Scripting Support For Control Inputs

[ruby_monkey]

Question: does BoX support scripting of control inputs, and does it provide scripts with a way to query the state of an aircraft's various controls? Allow me to clarify: at the moment a fair number of control inputs (eg. landing gear, bomb bay, air brakes extend and retract) are toggles, where I would want to have separate buttons to trigger each action, and then only if the wheels or whatnot were in the opposite state (landing gear for instance - if retracted then extend, else do nothing). For others I would like to assign a series of actions to a single button press (feathering an individual propeller, I'm looking at you - unselect all engines->select the appropriate engine->feather prop). I'd be most grateful if someone would tell me if such a thing is possible; and, if so, would point me in the direction of documentation or tutorials covering this.

Edited May 11, 2018 by ruby_monkey

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

1 minute ago, ruby_monkey said:

does BoX support scripting of control inputs

No, unless you mean external programs that operate outside the game.

 

1 minute ago, ruby_monkey said:

does it provide scripts with a way to query the state of an aircraft's various controls?

No. It has been discussed, but no conclusion was ever reached. 

 

3 minutes ago, ruby_monkey said:

I'd be most grateful if someone would tell me if such a thing is possible; and, if so, would point me in the direction of documentation or tutorials covering this.

Some things that you mention are possible with additional software, though there are limitations (e.g. the game doesn't know the position of your switches and your controller doesn't know the game state). Some solutions will depend on software that only works with certain hardware. 

 

I'm certainly not an expert. Perhaps someone else can offer more detail. 

[ruby_monkey]

Ah well, shot down in flames. Thank you.

[Sokol1]

Only flaps allow map separated key/button for up and down, all other commands are toggle (press an key/button once for ON, press again for OFF) what will defeat half of your plan.

 

With external keymapper, e.g. AutoHotkey, Joystick Gremlin, XPadder... you can make macros for "automatize" some things, (e.g. feather propeller) but no way to know previous the state of commands, since - until now, the game don't export data.

 

[ruby_monkey]

The toggle nature of most controls wouldn't have been a problem if (and only if) the game exposed some way to determine the current state of the mechanism being operated, since the script would have triggered a change only if said mechanism were in the opposite state to that being triggered.

 

As for feathering propellors particularly, since there's no command to unselect all engines (another blasted toggle) I can't see a way reliably to script this without the macro being able to determine whether or not any engine are selected (but of course others might already have done this).

 

It's a shame. I'd have liked the ability to split many toggled actions into separate commands not just for immersion's sake, but also as a way to ensure a control's state in a hurry (for instance being able to ensure a Pe-2's dive brakes were closed when you're not sure if you've accidentally opened them by fat-fingering your switches, but you do know you'd really like to run away as fast as you can from all those pesky Bf-109s and now isn't the time to look for indicators because the tracer is getting really bloody close and Uncle Joe is already mad at you for losing so many crew members).

Edited May 11, 2018 by ruby_monkey

[Guest deleted@134347]

2 hours ago, ruby_monkey said:

The toggle nature of most controls wouldn't have been a problem if (and only if) the game exposed some way to determine the current state of the mechanism being operated, since the script would have triggered a change only if said mechanism were in the opposite state to that being triggered.

 

As for feathering propellors particularly, since there's no command to unselect all engines (another blasted toggle) I can't see a way reliably to script this without the macro being able to determine whether or not any engine are selected (but of course others might already have done this).

 

It's a shame. I'd have liked the ability to split many toggled actions into separate commands not just for immersion's sake, but also as a way to ensure a control's state in a hurry (for instance being able to ensure a Pe-2's dive brakes were closed when you're not sure if you've accidentally opened them by fat-fingering your switches, but you do know you'd really like to run away as fast as you can from all those pesky Bf-109s and now isn't the time to look for indicators because the tracer is getting really bloody close and Uncle Joe is already mad at you for losing so many crew members).

 

yup, I hear you. DCS has the option of either using a toggle or separate on/off switches for pretty much all of the cockpit up/down/left/right switches.

 

I think the devs look at this as an obstacle to entry for the newcomers. I remember when I tried out DCS for the first time I was lost in a gazillion of its keyboard commands, which turned out to be optional, but it still took time. IL2 keyboard binding screen is already pretty long, maybe it's just a matter of adding the "advanced" key assignment view perhaps..

 

[dburne]

I long for the day I can assign a button as a modifier in IL-2.

[ruby_monkey]

I long for the day I can avoid the sound of my undercarriage retracting while I'm sitting on the runway.