Virtual connections / Exchange models in MP

Helgesen · August 22, 2003, 08:54:31 AM

Hello!

Just a little tought....
Is it possible to make "virtual connections" to the FSH inside the game ?
Just for making a small amount of AI traffic.

Russell Gilbert · August 22, 2003, 06:47:35 PM

Hi there,

Well, this is a bit like what FSHost 3 will do. When a player connects to the 2002 session, FSHost will create a matching "fake" player for him in the 2004 session, so that all of the 2004 players can see him too. But the two sessions don't actually talk to each other directly. FSHost has to create fake planes.

I've thought about trying to add some kind of AI planes to FSHost also. My idea was to somehow take the AI planes from a single-player session in FS, and then "re-play" them inside FSHost. I think it could work, but there are several issues to think about. I like the idea though.

Did you have another idea?

Russell

MustangAce · August 29, 2003, 05:57:00 PM

I guess this is not so much an idea as a question.
What do these settings mean in the FS2002 and FS9.cfg files?

ALLOW_PLANE_MODEL_SEND=1
ALLOW_PLANE_MODEL_RECEIVE=1
ALLOW_TEXTURE_SEND=1
ALLOW_TEXTURE_RECEIVE=1
ALLOW_DESCRIPTIVE_SEND=1
ALLOW_DESCRIPTIVE_RECEIVE=1

Do they mean, as they imply, that you can send aircraft textures and models to another PC if they do not have your plane installed?
I hope so, but for some reason I have a sneaky feeling it ain't that easy. But I am curious what, if anything, they mean.
Anybody know?

PeterR · August 29, 2003, 07:04:40 PM

They would imply such functionality but FS doesn't do it. At least I haven't run into anyone that ever saw it work. My guess is that such a feature would result in copyright issues with aircraft so it was disabled.

Russell Gilbert · August 29, 2003, 07:07:00 PM

As I understand it, the first four lines were originally for exchanging aircraft models in the multiplayer session:

ALLOW_PLANE_MODEL_SEND=1
ALLOW_PLANE_MODEL_RECEIVE=1
ALLOW_TEXTURE_SEND=1
ALLOW_TEXTURE_RECEIVE=1

I read a few old articles on the net, and apparently this actually worked up until a patch was released for FS98 that stopped it. It worked ok in LAN situations, but was way too much data to be sent over the internet (especially in 1998 ). I'm not positive, but I believe that it's been disabled in every sim since also. The FS2002 multiplayer developer docs (SDK) mentions several game messages that would be used for exchanging models, but it sort of implies that they're not being used anymore. I tried a test once, sending some of these game msgs to FS2002, but it didn't respond with anything. I'm almost positive that they've disabled all of that code, but maybe they're waiting for the world to all switch to high speed internet. With so many people still on 56k modems today, it's not really possible to use it, and I guess Microsoft decided it was better to remove it completely than deal with the problems it creates for people on slow connections.

The other two lines are for something else though:

ALLOW_DESCRIPTIVE_SEND=1
ALLOW_DESCRIPTIVE_RECEIVE=1

These are just the checkboxes you already have access to on the Multiplayer Settings window inside FS2002: "Send/receive detailed aircraft information". This controls whether you see a few things like lights, gear, etc. But not things like turning propellers (which were added in FS2004), open doors, smoke trails, etc. There's actually a bug with this feature in FS2002... If anyone in the session is sending this data, you'll get it whether you have the "receive" feature checked or not. The data sent is about 112 bytes/sec, which is about 2% of a 56Kbps connection. Not a huge amount, but if you're in a game with several people, all of which are on 56k modems, it might be worth it for everyone to turn it off.

In FS2004, those last two settings do the same thing, but the checkboxes on the Multiplayer Settings window are named differently: "Other players see animations on your aircraft" and "See animations on other players' aircraft".

The SDK for FS2004 hasn't come out yet, but I assume they haven't changed this since FS2002. I haven't actually tried any tests yet though.

Russell

MustangAce · August 30, 2003, 12:18:59 AM

OK thanks for your replies. I wish I could test it myself but I loaned my PC#2 to a friend who needed it for a while. Don't know when I'll get it back.

And something else, I've found, in the FS9.cfg file is this area:

[AContain]
ShowLabels=1
ShowUserLabel=1
ShowLabelManufacturer=1
ShowLabelModel=1
ShowLabelTailNumber=1
ShowLabelDistance=1
ShowLabelAltitude=1
ShowLabelAirline=0
ShowLabelAirlineAndFlightNumber=0
ShowLabelFlightPlan=0
ShowLabelContainerId=0
ShowLabelAirspeed=0
ShowLabelHeading=0
LabelDelay=1000
LabelColor=FFFF0000

This is apparently the area to specify the info displayed above other AC. The first seven are changable in the Traffic settings. The two I'm interested in,

ShowLabelAirspeed=0
ShowLabelHeading=0

are not availabe there. However, changing these two settings here shows me this info for AI traffic, but it will not show it for MP traffic. All other labels display for both AI and MP. I was wondering if FSHost could be modified to send airspeed and heading info as well. It would make MP flying more pleasant, I think, to know what is going on around you better.

Helgesen · September 01, 2003, 10:52:17 AM

QuoteHi there,

Well, this is a bit like what FSHost 3 will do. When a player connects to the 2002 session, FSHost will create a matching "fake" player for him in the 2004 session, so that all of the 2004 players can see him too. But the two sessions don't actually talk to each other directly. FSHost has to create fake planes.

I've thought about trying to add some kind of AI planes to FSHost also. My idea was to somehow take the AI planes from a single-player session in FS, and then "re-play" them inside FSHost. I think it could work, but there are several issues to think about. I like the idea though.

Did you have another idea?

Russell

I'm full of ideas...

Russell Gilbert · September 02, 2003, 06:16:31 AM

QuoteI was wondering if FSHost could be modified to send airspeed and heading info as well. It would make MP flying more pleasant, I think, to know what is going on around you better.

MustangAce,

Actually it's not FSHost that's sending that data, but another FS. When FS sends location data to another FS (or to FSHost), it already sends tons of information, including speed and heading (actually several different types of speed). So if the other FS isn't displaying it, I'm afraid it's more of a problem with the displaying side, rather than the sending side. :-(

Russell

MustangAce · September 18, 2003, 01:05:58 AM

OK, I tested those settings with someone else, we both enabled all those options. It just doesn't work, and I was wondering if anyone knows why. I don't, but that's not a surprise. AI shows the extra info, but MP traffic simply pauses in the 2 sec. slot where heading and airspeed are displayed.

Russell Gilbert · September 18, 2003, 01:55:43 AM

I think the simple answer is that it's just not supported in MP, just like ATC, AI planes, open doors, smoke trails, etc. FS reads the information about AI planes from a completely different place than where it reads info about MP planes, so it's possible that they just didn't include that information for MP planes. Which is probably why they didn't include those two options in the user interface.

Sorry

Russell

MustangAce · September 20, 2003, 06:12:33 PM

I was wishing reeeeeeeeeel hard that there was a way to display this, but.....
I guess there is not.

Guess I better shut up.

Thanks for your toloration.