SPON Map

[i0n0s 0]

As far as I know, I don't have an addon installed, which uses DisplayEventhandlers.

I'll write the author, so that he will mail the mission.

[mattxr 9]

Err, I don't mean that the marker got deleted, just Shift + M wasn't working anymore, so we hadn't had any access to your map.

Interesting as i just played it on a dedicated server and when i respawned i was able to use it.

[Gol Server] Map Name = co20 Fob Bravo - Way to Fall.

[Spooner 0]

I went on the GOL server to try that mission out, then found I didn't have QG ;/ Oh well, hope you enjoy it (just don't spend forever converting all your missions over if you think you'll find the addon version more practical)!

Incidentally, I've found a new bug in v0.3.0: If another window opens over the SPON map in the middle of you drawing something, future lines are corrupted (so don't open the SPON Core debug window, or any other window, while you are in the middle of something!.

EDIT: I looked at the mission that i0n0s was having problems with. Apparently, SPON Core key handling is being overwritten by Norrin's revive script when you die, specifically when you run around in deathcam mode.

It would be relatively easy to fix, since SPON Core conveniently has a special SPON_addKeyEventHandler function that allows multiple scripts to share the single available key event. However, in actual fact, it is actually an easily fixable bug in Norrin's script, since he doesn't actually need to get key events that way, so I'll get on at him to fix it ASAP.

Thanks again for the bug report.

[i0n0s 0]

EDIT: I looked at the mission that i0n0s was having problems with. Apparently, SPON Core key handling is being overwritten by Norrin's revive script when you die, specifically when you run around in deathcam mode.

This still happens, even with 1.49e which should include that fix

[Spooner 0]

I installed SPON Map into the newest version of Norrin's script demo mission (1.49e) and I can still use the map after re-spawning (I double-checked by unpatching Norrin's script and yes, the Map was disabled on respawn).

So not sure what the issue is. If there was a third script in the mission that used key handlers, then it would already be interfering with Norrin's old script or vica versa, so it can't be that or you would have noticed already. I can look into this again, but not right now. If you get anywhere in the meantime, tell me.

[i0n0s 0]

I have to correct me...

Don't trust in mission maker ...

He didn't use 1.49e. I don't know which version he uses and why it isn't 1.49e because we talked about this yesterday ... and he told that he installed and uploaded a version with 1.49e.

I'm sorry for this.

[Spooner 0]

Not a problem. At least it is resolved to everyone's satisfaction now.

[Spooner 0]

New version: v0.3.1

A couple of bug-fixes, a few tweaks requested by users and a shiny new compass.

- Added

* Added simple compass.

- Modified

* Resized SPON Map control to be the same size as the vanilla map (i.e. slightly wider in widescreen modes).

* Doubled width of line drawn to aid visibility when fully zoomed out.

- Fixed

* SPON Map and vanilla map are not synchonised (that is, if one changes, the other does not update).

* If another user dialog opens over the SPON map in the middle of you drawing something, future drawing is corrupted.

* When more than one person has placed markers in MP, one player can have a situation where when placing new markers, one of the markers previously placed gains the colour of this new marker! [Reported by Claesson].

[Deathstruck 375]

Uhm, I am probably doomed dummie but Left shift + M button does nothing(talking about your test mission) I guess I should be experimenting with it and try to find what addon is breaking the script...

[Spooner 0]

Yes, using keys is always going to be a problem with compatibility, but actions are rather cumbersome. I'll release the action-based version soon, but so many other things are broken in that build that I want to get the other things fixed first.

It should be obvious which addon is causing the problem, since it will be activated by key presses in some way. If you can't think what needs key-presses, then you probably don't use it any more and could live without it ;P If you give me details of what is causing the problem I'll be able to look into it, but I can't promise that it can be fixed as easily as Norrin's Revive script was.

[Spooner 0]

New release

v0.5.0 - This is the first version available as an addon as well as a mission-script.

