[F4RADAR] Lightweight standalone radar application
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Hi Tumbler31,
We spoke on the Falcon Lounge Discord Server a few days back. Big fan of your software!I was running F4RADAR in the proper way [jet parked on the ramp in 3D etcā¦] and everything was working great.
Then suddenly, the BMS Status light turns yellow, and the F4RADAR display goes totally blank.
I did not do anything in BMS to make it stop working.Then suddenly, the BMS Status light turns green again, and the F4RADAR display returns to normal.
Again, I did not do anything in BMS to make it start working.This happened about 5 times over 60 minutes.
Do you know what might cause this?Thanks,
Freudi [Felix] -
As numbers of MP player increases F4RADAR seems unstable and goes status yellow several rtimes for several minutes.
Anyway we can provide debug information? -
Freudi, chihirobelmo and others, thank you for your feedback on the issue where the program lost connection with the 3D state of BMS. It should be fixed in this update, but do let me know how it functions for you. I also added the option to use the program when youāre in 3D whilst dangling under your parachute or just having crashed into the ground. In such a way you can be of use to your fellow players without having to find a plane parked on the ramp.
The download link to v0.10 can be found in the start post.
version 0.10 changes (05.10.2020)
- added the option to use the program when youāre under your parachute or dead, thus not parked on the ramp
- added statusbar with program and radar status plus game time
- fixed game by adding days when running longer campaigns
- fixed issue of loosing connection to the 3D state of BMS
@nidray, F4RADAR shows flights but also the wingman. The latter only for those entities present in the 3D-world.
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Thank you! Iāll check its stability in next time we hold large excercise.
A new request: could it be possible to read .ini file to show STPT lines and SAM WEZ?
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Thank you! Iāll check its stability in next time we hold large excercise.
A new request: could it be possible to read .ini file to show STPT lines and SAM WEZ?
Thanks for the suggestion, I will surely add it to the wishlist!
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Awesome tool! Have you considered adding the type of aircraft on the contact info? Or to classify it manually by association?
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Thanks for your enthusiastic reaction! And yes, Iām working on that for friendlies. For bogeys Iām still trying to find a way without spoiling the party.
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version 0.11 is out. Main visible change is the table with flight info. You can move the table around and scroll when itās very long. Bogey info is limited to number of planes for now. Another nice one is that the program now also recognizes other nations.
v0.11 changes (13.10.2020)
- added the a scrollable and movable (click header) table showing flight info, for bogey limited to number of planes
- added support for multination war, neutral, hostile and at war are shown as bogey
EDIT: some weird stuff happened in the aircraft type in the table. A fix is on itās way.
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Quite a change, the artificial 5000ft and 200NM detection limits have been removed and F4RADAR now uses the logic of BMS itself. Thus all contacts as visible in the 2D screen are also visible in F4RADAR. And when identified within BMS, the program also gives the plane information in the table, which is now in alphabetical order. Friendly contacts are always shown including their plane and mission information.
Also the latitude and longitude of the cursor are shown in the taskbar, currently this only works for KTO. As usual the download link can be found in the first post and your suggestions, bugs and comments are welcome!
version 0.12 changes (15.10.2020)
- added contacts are now shown when spotted in BMS and plane info is given when identified in BMS, 5000ft restriction and 200NM detection limit have been removed
- added plane info in the table when contact is identified in BMS
- added latitude and longitude mouse position in the status bar
- fixed table is shown in alphabetical order
- fixed plane information in table, previous release showed wrong info for certain contacts
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thanks for creating this tool and investing your time in BMS but i have a question.
Why a different tool when OSC is already there and has also integrity check and ivc api and F4Awacs screen as proven technologie ?
The creator of that tool is also in the inner circles of BMS so every upgrade to 4.xx could be a support tool for it
Would it not be better to combine forces instead of creating a new tool ground up (demotivating the current OSC dev) and in the end having nothing when you decide to call it quits (assumption)(call it cheating or not, think the mp host decides as in current modern warfare every form of intelligence is a way of cheating to get an advantage over your enemy, spy on the ground/spyplane/AWACS/satellite)
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thanks for creating this tool and investing your time in BMS but i have a question.
Why a different tool when OSC is already there and has also integrity check and ivc api and F4Awacs screen as proven technologie ?
The creator of that tool is also in the inner circles of BMS so every upgrade to 4.xx could be a support tool for it
Would it not be better to combine forces instead of creating a new tool ground up (demotivating the current OSC dev) and in the end having nothing when you decide to call it quits (assumption)(call it cheating or not, think the mp host decides as in current modern warfare every form of intelligence is a way of cheating to get an advantage over your enemy, spy on the ground/spyplane/AWACS/satellite)
Iāve used OSC plenty of times in the past. Itās undoubtedly a great tool, I like it, and for a long time, it was the only tool to do what it does. Still, some counterquestions:
- If the OSC dev is in the inner circles of BMS, or even active in any part of the BMS community at all, why did OSC not work for the entirety of 4.33?
