Hey Ladies ,

as this was requested by some of you. There is now a standalone Version for only Siren/Strobe.

For now thats the only thing it does. Ill add all of the other Cop functions like automatic siren activation in chase or automatic fast siren in dense traffic at a later date.

So if any of you need that. Feel free to try it .

If you encounter any bugs, feel free to report them here .

Btw. For now it uses all available lights as standard. However, in the next version you'll be able to set which ones you want used.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Byr4onJvHW1MP7zCei0HUgOUG9t5R_Dl?usp=sharing

Hey everybody,

I knowww its been a while, but I think, I am at a point with the new version where I can let you guys try out some stuff.

Therefore, you can find the new version on Google Drive now ("PACT Driving Assistant 2 (ALPHA 1).zip").

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Byr4onJvHW1MP7zCei0HUgOUG9t5R_Dl?usp=sharing

Please read through these notes before testing:

This is a very early version of a complete rewrite of my program (which i have spent too much time on but thats a story for another day haha)

Therefore, some features will not work or work only partly (Yes, i will fix them, but i dont think they are so dramatic that i need to keep the version from the public still):

These include:
- A custom made gearbox setup for the automatic gearbox is not automatically saved permanently. You can however manually edit the text file where "known cars" are saved, any then you'll be able to load a gearbox setting without setting it up every time. (PACT Folder -> data -> gearbox.txt).
- You CAN add multiple gearbox - settings, for example for different setups for each car. (Not more than 5 for now). For that, go to PACT Folder -> data -> gearbox.txt and add a second CARNAME_SETUPNAME to the list. I have added a second setup for FZ5, so you guys can just copy that, so not much brain power needed haha.

Obviously make sure to keep the spaces and basic layout of the file like it was before, otherwise it cannot be read by my program...

- You can change most key bindings in the Menu, however multiple character stuff like axis "12" for braking, is not yet supported, please use controls.txt for that.

- Parking emergency brake does not yet work.

- Bus Simulation does not yet work properly.

- The automatic siren and suspect tracker do not yet work. However siren and strobe do work, but need to be operated using the buttons. (Collision warning and stuff like that will of course also be turned off in cop mode). And the siren will automatically switch to fast siren if there is a lot of traffic around.

- There is no automatic indicator turnoff yet.

- There is no ACC yet.

- And i am sure you guys will find a bunch of bugs, that i haven't noticed yet, since i did only the very minimum for testing the program, because i really wanted it released.

- I didnt test a lot for mouse/keyboard users yet, but ill add everything thats missing in the next version.

Only german and english are fully supported languages for now, with the others you will just see default strings, where there is no translation for now.


If you happen to find any bugs, issues or just have a suggestion for improvement, please let me know here, i really appreciate the feedback!!

If an update is available (and the code i have written does what it is supposed to) you will also be notified in game!

I hope you have fun playing around with the new version.

Have a nice sunday guys!

Last edited by Rob2003, Sat, 10 Feb 2024 20:42. Reason : typo

Quote from Countess :

@Rob2003 Any information about the releasing date? Had been in some hard times with crashes as my reflexes are quiet bad.

Well actually, yes i can give you some news. As you know, I've been working on a complete rewrite anddd it seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I think i should be able to release a beta version within the next two weeks (which probably will still have a few bugs, but in general it should work much more stable than the current version with 0.7E)

Sorry, that it takes so long, University, Work... yk just the typically stuff that keeps you busy.

Quote from drifter811 :

I'm fairly sure I set everything right in the. txt. I'm using a mouse with keyboard for throttle and brake.

Ah well, but there we have it... It's a issue on my side. If you have set "mouse" controls in LFS, my program assumes that you use mouse left and mouse right for throttle and brake. Obviously it should also consider other keyboard bindings.

I am working on a new version, it'll be fixed as soon as possible!

Quote from drifter811 :

Hey! I have an issue with the collision prevention. It shows me the red symbol on the screen, but it doesn't slow my car down. Any help?

Hi there,
That is most likely due to a wrong setting in the controls.txt file - or your method of control is not supported (which is not likely tho).

Did you set everything in controls.txt?

If yes - what type of controller do you use?

Aight, thanks. Didn't notice that one.

Just moved my Lfs to another hard drive and noticed, that it has 20 GBs.

Then i had a look at the mods folder, and almost every mod is in there several times.

