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TheHarvesteR

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Posts posted by TheHarvesteR

  2. Posted

    Ah yeah, another word of advice, there are good SSDs and there are not-so-good ones. The difference between them can be very dramatic, much more so than with mechanical drives. Make sure to read through all the specs for the SSDs, and compare them to a higher priced one of the same capacity to see how it stacks up, so you can find the best one for your buck.

    Personally, I suggest the Samsung 840 or 840 Pro ones. They're very good value for their capacity/specs.

    Cheers

  3. Posted

    I've done a full upgrade here this week, and had an interesting experience.

    My SSD didn't arrive until a few days after the computer, so I did get to try out TOH on the same system, on a HD and on an SSD.

    I can say from first hand experience, it makes a huge difference, especially as you're looking around and moving about. The engine is streaming assets from disk, so the faster you can do it, the smoother performance you'll get.

    My system specs, for reference:

    Core i7 3820

    32 GB RAM

    Geforce GTX 690

    Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm 2TB HD

    Samsung 840 Pro 512GB SSD

    Long story short, get an SSD. ;)

    Cheers

  4. Posted

    This is going to be awesome regardless - but if you could get this functional in multiplayer so players are rescuing each other after crashes, it would be epic!

    I think if the Event logic is added to each human unit as a small script, that just posts the event to the event-posting-thing when the unit takes damage, then it just happens naturally. It's a piece of logic that can be attached to anything, so in theory, it could be attached to actual MP player units too.

    Mind though, that multiplayer isn't planned for some time yet.

    Cheers

  6. Posted

    Aye, there is some complication when you are developing a mission with several mods installed... The game assumes you'll be needing them, and adds them as dependencies.

    IDK if there's any rearmed content that makes this necessary... I'd expect none, because this is a very TOH-oriented project anyway. It's most likely just a loose dependency that needs to be removed.

    Moach did all the mission setting up though, he can answer that better than I can.

    Cheers

  7. Posted

    The project is very much still alive, definitely. I haven't had much time to work on it myself, but I know Moach has been at it almost every day.

    We haven't pushed the latest changes to the master branch because they're still somewhat unstable, and we didn't want to break things for everyone.

    About the slingloads, you can release the cargo using the Rope Interaction key (2xR by default). However, that key sometimes doesn't respond immediately, so you'll probably have to spam the R key a little, until you hear the 'click'. Then, a hint will let you know if the cargo landed nicely or crashed.

    Cheers

  8. Posted

    There's a lot of room for failure on that mission, but it's certainly playable. Here's what I did:

    After a successful crash landing, get out of your chopper as fast as you can. There are enemy troops all around

    (I think some extra troops get spawned nearby as well)

    . Don't even try to fight them. They'll kill you in seconds.

    There is also very little cover around the area you're most likely to crash at. Your best strategy is to use the terrain to hide yourself from any and all troops. The area is mostly flat, but there are a few slopes and ridges here and there that will conceal you, as long as you keep the enemy far enough away from you.

    You don't have to fire a single shot on this mission. Just keep moving, because the enemy troops will be out on full alert looking for you. If you stop, they'll find you.

    Eventually, you'll be given vectors to an extraction point. Make your way there using the terrain to stay out if sight.

    Once you get there, continue moving. Some troops will move in on the location, and you're just one and they are many. Stay out of sight, and try to predict where they'll be so you can stay out of their way.

    Eventually, a chopper will land near the extraction point. Move to it as fast as possible, without making yourself a very obvious target, of course.

    And that's it. :)

    Cheers

  11. Posted

    Just to add an update on the current status of the Office system for the mission:

    On my last update, I finished up the item arrival and usage system. Basically, the main issue was with finding a way to require players to be at the Office to be able to properly 'receive' an item.

    That is, if you're out flying, you'll get a hint notifying you that an order has arrived, say, that GPS unit you ordered. Now, the GPS is a player gear item, so we can't just have it add itself automatically with a "player addWeapon" when it arrives, because you could be anywhere when that happens.