- Added

   * Now available as an addon, by popular demand!

   * Grid measurement overlays added (suggested by TheDog).

   * Mils are displayed, as well as degrees, when measuring angles.

   * GPS, which can show grid coordinates (with 2-8 digit map reference), height ASL (on ground) or height AGL (in air), centre map on player (air only) or auto-track player (air only).

   * Tools window, compass and GPS can now be dragged around the screen.

   * When placing markers, you can click a "Send" button, rather than having to press the <enter> key (suggested by Q.Proper).

   * When in an aircraft and looking at the map, an "EJECT" button is available.

   * Markers are sorted alphabetically in the list and can be filtered with Alt + letter (suggested by Q.Proper).

- Modified

   * Compass made transparent to make it useful as a protractor (suggested by TheDog).

- Fixed

   * SPON Map and vanilla map aren't synchronised properly.

   * Compass is shown even if it is disabled in the mission.

   * Compass direction marker goes over the edge of the compass.

   * Current time, and time of sending a message, are shown even if watch is disabled in the mission.

   * When querying tell, group and vehicle markers that you have sent, the target is shown as a nil error.

[.kju 3245]

Excellent job Spooner. Will test the update tonight or tomorrow!

The pic needs to be posted here as well to make people even

more interested in the update.

[Spooner 0]

Uhm, I am probably doomed dummie but Left shift + M button does nothing(talking about your test mission) ??? I guess I should be experimenting with it and try to find what addon is breaking the script...

SPON Map now uses actions (in addon and, by default, in the script version). This is to improve compatibility with other scripts/addons that grab the key event handler.

[Rg 0]

Great stuff spooner! I am waiting to test this in a play session and see how it works out. The only small issue I have, besides the erasing issues already mentioned and discussed, is the action menu to bring up the map.

I haven't tested everything there is to test about it, but it seems like it is getting close enough to replace the default arma map entirely. Some seriously amazing things in it .

I know I can run the script portion and modify the keybinds, but is there some way to allow that option for the addon version for ease of use? I would hate to have more ".hpp"'s in the dta folder, but that is one possibility. That or making a few different versions (Action menu enabled, Shift-M enabled, and M enabled (to override the default map)), but I don't want you to have to cater to a few that may have these issues.

Either way, seriously awesome stuff. I will definitely be using it in some form or another.

[Spooner 0]

Well, I realise that having the addon only work with actions is not universally popular, since it is a bit cumbersome, but it maximises compatibility (except in the Warfare mission, but that isn't my fault ;P). Since I don't want to have two versions released simultanously, the only other option, of forcing keys to be used, would have caused more problems for more people, both breaking with missions and other addons that used key handlers and with anyone who had changed from default key bindings.

I did consider using a /dta/SPON_Map.hpp file, but that is just an invitation for hackers to get around the whole signatures system, so I won't ever be doing that. The other issue is that to ask players to edit a file that will crash ArmA if there is the slightest mistake in it is not something I want to deal with.

I was always intending to add a config system, specifically using a YAML formatted file in /dta folder that will:

a) not crash your game if introduce an error into it

b) not allow hackers a back door into signature protected servers

c) have a format that is simpler and easier to understand than the hpp or sqf format config files that have been used before. I know people have been very confused configuring some of my scripts, such as SPON Money that required multi-dimensional arrays filled with config data, so this parser will be generally useful for me, too.

Ultimately, I decided to release now, with maximum compatibility, rather than wait for a player-configurable version to be completed (or to develop the configuration system and leave out some actual map functionality like the grid overlays). I hope you can manage for now with an action ;P

EDIT: Yes, it is my intention to replace everything on the normal map, but the only thing I don't see how I can replace is the notepad. Well, without writing an HTML parser, which seems like too much effort really ;P

[.kju 3245]

Quote[/b] ]b) not allow hackers a back door into signature protected servers

Did you test this?

