AI Tactical Display - just FS2002 debug mode!

[Guest]

I don't mean to steal anyones thunder, but the AIVIEW.dll that has been posted as a 'unique tool' actually only switches FS2002 into Debug Mode. Everything is 100% Microsoft!He was a bit cheeky to append his webpage details to their window - passing it off as all his own creation :)I didn't realise that this was unknown to some people, I have already tweaked my ver of FS2002 to have a listing under the Help Menu (I just replaced the 'Links to Aviation Partners' item). This doesn't require another dll process chewing up resources with menu hooks either :) I also don't believe this addon dll is very stable :(I am in the process of testing and building a tool to change the AI ground taxi speed (AISpeed), if there is demand, I could also provide a patch for the above.Andy Robinson

[wsieffert 0]

I just finished a flight from KMCO to KLAX with the default 747-400 and used AIVIEW. It was enjoyable to watch the other aircraft moving along in the same airspace. I also liked the ability to click on anyone of the aircraft and see their information or double click on an aircraft and have it in the flight window.I didn't see any drop in FPS, which I have locked at 35.I could have used NAV3.1 to watch the AI and my track on a second computer but AIVIEW gave me the option of clicking on the aircraft at will.Whether this is in some debug mode or not, I liked it and will keep using it.

[Guest]

I loaded it, crashed FS2k2 three times when loading it for use, unloaded it and ditched it.Piece of crap.

[Guest]

loaded it,Used it,Love it,works great for me..........E.

[Guest]

>I loaded it, crashed FS2k2 three times when loading it for >use, unloaded it and ditched it. My problem as well - blue screens with a 'fatal exception' message!I am using Windows 98SE/FS2002 Pro/FSUIPC v2.85 - how you?Trying to get some sense out of Alting (the 'suppliers') via Email.>Piece of crap. Close but if it is a bug then maybe not!!Peter Leadbeater,Air Pierre, Warrington, UK.

[Guest]

>>I loaded it, crashed FS2k2 three times when loading it for >>use, unloaded it and ditched it. >>My problem as well - blue screens with a 'fatal exception' >message! I get the send to Microsoft screen>>I am using Windows 98SE/FS2002 Pro/FSUIPC v2.85 - how you? Windows 2000/ FS2002 Pro/ FSUIPC v2.85>>Trying to get some sense out of Alting (the 'suppliers') via >Email. >>>Piece of crap. >>Close but if it is a bug then maybe not!! Would be interesting if others were to post what they are running. I wonder if some add on is conflicting>>Peter Leadbeater, >Air Pierre, Warrington, UK.

[Guest RONVKING]

Hi,I've also been getting blue screen crashes, using a 1400 athlon, 512 ram on win98 platform.Will keep trying as I think its quite useful.Rgds Ron

[Guest]

I've tried two versions, this one plus the aimapper "guage". Both results the same. At some point, "ddhelp" caused an exception with GDI.EXE. Power off time. I'm running WinME. I've noticed 98,2000, and ME seem to take a hit. For those with no problems, are they running XP?Tias

[Guest]

>>Would be interesting if others were to post what they are running. I wonder if some add on is conflicting<

[wsieffert 0]

Using WinXP Pro. I do have FSUIPC 2.85 installed, as well.

[Guest]

Am I seeing things or is it looking that AIVIEW runs OK under Windows XP only?Peter Leadbeater,Air Pierre, Warrington, UK.

[Guest]

>Am I seeing things or is it looking that AIVIEW runs OK >under Windows XP only? Peter, we have it running reasonably well here on nine systems under Win98SE, FSUIPC 2.85, all the usual goodies.Have we *ever* experienced a problem? Yes, but I attribute that more to the fact that all the stations are sharing the same scenery and aircraft databases from a central fileserver... :)Bear in mind that this .dll is simply invoking the built-in FS Debug Mode, so all the code is actually MS's, save the 'hack' that put the "author's" website info in the toolbar.

[Guest]

>Bear in mind that this .dll is simply invoking the built-in >FS Debug Mode, so all the code is actually MS's, save the >'hack' that put the "author's" website info in the toolbar. My friends, rarely do I ever reply to my own replies, but in this case I simply must!Having read the results of a decompilation of the .dll and taken note its size, number of lines of code and calls to other, FS .dll files, I can state unequivocally that it does far more than simply invoke the 'debug tool.'As a result of this, I'm going to decompile it myself and conduct a closer scrutiny of the contents, before making any more sweeping generalizations!What more is actually being done will require a more detailed examination, but it is far too complex to be a 'simple hack.'My profoundest apologies to the author, should he happen to read this!Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa... :)

[Guest]

Whoa folks! Me thinks you need to read more carefully. I sure did NOT get the impression this was an attempt by the author to claim this as his own work!In the ReadMe file, it says clearly: "With this module you can enable FS2002's hidden tool 'AI Tactical Display'". That says clearly to me that he is simply making something available that is already built in.And if you already knew this existed, why did YOU not make everyone aware of it????I agree that it is buggy. And I am sure that is probably at least one factor why MS chose not to document it or make it easily available for use. Another reason was probably that MS wanted to hide as much as possible of the machinery that makes AI work. After all, this was supposed to be "Artificial Intelligence"--something sort of "magical", if you will.But that is certainly no reason to blame the guy who revealed it to the rest of us. If it has bugs, that is certainly not his fault; that is MS's fault--if indeed fault can be placed at all.Don't kill the messenger!And don't complain because a clearly "undocumented feature" does not work perfectly!In fact, I have a feeling this little "undocumented feature" may prove to be an extremely valuable tool for the hackers out there to really figure out a whole lot more about how all this comes together. And the result may be that we will all learn much more and many more ways to improve our enjoyment of the FS2K2 experience.Don't discourage those who share knowledge. They are the ones who make the important little discoveries that make us all much better off.

[Guest]

Bill,I think you may have lost the plot here a little?!Complaining we are not - desperate to get the little gem working on ALL systems we are :-))It appears more obvious as the hours go by that some systems (more than likely those running XP) are having no trouble seeing what is meant to be seen in 'AI World'. So are you going to tell me that MS only incorporated their 'hidden' tool just for XP users; somehow I don't think so?OK, so if it doesn't work it doesn't but anyone, even those that are reinventing the wheel so to speak, usually give all users a fair crack of the whip when it comes to multi-platform performance.If the supplier of the program/patch/hack/crack/switch etc. etc. will stand up and say that it only works with XP then fine by me - but I/We would have liked to have known that in the first place.Lets hope we can get to the bottom of this soon?Peter Leadbeater,Air Pierre, Warrington, UK.BTW, I mentioned I was in touch with Alting Software, from whose site I d/l "AIVIEW.DLL (Freeware) - "AI Tactical Display" enabler for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 (version 8.00.010919.01)". Up to the time of writing I have not had a reply.