Combine "BMS Full.key" with older Helios profile
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Using Notepad++ Refer to lines 1329-1344 to using Trim with the hat. I will say right now that I don’t fully understand how this works as the “0” after the callback does not suggest it is a DirectX key unlike previous callbacks with a number to say which DirectX it is using. I suspect this has something to do with the TARGET profile and combining the two controllers into one virtual controller. One suggestion I would have is to plug in the TM WH stick and throttle, combine them, and also plug in your Cougar throttle…. one potential problem is that the controls assigned to the WH throttle will be on the WH throttle… you’ll have to find a way to make sure it’s also assigned to your Cougar throttle.
After studying the keyfile manual shipped with 4.33 I found that the ‘0’ is not an artefact of TARGET, but actually refers to whether a callback is in the ‘unshifted’ or ‘shifted’ state. The code associated with those flight trim callbacks are directly related to the POV Hat on your Warthog Stick. The POV Hat ‘has its own syntax’ (how this works I don’t understand) and therefore instead of inputting a Direct X button number like all your other joystick/mfd/throttle buttons, all that is required for the POV Hat is a ‘0’ if you want the callback to work in the unshifted state, or a ‘2’ if you want it to work in the shifted state (i.e. when you have the pinky switch held down at the same time).
With a bit of reverse engineering and a lot of hair pulling I was able to determine all of the DX codes associated with both my Warthog Stick (same codes as yours) and my Cougar running through the TUSBA adapter. I have now removed any code from your key file that is irrelevant to me and assigned my preferred callbacks to the stick and throttle in both the shifted and unshifted state. All of this without third party software - it all runs via direct X in Windows. I must say I really am happy with the results. Until this morning I did not know it was even possible to map additional callbacks to the HOTAS and can now control my view, talk to my wingman and awacs without having to reach over to my keyboard.
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Glad to know it’s working. One of Weepop’s issues was that he needed to “fix” the charts page but nobody else had reported that problem.
I just noticed that some of the buttons don’t work in the charts pages. For example when I click on ‘Kunsan’ the ‘Patro Departure’ chart displays on the left of the screen and the ‘Airport diagram’ on the right side, but the ‘Aladi, Coyote, Patro, Visual 18/36,ILS 18 and ILS 36’ buttons don’t do anything. Only the ‘Spawn Points’ button seems to work. I have a similar issue with the other charts also, any ideas?
Also, I’ve noticed the ‘FPS’ ‘Views’ and ‘Smoke’ buttons under the left MFD don’t function either? Has anyone else had these issue?
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Wilkotaz
I do not use any DX settings as I prefer my CH program.
I do not use the POV hat for trim only for view, because I like to be able to turn off my free track under certain circumstances
and fall back to the POV hat. This is why I run in 32 bit (post 11) as it does not happen in 64 bit.I have programmed keys on my G19 keyboard for trim which I find acceptable.
I am seriously considering changing to BMS full key as you state in first post so would be very interested in what you come up with.
weepop
Weepop - Would you not be able to just add in any additions from BMS full.key that are not in your current key? I haven’t had a chance to play with your file yet as I have been trying to get Ice’s to work with my setup. See above.
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Let me refer you to section 6.3 of the BMS Key File Manual.pdf, starting on page 15. That will show you what you need to know regarding the callback lines. Section 7 onwards (page 23) talks about assigning DirectX callbacks.
In normal keystroke callbacks, the first number (zero) is not really used anymore. In DirectX callbacks, the first number is actually the DirectX button ID. However, you will notice all Trim callbacks are “0”, this is because these callbacks are mapped as a HAT due to the “-3” later in the line. Again, the BMS Key File Manual is better at explaining these things.
IIRC, a specific device can only hold 32 DirectX inputs and that is why other people do not “combine” the TM WH stick and throttle.
If you are reporting a problem with the chart pages as well, I’m not really sure what’s going on there. I’ll need to look into it a bit more. As for the FPS button, Helios seems to be having trouble with how the key combo is done for Falcon. I’ll have to re-map that. Helios has issues with a few keyboard keys that it cannot seem to use… “Views” and “Smoke” are remnants of my old profile; I’ll have to check them as well. Apologies for that.
As for the .key file editing, I prefer not to delete any lines that I don’t need, instead, I just “invalidate” them by putting a “#” sign in front of it… or three “#”. This is the beauty of editing the .key file in Notepad++, being able to put white spaces and characters so that it’s easier to “read” the .key file. Make a backup .key file with a different name, open the backup in the in-game UI, make a change or something, then save it in the in-game UI. Now open the backup .key file in Notepad++… headache!
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Let me refer you to section 6.3 of the BMS Key File Manual.pdf, starting on page 15. That will show you what you need to know regarding the callback lines. Section 7 onwards (page 23) talks about assigning DirectX callbacks.
In normal keystroke callbacks, the first number (zero) is not really used anymore. In DirectX callbacks, the first number is actually the DirectX button ID. However, you will notice all Trim callbacks are “0”, this is because these callbacks are mapped as a HAT due to the “-3” later in the line. Again, the BMS Key File Manual is better at explaining these things.
Ah ok. I hadn’t noticed that the ‘-3’ was the part assigning the callback to the Hat. I was reading from section 8.2 (specifically page 35). I assumed the ‘0’ and ‘2’ codes automatically assigned the callback to the Hat. I now understand that the ‘-3’ specifically assigns the callback to the POV Hat and the ‘0’ and ‘2’ assign to either the shifted or unshifted layer of the Hat. Thanks for clearing me up on that
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If you are reporting a problem with the chart pages as well, I’m not really sure what’s going on there. I’ll need to look into it a bit more. As for the FPS button, Helios seems to be having trouble with how the key combo is done for Falcon. I’ll have to re-map that. Helios has issues with a few keyboard keys that it cannot seem to use… “Views” and “Smoke” are remnants of my old profile; I’ll have to check them as well. Apologies for that.