My guess is that as the include is preprocessed at the game

start, the signature will be different and therefore you cannot

join a server if you change the default settings (and the server

allows the default version).

[Spooner 0]

I don't want to discuss the details of how to hack such files on a public forum, but suffice to say that I can see how it would work and Sickboy was the one that explained it to me. I haven't actually tried it out myself.

I assumed that the signature was on the pbo as a whole and not on the code after it had run through the pre-processor. Thus, anything in a /dta file would be outside signature protection. For a start, DSSignfile is only fed a pbo file, not any dta files, so it couldn't possibly know anything about them when signing. Thus, ArmA couldn't know anything about any dta file at the time it checks sigs.

[Spooner 0]

(sorry for double-posting, but I need people to be notified of this bug-fix release)

New Release - v0.5.1

- Modified

* Should have significantly reduced slowdown in query mode.

- Fixed

* Error raised at start of mission, when playing on independent/resistance side (reported by SickBoy).

* Two identical icon markers are drawn whenever one is placed, except in "self" mode.

* When querying an item that has been sent by someone else to a specific target (tell/group/vehicle) the text for the target is either "0" or "true" (Actually fixed in v0.5.0, but not documented).

[.kju 3245]

I did a test with a dedicated server on my computer and client to

test it. Both used the same files, so the test might be flawed.

Will talk to Sickboy about it and tell Suma in case he needs to know.

[Spooner 0]

Seems the YouTube video for SPON Map has disappeared. I couldn't contact Woolridge, so I uploaded a copy I'd made to my own account. I'll take it down again if requested, of course.

SPON Map v0.3.0 @ Youtube

[Spooner 0]

New release v0.6.0

Finally got around to releasing this to the public and not a moment too soon! Since 0.5.x, I have added a literal raft-load of new features as well as fixed a lot of the features it already had that weren't quite right (too many changes to list, but if you are bored, the readme is extremely verbose about those sorts of things).

Thanks to all those that tested the private betas (v0.6.0RC1-7) for me and, hopefully, allowed this public release to be a lot less buggy than it might otherwise have been!

[Guest]

New version frontpaged at the Armaholic.com homepage.

The Armaholic.com download page can be found here:

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=3324

[radical.ghost 0]

Hi Spooner,

thanks a lot for your hard work on this, very much appreciated.

We used to use the Spon Map (addon version) in our clan since you released v0.5.1 and loved it.

Now we switched to the more actual version v0.6.0 of Spon Map and v0.5.3 of Spon Core and

unfortunately I have to tell that the AddOn - Version of Spon Map did not work until we switched the game - language from German back to English, so it looks like it does not work with other languages than English.

Maybe the reason for this can be found in your InitMap.sqf, where I found the following:

Quote[/b] ]{

["DOWN", _x, _showMapHandler] call SPON_addKeyEventHandler;

} forEach (actionKeys "ShowMap");

// Check if shift key is currently up or down.

private "_keyModifierDownHandler";

_keyModifierDownHandler =

{

SPON_Map_keyModifierDownAt = time;

false; // Return.

};

{

["DOWN", _x, _keyModifierDownHandler] call SPON_addKeyEventHandler;

} forEach (actionKeys "VehicleTurbo");

private "_keyModifierUpHandler";

_keyModifierUpHandler =

{

SPON_Map_keyModifierDownAt = -100;

false; // Return.

};

{

["UP", _x, _keyModifierUpHandler] call SPON_addKeyEventHandler;

} forEach (actionKeys "VehicleTurbo");

I guess that the highlighted KeyNames above are the reason for the addon not working in other languages than English (at least not in German language), because the Keys are named differently in other languages in the Options Menu.

And also after switching to English, it does only work with the Keybinds, no ActionMenu - Entry is shown, but maybe that is intended.

EDIT:

After some more testing with this it seems to work after all with ArmA set to German language, but I swear it did not before..

Also some clanmembers confirmed this working with German language again.

