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News SimTools v2.4 Released!!

Discussion in 'News' started by yobuddy, Jun 25, 2019.

  1. yobuddy

    yobuddy Well-Known Member Staff Member Moderator SimAxe Beta Tester SimTools Developer Gold Contributor

    Joined:
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    It’s finally here, SimTools v2.4! :cheers

    SimTools v2.4 brings with it some of the biggest upgrades and new features that SimTools has ever had in a single release. :thumbs

    A few notable features are the addition of a Soft (Startup / UnPause) and (Shutdown / Pause) speed settings.
    And the all new Game Engine running modes, that allow for some finer tuning that some users are looking for.
    There is even completely reworked motion filters that are both easier to use, and also perform allot better.

    ggggggg.jpg

    Important notice to all SimTools users:
    If you using the washout filter please adjust you gain values.
    As the Gain is now a simple multiplier, where a value of 2 doubles the output, a value of 3 triples it and so on…

    Important notice to all AMC users:
    Please un-assign your AMC interface settings before the upgrade.
    Then simply re-setup the interface setting in the new AMC unified interface once your upgrade is complete.

    All New AMC Configuration Tool.
    While working with Thanos to build the unified AMC Interface for SimTools, we also worked on an easy to use AMC settings application that works with all of the AMC interface controllers. (Note: Firmware update may be required.)
    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/amc-configuration-tool.229/

    New SimTools v2.4 Manual
    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/official-simtools-user-manual.12424/

    New SimTools v2.4 compatible Game Dash
    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/simtools-v2-game-dash.76/

    New SimTools v2.4 compatible Game Vibe
    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/simtools-v2-game-vibe.201/

    New SimTools inverse kinematics 6DOF Beta Axis Assignments Plugins
    (Special thanks @pmvcda aka FlyPt!)
    Linear
    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/linear-hexapod-plugin-beta.231/
    ad.jpg

    Rotating
    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/rotating-hexapod-plugin-beta.230/
    ssad.jpg



    SimTools v2.4 Updates and Changes
    - New GameManger Profiling corruption detection system.
    If GameManger detects a corrupt file, It will:
    1) Load the backup
    2) IF the backup profile fails, it will load the default profile for the game.
    3) IF the default profile fails, it will create a new profile.
    - Output Testing has been revamped. (Gone is the 3..2..1.. countdown).
    (It now only takes about ~0.5 seconds to start or stop output testing)
    - Soft Centering & Soft Startup / Resume! I know allot of you have been waiting for this.
    Soft Centering = you press the Pause button and the sim slowly Centers.
    Soft Startup / Resume = You Un-Pause the game and the sim slowly gets Back up to Speed.
    - All of the Axis Assignment filters have been redone and polished.
    - All New Axis Assignment filter Traction Loss
    - All New Axis Assignment filter Washout
    - All New Axis Assignment filter Smoothing
    - Axis Assignment filter GUI updates
    - Completely refined GameEngine motion computation engine
    - All new AMC unified interface
    - New Tuning Center ‘Save Gui Flash’ indication
    - New GameEngine Logging system (entertainment license only)
    - All internal SimTools communication has been completely overhauled for speed and efficiency.
    - GameDash and GameVibe communication was also overhauled.
    - PCars 1&2 fix (I can't get PCars to crash GameVibe anymore, I think its fixed?)
    - Company Tools now includes GameDash and GameVibe (with auto correcting re-setup - com ports/sound card settings)
    - GameManger and GameEngine are now live synced!
    (Select a game profile and the other app has it selected too)
    - GameManger and GameEngine connection and re-connection chatter is completely gone. (Now super efficient!)
    - Game Engine now has 3 running modes. (Default is Standard)
    In Standard mode, everything works as it always has.
    In Game Engine Advanced Mode, you will get per GameManger profile Min / Max settings.
    In Game Engine Expert Mode, you get per GameManger profile Min / Max settings, plus different Min / Max settings for Axis Assignments (a) and (b).
    - Everything is now compiled against .net 4.6 (to retain vista compatibility)
    - SimTools Installer should now download and install .net 4.6 should it be missing or out of date.
    - Using a Min / Max value of zero is now the equivalent of Turing the direction off.
    - New Min / Max files now default to all zeros.
    - (Experimental) Region free fix (looks good so far!)
    - Game Manger “Main Level %” in profile manager is now renamed to “Intensity Level”
    - New Game Vibe and Game Dash versions finished for this release.
    • Winner x 21
    • Like x 10
    • Agree x 1
    • Informative x 1
    • Friendly x 1
    • Creative x 1
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2019
  2. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

    Joined:
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    Innovative tech specialist for NGOs
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    St Helens, Tasmania, Australia
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    144,452Coins
    Ratings:
    +10,730 / 52 / -2
    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Thanks to @yobuddy and the testing team, this is a huge update that brings significant new features and capabilities to SimTools :thumbs
    • Agree Agree x 15
  3. ilbiga

    ilbiga Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2014
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    Occupation:
    Network Engineer
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    Italy
    Balance:
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    +138 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    Thanks @yobuddy !!!
    Next vacation time ... equal ... test time! ;)
    • Funny Funny x 1
  4. Kranky Pantz

    Kranky Pantz Active Member

    Joined:
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    Canada, Eh!
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    +290 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK, Motion platform
    This
    Is
    EPIC!!!!!

