Changing Eyepoint for Cockpit Views

[pstrany]

Hi;

I want to be able to change the direction of the eyepoint view for the rear view (cockpit views.) I had originally changed the eyepoint for a Hudson bomber so that the rear view was actually the view from the rear turret, so I could take a look behind me and see when the bad guys were sneaking up on me (I even managed to shoot one or two down that way - very cool!)

Now I'm updating the model, and eliminating the turret. What I want to do is change the rear view so I can fly the aircraft from the co-pilot's seat. I can get the eyepoint over there, but the problem is that I'm looking at the back of the aircraft. It just annoys me having to rotate 180 degrees to the front every time, and I seem to recall there being a way to add a parameter that rotates the eyepoint view. Anyone know how this is done?

Paul

P.S. a neat trick when using the rear view like this, if you hold down the keypad key for the rear view then unshift the NumLock while still holding the rear view key, it leaves you in rear view. You can then rotate and look all around......

 

[Moparmike]

Whatcha got in your panel.cfg now Paul?
If you've already got your eyepoint for the "rear" view mapped over to the copilot seat then all you need to do is update the VIEW_xxxxx_DIR to aim towards the front of the aircraft again.

Example (from my old FDG Havoc rear facing turret view) in the [VIEWS] section of the panel.cfg...
VIEW_REAR_WINDOWS=33
VIEW_REAR_ZOOM=0.5
VIEW_REAR_EYE=0.185,0.2,-5.25 //X,Y,Z
VIEW_REAR_DIR=-1.0, 0.0, 180.0 //pitch, bank, heading

The third entry in the DIR definition line is the heading. 0 is straight ahead, 180 is straight behind.
I'm assuming you've already got the VIEW_REAR_EYE eyepoint line in your panel.cfg. If you don't have the _DIR line, just add it in.

 

[pstrany]

That's The Trick!

My entries look like this:

[VIEWS]
VIEW_FORWARD_WINDOWS=MAIN_PANEL,THROTTLE_PANEL,RADIO_STACK_PANEL

VIEW_FORWARD_DIR=5.000, 0.000, 0.000

VIEW_REAR_WINDOWS=30
VIEW_REAR_ZOOM=1.250
//VIEW_REAR_EYE=0.41, -1.43, -5.35
VIEW_REAR_EYE=0.67, 0, 0

Guess I'm missing that "VIEW_REAR_DIR" entry, I'll give it a try.

Thanks!

Paul

 

[pstrany]

Oddly Enough.....

I got it to work, but for some reason the only way it works right is if I use the line:

VIEW_REAR_DIR=180.0, 180.0, 180.0

Otherwise, it doesn't work. Not sure why, but it didn't work with the original suggestion.....

Paul

 

[Moparmike]

Hmmm...So you're saying that 0,0,0 doesn't work to look forward from your new eyepoint?

I did some tweaking on one of the default FS9 panels and if I have the _DIR entry reading 0,0,0 then it is looking forward (as it should be for your application). First 0 is straight head (not looking up or down), Second 0 is not banked, Third 0 is facing forward.

BUT...if I do 180,180,180 it also looks forward. This should be correct too, since all three axes (pitch bank and heading) are rotated one-half a turn and that will also add up to the viewpoint pointing forward and right-side up.

180,0,0 should have you looking rearward but upside down (via the pitch axis)
0,180,0 should have you looking forward but upside down (via the bank axis)
0,0,180 should have you looking rearward and right-side up (via the heading axis)

 

[pstrany]

I Probably Forgot To Say....

Hmmm, should have mentioned up front that this is for CFS2. I've gotten it to work in both CFS2 and FS9 now, using the above parameter. It is much nicer in CFS2 because you can pan - in FS9 I don't find a way to pan, which is very annoying when you're trying to, well, look around.

Thanks to Mike & all for your help!

Paul

 

[Milton Shupe]

Hmmm, should have mentioned up front that this is for CFS2. I've gotten it to work in both CFS2 and FS9 now, using the above parameter. It is much nicer in CFS2 because you can pan - in FS9 I don't find a way to pan, which is very annoying when you're trying to, well, look around.
Thanks to Mike & all for your help!

Paul

In FS9, if you have a joystick or yoke with a hat switch, it is likely this is what you want (see attchments).

If not, there are many pan commands that can be assigned. See also View (Pan).

 

[pstrany]

i have a hat switch on my joystick, and the pan works fine in CFS2 in all views. For some reason though , the pan doesn't seem to work in FS9 when I use the rear view key (though it works just fine in forward view.)

Very odd...............

Paul