New AddOn Developer (Hopefully)

[Devlyn]

Hi All :hello:

My Name is Devlyn. I just join today, in hope I can improve the Addon [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3223"]Fly-By-Wire[/ame] or make a new and improved Addon that can allow Orbiter use Multiple game controllers.

Bit of back ground, I just myself the Logitech Flight System G940.
It may be a bit of a over Kill, but I got it for the same price as a much simple joystick. So I am not complaining :thumbup:

Fly-By-Wire does not detect my Pedals, for some reason. I am a Software Developer so maybe I can dive into the code and get it working:hmm:

Now my personal background, I am a Software Developer as you know, programming is my passion. I can build something out of nothing
I live in South Africa, and currently studying for my degree in Software Development.

I am not all nerd, I love Hiking, Ice Skating, and Ballroom Dancing. Can also play a bit of Drums.

I hope to make a contribute to the Orbiter Community:thumbup:

 

[gattispilot]

Welcome :hello:

 

[tomthenose]

hi devlyn, that logitech set looks awesome, fully justified joystick overkill!

 

[Capt_hensley]

 

[Donamy]

Welcome !! If you like to code, this is the place.

 

[Interceptor]

Hello,and welcome to the forum.:tiphat:

 

[Ripley]

Welcome to OF Devlyn!

 

[n122vu]

to Orbiter Forum Devlyn! Good luck with this project! Orbiter definitely needs this capability. My X-52 and Saitek Pedals are longing for it. I wish you great success!

 

[Devlyn]

Well judging by this wonderful welcome I am sure I am going to love it Here on O-F. It would be great if anyone could point me to the sources for developing Orbiter addons.

 

[Devlyn]

to Orbiter Forum Devlyn! Good luck with this project! Orbiter definitely needs this capability. My X-52 and Saitek Pedals are longing for it. I wish you great success!

Thank you!:thumbup:

 

[PennyBlack]

Welcome aboard Devlyn :thumbup:

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Welcome to the forums!

For developer tutorials, take a look at the... well, the tutorials page. They are down towards the bottom page. But they are more geared towards vessel creation. You may be better enabled if you started to dig through the API. Checks you Orbiter directory for the OrbiterSDK, from there into the doc folder.

 

[csanders]

Good luck. We're all counting on you.

 

[Izack]

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

 

[n122vu]

Also check out this post:
http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=715&highlight=Compiler+Setup

Some of the info is a little outdated (compiler setup for example) but much of it is still very relevant.

 

[Richy]

Concerning the Pedals issue with your G940: I got the same controller, and the same problem.
The pedals are sadly not recognized by Fly-By-Wire, so I'm back using my Logitech 3D.

 

[Devlyn]

Also check out this post:
http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=715&highlight=Compiler+Setup

Some of the info is a little outdated (compiler setup for example) but much of it is still very relevant.

Thanks this is most useful!:thumbup:

---------- Post added at 20:36 ---------- Previous post was at 20:34 ----------

Concerning the Pedals issue with your G940: I got the same controller, and the same problem.
The pedals are sadly not recognized by Fly-By-Wire, so I'm back using my Logitech 3D.

Great to hear I will be at least helping one person out. About to get started with a Tutorial on Addons. Maybe you can be a beta tester for me

 

[Enjo]

Hi there,

What sort of addons would you like to develop, except Fly-by-Wire? More instrumentation (MFDs and plugins like Fly-by-Wire), or vessels? These are completely two different worlds here. I can help you with instrumentation. Have a look at Info for Developers section (#12), coupled with Launch MFD manual:
http://de.scribd.com/doc/159128653/LaunchMFD-Doc
Maybe you can take some info from there to get a better picture. You can also use Launch MFD's project file, if the Custom MFD project file doesn't suit your needs. I hope, that this all will let you ask more specific questions. It's hard to recommend an ultimate way to start Orbiter addon development.

 

[Devlyn]

Hi Enjo

Well not sure what type of add-on you would classify Fly-By-Wire? What that is the type I am looking to develop. I am a real noob to this. I understand program, but I do not understand how my c++ DLL file can plug into orbiter? That is my confusion at point.

I am not sure how to add an entity in the tree view by the parameters tab in orbiter. Not sure how to control an aircraft, via APIs.

But I know how to read input from game controllers
Is there a way to maybe make a blank add-on, with just the basis?

If you know anything to help me out it would be much appropriated.

 

[Enjo]

Fly-by-Wire is probably a headless plugin, with access to vessel control. Additionally it's a bridge, having to use some external library calls to get joystick input, but you know this.

You can get pointer to the currently controlled vessel anytime with oapiGetVesselInterface() or something like this in your oapi::Module::clbkPreStep (check it for NULL pointer before doing anything! It will mostly by != NULL but not always, like when the user deletes ALL vessels from scenario), and then call the vessel control methods, with the pointer that the function returns.

Your plugin will automatically appear on Modules list once you:
1) Derive your code from oapi::Module, and implement all the required functions (compiler should tell you), as well as InitModule() and ExitModule(). See PluginLaunchMFD.cpp code for this (full source is in my signature)
2) Place the resulting DLL in Orbiter/Modules/Plugin directory (do it automatically in project settings- Linker->Output )