TouchPal - Touchscreen Cockpit

Sjupaa! Thanks.

Hi all,

Just posting to encourage anyone who hasn't yet tried TouchPal to give it a go -Gadroc has done a wonderful job and it's a huge step forward from my original TouchBuddy profiles, making Black Shark significantly easier to control (and much more fun). It's also worth stressing that a touch screen isn't necessary -all you need is a spare monitor. The screenshots posted earlier in this thread are of a slightly older version, so I've added a more recent one below:

For those having problems getting started, here's a brief installation and setup guide (this was written for a Vista setup but the process should be fairly similar for XP):

1. Follow the four steps listed by Gadroc in the first post to download and install TouchPal.

2. Right click your desktop and choose personalize/display settings. If you have 3 monitors then arrange them like this:

If you only have two monitors then arrange them like this:

Note that the top edge of all your monitors should form an unbroken horizontal line as in the screenshots above.

3. The resolution of your main monitor (and your Shkval monitor in a 3 monitor setup) can be set to whatever you like. The monitor on which you plan to display TouchPal must be set to 1024x768 (the profile is designed so that the proportions will be correct when run at 1024x768 on a 5:4 screen).

4. Open touchpal.xml (in your Documents\TouchPal folder) with Notepad++ and edit the x position so that it is equal to the horizontal resolution of your main monitor.

5. Download whichever of these files is appropriate for your setup to your Eagle Dynamics\Ka-50\Config\MonitorSetup folder:

2 Monitor setup file

3 Monitor setup file

6. Edit the downloaded file in Notepad++ and change the values which are commented to match your setup. For example, if you're running a three monitor setup at 1920x1080 on your main monitor, 1024x768 on your TouchPal monitor and 800x600 on your Shkval monitor then you would edit the DD_TouchPal_3Mon.lua file as follows:

Description = 'Camera on the left, TouchPal+ABRIS on the center & Shkval on the right'
Viewports =
{
    Center =
    {
         x = 0;
         y = 0;
         width = [b]1920[/b]; --Horizontal res of main monitor
         height = [b]1080[/b]; --Vertical res of main monitor
         viewDx = 0;
         viewDy = 0;
         aspect = screen.aspect;
    }
}

ABRIS =
{
    x = [b]2249[/b]; --Horizontal res of main monitor + 329
    y = 224;
    width = 366;
    height = 448;
}

Shkval =
{
    x = [b]2944[/b]; --Horizontal res of main monitor + 1024
    y = 0;
    width = [b]800[/b]; --Horizontal res of Shkval monitor
    height = [b]600[/b]; --Vertical res of Shkval monitor
}

7. Open Eagle Dynamics\Ka-50\BlackShark\data\scripts\options.lua with Notepad++ and edit these lines as indicated by the comments:

["multiMonitorSetup"] = "dd_touchpal_3mon", --Or "dd_touchpal_2mon" for 2 screens
["fullScreen"] = false,
["height"] = 1080, --Vertical res of main monitor
["resolution"] = "1920x1080", --Res of main monitor
["width"] = 3744, --Total horizontal res of all monitors

8. Launch TouchPal and it should appear on the appropriate screen if you've followed the preceding instructions correctly.

9. Launch Black Shark and start a mission. After you unpause, all the buttons, lights and displays along with the ABRIS and Shkval should be live.

Cheers,

DD

.....It's also worth stressing that a touch screen isn't necessary -all you need is a spare monitor....

Apol's for the strange question, but slightly confused: Is it then purely cosmetic in that you still have to toggle the In-Cockpit switches and they reflect as such on the Secondary Monitor? Or can one actually 'hit' the buttons on the secondary monitor to flip switches akin to TouchBuddy, even though the Monitor is not a Touchscreen Monitor?

Please, somebody confirm that BS works flawlessly with TouchPal on XP (SP3)....

I tried lots of options (various resolutions, editing the appropiate files criss-and-cross that affects on the setup) but no change... :-( My TP's abris/shkval screens are PINK...

(BS set up correctly, the abris/shkval placed fine on the secondary monitor, and when I close TP, they are appear.)

