x52 Pro MFD Programming?

soulsacrifice · Post by **soulsacrifice** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:03 pm

Oh yeah and did you put the files directly in the Evochron Mercenary folder and not just the folder itself?

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:56 pm

I'm on win xp pro sp3 32 bit
i'll try the x86 release

[Edited on 2-20-2012 by capt_cronic]

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 10:45 pm

nope still wont work, gives me this error;

unhandled exception: system.nullreferenceexception: object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at evochronlauncher.program.main(string[] args>

any coders here have any ideas?

[Edited on 2-22-2012 by capt_cronic]

mrt · Post by **mrt** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:43 pm

Hello.

This launcher works only with specified version of the game which writes out some info in savedatasettings.txt file. I believe current Steam version don't write it.

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:06 pm

savedatasettings.txt system IS avail in the current release

mrt · Post by **mrt** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:20 am

don't want be pushy, but how would you know that for shure since launcher don't work work for you?
my savedata.txt is empty. may be it works only in MP?

my interest is because i want to write my own launcher, but i'm not a hacker and to extract values from memory will be too difficult for me.

soulsacrifice · Post by **soulsacrifice** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:49 am

Search the forum for savedata.txt and savedatasettings.txt. You need to specify an update rate in the latter to have the game output data in savedata.txt . So 2000 to update every 2 seconds for example.

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:34 pm

my savedata.txt has data in it and is functional.
game works fine, its the launcher that crashes.

I may just write a new one to my likeing.

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:41 pm

Well I found ellf had been in saitek forums while developing this program.
I found that he had later released an updated DirectOutputClass.cs file
to address compatibility issues and other bugs.

http://www.saitekforum.com/showthread.php?t=18920

I'm gonna re-compile it with the new file and try it again

I will still probably write my own anyway

[Edited on 2-24-2012 by capt_cronic]

soulsacrifice · Post by **soulsacrifice** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:15 pm

I wonder why ellf never got round to posting his version?

capt_cronic, any idea if your version would work for 32 bit and 64 bit? Would be interested in trying it if it does.

I've been thinking about modifying R-T-Bs code myself to change it to my liking (solid red lights while missile is incomming rather than slow flashing lights) more features such as fuel low warning lights. I can't code very well though so might take me a while.

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:58 pm

it seems to only work on 64 bit only
thats what im trying to overcome

mrt · Post by **mrt** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:55 pm

Hello again.

With great tip soulsacrifice had provided, i write my own tool.
It have only two pages for now, but if you have request i could try to add more.

--> http://rghost.ru/36706748

Forgot instructions.
Unzip to game folder, launch at any time (before or after game). Press enter to exit.
I hope it will run on any system (XP is minimum). If not - please let me know.

[Edited on 2-25-2012 by mrt]

soulsacrifice · Post by **soulsacrifice** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 6:18 pm

Nice! I very much like how the coordinates are displayed neatly on one page. Have you tried any L.E.D. changes based on ingame events yet? i.e. incoming missiles, fuel low, energy low etc.. That'd be the main thing i'd like to see.

Also, would it be possible to have a configuration file of some sort which could let individuals choose which information to output on each page? No idea if that's beyond your programming ability but it would be really cool for us x52 pro users who aren't able to program it to our tastes.

[Edited on 25-2-2012 by soulsacrifice]

mrt · Post by **mrt** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 6:45 pm

Well, i could easily add ability to hide unwanted pages. As for user editable page content it no so trivial for me, i afraid...

I plan to add flashing button on missle lock and may be hull status indicating by green-amber-red colors. Which button it would be? i will add this to users's config too eventually, but let it be hardcore for time being.

We also can have some actions for right MFD scroller (like simulating keypresses) - any ideas?

As for pages - i don't really think we need to duplicate info what already on screen like fuel reserve. But with user selectable pages it could fit everybody's tastes, so let as think about pages content.

(And i'd like to use this opportunity to say what i really sorry for my English. I really have little practice in writing).

soulsacrifice · Post by **soulsacrifice** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:44 pm

I suppose you've got the most important thing on the mft already - the system & quadrant coordinates. R-T-Bs version has a couple more things like what's in the cargo bays, skill rating/military ranks/kills and a couple of other things. I agree you don't need stuff already displayed onscreen at all times so most of the other stuff isn't really important.