- How does F4RADAR demotivate Monster, and (pardon my bluntness) why should that ever be a factor in whether or not someone else wants to build a new tool?
While OSC does still have some things that F4RADAR does not (e.g. integrity check, direct IVC integration, importing all theater objects and mission.ini PPTs/steerpoint lines), F4RADAR has already surpassed OSC in others.
I know Tumbler still has plenty of ideas to improve F4RADAR, but for now, most importantly, his tool can show individual aircraft and their type, and it doesnāt use / rely on an entire software suite, making it a lot more user-friendly and reducing possible points of failure. (which raises the question: Why does OSC require running so much software - SQServer, AISpy, Validator, F4AWACS - when F4RADAR can retrieve and show that and more information without it?)Whether or not Tumbler and Monster want to join forces is obviously up to them. It might be great if they did, but I donāt understand why F4RADAR should demotivate Monster at all? If they stay separate: at worst, they see each otherās tool as a threat to their own creation, which would be silly IMO, because this isnāt a competition or commercial market; at best, they accept the other tool for what it is, and possibly use it for ideas to improve their own.
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these where just my personal questions/view
Contact the OCS dev to get your questions answered i cannot talk for him
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In principle F4A and F4R do more or less the same, but I wanted 2 things differently: 1. deagged entities 2. no hassle (no additional programs, no TE loading, no BE definition, etcetc). But yes, F4A contains quite some fancy features. Iāve had contact with Monster and he gave me some tips. But he admitted that currently he has limited time to maintain his programs.
Furthermore itās fun the create a tool like this for the community and I have still plenty of ideas also not present in F4A. And a little bit of ācompetitionā never hurts.
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In principle F4A and F4R do more or less the same, but I wanted 2 things differently: 1. deagged entities 2. no hassle (no additional programs, no TE loading, no BE definition, etcetc). But yes, F4A contains quite some fancy features. Iāve had contact with Monster and he gave me some tips. But he admitted that currently he has limited time to maintain his programs.
Furthermore itās fun the create a tool like this for the community and I have still plenty of ideas also not present in F4A. And a little bit of ācompetitionā never hurts.
For me, those two PROs makes this software very useful. F4A is great, but when you have 4 fighters on a CAP and in many other cases, you must see all the assets available.
F4A still have other very cool functions, like IVC integration.@tumbler31, we are trying to use it on our spanish SQN, and it seems there is a bug with the āIberia Theaterā.
Contacts are shown out of the map. -
@tumbler31, we are trying to use it on our spanish SQN, and it seems there is a bug with the āIberia Theaterā.
Contacts are shown out of the map.May be the map is 8192 x 8192 px. Did you try to resize it to 4096 x 4096?
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For me, those two PROs makes this software very useful. F4A is great, but when you have 4 fighters on a CAP and in many other cases, you must see all the assets available.
F4A still have other very cool functions, like IVC integration.@tumbler31, we are trying to use it on our spanish SQN, and it seems there is a bug with the āIberia Theaterā.
Contacts are shown out of the map.Thanks for pointing it out that POH doesnāt work. So far I only tested KTO and included some hardcoded values such as the standard 1024x1024 theatre size. POH is 2048x2048, so thatās why the map didnāt work for you and also the bullseye sometimes appeared at the wrong place. Iāve got that fixed and should release an update soon.
@AlphaFox: the resolution of the image youāre using doesnāt matter. F4RADAR will stretch or shrink the image on the theatre size. So as long as the image has the same aspect ratio as the theatre youāre fine. And of course a higher resolution image makes it look better when zoomed in, eg the 40MB .png supplied with POH.
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Dear Sir
Thank u so much !
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Version 0.13 is out. It now also correctly shows the maps image for all theater sizes, so also for POH. Furthermore Iāve added that allied nations can also to the spotting for your country, just like in BMS. Valuable feedback from users brought this lacking behaviour under my attention.
So keep your feedback and suggestions coming and help me improving this program for all users.
version 0.13 changes (26.10.2020)
- added spotting and identifying of contacts can now also be done by allied nations
- added lat/long for all theaters in the northern-eastern hemisphere
- fixed map image for 2048x2048 theatres like POH
- table no longer shows empty flights
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Small update with a yard stick in the bottom right corner as well as a toggleable context menu. On mouse over this gives you the detailed info also visible in the table, but without having to scroll though all info. Enjoy it, and let me know of any improvements.
version 0.14 changes (29.10.2020)
- added toggleable context menu to show detailed info at mouse over
- added yardstick
EDIT: thereās seems to be something funky with the context menu in certain cases, Iāll have a look at it
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Fixed a bug in the context menu showing sometimes the wrong aircraft type. Thanks Eagle-Eye for pointing it out!
version 0.15 changes (30.10.2020)
- fixed bug in aircraft type in context menu