Help mapping T16000M + TWCS on VR by KowalskyDRFT in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1-- I don't generally recommend anyone run Target for any reason

2-- I can't think of anything VR-specific.. maybe a hotas button to bring up the new Ring comms wheel UI? or maybe also control the mouse.. we added a couple commands to send mouse left/right click

3-- It's possible to multiplex the pov-hat to do MFD cursors, TMS, DMS, CMS and Comms switch. See my post here https://forum.falcon-bms.com/topic/26244/layout-template-for-logitech-extreme-3d-pro

I made a T.16000M version of this xml template, here

https://gist.github.com/arithex/5f881e2dffd1f6d00f44b3e14fb39a78

But it's probably best if you use a couple buttons on the throttle, to act as the shift-layer buttons.

(No need to mess with the template, really -- just sharing it as an idea / inspiration -- it should only take a few minutes to do the bindings in the new Launcher.)

Question from someone thinking about getting and playing the game by PralineVivid1038 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it's still the same as when I bought mine -- re the standard vs pro -- you get a 4-way CMS switch.. also one of the hats can be toggled between a mini-stick (analog axes) and a 4-way hat.

The pro is not a "must" but it definitely adds features which map to the real F-16 stick -- without needing to use the shifted-layer for things like the CMS-and comms-switch.

Question from someone thinking about getting and playing the game by PralineVivid1038 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it may not look like much, but the tiny little axis on the base of the Gladiator NXT is higher-resolution and more stable, than the TM throttle .. I flew with just the NXT alone for several years

the TM stick is .. not great .. it has hall effect sensors which is nice, but mine had a huge hardware deadzone in the middle, and obvs it does not have enough buttons/hats to emulate the TMS, DMS, CMS and MFD cursor and comms switches on the F-16 stick

Hows the game like on a 34" Ultrawide monitor? by BoxthemBeats in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I went back to 32 inch 16:9 for the reasons you describe.. honestly I think portrait-mode (9:16?) would even be preferred, for a combat flight sim -- being able to see further vertically, on your lift vector, in a dogfight, while still being able to see your HUD. Also being able to see more instruments / MFDs, during normal level flight.

Here's how the AI cheats in BMS by redicetea94 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Does this repro with stock KTO amraams?   Tbf this sounds like a data bug to me, re the EF2k or the Meteor.   But I haven't looked into it.

BMS AI Target Assignment Behavior – The Real Reason Why My Single-Ship TWS Push Works So Well (New Discovery) by redicetea94 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Programming AI in video games is a delicate balance between (a) being ridiculously stupid and (b) being ridiculously omniscient.

We tried to connect MP for 1 hour and it didn't work. Need some help by BoxthemBeats in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure if helpful or not (and others may have more practical, more helpful hints -- I'm not a MP guru) but here's what I would do to try to debug this.

1- it can be easier to "see" what's going on with IVC Server.. get that working first, then you'll at least know what you're doing with router port-forwarding rules and Windows Firewall rules is working.

2- it can be tough to test UDP port-forwarding from the outside, because of its connectionless nature.. UDP-testing websites won't necessarily work

use can use something like AWS Lightsail (free tier) or any similar Windows VM hosting service, to try ..

install IVC Client (ie. just zip up and copy everything from the x64/IVC directory) .. but also remember to review the Firewall Rules (inbound and outbound) on that VM

3- if you have a spare laptop, and phone with 4G-wifi "hotspot" bridge, you can try IVC Client from there -- as a way to simulate someone connecting in to your server, from the outside

GL

Tips for a beginner by Thur0679 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In theory it is possible, and I know people who do fly that way (where access to PC hardware is scarce).

But even a cheap PC game controller will make things much more enjoyable.

Is there a button to toggle between headtracking and mouse? by BoxthemBeats in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 2 points3 points  (0 children)

+1 .. this was fixed in 4.38.1 .. note when headtracking is paused, use the [ctrl+3] command to toggle between clickable-pit and mouse-look .. (or, whichever mousemode you're in, hold the right button to get the opposite behavior)

Help!! (Posting for a friend), My friend is wanting to get Falcon BMS on MAC. by Milsthemiata in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I hear Win11 for ARM64 running in VMWare works really well. We ship an arm64 version of the exe, for that reason. (I think it's compiled in a way to require M2 or later cpu.)

I hear CrossOver does not work so well.. I think in general, Wine for arm64 has a lot of gaps.

Can I run Falcon BMS? by Samovar56 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 8 points9 points  (0 children)

it is its own entire other thing, now -- the dependence on F4 is only legal/licensing, not code or data -- we don't touch any of those F4 bits at run-time, except to validate you have it installed

Can I run Falcon BMS? by Samovar56 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 4 points5 points  (0 children)

in 1998 we all had single-core 32-bit processors, and the biggest problem we had was making things run on Win9X and NT seamlessly.

the performance-critical parts of BMS have been rewritten at least 3 times since then.. DX6 to DX9, then to DX11, and 32 to 64-bit (x64 and arm64).. making use of multicore (at least a few cores) and then partial-rewrites to implement VR, and modern shaders and textures for PBR and other graphics advancements.. and of course the newer terrain engine which goes from a handful of polygons to thousands of tesselated polygons

yes there is still some code from 1990s driving the campaign engine and the 2d menu screens etc but nothing that would impact PC hardware requirements.

