait for a patch on that mission to continue using the radio.... one step forward... 2 backwards.. :(

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Welcome to the Arma BETA :P

Dont worry :) you do that when you have time and its possible until than I make the script better so that you can use the newest one :yay:DOWNLOAD 0.55Alpha

PS: and thanks DarkWanderer for your encouragement :thumb:

Not functional yet but you can see whats comming next. Still thinking how to not overload the gui for beginners...Maby doing different ones are a way ? Like one with more functionality and one with less.. you dont need a station menue when you only did setup 1 just for communication and if you only use one transmitter you also dont need the radio selection.. well thats all work in progress ;)

dUEhhbu.jpg

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

trying to install 0.55 into a domination map 3.03... I am getting variable conflicts, which I have not tracked down yet. However 0.52 is ok. You may want to add a more complex identifier to your variables. I thought there was a web site to register your unique identifier prefix.. or maybe that was ARMA2... anyway thanks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great GUI. How did you set that up? Looking into making something similar for a Kestrel/Sniper type device in the next month or so.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Gonk & .kju

Thank you very much for the information i will make sure that risk of double naming and used variables are very unlikely with the next version. As i dont have (had) much free time at hand right now this will need some time so.

@Goblin

Thank you for the compliment.

For creating the picture of the GUI youll need some graphics programm at best you have something like Photoshop what can be bought for lower price as student version (arround 200-300 € for newest versions but older versions should do the job as well but might not be sold anymore).As far as i know Photoshop Elements wont be enough for the task! You might wanne try GIMP first if you are new to that area but i cant tell you how good this will work, as im not that familiar with it. If you however have already some good programm on hand and you are familiar with it get startet with that. Whatever you do it will be good if that programm allowes creating vector based images .. as these can be easier manipulated later on. If you know what you do and what you want to achieve.. creating the GUI picture itself wont take too long.

The next step is to prepare it for ARMA. If possible convert it as paa file via TextView 2. But be aware only pixel sizes of the length x²,y² are supported for paa. The good thing about paa is the possibility to use the alpha channel (transperency)l but be aware that this will double the size of the image.

The more hidious part is making the GUI work inside Arma .Therefore have a look at Dialogs for Noobs . This helped me to get started.

Just ask if you need more specific information.

ADDITION: Graphic programms to check out..

Best free vector based drawing programm i know Inkscape

Cheap licence has some vector graphics capabilities PhotoLine

Cheaper as PS but still expensive CorolDraw

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

no worries mate.. take your time. Until the "In Vehicle" bug is fixed the use of the BIS custom radio's command will not be used as much as I would like to see.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To keep you posted... as part of the GUI's redesign i started a new project for which VON plus shall come as application.

Edited by Kumeda

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×