Maybe it might be a good idea to add an option to automatically delete old / duplicate mod versions to save memory.


Merry christmas everyone!

Quote from Scawen :

That's in D60 https://www.lfs.net/forum/thread/106005

Awesome, thank you so much! Your work is really appreciated. The speed at which you are able to publish these updates is absolutely mad - in a very good way!

Quote from kristofferandersen :

I've been playing around with it and i haven't been able to figure it out either.

(...)

Is there a reason why you specifically need to use the arrow keys? Isn't there another way around it?

Well thanks for trying anyway! If this is added with one of the next updates, the question is not relevant anymore, but in case you are interested - or bored, idk haha -, i still wrote my reason behind the question haha:

The reason I have to use the arrow keys is that some users of my program are for sure going to be using arrow keys (and i do too when testing the program with keyboard - i typically use a wheel for normal playing).

In the new version, I am trying to improve the emergency braking interventions, which work good for wheel/controller users, but are a little hit and miss for mouse and keyboard users, as I didn't pay too much attention to that up until now. The problem is mainly that if I release a button in my code, let's say the "S" key, when a user uses WSAD for driving, i cannot (or at least i didn't find an elegant way to so) find out if the user is still pressing the key, since the latest event is a KeyUp Event that my program sent. And while i override the users keyboard, i am not really able to keep track of whether he is releasing the "S" button, since my program is still overriding "S" and it is pressed all the time, as i cant really distinguish between real or synthetic keyboard events the way that i generate them.

That's why I thought that I might be able to implement a similar logic to the Wheel/Controller emergency braking. That way I can change the assigned button in LFS quickly while the braking intervention is in progress and reset it afterwards (which works really reliable for Controller/Wheel for years now). That way i can easily keep track of the users actual inputs on the brake key, as i am overriding a spare key of some sort.

I hope that makes sense (even though it was unnecessary to explain all of that haha). That was my reason behind the question.

Quote from Scawen :

The /key command can only take a single character.

To be complete it should really accept all the legally assignable keys.

(...)

(minus some reserved keys... don't worry about the strange names, internal constants)

I've made a note to look if this can be enabled in the next day or two but there are higher priorities still.

Yeah, that would be awesome. And yes, sure, I know it is not a high priority thing !

Quote from rane_nbg :

I'm not sure, but I do know that arrow keys, shift, alt, ctrl, tab and such have a special way of usage, since they don't have an asci character representation.

Yeah, I am aware of that, but since other commands support "up", "down", "left", "right", my best guess was that it would be the same for the /key command, which either it isn't, or I am just not clever enough to figure it out haha.

Hey there,

came across an issue with the /key command (or at least i cant figure it out).

For my Driving Assistant, i sometimes need to set the braking key of the user to the "down" arrow for example.

How in the world to i set that via the /key command haha?

/key down brake does not work... And i have tried almost every possible other way of spelling it, but i cant get it to work.

/press command works with key "down", and the /key command works like /key m brake, to set the brake key to m...

But setting the brake key to one of the arrow keys... I cant figure out how.
Any tips?

Best regards,
Robert

Hey everyone,

i made a short little trailer for the new version i have been working on. This is just a very tiny fraction of the things that are added/improved.

I think i am able to publish the first beta of the new version soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNp5RR97Fro

Enjoy

PS: If you got any suggestions, or things you want to see in the new update, let me know

Very small and not at all important, but also easy to "fix".
The commands.txt file in the docs do not contain the lights commands yet, maybe you can add them there for the release

I also do prefer the old version with the bars inside the tires a lot more.

Quote from Kanade :

Hello, low beam/high beam speaks more to international users, which sounds better in the sake of standardization (and to non UK resident ears).

agreed. Dipped is something you do not recognize as a non native speaker (like me as a German for example)

Quote from Scawen :

Hi Rob, I've tried to reproduce it, using default setup and it didn't happen for me.

12 laps at Aston North, 4 AI in Pochete
1 and 2 at level 5
3 and 4 at level 4

They all chose to start with 31% fuel for 1 stint, estimated 2.2% per lap.

1 and 2 finished the race with 5.5% left in tank. 3 and 4 finished with over 6.5% in tank.

So I'm not getting the same result. Could your result be related to the setups they were using?

