I recently moved and had made a decision to give X plane a go once I got re-established; that time is now and i have successfully downloaded and installed the demo. However I do have a few questions...

 

1. I'm a hardware user and have had no issues getting X-plane to recognize my controls and inputs but I am use to working with FSUIPC in the FSX environment. Is XUPIC the X plane equivalent and is it as indispensable as I have found FSUIPC to be? One issue I am having with the control configuration is when setting up a switch X-Plane sees the input but I can't get it to execute any command when that switch or input is released. For example when I configure landing lights to a rocker switch I can flip the switch to the "on" position and the lights will come on but, when i turn the switch off the lights remain on until I toggle the switch a second time.

 

2. Can you split an axis? What I mean is that the throttle and reversers on X plane are a separate axis is there a way to configure the throttle axis to enter the reverse zone without using a separate reverser axis? I was able to use the "bump" Switch at the end of my Saitek throttle to apply and hold the reverser which works but it's an all or nothing solution.

 

3. Visibility I set up .25 mile visibility and flew an approach the problem I had was the "wall of fog" continued to regress exactly 1/4 mile in front of my aircraft from horizon to horizon. Is this just how the rendering engine works or am I missing some settings in the environmental menu area?

 

Perhaps someone could send me a link to a "how to" configure page. My system is a SB 2600K at 5ghz paired with a Nvida 480 GTX, SSD Drives, Mushkin Radioactive Ram not bleeding edge but still very solid and so far i am getting pretty good frames but don't really know where I should be placing check boxes for realistic results without bringing frame rates to a crawl.

 

Thanks for the assist,

Robert

One issue I am having with the control configuration is when setting up a switch X-Plane sees the input but I can't get it to execute any command when that switch or input is released. For example when I configure landing lights to a rocker switch I can flip the switch to the "on" position and the lights will come on but, when i turn the switch off the lights remain on until I toggle the switch a second time.

 

 

I'm not sure if this will help, but there are several commands that have both a separate "on" and "off" assignments, or a "toggle" assignment. For example, IIRC there are three possible assignments for landing gear: "Landing gear down", "Landing gear up" and "Landing gear toggle". With a rocker switch, maybe you should use the separate "on"/"off" assignments and not the "toggle" one. Or maybe it is the other way round. Try both.

 

Marco

i'm probably missing something but still cant seem to get it to work. The type of switch should not matter, rocker, or toggle, Xplane seems to only notice when the switch is pressed not when it's released. The "Toggle" selection would/should work well with a momentary style of switch like the little ones across the bottom of a Saitek throttle quad. I can't seem to get a simple toggle or rocker to work without cycling the hardware switch twice; I'm sure there's got to be a way?

Hi Robert,

 

welcome to the X-Plane world :-) Let me answer your questions as best as I can, maybe someone more knowledgable can chime in:

 

1. As far as I know, this is determined by the way the "actions" are set up in X-Plane. Some are "toggle" type, like Marco wrote. Some are "increment up" and "increment down" - like flap setting, for example. To view this go to "Settings" - "Joystick and Equipment" - "Buttons: adv". There you can see all the commands that are available.

Landing lights have buttons assignable to "Landing lights on", "Landing lights off" and "Landing lights toggle"

 

You can assign stuff to be active as long as you press the button (brakes, reversers, etc.) but not everything. Lights, for example. So no morse-code with the landing lights ;-)

 

2. I don´t think you can "split" an axis. To use the reversers you either press and hold the "apply full reverse" button for just that, or hit the "toggle reverse" button to take you into reverse range. Now your "throttle" axis will control engine RPM in reverse

 

3. When setting visibility to a quarter mile the visibility should be one quarter mile in each direction. In other words everything that is closer than that is visible, the rest not. That´s the way it works for me, maybe I misunderstand you? Maybe post a screenshot of your problem? Shift-Space to take one, it´s saved as xxxx.png in your x-plane main folder. Resize and save as .jpg to make it small enough to post here...

 

Performance: Here is a link to the dev-blog of the X-plane developers, discussing performance tuning:

 

http://developer.x-p...ame-rates-pt-1/

 

Good luck!

 

Jan

1. As far as I know, this is determined by the way the "actions" are set up in X-Plane. Some are "toggle" type, like Marco wrote. Some are "increment up" and "increment down" - like flap setting, for example. To view this go to "Settings" - "Joystick and Equipment" - "Buttons: adv". There you can see all the commands that are available.

Landing lights have buttons assignable to "Landing lights on", "Landing lights off" and "Landing lights toggle"

Ok, I've been there and understand this section.

You can assign stuff to be active as long as you press the button (brakes, reversers, etc.) but not everything. Lights, for example. So no morse-code with the landing lights ;-)

Ok, please elaborate if you can.

Here's the problem as simple as I can explain...

I have a hardware switch (rocker or toggle you choose) it has two positions On or off I go to the Xplane menu "Settings" - "Joystick and Equipment" - "Buttons: adv". where I can see all the commands that are available.

Landing lights have buttons assignable to "Landing lights on", "Landing lights off" and "Landing lights toggle" I throw the hardware switch to the on position and it is identified in the three green numeral oxes in the top left corner of the window. I assign this switch to "landing lights on" I go back to the sim and throw the switch the lights come on as they should. Turning the hardware switch back to the off position does nothing, as it should, clicking it back to the on position also does nothing, as it should because the landing lights are already on from the first time I clicked the switch. Obviously the same outcome would result by setting the hardware switch to "landing lights off" Only difference being they'll never illuminate if they were off to begin with.

