[Ratneck]

You know, I was just thinking.....It would be cool if the Devs could look into putting something in the software so that people who like to tinker with hardware would be able to build a full cockpit and have the HUD elements and readouts on other panels....

My C++ is a little rusty, but I think all they'd have to do is make the variables that store that info private, and then give us public variables that point at the private ones....that way there's no danger of hacking with the numbers....\

Then, through a little creative hardware programming, you could design something with a basic stamp or a pic or something....Paralax even has a Java version out....And drive lights and small LCD's with readouts and stuff on them.

I was just thinking it didn't seem like it would be a ton of work on their end, but I'm a hardware person more then a software person, What do the rest of you think? Would it be too hard to do? Can you see some way it could be exploited for bad purposes?

[ELPIRATA]

It helps inmersion. MS Flight Sim has that kind of extractable data. When looking to make my own cockpit I came up with lots of companies with interesting and promising solutions, I came upon one that provided readouts that were activated with lil' motors. The data is converted in such a way that the motor moves the needle showing the apropiate data in the display.

I have a pic of altimeters, RPM gauges and others... let me upload it.



Net and others were talking about stuff like this (dont remember thread) but I told them about EPIC, which is a kinda expensive card that allows you to build your own joystick. You can have multiple axis and multiple buttons and you can even expand it.

Epic (old version, there's a new one that supports USB)



I remember this guy (not the one in net's pic) that had the whole control panel systems for the 737, they had bought even the airplane's cabin from a decomissioned plane (without seats and hardware) and then installed 3 60" screen/projectors on top so you would see the same field of vision as a pilot. EPIC comes with a programming language too, so all the buttons and lights worked with the Flight sim software... so good that the FAA gave them the approval for the 737 training without motion. Lost track of the site but still have some of those pics on my drive.

WOW, he updated the site... not sure if what i said above is aplicable...

James' Virtual Flight Deck

If you're that kind of do it yourself hardware friendly guy, you might enjoy them. Check in the gallery my album for other pics.

A control panel.. knobs, switches...



Like the joyrider...



ELP

[project3wc]

i wish i had he space at my house to build a cockpit for Jumpgate. i dont know if i'd go as far as putting all that hardware though, seems all expensive.

[Bingofuel]

OOO I would like to get more detail on that PVC tube cockpit. That looks like it could be a marketable product (some assembly required).

[ELPIRATA]

Actually, the folks sell the plans, you buy them and then build your own Joyrider, out of wood, PVC or whatever else you want. But, as the name implies, you're riding a joystick in a way, half is on the floor below the chair and the other half is part of the chair, and a set of bungee cords then do the final movement translation to the stick's base.

Its pretty nice.

[Slopey]

If you're looking for an analog of the FS model, there's 2 ways to do it:

- either add access in through an SDK - FSX uses SimConnect which allows access into the game

or

- read the memory locations for various data - a la FSUPIC for FS.


The problem here really is one of security - implemented the wrong way it would be exploit city. Also creating something like SimConnect is a ton of work.

The easiest way is to allow child windows to be created inside the UI and "undocked" from the interface so they could be dragged onto a different monitor. You use one monitor output for the view, and the other monitor you drag the panels on to and build into a pit (that's how everyone is doing it these days, especially as you need EFIS screens for the 737NG/Airbus series anyway, and mechanical analogue instruments are expensive
(Im shortly building a full 737NG/A320 pit myself)).

So provided you can create a new "window" in the UI with various panel info on it, and can undock it from the game window, should be no problem.

If the UI is customisable (a la WoW) should be very possible, providing you can undock.

S.

[ELPIRATA]

For Microshift Flight Sim the best program available for multiple windows is WideFS. Check Jame's link on my first post and you will find in his site in the credits the reference to who made WideFS.

ELP

[Slopey]

Don't need it anymore under FSX - native networked play out of the box - and with decent multiple gfx card support under Vista, you can get 4 monitors working off one machine no probs

But yes, WideFS is the defacto solution for FS9