    So the solution was a simple one, and it looks like it's going to work nicely for all sorts of items. When orders arrive, they're listed on your inventory screen, but they're not spawned physically anywhere (some orders aren't physical items at all actually). They're just items in a list, until you go into the office, and unpack the item.

    Unpacking items them to your gear (in case of equipment), or makes service items available to the service crew, and so on and so forth.

    It's also possible to return items you purchase (provided there was a refund policy on it), by re-packing the item, which removes gear from your inventory and enables the "sell" button. Remember though, that when you open a package, the item's condition is immediately changed from "new" to "used", so don't expect a return for full retail value.

    If you drop an item somewhere, but then try to repack it to sell, you won't be allowed, because then all you have is an empty box for your item. If you really want to sell it you'll have to find it again.

    So, ordering items, cancelling orders, unpacking, repacking and reselling is all in, and I've removed the test items from the list and added a few more meaningful ones. Currently the store offers maps, GPS units, Binoculars and watches. Later on, helicopter bits and whole helicopters will also be available.

    Cheers

  12. Posted

    I've been poking around this just now, and I've noticed something interesting.

    If you remove the GPS from a unit on foot, his position isn't shown on the map, because you need a GPS for that. However, it seems when you're in a helicopter, you are automatically given a GPS again, and unless you completely forbid GPSes by setting showGPS = 0 in the description.ext, you still get to use the GPS (and still see your own position) while in a helicopter.

    What I'm trying to find now is if there is a way to remove this 'free' GPS from the vehicle. I think there's a good chance the 'free gps' and the map crosshair are actually a single issue.

    Does anyone know if there's a way to disable the in-vehicle GPS, without setting the showGPS to 0 in the description.ext (and removing all GPSes completely)?

    Thanks in advance.

    Cheers

  13. Posted

    Another progress update on the UI side:

    I've got the inventory panel implemented now, and set up an update system that keeps track of items you order. When they arrive, they are sent to your inventory list, where you'll then be able to do stuff with them.

    The store system is mostly complete then, for a first implementation. Next up is having the items actually do something.

    The plan for that is as follows: Items will have a few more bits of data on them to define a few things.

    First of all is what type of item this is. Can it be sold if you don't want it? (Parts and such should be sellable, Fuel, on the other hand, shouldn't). Or is this some small bit of equipment, or a part that can be installed on a helicopter?

    One thing we did with the inventory was to make sure each item was its own independent object. You buy things one at a time, and you can buy as many of the same item as you want. Since parts on your helicopter will wear off and eventually need replacing, it would make sense to let you keep a stock of replacement bits, so if something breaks, you'll have a replacement ready to go without having to wait for it to arrive.

    That means consumables like fuel will need to be handled differently. When you order fuel, you're ordering a delivery of some quantity, And unlike parts, fuel would be immediately sent to the tanks at your heliport. If those tanks are full, the "guys with the tanker truck" won't wait around all day, and any amount your tanks can't hold will be wasted.

    Other items like small bits of gear, like GPS or NV goggles wouldn't need to be installed. They'd just add themselves to your equipment. Also, having more than one of those would be pointless, so those should be sellable if, say, you get that same GPS you just bought again on your birthday or something. :P

    To be able to handle all those different behaviours, the plan is to set up bits of code on the items themselves, which will get called when things happen to the item. For instance, there would be a code block for when the item arrives, another for when it gets sold, another for when it gets installed, and so on. It's a simple event system, which allows each item to do its own thing, instead of having to add cases for each separate type.

    That's about it for now... Just when I'll be able to work on the mission again is a bit uncertain now, since the holiday break is now ended, but when I get a chance, I'll continue working on this.

    Cheers

  14. Posted

    I've got the X52 pro here, with the main POV mapped to cyclic trim, the throttle hat for rudder trim, and the second hat doing misc functions.

    You're right, it's not very straightforward to map those. There are specific setting that work, and others that don't.