Setting the switch to "toggle Landing lights will work if you cycle it twice. Ie; take the same rocker or toggle and set it to "landing lights toggle" you click the switch on and the lights come on. You click the switch off and nothing happens the lights will remain on. Click the switch "on" a 2X time and the lights will now cycle off (they've toggled)

 

How can I make a simple "on-off" (not a momentary) switch turn the landing lights On when in the On position and off when clicked off?

 

Edit:

Also once everything is set up for a particular aircraft is there a way to remember the settings? For Example if i switch from a two engine prop to a four engine jet do I have to go in and re-assign the engine axis each time? Is there a way for Xplane to remember my hardware settings for each aircraft like in FSUIPC? Having to reconfigure each and every session would certainly be a deal breaker for me.

Edited April 15, 201214 yr by Blaze

I recently moved and had made a decision to give X plane a go once I got re-established; that time is now and i have successfully downloaded and installed the demo. However I do have a few questions...

 

1. I'm a hardware user and have had no issues getting X-plane to recognize my controls and inputs but I am use to working with FSUIPC in the FSX environment. Is XUPIC the X plane equivalent and is it as indispensable as I have found FSUIPC to be? One issue I am having with the control configuration is when setting up a switch X-Plane sees the input but I can't get it to execute any command when that switch or input is released. For example when I configure landing lights to a rocker switch I can flip the switch to the "on" position and the lights will come on but, when i turn the switch off the lights remain on until I toggle the switch a second time.

 

Robert

 

Hi Robert.

 

I may possibly be able to help you with your first question, but what I am doing may not be the correct way to do it but it has helped me. I made a home built cockpit for use with MSFS and X-Plane (see my blog for details). I use FSUIPC with a Simkits 32 input controller to assign various toggle and rocker switches to simulate lights and ignition etc. which works great. When I started using X-plane and saw the advanced joysticks and equipment section for assigning I thought it was fantatsic - something like FSUIPC already built into XP. However, I too ran into the same problem as yourself. Take for example a 'Beacon Light' switch using a standard SPST toggle. I turned it to 'ON' the beacon light would turn on and I turned it 'OFF'...and then nothing would happen. I turned it back 'ON' it would turn off. After a lot of head scratching I found a few people having similar trouble but some people were saying it was working fine....so cue more head scratching! it seems to me that X-plane is hadling momentary pushbuttons but not the OFF positions on toggle switches. So I ended up being pointed to this off a forum post on X-plane.org

 

http://forum.sukhoi.ru/attachment.php?attachmentid=70479&d=1173468799

 

It's a keyboard logger called SVmapper. I found it here:

 

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2367911&fpart=5

 

The org post I found was here:

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=49171&st=0

 

Taking 'Beacon Lights' as an example:

 

In Joysticks & Equipment --- Buttons.Adv --- I assign the toggle switch to 'beacons_lights_on'

In Joysticks & Equipment --- Keys --- I add new keyboard assignment and assign the key that I chose in SVmapper to 'beacon_lights_off'.

 

So now everytime I switch the toggle 'ON' it uses X-plane - When I switch it 'OFF' it uses the keyboard mapper.

 

I hope this makes sense. It is probably not the way to go around it but it has helped me get my simpit, the one in my sig which my wife calls a flying microwave!!, with 15 toggles (some of them momentary ones) 2 dual rockers and a 'push-to-make' switch all working in XP. I'm still pretty new to X-Plane so there is probably an easier way (i'm still learning), I haven't tried XPUIPC yet but this has worked for me.

 

Hope this helps you

 

Rhydian

Thanks Rhydian, I am glad tat you understand the problem.

 

Svmapper is not a very elegant solution it seems to just convert the SPST input to a momentary one but, at least i know it's possible to use a SPST switch in X plane. I am really hope someone comes along and says that XPUIPC is the answer, that it functions similar to FSUIPC.

 

I'm ready to take the plunge but trying to be certain the water is deep enough.

 

Can you comment on if X-plane will remember your hardware settings when you switch aircraft type?

 

Thanks,

Robert

Thanks Rhydian, I am glad tat you understand the problem.

 

Svmapper is not a very elegant solution it seems to just convert the SPST input to a momentary one but, at least i know it's possible to use a SPST switch in X plane. I am really hope someone comes along and says that XPUIPC is the answer, that it functions similar to FSUIPC.

 

I'm ready to take the plunge but trying to be certain the water is deep enough.

 

Can you comment on if X-plane will remember your hardware settings when you switch aircraft type?

 

Thanks,

Robert

 

Yes I totally agree it isn't the most simple or elegant solution and can get a bit fiddly. As far as I know, it should be useable when you switch aircraft, I used it in the default Cessna and the Carenado 172 without problems. I have all my ON (OFF) toggles, some ON (OFF) ON and ON (MOM) ON toggles switches working perfectly in XP via the SVMapper software. It can send a repeat or continuous signal when you map a key to a toggle as if it is constantly being pressed down until released. XPUIPC will most likely be a better solution. One of these days I'll give it a try myself. It's a pain little annoying have to start the mapper software before I start XP for the first time. The good news is though, as with the MSFS franchise there are some very dedicated, talented people in the XP world making plugins and such for hardware. I had a problem with using an older Simkits board and gauges that wouldnt interface with x-plane - but someone had just wrote their own plugin to use with it and distributed it free on the net. I wish I was that clever!!!

 

Let me know how you get on.

 

Cheers

 

Rhydian