One Clanmember said it was working with German language right after installation and without the need to switch to English.

One suggestion I would like to make is:

- Make the Spon Map replace the BIS - Map entirely by the addon version because when you use the addon version of Spon Map, you do not need the default BIS - Map anymore

Thanks for your attention,

r:g

[Spooner 0]

Always good to hear that someone is using my stuff! Thanks! Something I'd really like to ask for, from you, as well as other users of the SPON Map, is for more feedback. Although I've tried to streamline the GUI as much as possible, for example, there really are a lot of complex features in SPON Map, so I'm sure I've taken some suboptimal design decisions. The more feedback I get on usability, the better the system will become. The same goes for the general features list, which really could be expanded indefinitely, but unless I know what people actually want, I won't necessarily develop the features the community will use!

No idea what the German language issue is. I can only suspect that your game wasn't working for another reason, but do tell me if the issue reoccurs. I'm pretty sure that the key names, rather than descriptions, are universal.

SPON Map 0.6.0 defaults to using keys, but you can enable the action again using a function call in the mission. Really, the action menu gets too cluttered up and people, including me, prefer the key shortcut.

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">

[] call SPON_Map_useAction; // Adds action as well as keys.

I would like to replace the BIS map, but the big issue is that you don't have access to the radio except via 0-0-1, etc (I'd like to create a more dynamic SPONised radio inside SPON Map), map textures (Working on fixing that, but I'm not sure it is really workable done manually), the notepad (SPON Map notepad is better than this in some ways, since it is totally dynamic, but its lack of links is a critical problem) and onmapclicks (something I'll tackle at some point, probably when I redesign the radio). Thus, it is definitely not appropriate as a default, though it might be appropriate to your clan missions. You can use a function call in the mission to directly replace the map though (so you open SPON Map with M, not shift-M).

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">

[false] call SPON_Map_enableBISMap; // Can't access regular map any more. Open SPON Map with M, rather than shift-M.

[radical.ghost 0]

Hi again,

we have used the new Version of Spon Map (v0.6.0 ) now for quite a while and I have to say it works very well, so we are going to make this addon mandatory for all members of the COOP - Section of our clan.

What we are using Spon Map for:

- All kinds of route planning (Flight Paths, driving routes, etc.)

- Distance measurement for sniping and unguided AT, also for determination if enemy is in firing range of current weapon system

- Marking areas where enemy fire is coming from

- Drawing threat circles around possible / suspected enemy AA positions

- Marking fire directions

- Marking deploy zones for support and equipment

- Writing text on the map

- etc.

Currently we are using it in conjunction with ACE - Mod and it works fine exept a few ACE-gameplay related things:

- You are still able to access and use the Spon Map while you are unconscious.

- You are still able to access and use the Spon Map although the Mission requires you to take an ACE-Map in your inventory with you in order to be able to see a Map at all.

One thing that is suboptimal for our use is the new way how the thickness of lines is beeing chosen. Now we have to zoom out of the map to be able to draw thick lines, that is not so good, because when we try to highlight roads with lines that you can fairly see on the GPS, we need to zoom out so far, that the map reduces its detail level so that we often cannot see the objects we need to see for planning the route.

The Same applies for circles and rectangles. If we want to mark areas quite precise, we have to zoom in while drawing. This way it is not possible to draw this with lines with a thickness so that you still can see the lines while zoomed out again.

So for changing the thickness of lines I would recommend a slider in the GUI rather than a dynamic thickness - setting.

One more suggestion I would like to make is:

This is from your readme, section Plans:

Quote[/b] ]

Optional support for JIP updating, assuming server is also running SPON Map (so that you see all current markers when you join or rejoin! ).

Short:

Please give this a higher priority

Because our server is running persistent and we mostly do our Missions over a larger period of time, this feature would be VERY useful for all kinds of pre - planning operations during the missions.

Thanks for your attention,

r:g