Yes I am not getting all the chart information for each airfield, only selected sheets. Taking Kunsan for example, I only see the ‘Patro Departure’ and ‘Aiport Diagram’ sheets. All other buttons except for ‘Spawn Points’ do not work. When I look to my \documents\helios\Ices Falcon BMS 4.33 ver.2\Charts\South Korea\Kunsan folder, I see all the .png charts that should be assigned to your buttons however they don’t appear to be linked. I am guessing it is a mapping issues in Helios but as Helios editing is well beyond me at this point I am not sure how to check.
On further investigation it appears the smoke button DOES indeed work (apologies…) - it is only the FPS and Views that don’t. I was doing some SAM hunting today and went to hit the ‘SEARCH’ button on the ‘TWA’ (Left auxiliary console) but found that this button did not work either. Perhaps it is worth checking this one out also when you find some time.
And no need for apologies! on the contrary, this profile has improved my experience immensely
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As for the .key file editing, I prefer not to delete any lines that I don’t need, instead, I just “invalidate” them by putting a “#” sign in front of it… or three “#”. This is the beauty of editing the .key file in Notepad++, being able to put white spaces and characters so that it’s easier to “read” the .key file. Make a backup .key file with a different name, open the backup in the in-game UI, make a change or something, then save it in the in-game UI. Now open the backup .key file in Notepad++… headache!
I agree. The ‘irrelevant code’ I was speaking about was only the DirectX button ID’s that were relevant to your Warthog Throttle. Obviously the Cougar and Warthog throttle have a different amount of buttons and layout, and thus your key had ID’s that were of no use to me. I left everything else as it was for future ‘tweaking’. And yes, what a headache! at least now I’ve learnt to back the keyfile up after every change - nothing worse than opening up your hard work only to find you can’t find anything in its original place anymore…
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I agree. The ‘irrelevant code’ I was speaking about was only the DirectX button ID’s that were relevant to your Warthog Throttle. Obviously the Cougar and Warthog throttle have a different amount of buttons and layout, and thus your key had ID’s that were of no use to me. I left everything else as it was for future ‘tweaking’. And yes, what a headache! at least now I’ve learnt to back the keyfile up after every change - nothing worse than opening up your hard work only to find you can’t find anything in its original place anymore…
The idea is to NEVER save a .key file in the UI. Do all your work and saving in Notepad++
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Yup, learnt that the hard way…
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Best types of lessons!
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Weepop - Would you not be able to just add in any additions from BMS full.key that are not in your current key? I haven’t had a chance to play with your file yet as I have been trying to get Ice’s to work with my setup. See above.
Hi Wilkotaz, sorry for delay in reply,
I think you misunderstood when I said I do not use BMS full key.
MY keyfile is all and more than what is in BMS full.
BMS full is actually only BMS partly full and in many cases only has key presses associated to toggle up and down when there are call backs for each separate position.
Take section 2.16 as an example. BMS full has all the call backs for the UHF backup frequencies but only keys associated with the toggle call backs.
My latest key file (not released yet WIP) has keys allocated to all frequency digits (total of 34)I will be releasing it shortly
weepop -
Glad to know it’s working. One of Weepop’s issues was that he needed to “fix” the charts page but nobody else had reported that problem.
I just noticed that some of the buttons don’t work in the charts pages. For example when I click on ‘Kunsan’ the ‘Patro Departure’ chart displays on the left of the screen and the ‘Airport diagram’ on the right side, but the ‘Aladi, Coyote, Patro, Visual 18/36,ILS 18 and ILS 36’ buttons don’t do anything. Only the ‘Spawn Points’ button seems to work. I have a similar issue with the other charts also, any ideas?
Also, I’ve noticed the ‘FPS’ ‘Views’ and ‘Smoke’ buttons under the left MFD don’t function either? Has anyone else had these issue?
Wilkotaz see my helios profile post 111 and 115 to explain your loss of chart pages
weepop
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Hello Wilkitaz,
As an avid follower of Ice and Weepop Helios development over time, I remember one of them suggesting that I use the .key excel profile editor in the BMS docs file folder. It is called: BMS Key File Editor.xlsm (developed by Boxer, thank you Boxer you have helped me a lot!!)
There’s also a YouTube video that explains how to use it but it is in a foreign language but with English subtitles. (Thank you Dasoxori!!! For taking the time to do this video even though it’s in your own language!) It consist of part one and part two. Follow that to get up to speed on how to use this file. Search for BMS 4.33 Key File Editor (Part I of II) in YT and you will find it. Try to be patient with the language or just turn the volume down and follow the screen instructions and you will be an expert on it.
This tool allows me to import any .key profile, whether it belongs to Ice, Weepop, or the original BMS .key files from your BMS Folders. I’m able to see how all the call-backs are being triggered. It also has any of the HOTAS DX assignments so you can use DX settings instead of the program that comes with your flight stick. It also takes into consideration the ability to use shift-pinky in order to duplicate how many more buttons you can have on your HOTAS.
I hope this helps. Please keep us posted as to your progress.
Thank you
Pika -
Wilkotaz,
I started using VAC for my comms. All I do is issue an order and BMS responds accordingly.
Check this link: https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?8323-DeeJay-s-Voice-Activaded-Commands-(VAC)-Profiles (Thank you Deejay!!)
PikaPS: you can also find the Voice Activated Control profile on the documents folder in BMS.
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Ice,
My FPS and Smoke buttons work as intended.
Pika