    I can't wait to install it and begin exploring the new features.
    :popcorn

    Thanks for all of your hard work @yobuddy, and to all of those who were involved in the development.
    U R the best!
    :cheers
    • Agree Agree x 4
    • Like Like x 1
  5. Sin.Schumi

    Sin.Schumi Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2015
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    Germany
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    - 78Coins
    Ratings:
    +7 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    SCN5
    Thx @yobuddy for the awesome Update !!!

    It works perfect with my Hyperaxis :grin
    • Like Like x 3
    • Agree Agree x 1
  6. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

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    Sydney
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    1,002Coins
    Ratings:
    +59 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    Thanks @yobuddy for the update. Looking forward to exploring the great new features today.
    • Like Like x 1
    • Dislike Dislike x 1
  7. sulfail

    sulfail Member

    Joined:
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    AISLAMIENTOS Y PLADUR.
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    +26 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, Arduino
    Great keep it up thanks!!!
    • Like Like x 1
  8. Wajdi

    Wajdi Member

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    Should I firstly uninstall the old version then the new one or install this over the old version?
    Thanks
    • Old Old x 1
  9. ledfoot

    ledfoot Member

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    Thanks yobuddy for this excellent release. I'll be busy the next couple of day playing with the new features :)
    • Like Like x 1
  10. RCFlyer

    RCFlyer Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF
    I installed 2.4 over the previous version. Now when I try to run the gameengine I get an error indicating it can not find DCS dll and shuts down the engine. I don't use DCS. The game engine is on a second PC remote from the sim PC. The previous version worked with no problem. Any suggestion as to what I may have missed in the update?

    Regards,

    Danny
    • Informative Informative x 1
  11. Kranky Pantz

    Kranky Pantz Active Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK, Motion platform
    I've tested v2.4 last night, simply by installing over the previous version...works great!
    It retained all of my settings and everything appears to be working as it was before, so thank you for that.
    Can't wait to dive in a little deeper and read about the new features in the updated pdf guide.

    Thanks again for all of your hard work folks, it's an amazing piece of software.
    I'm proud to have my own DIY rig and be part of this fine community!
    :cheers
    • Like Like x 3
    • Informative Informative x 1
  12. Mechromancer

    Mechromancer Active Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, Arduino, Motion platform
    Holy Smokes!! This ROCKS!!

    Gotta hit the new documentation. :)
  13. Mechromancer

    Mechromancer Active Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, Arduino, Motion platform
    I installed it over the old version (per instructions that it would be OK). It did "warn" me that the installation folder already existed and if I wanted to install into that folder anyway. It seemed a little ominous, but it was fine.
    • Like Like x 1
  14. Wajdi

    Wajdi Member

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    It’s me or the motion FFB seems more responsive and faster with this new version?
    I tried tonight the new Tatuus in rfactor2 and I felt that the motion ffb is much stronger and faster.
    • Informative Informative x 1
  15. Wajdi

    Wajdi Member

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    Thanks. I uninstalled the old version then deleted manually with cleaner app every old file then installed the new version. I always preferred this method.
  16. greatg67

    greatg67 Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
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    +8 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    6DOF
  17. pmvcda

    pmvcda aka FlyPT

    Joined:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    6DOF
  18. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
  19. pmvcda

    pmvcda aka FlyPT

    Joined:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    6DOF
    The idea here is:

    Having a "pose", angles and position of the car/air plane, calculate the position of the actuators to replicate that on the rig.
    But we can't represent all angles and positions, because they don't fit the limits of the rig.
    For that we use filters to adjust the values so they fit inside the rig.
    A good example is Yaw. That's the angle where (for example) a car points in a track.
    If you make a complete lap, that angle can go from 0º to 180º then jumps to -180 and goes back to 0º.
    You can't make it on the rig, so in a simplistic approach, you use a high pass filter. That only allows sudden changes to pass and then goes back to 0º. That way, you don't go out of limits.
    Now, there are lot's of variants possible. You can even make pitch work, not only to represent an angle, but also an acceleration by using the mix surge in pitch.
    The most basic and simplest use is to use gain to adjust only the scale of the movements. But that's far from an ideal use.

    Before the values reaching the filters, you can select the amount of each value you want to use in each component.
    By default it comes filled with a pure setup, so for starting don't touch those mixes.

    But you need to specify the rig dimensions correctly.

    Sorry, this is a simplistic explanation (really simplistic).
    Look for "Motion Cueing" here on the forum or elsewhere to get some more info on how to use the filters.
    I will try to make a simple explanation with some default values in the next days.
    • Informative Informative x 1
  20. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    @pmvcda
    Hi, sorry I should have been clearer with my question...
    I was looking for a manual or guide for the use of the interface, and what each of the fields represent and what the workflow is for setting it up for individual rigs.

    I'm very familiar with the concept of motion cueing and have been messing around with building my 6DoF for a while now.
    I currently use HexPod, but would like to try your plugin as I understand it has effective washout.

    Here's is a Helicopter test under the HexPod plugin. Just messing around with the flight Vs rig dynamics.
    I feel like the motion cueing is not fully accurate and I'm experiencing a lot of roll clipping, thus I'd like to try your HexaPod plugin.


    Thanks



    • Like Like x 3