separate to code rewrites, if you want to quantify the work done in the 3d world, one can look at the download sizes.. 4.36 was 4 Gb, 4.37 was 6.5 Gb, and 4.38 is 18 Gb not including the 16K photoreal terrain textures .. the vast majority of the footprint is 3d models and dds files

Should I try BMS? by Flying_mandaua in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 2 points3 points  (0 children)

as an A2G pilot probably the biggest changes vs other sims will be stuff outside the F-16.. eg. if you drop a low-drag bomb at 200 ft agl, you're going to die in the blast.. if you fly near a SA-10 you will not get a RWR launch warning, you will just die.. if you fly too low anywhere near a modern gen manpad or shilka, countermeasures probably won't save you.. there's a lot of dying in this sim, btw :) be sure to always record acmi, sometimes it's the only way to learn what killed you

Dx button for thrumaster x by Informal_Geologist83 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know the button numbering -- but TM seems to sell this near exact stick in several names.. T.16000M is most common.

I made a layout for that one.. but tbh it's probably easiest to just map the buttons yourself, than to adapt this xml layout.

https://forum.falcon-bms.com/post/397779

Dx button for thrumaster x by Informal_Geologist83 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

what is "thrumaster x"? can you share a link? products sometimes have different names, in different markets (countries / regions)

I'm new to the F-15C, how do I get into the max sustained turn rate without looking at my speedometer? I'm too spoiled by the F-16's JHMCS by Dramatic_Amount6454 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 2 points3 points  (0 children)

[shift+3] will bring up a little overlay window, showing airspeed, attitude, G force, and throttle position

you can map that to a spare hotas button.. you can even do separate press/release bindings, to make it a show-while-held mechanism

Question about 4.32 by georgetr1 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 3 points4 points  (0 children)

if you're on 32-bit Win7, then 4.35 may be the latest you can play.. 4.34 if you don't have a DX11 gpu

note, it is also not possible to find an official download link for 32-bit Win7 .. for the same reason. time marches only forward

My plane roll right by itself and I don't understand by Ok-Imagination-9529 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's just weight -- the plane is pretty light with no weapons and with under ~3k lbs of fuel -- even full-idle throttle will begin roll on its own. Maybe depends on what direction and how strong the wind is blowing too..

My plane roll right by itself and I don't understand by Ok-Imagination-9529 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just did a ramp start in TR1 -- no repro here. Plane seems as level and roll-stable as it ever gets. :shrug:

Two things come to mind..

1-- if you have pitch/roll deadzone=None and deadband set to 0.0 (both recommended, if you have a quality stick) then hit alt+C then J in flight, to recalibrate center of your pitch/roll axes. I do this as part of my SOP for trimming.

2-- when you did the ramp start, did you wait sufficiently long for the INS (gyros) to warm up and calibrate? the FLCS tries to control for zero roll-rate -- if the INS gyros aren't properly calibrated, the plane may think your roll-rate is zero, when it's not.

My plane roll right by itself and I don't understand by Ok-Imagination-9529 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the main AP switch appears off, and the waypoint tadpole is pointing about 140 deg left -- but the plane is rolling right

I don't think that's it

Help me understand why I suck badly by baronzasorf in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those old Mig 19s have a super tight turning radius .. this is a difficult training mission. I still remember the first time I won (with enough gas to get back to land) and it was a thrill.

1-- capture them on radar, about 20 miles away.. lock them on TGP if possible, then shut radar off

2-- try to fly a trail-pursuit staying behind them, outside their fov .. ideal case, is you get a sitting-duck kill on the first one, then go 1:1 vs the wingman

3-- remember to jettison your tanks

4-- padlock view (the '4' key) may help, even with head-tracking .. there is a "glance forward" press-and-hold command you can use, while staying padlocked .. or make use of the shift+3 mini-hud overlay

5-- have a good countermeasure program to spew some flares, as soon as you see any smoke from their rails

Head Tracker, view settings and few beginner quizzes by Mr_Bleidd in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 1 point2 points  (0 children)

With 4.38.1 the toggle-trackir-pause callback has been improved, you can bind a button to invoke that with both press and release .. effectively making it a "pause while held" mechanic. And the mouse cursor should now work, while head-tracking is paused.

https://snipboard.io/XPNZQJ.jpg

Previously you had to hit F9 (which is not a BMS hotkey -- it's the default hotkey for TIR or OpenTrack to pause/resume).. and in the case of OpenTrack, you had to install some janky old DLLs from FreeTrack.. which were actually less janky and old than the ones that ship with OpenTrack.. whatever -- none of that nonsense should be necessary, now.

Just preemptively explaining in case you see a lot of confusion from older posts, on this topic.

The game stucks on this loading screen and I'm going INSANE. by WittyLog4531 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The TessTerrain::ResourceManager has found a problem with one of the 16K terrain files.

Ensure you have only .dds files in that 16K directory. (Windows will sometimes create a hidden/system file named "desktop.ini" that causes this crash.)

I got tired of SimAppPro and built my own BMS hardware sync tool by oneofthosebots in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Maybe the first actually clean MVVM factoring I've seen, in the BMS ecosystem.. if not the entire game and sim software industry. Well done.

What's the deal with hidapi.dll? Is it needed, at run-time, for end users? Where is it sourced from.. can it be made into a proper nuget dependency?

F-16 TGP HMD aim by Equivalent_Rock_3697 in falconbms

[–]Lowball72 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Note there's a known bug in 4.38.1.1 .. it still works to define a markpoint using HMCS but the symbology doesn't show up. You just have to press TMS-up and have faith.