Hello @ll,
I’m usually not that guy, but…I just need to get a few things off my chest.
It seems like the ability to operate switches and knobs in the cockpit with external controllers has a rather low priority, for Asobo and some aircraft developers. The latest nail in the coffin is the introduction of the B: variables in SU5, which render previous solutions useless.
I am writing this as the voice of hundreds of customers (and a handful of devs) who suddenly find themselves in a position where tried and trusted solutions for external controls stop working because the internal mechanics of the sim suddenly change - and no path is being offered for making them work again.
Current example are the B: variable input events. In the default planes they are now controlling a lot of things that were previously accessible with LVars. While there is most certainly a good technological reason for doing this, it leaves us stranded, because these B: variables cannot be accessed neither with the gauges API nor through SimConnect.
So here are my modest wishes on behalf of all those people who enjoy things like using MIDI controllers, StreamDecks, Saitek hardware etc. etc.
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Asobo, please give us access to all variables, especially the B:, O: and I: kind, through the gauges API, so we can access them with a stand alone WASM module.
Even better would be an equivalent of “execute_calculator_code” for SimConnect, but I don’t want to sound greedy… -
Aircraft devs, please consider adding an extra XML file especially for controller access, exposing all necessary LVars and HVars. Plus, I imagine just doing something like this and including it in the Behaviors would suffice for most use cases:
<!-- AAO BVar link ################################# --> <Component ID="LVAR_TO_BVAR"> <UseTemplate Name="ASOBO_GT_Update"> <UPDATE_CODE> (L:AAO_TBM_FUEL_Selection_Auto, Bool) (B:FUEL_Selection, Bool) != if{ (>B:FUEL_Selection_Toggle) } (L:AAO_TBM_InertSep, Bool) (B:DEICE_Engine_1, Bool) != if{ (>B:DEICE_Engine_1_Toggle) } </UPDATE_CODE> <FREQUENCY>1</FREQUENCY> </UseTemplate> </Component>
I hope that I am not stepping on anyones toes, but being at the forefront of support requests for an external controller tool, I find this matter urgent enough to post about it.
Oh, and btw: at least the Heading Bug K: events lag significantly in the default G1000 implementation since HF2
On a personal note - it doesn’t feel right to me if a user, who simply wants to operate a real hardware device instead of the mouse, has to become a programmer just to make it work - provided that it is even possible. There has to be a better way.
