andy_binoculars

I made this simple small addon as I like to take a quick look around while using my binoculars. With this addon you dont need to put them away, you can just rightclick and then use freelook or trackIR to look around without loosing what you were observing.

EDIT. Added a small andy_laserdesignator.pbo to the archive. You can choose yourself if you want enable both or only the binocular/laserdesignator.

I use spooners rangefinder and one problem I find is that the overlay is visible when youre not looking through the optics.

Default view.

If you unlock your head with freelook or trackIR you can locate easier what you want to look at through your binoculars.

armaholic

Freewebs link...

Ooh nice

If you manage to be able to walk while holding the binoculars you addon are going sky-high.

excellent, very useful

If you manage to be able to walk while holding the binoculars you addon are going sky-high.

Haha No, sorry. No walking...

This has been achieved by SLX mod a long time ago... so nothing new.

New would be to be able to walk with binocs, which is possible in SLX but you have to toggle between walk and stop.

This has been achieved by SLX mod a long time ago... so nothing new.

New would be to be able to walk with binocs, which is possible in SLX but you have to toggle between walk and stop.

I didnt know that SLX had it already.

So is my 336 bytes big addon unecessary as its already enabled in a big mod?

nope. some of us want these things without having to download gigs of unwanted stuff.

good work andy.

This has been achieved by SLX mod a long time ago... so nothing new.

but as i don't use slx i find this very handy to have. thanks andy!!

Good Job andersson, will use this.

any chance of applying the same tweak to the Laser Desi ?

although I wonder if it would conflict with the most excellent SPON Designator mod.. hmm..

any chance of applying the same tweak to the Laser Desi ?

although I wonder if it would conflict with the most excellent SPON Designator mod.. hmm..

Haha, I came here to ask that very question!!

Do people want it? I can make another small addon, its no need to incorporate it into andy_binocular. Then people can use whatever combo they want.

This has been achieved by SLX mod a long time ago... so nothing new.

New would be to be able to walk with binocs, which is possible in SLX but you have to toggle between walk and stop.

Thats not a great post realy is it?

I mean, its not a competition .. bottom line is its not "bloatware" as they call it, I welcome anything that emulates what big mods have, delivered freely as a simple singular addon so you have control of what you want in arma.

SLX features rule, but then your tied to the WHOLE thing, I personaly hate that, reason I moved away from all-in mods.

First post updated and andy_laserdesignator added to the archive.

As I use spooners rangefinder I dont really know if I want to use it or not. Its not very nice having that overlay visible when Im not using the optics. But its there for anyone that wants to use it.

Nice one, thanks for sharing!

/KC

First post updated and andy_laserdesignator added to the archive.

As I use spooners rangefinder I dont really know if I want to use it or not. Its not very nice having that overlay visible when Im not using the optics. But its there for anyone that wants to use it.

Thats what i feared might be the case.. maybe Spooner would have to include this functionality change in his mod somehow. With your permission of course. Then again he may not want to/be able to. Not sure if you could make the overlay appear/disappear depending on rightclick state.. andthen youd get into issues with people with dif key configs etc id imagine.

my brain hurts just thinking about it.

Thanks for the fix though  

Armaholic news and DL page updated.

Nice work.

http://www.armaholic.com/index.php?m=single&id=3835

This has been achieved by SLX mod a long time ago... so nothing new.

New would be to be able to walk with binocs, which is possible in SLX but you have to toggle between walk and stop.

I didnt know that SLX had it already.

So is my 336 bytes big addon unecessary as its already enabled in a big mod?

New or not you did a great service for those who don't want or can't DL SLX. Keep up the good work.

As stated in the readme noone needs my permission to use or abuse those two addons.

If spooner can find a way to check if optics are used it would be great! Not sure if its possible.

Well, this is a nice little addon which I will certainly consider using, but yes, it will go fubar with SPON Rangefinder, since the overlay will still be available while not aiming with the LD. If you use SPON Rangefinder to get the angles, not range, superimposed on normal binoculars you'd get the same problem.

The reason for this is that SPON Rangefinder uses your current animation in order to work out if you are looking through a "binocs-like" weapon. The animation is exactly the same, regardless of whether you are aiming or free-looking, but normally that doesn't matter for aim-only weapons like binoculars ;P

The only way I can think of to always tell which state you are in is by checking the FOV via ArmALib, which is obviously not universally useful (I would do this only if ArmALib was being used, so if you weren't using that, then you would just get the overlay error as you do now; still, better than nothing). The other way, by comparing weaponDirection with SPON_viewVector would only work if you had the floating zone turned off ;(

If someone can tell me another way to tell if the player is zoomed or not, then I'll definitely be fixing my script (checking keys/buttons wouldn't work, as someone has already said). There are a couple of other projects I could do with that information for too!

EDIT: I'll see what I can do with the optional ArmALib-based fix when I get a moment. Since I do use ArmALib client-side, when I apply that fix, I'd definitely start using these addons.

Im very grateful that you are trying to figure out a fix for this! I guess its not that easy..

About that comparing weaponDirection with SPON_viewVector, why must the floating zone be turned off? weaponDirection is the direction the binocular is pointing right? And SPON_viewVector is the middle of the screen? So if Im not looking exactly where the designator is aiming the overlay could be switched off?

What am I missing?

Actually, you aren't missing anything! I just confused myself, since a couple of days ago I was thinking about trying to work out if the current weapon, regardless of type, was being aimed, but couldn't get that info without using ArmALib FOV, since weaponDirection and SPON_viewVector would not be the same, even if aiming, with most weapons. On the other hand, for weapons that change to a zoomed view when aimed, such as scoped weapons and binoculars, this method would work fine.

Well, not really! I just tested it, and weaponDirection for binocs is always exactly the same as that for the currently used weapon (rifle, pistol, etc)! Thus, you can turn on the rangefinder by using any weapon if it is aimed at the centre of the screen ;( Also, when panning while using the rangefinder, the two values diverge until you hold it steady again, same as when you get a slight lag when panning a rifle.

Another interesting thing I discovered is that when you aim/zoom with any weapon, both SPON_vectorDir and weaponDirection are not affected at all, so the movement must be considered to be while keeping both of those values constant! I had assumed that the weapon's direction would converge with the viewed direction when aiming with scoped/binocs. Assumption is a deadly thing, especially in ArmA!

Back to trying out the ArmALib solution. Alternatively, I could force the player into zoom mode with the LD if SPON Rangefinder is used in order to keep it working properly, which rather defeats the object of your addon

EDIT: On another note, it is a pity you can't start the binocs/LD zoomed when you pick them. Bit annoying having to select them and then zoom as well (which is what you want when you start...you want to unzoom later, not when you first move to binocs).

This is a great feature, Andy. Excellent idea!