The Duenna - possible Flight-Validation for the RTW-Race

[Guest JohnMueller]

Hi everyoneAs you have all probably noticed, the FS-Flight-Analysisdoesn't cover everything and sometimes it invalidates perfectly normalflights, seemingly without reason (ok, it has its own reasoning forit, but it's harder to understand than any woman I know :)).Together with the race-coordinators, Ian Dale, Matt Smith and MichaelMacKuen, I put together a small utility to help validate flights forthe race.Note: as it is now, the rules have not been published and this programwill certainly not be the only way to validate your flights. But itcould possibly be a substitute for the FS-Flight-Analysis, if theprogram functions correctly.It does some pre-flight checks, lets you grab the baton, does checksfor the rest of the flight and the landing and in the end, creates asmall validation graphic you can upload to the forum together with asmall flight analysis text-file.As this is completely new, we need alot of beta-testers :). Pilots,give it a try! It would be great to be able to make sure that everyoneis following the rules, especially regarding the realism and weathersettings. Maybe this program can help to enforce these, we'll see. Atthe very least, it should help cross-check the flights against our ownknowledge (average speed, etc.).The URL is currently: http://johannesmueller.com/duennaLet me know how it works, it still has some open issues (what programdoesn't?), but all in all it should work. I have done about 25 hrsflight time with the program, of that probably 15 hrs with thecurrent version, Mike, Ian and Matt have tried it as well.I'd love to hear from you all!John

[MM 424]

Hi all,Almost surely, everyone should give this a try. It's pretty nifty. But you may find issues that others have not...it is in BETA, after all. So please give it a whirl and see what you can make it do. And please give John plenty of feedback.We all would like it to be in good working order by February 20th. And you probably want some practice with it.And most important, thanks a million to John for his wonderful work!Best,Mike

[Guest EasyEd]

Hi,Ive been trying to test duenna in FS 2k2 standard. No go. I have the lates FSUIPC 3.411 and duenna seems to recoginse it. I get the realism settings error. My settings are - see attached screenshot. http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/106015.jpgAny thoughts?Thanks! -Ed-

[Sonar5 3]

Hi John,The program sounds promising, but I disagree on its inclusion in this years race.I posted something here that I would like feedback on.http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...sg_id=573&page=Expecting others to install another add-on to chew up resources, no matter how small, may be something to consider for next years race, but not this one, IMHO.The Flight Analysis Screen is a very reliable tool for this race, IMHO, and as it is part of the program, I think any disrupt icon < included in the FA screen should be disqualification for the flight.It is too close to Race day, IMHO, for us to be considering a New program for this years race. let's thoroughly test it over time, and not just a couple of weeks when teams are honing their skills instead of worrying about learning a new program.I think your program is a great addition, I just feel we should wait.I also think anyone having this Flight Analysis alleged anomaly should start with a clean install and patch of FS and see if the problem can be reproduced with that. That would be interesting to see, since I suspect it is an add-on of some sort. I will try it out when I have some time, but that may not be until after the race. I plan on using the FA screen, which I have never had a problem with and am still awaiting a reproduceable flight where this alleged anamoly occurs.Regards,JoeJOIN The AVSIM RTW RACE FLIGHT TEAM****************Grab My FREEWARE Voice recognition Profiles here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna 172 Voice Profile[/a][a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=60740]FSD Avanti Voice Profile[/a].You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to use it, get it here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight Assistant 2.2[/a]

[StoneC0ld 5]

I can see the program becoming part of next year's race, and can even see it being used as an optional method of validation this year for those who do have the mysterious FA burp issues.The only times I ever even look at the flight analysis screen is during the races so I don't know how many times I actually have the problem outside of our races. As far as I can remember, the only time I've had the plane-switch icon being dumped partway through a flight is that one flight in Alaska in the fanda dash8, and that was definitely my fault by either "correcting" the timezone change (most likely) or changing my destination in the dash8's FMS which is unlikely imho.One thing I do like about the Duenna program is that the image provides the flight information at the bottom which is a nice touch. However, I'm thinking the program might need a couple extra "security features" to prevent someone from flying their highly-modified supersonic dash8 on a 700nm flight and photoshopping the flight information text at the bottom to fake realistic performance.... Maybe have the program keep the pilot's information (forum nickname, what team he/she's on, whatever it needs), and upload the information to a central server on flight completion. Maybe the image to be posted gets uploaded to the central server, maybe the image just gets stored on the pilot's hard drive to be uploaded to the forum, but uploading to a central server would allow the program to give the pilot a forum-compatible img html hyperlink tag, which would then show the central server's version of the flight information when clicked on. (if the 2 sets of information don't match, the image was photoshopped) Of course, there could be other ways to do this as well....The downside: it would eliminate the race's current philosophy of running more or less on the honour system.....The upside: less chance of cheaters and less false invalid flights.