Ohhhh, i just see its the required pitstop (didnt notice that until reviewing the replay). I have attached the replay now. They dont manage to stop within the pit boxes when they have like 1% of fuel remaining and they just continue without the pitstop and then run out of fuel on the outlap. The ones that were set to difficulty 5 made the pitstop without any problem. (and yes they were also using the default set )

This might be more a thing the modders should fix, but idk so im just gonna post this here anyways:
Some mods force feedback is not scaled properly, i dont really know what else to call it.
For example in the Pochete 118 GT3, if you take a corner at speed, the FFB is immediately in the red are with max opposite force. That makes it a lot more tricky to drive than the native LFS cars. Something you really notice if you switch back to original lfs cars after driving mods for a while. As an idea maybe take the force feedback into consideration for "approved mods" if you dont already do so. I've also noticed on some cars that the wheel turns to a random full lock when stationary (or it violently shakes when pressing the brake while stationary, for example on "VRC FA 2007"). Speaking from experience that can really hurt your pinkie if you do not expect it and use a direct drive wheel haha...

I have just noticed a small bug, as i have been doing quite a bit of racing again lately...

The AI seems to not always take the correct amount of fuel for races. I just had a race with a friend of mine and AI (mod: Pochete 118 GT3) and the AI cars that were set to difficulty 4 ran out of fuel 2 laps before the end of the race (12 lap race on Aston North, they ran out in i think lap 10). Interestingly the AI set to difficulty 5 finished the race without a problem.

Quote from subUwU :

there is a problem with mine, idk if its my laptop or the files. I followed all the steps also in the video. changed the controls file, /insim 29999, ive done everything but the only thing that works is light assist. hide mouse wont even work. please help ;-;

Edit: I just had a look at your post in the other thread. I believe it is probably due to the cfg.txt file. Either you didnt save it after editing, or you accidentally edited OutSim and not OutGauge. If you could attach it, i can take a look .

Hi there, could you describe the issue a little more?

Can you also attach your cfg.txt from the lfs folder maybe?

Which controller type do you use (mouse, keyboard, or wheel)?

If i have the info i might be able to fix your problem

Last edited by Rob2003, Mon, 13 Nov 2023 13:04.

Quote from Flame CZE :

There is InputSteer value available in radians.

From OutSimPack.txt:

struct OutSimInputs
{
float Throttle; // 0 to 1
float Brake; // 0 to 1
float InputSteer; // radians
float Clutch; // 0 to 1
float Handbrake; // 0 to 1
};

You can receive it, your "OutSim Opts" value must include OSO_INPUTS bit (16) in hexadecimal.

Oh awesome, i didn't know that. Ill try that, thank you so much!!

Hey there,

just a little suggestion: If it is not too much work, why not add the users steering input (-1 to 1 or something) to the outgauge packet? I mean throttle, brake and clutch are included, but some insim programs would really benefit to have that easy access to the steering input as well

Hey there,

just noticed, that for me all dates for the LFS news articles (like the 20th anniversary post) have

"added Undefined NaN Undefined NaN, NaN:0NaN"

as a date.

Not a big deal, but i wanted to point that out .

Robert

I havent tested thaaaat much yet, but so far I really like the changes to bike physics, i really struggled riding them in earlier versions, and it became much easier now - even fun, one might say .

So many things that can be done with bikes now come to my mind... But i dont want to distract you with more suggestions for now haha - after all we are all still waiting for the big update haha .

Right... As many have reached out to me on discord, asking when the next big update for more mods will be, just an fyi:

I am currently rewriting the entire thing, as I am now a much better programmer than i was 3 years ago, when i did the last complete rewrite (probably due to the fact that i have been studying computer science for the past 2 years). There is no point in making the current code better as that's a crappy architecture - and the project is much bigger now than i ever expected it to be....

Therefore, it'll be some time until you can expect a new big update, but that wait will be worth it. I promise .

I am doing my best to give you all the functionality of the current version, just that it hopefully will work for all cars (and mods)...

If you have any feature suggestions, please feel free to reply to this thread. I have a list with everything i want to add/implement, and if i like the idea, maybe i'll add it to that list .

Just to give a time frame: Expect an alpha version of the new thing around march next year (that's going to have maybe half the functions of the final thing). I am probably going to be able to do a lot in the winter break.

In the meantime, i hope you still have fun with the current version .