[StingerAJ]

Hi folks,

I have put together my config-profiles and pilot-profile to use a Steel-Battalion-controller with FS2_Open.
Additionally, I have included the enhanced Speech-Recognition-profile for the Shoot-1.6.4 Tool.

You have to buy/build an adapter-cable like the SmartJoy X2 USB and install the vtchid-driver 0.2.1 from http://www.tamanegi.org/prog/vtchid/ to be able to use the controller with the PC.

I am still working on the Comm-section of the controller, so that you can give orders to single ships out of 4 wings.
At the moment, you can give orders to the entire wings.
The controller-pedals are supported for Afterburner and Throttling, but you can also use the Gear-Lever for setting speed.

Installation and usage-tips are included in the ZIP-file.

Let me know what you think about it.

StingerAJ

EDIT: I have noticed the Comm Switches are not working correctly, it is something with the timing of the Comm-Menu sequences. Maybe the delays between the keypresses are too short. I will look into it.

EDIT v2: I have fixed the Comm Switches, they are now working perfectly. I have also reprogrammed the Comm Dial, so that you can issue orders as follows (quoted from readme):

- Use the Comm Dial to select the targets of your order:
  - Comm Dial set to WEST (Channel 1): All Fighters
  - Comm Dial set to NORTHWEST (Ch 2): First Wing
  - Comm Dial set to NORTH     (Ch 3): Second Wing
  - Comm Dial set to NORTHEAST (Ch 4): Third Wing
  - Comm Dial set to EAST      (Ch 5): Fourth Wing
- The red Comm-Buttons send the order to the selected wing depending on the setting
  of the Comm Dial:
  Comm Dial is on W/NW/N/NE:
  - Comm-Button 1: Attack Target
  - Comm-Button 2: Disable Target
  - Comm-Button 3: Disarm Target
  - Comm-Button 4: Attack Subsystem
  - Comm-Button 5: Protect Target
  Comm Dial is next to W/NW/N/NE (clockwise):
  - Comm-Button 1: Ignore Target
  - Comm-Button 2: Form on my wing
  - Comm-Button 3: Cover me
  - Comm-Button 4: Engage enemy
  - Comm-Button 5: Depart

Issues left:
 - Viewing around with Shift-Cursor mapping is ugly ATM, so I modified the pilot-profile to use the Sight Change Stick as a POV to view around. Strafing thrust is mapped to Shift-Cursor, because you cant use it in the normal FreeSpace-Campaigns (with exception to the terran Mara). Could the coders please enable support for POV 2 on Joystick input devices?
 - Power management and View Management is not bound to the controller, because I do the first with Shoot Voice Recognition and dont need the second.

I am also looking into the sources of the vtchid-driver to enable the user to program the lighting of the controller-buttons. Wtih this you could add some cool immersive feedback-effects (switching on butotn-panels with toggles on startup, or simply show which buttons are used).
It would also be cool to let the game engine control the lighting of the buttons, just as in the orginal Steel Battalion. This would be cool for several reasons:
 - Show the rookie the flashing button he has to press in Flight Training (training-sexp's)
 - Status of flight-systems (Glide enabled? Yes, the button is glowing; Missile on your tail? Let the Chaff-button go crazy, and so on)

But I am not proficient in coding in C/C++. Is anyone able/willing to help with this?
How many forum-users here are actually in posession of a VT-controller?

Please give me your feedback, a lifesign, something....

StingerAJ

[attachment deleted by Tolwyn]

[Colonol Dekker]

I think I speak for the whole board when I say. . . . . No fair I want one too. . . . .

[Spoon]

I think I speak for the whole board when I say. . . . . No fair I want one too. . . . .

This.

[Colonol Dekker]

Definitely appreciate the effort thats gone into this...

But i just read about THIS in pc gamer uk...

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/proflight.htm


Customize your own "Steel battalion style control"

[StingerAJ]

Definitely appreciate the effort thats gone into this...

But i just read about THIS in pc gamer uk...

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/proflight.htm


Customize your own "Steel battalion style control"

Hey, I want SciFi-controls, not some ultrarealistic Cessna-cockpit...

BTW, I have also made Steel Battalion-controller-profiles for:

• Independence-War 2: Edge of Chaos (with or without pedals, cause they are hard to adjust without ingame-deadzone-config.)
• Darkstar one (though I like the mousecontrol)
• Descent 3 (a little buggy, didnt spend much time on it, but has potential due to customizability of the game)
• Tom Clancy's HAWX (in-game config, no special vtchid-profile needed)
• Mechwarrior 4 (based on the vtchid-profile from vt.beckament.net, with some tweaks and bugfixes)
• X3 (ingame-config, cool game, but the freelook-axes interfere with pitch/yaw-control, its a problem of the game, i think)

These games all work great with this controller, but FS2_Open rocks. If it would just support 2 POV's or more than one connected Joystick (like I-War2), then it would be perfect.

[StingerAJ]

Hi,

I have updated the config-pack. See the first post and the included readme for more information.

Regards,

StingerAJ

[Mr_Blastman]

Is POV point of view?  If that's the case why are you messing with hats to look around when you could have Track IR?

[StingerAJ]

Is POV point of view?  If that's the case why are you messing with hats to look around when you could have Track IR?

Yes, POV means point of view. I want to do viewcontrol with the POV-hat, because I don't have TrackIR and dont have the money to buy it (my wife would kill me , she already looks that way ->  when I use this big controller  ).
But I have a question about TrackIR. How much do you have to turn around your head to check your six with TrackIR? Is it comfortable?

[Reprobator]

Definitely appreciate the effort thats gone into this...

But i just read about THIS in pc gamer uk...

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/proflight.htm


Customize your own "Steel battalion style control"

The problem with this is that each controller added (pedals, etc.. ) are detected as different controller by freespace2 and it's a big pain to make it work together...
I hope the new logitech g940 joystick and pedals will be saw as a unique controller 

[StingerAJ]

Definitely appreciate the effort thats gone into this...

But i just read about THIS in pc gamer uk...

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/proflight.htm


Customize your own "Steel battalion style control"

The problem with this is that each controller added (pedals, etc.. ) are detected as different controller by freespace2 and it's a big pain to make it work together...
I hope the new logitech g940 joystick and pedals will be saw as a unique controller 

I think the Steel-Battalion-pack is much more value for the price (I paid 100€ for the LoC-edition on eBay), cause you get the game, the multiplayer-addon, and this controller-block with 3 sticks, 34 buttons (30 with light), 5 toggle-switches, gear-lever with 7 gears and a pedal-block with 3 pedals.

I recommend it to anyone, who can afford it and is able to find it somewhere. Though the vtchid-driver only works with WinXP and is not supported anymore (but its open-source, so everyone can get a shot at it), programming the controller is still incredibly flexible. The vtchid-driver supports up to 8 assignable axes (X,Y,Z,RX,RY,RZ,Slider,Throttle), 2 POVs (you could both assign to the Sight-Change-Stick and toggle between them with e.g. a toggleswitch-modifier), 32 buttons and 16 modifiers that allow you to toggle between modes. E.g. I use 4 combined modifiers in the FS2-profile to choose between 16 Comm-Channels with the Tuner-Dial.


StingerAJ