[jt_williams 291]

I read the announcement of the Duenna program and immediately had some misgivings about it. I wasn't sure if I wanted a software "nanny" monitoring my flight sim session during the race. I decided that I should go ahead and try the program out before making a judgment. I had some initial problems getting all green for baton pickup. I had to adjust my realism section and weather setting about turbulence causing damage. That done I was ready to go. I have only used it on one leg but it was a long one. I flew for 6 hours with the Duenna running and thankfully landed without incident and successfully dropped the baton. The Duenna faithfully recorded my leg stats and provided me with a very nice piece of supporting documentation. http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/106109.jpgMan was that easy! A whole lot easier than futzing with screen shot capture and resizing to meet the image size limitations and all of that. I have decided that I will definitely be using the Duenna to document my race legs unless a serious problem is exposed. Another benefit of the Duenna is that it automatically documents the race leg for whoever functions as each sites race "historian." The Duenna screen shot preserves key leg statistics which are readily available. Of course that information can be provided by the person flying the leg but who keeps track of max speed and altitude in the heat of flying a race leg. So in my opinion the advantages of using this application outweigh my concerns but I can answer only for myself. Other folks see things differently and I would respect their choice. I would propose that the race officials allow the Duenna screenshots as "proof" of a successful race leg but continue to allow the traditional "flight analysis" screen shot evidence as "proof" as well. I would like to publicly thank John Mueller for the effort he has put forth in developing this nifty tool. I appreciate it the ongoing efforts to make it better.Regards,Jeff Williams (KDCA)

[jt_williams 291]

Try setting your crash tolerance slider to more real (max right).Jeff Williams

[StoneC0ld 5]

>I read the announcement of the Duenna program and immediately>had some misgivings about it. I wasn't sure if I wanted a>software "nanny" monitoring my flight sim session during the>race. >If FS Flightkeeper wasn't a payware product so that everyone in the race on all teams could use it, I'd have been all for using it... It logs so much more, even as far as logging almost every significant event during the flight... But, that ain't gonna happen since not everyone will be willing to pay for it... :(>Man was that easy! A whole lot easier than futzing with>screen shot capture and resizing to meet the image size>limitations and all of that. I have decided that I will>definitely be using the Duenna to document my race legs unless>a serious problem is exposed. I'll be testing it soon..... Sounds a lot like I'll be making that same decision, but then again, the more steps I can eliminate in preparing and posting flight validation, the better... :( The less time it takes to prepare my flight validation, the faster the handoff if "baton is free, screenshot coming soon" handoffs are disallowed this year.....>>Another benefit of the Duenna is that it automatically>documents the race leg for whoever functions as each sites>race "historian." The Duenna screen shot preserves key leg>statistics which are readily available. Of course that>information can be provided by the person flying the leg but>who keeps track of max speed and altitude in the heat of>flying a race leg. Another benefit... Race officials can more easily track total distance flown at any given point, average leg lengths, average air or ground speeds for all legs, etc. as long as all pilots use it, however since Duenna is optional, this kind of record keeping might take more detectivework to find in legs flown by non-Duenna pilots...>>So in my opinion the advantages of using this application>outweigh my concerns but I can answer only for myself. Other>folks see things differently and I would respect their choice.> I would propose that the race officials allow the Duenna>screenshots as "proof" of a successful race leg but continue>to allow the traditional "flight analysis" screen shot>evidence as "proof" as well. Considering the time proximity to the race, that would be my recommendation as well. Then, there will be plenty of time to evaluate, improve, tweak and adapt the program to fit next year's needs and possibly be approved for mandatory usage for all race legs.

[MM 424]

Jeff points out another advantage of the Duenna.The landing pilot merely hits the "Drop the Baton" button and the Duenna automatically produces the screenshot properly sized and ready to go. You can post it immediately. So this is fast. And even more important, you don't have to rely on a screenshot program to function properly. Or have to open up a paint program to crop and resize and save as jpg before posting. So you don't have to worry about outside programs and the possibility of their failing.Of course, the advantages and disadvantages will vary by people's own systems and personal preferences. M.

[Guest kickin_chicken]

Hi! I just ran a test leg for the RTW race using Duenna in the background. I believe it works great. I will use this program barring any unseen bugs or problems. I plan on testing it using the aircraft I will fly for the RTW race. I actually exited out of FS when I finished my leg, and Duenna complained that it could not connect to FS. I thought I was hosed but I simply re-ran FS, alt-tab back to my desktop (w/ Duenna running) and hit "Drop the Baton". Presto! I got the log file, a system log file (I guess for bug reporting) and the .jpg which I posted to avsim.com in my thread regarding the leg I flew. I think this program worked fine for me. I suggest those who have reservations to try it out just once. Install it, "grab the baton", fly your test leg, get your own screenshot, then alt-tab out to Duenna, "drop the baton" and exit flight sim. See how that works. If you still don't like using the program (or have problems with a 'nanny' watching your every move) then you still have your screenshot of the Flight Analysis screen to post. Good luck!Thanks!

