Frustrated WAMA newbie questions

[Matt Sdeel 46]

I'm a newbie to WAMA. I quickly read the WAMA manual and have a lot of questions.  This manual is version 1.01, dated Feb 2017 and came with the download.

WAMA is not as intuitive as it probably could have been.  For example, nowhere in the manual does it make clear that the flight simulator (sim) and WAMA have to run concurrently in separate windows (ie. the sim has to be in windowed mode). 

1. On a guess, I launched the sim and then WAMA.  So now I have both running in separate windows. I select a default aircraft in the sim,  select an airport, and the sim takes the aircraft I selected to the active runaway of the airport.  Now what?  I press 'Connect' in WAMA as instructed in the manual  (fourth bulleted item in page 7) but nothing happens.
2. Also in the manual in page 7 (the next bulleted item), it says "import your saved flights".   What saved flights?  I don't have any saved flights. Does this mean that I need to create a saved flight first for each plane that I want to import? Any saved flight?  Can I used a saved flight from another SIM (ie. FSX or P3D or FSE)?

I didn't want to proceed and play the guessing game so I thought I'd post here instead. I hope someone provides some kind of step-by-step  tutorial or walk-through, and take away the frustration.  Any help appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

Hello Matt,

1. Chapter 3.2 on page 7 describes the application start up - is the procedure unclear? As the sim and WAMA are two separate processes, if you want to access the WAMA window, you have to put FSX into windowed mode or Alt&Tab to the WAMA window when using P3D. The fact that WAMA is a separate process is stated in chapter 2.5 (which is very important and must be read before you start using WAMA). But you don't have to access the WAMA window all the time, the basic functions are present in the in-sim menu too.
Question: what were you expecting that would happen when you connect WAMA? In normal operations this app is supposed to be invisible, running in the background. It seems to me that there might be a misunderstanding about what WAMA actually does - ?

• Start up the simualtor, load an aircraft of your choice.at any airport, on the runway
• When you are sitting in the cockpit, start WAMA - skip the part about the saved flights, if you don't have any
• Press Connect, wait for the orange buttons to come alive
• Press "Save position now" on the WAMA window
• Now taxi ahead for about 100 feet
• Change your aircraft in the simualtor to a different model
• When you are back in the cockpit, go to an external view and look behind you - your first aircraft will be where you pressed "Save position now"
• And this is the basic function of WAMA. It remembers where you left (all) your aircraft, and it will display them in the sim.

 

2. You are correct in saying that on page 7 the bullet point about the saved flights can be misunderstood - you don't have to import your saved flights at all, that is completely optional. I will change this in the next release (in fact the whole manual layout will probably change).

If you require assistance, please use the contact form on the Lorby-SI website to send me a message, including your SimMarket order number.

Other resources for information:

- The manual and a slightly more elaborate version of it are available for download on the Lorby-SI website

- Please have a look at my WAMA videos on YouTube.

 

Best regards

[Matt Sdeel 46]

38 minutes ago, Lorby_SI said:

Hello Matt,

1. Chapter 3.2 on page 7 describes the application start up - is the procedure unclear? As the sim and WAMA are two separate processes, if you want to access the WAMA window, you have to put FSX into windowed mode or Alt&Tab to the WAMA window when using P3D. The fact that WAMA is a separate process is stated in chapter 2.5 (which is very important and must be read before you start using WAMA). But you don't have to access the WAMA window all the time, the basic functions are present in the in-sim menu too.

Question: what were you expecting that would happen when you connect WAMA? In normal operations this app is supposed to be invisible, running in the background. It seems to me that there might be a misunderstanding about what WAMA actually does - ?

• Start up the simualtor, load an aircraft of your choice.at any airport, on the runway
• When you are sitting in the cockpit, start WAMA - skip the part about the saved flights, as you say you don't have any
• Press Connect, wait for the orange buttons to come alive
• Press "Save position now" on the WAMA window
• Now taxi ahead for about 100 feet
• Change your aircraft in the simualtor to a different model
• When you are back in the cockpit, go to an external view and look behind you - you first aircraft will be where you pressed "Save position now"
• And this is the basic function of WAMA. It remembers where you left (all) your aircraft, and it will display them in the sim.

 

2. You are correct in saying that on page 7 the bullet point about the saved flights can be misunderstood - you don't have to import your saved flights at all, that is completely optional. I will change this in the next release (in fact the whole manual layout will probably change).

If you require assistance, please use the contact form on the Lorby-SI website to send me a message, including your SimMarket order number.

Best regards

Hi, thank you for the quick reply.  Yes, I read the manual.  And yes, it was unclear to me but your reply above "if you want to access the WAMA window, you have to put FSX into windowed mode or Alt&Tab to the WAMA window when using P3D" now makes it clear.

With regards to your question about what to expect -- I was expecting to see some kind of fpositive eedback documented in the manual (like the color will change or the 'Connect' will change to 'Connected').  With regards to a misunderstanding -- no I understood 'what' WAMA is supposed to do but not the 'how'.

However, I was able to follow the bullet points you listed above and those bullet points clarified the 'how' part.  I think future users will appreciate a change that you said will be made in the manual.

Lastly, if I had another question, should I ask them here or on the website?  I am unclear as to how to differentiate between a question that should be asked here that might benefit the WAMA community in general as a opposed to a question that should be asked in private as a tech support question that belongs in the website. I would think the former option is less work for tech support since that method would help avoid answering the same question over and over again by tech support. 

Again, I really appreciate the quick reply.

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

Hi Matt,

Thank you for your reply!

I was just nervous about the part that "nothing happened" - that could also have meant "nothing nothing", not even the buttons being activated - which would have pointed to a problem with your SimConnect setup.

About the manual - the one included in the download is a special version, created by a graphics artist - and I am aware that it may be too "condensed" in parts. That is why I made my own "developers" version available for download too on the Lorby site. My plan is to turn the "graphical" version into a quick start guide and to include the extensive one in the intial download.

Asking questions about how to operate the app is fine here. Creative users may have found ways to use the app that I am not aware of. 

But if you require tech assistance (SimConnect not working, exceptions, error messages/logfiles etc.) you should use the contact form. In that case I require a lot more information, files, settings etc., and a forum is not really suitable for that.

Best regards

[Matt Sdeel 46]

Balancing between simple instructions vs. too detailed is an art so you have my best wishes. For me, I like the kiss principle (simple but complete ie..as in the 3 c's ...complete, concise, and clear).  Talking about the kiss principle, what is the '-SI' in Lorby-SI?  Why not just keep it to a simple 'Lorby'? Nothing wrong with it. :-)

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

Hi Matt,

"Lorby" was the name of a company that my grandfather owned, he made vinyl records. It is an acronym derived from the nicknames of my grandmother and his own. I wanted to keep the memory alive while at the same time distinguishing the IT part. So SI stands for "systems integration", which has been my profession for more than 20 years, as developer, architect and project manager for enterprise applications. I have been writing code since when I was in our "high school" equivalent - around 1982 - and while I am not in development anymore in my day time job, I like programming and I didn't want my skills to deteriorate - so I started Lorby-SI about 2 years ago, first with FireFighter X. WAMA is my fith payware product to date.

Best regards