    For the throttle and top hats, I couldn't get the game to read them as buttons, so I mapped them on the SST profile to emulate the keypresses. For the POV hat, it did read them. Just make sure that hat is set to 'fallback' in the primary mode in the SST, otherwise it'll do its own thing and probably won't work.

    As for the other inputs not working. Check that those too are 'falling back' in the SST (and not 'unprogrammed' or something). Buttons mapped to actions on the Saitek profile won't register as buttons anymore for games.

    Cheers

  15. Posted

    Being a huge Simcopter fan myself, I very much approve of this idea. :)

    So much so, in fact, that I'm helping out develop the mission whenever I get a chance (Moach is my brother, so that makes things easier).

    I started working on the "Office" UIs for the management part of the mission. The Office is a screen you can access from inside the heliport's office area, and lets you access several tabs.

    In the Online Store tab, you're presented with a selection of items from Heli-bay, your trusty online store for helicopter parts and stuff. You can order items there, like service components, new gear to customize your chopper, and anything we can think of really.

    Items you order don't arrive immediately though. They take time to arrive, depending on the size of the thing. You can track your incoming orders on the Orders screen. You can also cancel an order that hasn't arrived yet for an 80% refund.

    After orders arrive, they're displayed in your Inventory panel in the Overview tab. There, you can see the items that are available at your heliport.

    You'll need to buy new replacement parts to keep your heli service going. Servicing your chopper on the pad can fix minor damage, but those quick fixes will eventually break again, and replacing a part is sometimes your only option.

    You'll also need to buy fuel, since those tanks at the pad won't magically refill themselves.

    The current status of this system is this: We have the Store and Orders pages up, with a little FSM that handles the page switching for the whole dialog, and a growing collection of functions that handle selecting items on lists, displaying their details on another panel, placing orders and cancelling them. Items are defined as bundles of data, so we can add a large amount in not a lot of time, once we get the whole system working. Next on the to-do list is the Overview panel with the inventory screen (orders don't arrive yet), and after that, making it so items are actually used for servicing and customization, and finally, adding mission rewards (which, depending on the degree of your failure, might be a bill instead of a paycheck).

    This is just the first 'iteration' for the Office mechanics on the mission. We have plans for later to add several other features, like being able to put items up for sale, buy items and pick them up yourself (would generate a slingload mission), buy/sell/lease helicopters, and also manage pilot certifications, which you'll need to be able to take on missions like medevacs or winch ops, or transition to a larger chopper. Well, unless you don't mind a visit from a man in a suit.

    Of course, KSP is my main focus, so I'll only be able to devote a few hours a week at best to this. But it's a really cool weekend project, definitely. :)

    Cheers

  18. Posted

    I can't get ppjoy to install. Even though I've got "test mode" running, the installer still throws a hissy fit about test mode and tells me to enable it, or tries to (and fails, because i have to specify the bcd store) do it itself, then tells me to reboot and try again.

    if I just open the installer in 7zip, it's a big nasty pile and I'd have no clue how to install it myself.

    Anyone gotten 'ppjoysetup-0-8-4-6.exe' to install on Windows 7 64-bit?

    I'm running Win 7 x64 here, and I must agree PPJoy can be a pain to install...

    Last week I spent a whole day at work trying to get a computer to run PPJoy... must have restarted that thing like 15 times :P

    What happens exactly when you install? does the installer run at all? or does it complain about test mode and quit?

    I've found that this supposed auto-test-mode-enabling-installer doesn't really enable test mode... to enable manually, do the following:

    open up the command prompt (Start Menu -> Run -> type: cmd) then in there, type:

    BCDEDIT -SET TESTSIGNING ON

    that should put your OS in test mode... (you may have to reboot here) then try to run the PPJoy installer again. hopefully it'll work.

    If the installer did run, but the drivers failed to install, that's another issue I had that day at work... try just adding more PPJoy controllers... for some reason, PPJoy sometimes fails to install the device, and removing and adding it again doesn't seem to work... what did it for me was to create 3 virtual devices... the 3rd one for some reason installed successfully...