[Sonar5 3]

I registered at the other forums but I guess it requires admin approval, so I'm posting this here.I have thus far documented the following problems with this program, which the author asked us to test.I) My System Specs1.2ghz Athlon (no OC)512mb ramGeForce FX 5600Win XP Pro (sp2)FS9 (with 9.1 Patch)FSUIPC 3.45 (had 3.401 and updated it.)Res 1280 x 1024 or 1600 x 1200 depending on profile used.Admin and Limited access user profiles.1) Installation must be done in Administrator profile under XP.* would have been nice if the program readme told me that before I started to attempt an install.2) Please consider releasing in a zip file instead of an exe, and enclose a seperate readme or install text file. File did come up clean for Viruses in Avast.3) In readme, list out what files it will attempt to overwrite. I enabled the backup option, created that folder within my RTW hierarchy, and when going to uninstall, looked in the backup folder and it was empty. Great. :-)a) I have VB6 files already installed due to voice recognition programs I use.:( I never saw an option to overwrite or keep any files during the install procedure.c) Which files were installed that would have gone to the backup folder so I can compare version numbers to see if it has overwritten any of my files.4) After Install, it creates a folder under programs named softplus, an icon starting with RTW, and in Add & remove programs it is listed under The Duenna.a) It would be helpful for those installing, uninstalling, or viewing what is on their system if you stuck with one single naming convention throughout.5) There is no uninstall in the program menu or within the RTW folder on my drive. I had to remove it under add& remove programs, and had to search for duenna, soft plus, and finally found it under "ThE Duenna RTW watcher), due to inconsistent naming conventions.6) After uninstall, it retained the RTW and Data folders along with the system log. These had to be manually removed.7) When installed, it had to be installed under an admin user profile, it created a shortcut on that desktop, but not the others. I had to manually create a shortcut in my limited profile, and after uninstall, I had to manually remove that as well.8) After uninstall, there were still registry entries left on my system that I had to manually remove. The average user will have no clue these were left on their system.*See screen pics below for which entries were left.9) I sim using limited access Windows XP Profiles, because it is not safe to have an admin profile open while connected to the Internet, IMHO, and many others.10) I have also attached my system log, and install log, as text files to this post.11) I still have not been able to get this thing to run at all.a) I have attempted to run it in Admin profile where it was installed, and get weather & realism settings.:( Under 2 seperate limited profile starts, I am either getting realism or weather settings errors. I have attached screen pics to show what my settings are under these errors.12) I also run several different FS9 profiles with different key assignment settings. I have uninstalled this program, removed all registry settings, tried to reinstall and only did this in admin profile, still no dice.13) I will next try a system restore point which I set before installing and try it again.14) it may be possible that this program does not recognize multiple Windows XP user profiles, which is pretty standard these days for windows.15)* AddedThe Biggest thing that bugs me is all the FS9 restarts required to even get this thing to recognize the realsim settings or weather settings. having to Restart when one thinks they are ready to grab the baton can waste valuable time when involved in the race.I plan to thouroughly test this out once I get it going, this is only my beginning of what I have found that should be considered for changing.Thanks for reading this. :-)Regards,Joe..**********Processes running prior to startup of programs, FS9 First then Duenna**********..http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/5.jpg..http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/1.jpg..http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/2.jpg..http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/3.jpg..http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/4.jpg..http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/6.jpg..***************REGISTRY leftovers after uninstall, view second image as placed to the right of first image.***************.http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/r1.jpg.http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/r2.jpg.http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/r3.jpg.********************Logs... I did update FSUIPC, and did many restarts of FS9, too many to count.********************..http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/duennainstall.txt..http://www.aboutpolitics.net/rtw/duenna/duennalog.txtJOIN The AVSIM RTW RACE FLIGHT TEAM****************Grab My FREEWARE Voice recognition Profiles here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna 172 Voice Profile[/a][a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=60740]FSD Avanti Voice Profile[/a].You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to use it, get it here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight Assistant 2.2[/a]

[Sonar5 3]

Ok, my registration is active at the other place, so I reposted this there.No need to reply in this thread.Here is the link to the other one.Duenna Forumshttp://johannesmueller.com/fsforum/viewtopic.php?t=65

[Guest JohnMueller]

Hi everyone!I have the new version, Rev. 43, ready!Lots of changes since rev. 27:http://johannesmueller.com/fsforum/viewtopic.php?t=61Get it here:http://johannesmueller.com/duennaThanks for all the feedback! (keep it coming, especially if you find any problems :))John

[Guest sfoofficer]

Just testing this out, one last time.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/107433.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/107434.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/107435.txt