For the led changes I think it'd be best to have multiple leds change (so you can see it in the corner of your eye without having to look away from the screen).

So perhaps something like turning all the leds on the joystick red when a missile is coming for you. Use the three buttons on the throttle to display the shield levels red, amber, green. As for the fuel, I was thinking when it was low, so less than 100, maybe you would get all the leds flashing amber.

Perhaps for the scroller, the ability to activate auto-pilot or voice chat or something like that?

Anyway, look forward to seeing more feature and hopefully your version can work for the people who haven't been able to get the other one to work as well.

(P.s. Your English is fine, much better than my..I don't know why...but i'm going to say...Italian).

mrt · Post by **mrt** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:58 pm

Just added cargo bay list. It's scrollable with right scroller!

MF this time --> http://www.mediafire.com/?3l5axj898r65lhl

Will play with LEDs later. I've gotten some good ideas.
I'm also going to change first page to Fuel, Speed and Heading/Pitch (don't shure which lines in savedata last two though). So you can get basic fligh info while HUD compleately off. What do you think?

mrt · Post by **mrt** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 6:25 pm

Ok, have added LEDs:
Fire B - fast red blink on incomming missile. i suggest most have CM on this button, if not - let me know.
Also, clutch button blinking yellow on low energy, and red on low shield. If both low, shield indicator prioritised.
And finally, throttle handle's leds blink on fuel <100. I cant change color on this one.

I also suggest all to disable all leds (exept throttle) in joystick's CP. Overriding defaults in app somehow works stange.

--> http://www.mediafire.com/?ccxddhwp59f1b65

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:53 am

any possibility of makeing the source code avail ?

mrt · Post by **mrt** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 12:33 pm

Hello capt.

I plan for one more update, with which i'll include source, proper readme and version tag.
Planned features are: user bindable leds and three strings for first screen selectable.

Unfortunately we had what "election" thingy on this weekend so i hadn't gotten on app. Please bear with it a little more. (or i can send sources in it's current state to you directly.)

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 2:53 pm

From post: 132418, Topic: tid=6104, author=mrt wrote:user bindable leds and three strings for first screen selectable.

just what i was looking for, very cool, thanx

mrt · Post by **mrt** » Sun Dec 16, 2012 7:29 am

Hello, X52Pro users.
***some explanation and excuses written in poor english here***
...the best i can do now is to finally open the project here http://code.google.com/p/evolaunch/

Filament · Post by **Filament** » Sun Dec 16, 2012 5:38 pm

From post: 82895, Topic: tid=6104, author=ellF wrote:I'm pretty close to releasing my plugin, and could use some beta-testing from the community. Would any fellow X52 Pro users be willing to help out?

Thanks!

Sure... X-52 Pro user here. I can help out, to test.
I almost responded to an earlier post about the profiles, and was going to remind that - slight side-bar convo, outside the topic - even the profiles between the X-52 abd X-52 Pro are not compatible, as I believe the X-52 uses .dat files, and the X-52 Pro uses .pr0 files. Send me a U2U if you need me to test, and I'll blast my email addy to you. If you have any specific instructions in what you want me to test, re: the LCD, let me know.

It sure seems like a lot of work in the SDK to do what you want, but that's the beauty of the sim-modding community, and I've been at this for about 30 years now.

[Edited on 12-16-2012 by Filament]

UpsilonCrux · Post by **UpsilonCrux** » Thu May 23, 2013 8:01 pm

Hi all,

New here to EM, and really enjoying it so far,

I stumbled across this thread and said "awesome", just what I was looking for,

I got the evolaunch.exe from the google site, and followed instructions (have x52 drivers installed, put exe in folder, run, run game)

Unfortunately when I run the exe I get a prompt which reads Unable to initialize DirectOutput, press any key to exit.

I know this is an old thread so maybe nobody has followed up on this, but if anyone can give me any assistance it would be greatly appreciated, this seems like a nifty little tool to help me utilise my mfd for more than a clock!

Thanks all