    PPJoy is a great little program, but it's far from a bug-free experience... I only wish it were updated more frequently... the same goes for GlovePIE...

    Hope this helps

    Cheers

  19. Posted

    @11F:

    PPjoy created a device called virtual joystick 3? That means you have some other device that isn't your X52 plugged in as well...

    Open up your joystick properties (Start->Run->type joy.cpl), go into your ppjoy device's properties, and see if any axes are moving when you move your throttle...

    If not, you are either assigning to a ppjoy device that doesn't exist, or you're reading from a device that isn't the one you're looking for...

    As I said before, the trickiest part of this whole thing is that the device numbers are different for each user, so you have to find which device is which in your computer...

    You have a debug line there already set for your throttle axis... run the script in glovePIE and see if the number changes (in the debug bar just above the script)... If not, you've found your problem.

    Try reading off joystick1.Z or joystick2.z instead of just Joystick.z... see if that changes anything...

    Also, try writing to PPjoy1 or 2, see if that makes a difference...

    Well, that's pretty much all I can tell you... let me know if you got any questions :)

    Hope this helps

    Cheers

  23. Posted

    Here's a snippet of how you can grab the joystick speed, by reading it's actual position and it's previous frame position:

    var.deltaX = Joystick.x - var.lastX

    var.lastX = Joystick.x

    var.deltaY = Joystick.y - var.lastY

    var.lastY = Joystick.y

    PPjoy1.x = var.deltaX * 10.0 // the multiplier is your sensitivity adjustment

    PPjoy1.y = var.deltaY * 10.0 // the multiplier is your sensitivity adjustment

    Note that we don't have explitic values for the previous frame positions anywhere... The last frame position is simply the current frame position, but what makes the difference is that we are storing it AFTER we calculate the deltas, why? because the variables will retain it's value, and when the script reaches the delta line again, the lastX/lastY variables will have the values from the previous cycle.

    Then we multiply the deltas by a constant, which is your sensitivity adjustment.. It doesn't need to be 10.0... actually, chances are that you will need to tune this until you find good values that work for you... too much and your heli becomes uncontrollable... too little and you won't have enough input...

    Well, you can try it... and see how it goes :)

    Hope this helps

    Cheers

  24. Posted

    I have a cheap headset for commos and a logitech 5.1 setup for game sounds. I don't have to worry about wires getting worn out or replacing wireless batteries. It really sounds excellent, especially with the volume up, but I'm always a bit worried about disturbing my landlords. I'm thinking of going to a nice pair of stereo headphones, though. My computer is- one might say- enthusiastically cooled. It's got 2 coolit mtec coolers on the processor, and a shed load of case fans, plus an HD 6870. Using headphones would help with the fan noise without disturbing my neighbours.

    Yeah, I also have trouble with the cooler noise from my case... 7 coolers inside and around the case, all whirring away, add up to a symphony of airflow that can get louder than the game...

    I'm thinking about modding my case to optimize the airflow while reducing the number (or at least the speed) of coolers inside... If there are fans on the front that move air in, while the ones on the back move air out... it might be a little more silent...

    Or maybe with the new 5.1 set, the game will be so loud I won't have to worry about cooler noise :D

    Cheers

    Cheers

  25. Posted

    For sounds, I use my desktop speakers, which I hope to replace with a 5.1 set from Logitech very soon (it would be a merry christmas indeed :yay:)

    For voice, I use my headset mic... the headset is a (very basic) single-earpiece-and-mic thing, which I use only for the mic and as a TrackIR clip holder. I don't even have the earpiece against my ear... I rest it just behind my ear, since I only need the mic and the track clip attached to my head.

    If you don't have a trackIR, and don't like headsets, go with the desktop mic, but check if your desktop audio doesn't make it into your mic, as that can lead to feedbacks...

    Cheers

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