:noexpression::cry::huh::hmm:

Apol's for the strange question, but slightly confused: Is it then purely cosmetic in that you still have to toggle the In-Cockpit switches and they reflect as such on the Secondary Monitor? Or can one actually 'hit' the buttons on the secondary monitor to flip switches akin to TouchBuddy, even though the Monitor is not a Touchscreen Monitor?

His statement about not needing a touchscreen is the same one that you see used when TouchBuddy is being talked about. You don't 'need' a touchscreen for it to work, in that you could use your mouse to click upon the buttons. Obviously, having a touchscreen where you actually touch the buttons with your finger would be much more desirable. The nice thing about the option of using a mouse, is that you can install the software and test it before going out and dropping your money on a touchscreen (or overlay).

Gadroc, what you're doing with this, rawks!:punk:

I know you have it on your "To do" list to add network functionality where this could be used in a server - client manner. Obviously, the client machines would not have the ABRIS or Shkval displays, but being able to divide the controls up between multiple client touch screens could really open up some nice glass cockpit possibilities.

Kudos to both you and Dick Dastardly!!!

Apol's for the strange question, but slightly confused: Is it then purely cosmetic in that you still have to toggle the In-Cockpit switches and they reflect as such on the Secondary Monitor? Or can one actually 'hit' the buttons on the secondary monitor to flip switches akin to TouchBuddy, even though the Monitor is not a Touchscreen Monitor?

Cyberkut's explanation is absolutely correct in that whilst a touch screen isn't necessary it's certainly desirable. If you don't have one, however, you can either click the TouchPal buttons with your mouse or, if you prefer, just use your HOTAS buttons to activate stuff and use TouchPal purely as a display so you can keep track of button states etc.

Cheers,

DD

Gadroc, what you're doing with this, rawks!:punk:

Thanks! Positive feedback is always a great motivator.

I know you have it on your "To do" list to add network functionality where this could be used in a server - client manner. Obviously, the client machines would not have the ABRIS or Shkval displays, but being able to divide the controls up between multiple client touch screens could really open up some nice glass cockpit possibilities.

Yes it does open up possibilities. I just acquired 2 more 15" touch screens so I'm keenly interested as my FPS dropped to 10 :(. I have to do some tweaking on my setup still as I have more headroom on OC'ing my processor (Q9550 at 3.4ghz moved up to 3.6ghz last night but needed to go to bed so didn't have time to fully test for stability), but I imagine some more drastic measures will be needed. Considering S-Video out to another computer and running a capture card for Shkval and shared texture for ABRIS on my setup.

That being said there are some cool things in the works (more than just Black Shark) that I can't talk about yet.

Like What? LOL

Hmmmm.... There is one thing that isn't really clear for me.

If I want multimonitor setup (to get in BS to that ultrawide resolution...) I have to change my desktop from DualView to Horizontal Span on WinXP (with nVidia card).

In horizontal span I can't able to set up different resolutions like mentioned below:

[

6. Edit the downloaded file in Notepad++ and change the values which are commented to match your setup. For example, if you're running a three monitor setup at 1920x1080 on your main monitor, 1024x768 on your TouchPal monitor and 800x600 on your Shkval monitor then you would edit the DD_TouchPal_3Mon.lua file as follows:

]

What systems are you on? :shocking: Or am I missed something?

Hmmmm.... There is one thing that isn't really clear for me.

 

If I want multimonitor setup (to get in BS to that ultrawide resolution...) I have to change my desktop from DualView to Horizontal Span on WinXP (with nVidia card).

In horizontal span I can't able to set up different resolutions like mentioned below:

Those instructions are for Vista (which doesn't have a horizontal span mode due to idiotic DRM restrictions). Unfortunately I don't have an XP machine with Black Shark installed to test on, but probably your best bet in XP would be to set all monitors to 1024x768, at least until you've got everything working (you can always experiment with a higher resolution on your main screen later).

Cheers,

DD

Considering S-Video out to another computer and running a capture card for Shkval and shared texture for ABRIS on my setup.

That's an interesting idea. Please let us know if you pull that off! :)

That being said there are some cool things in the works (more than just Black Shark) that I can't talk about yet.

I like the sounds of that! :thumbup:

I'm done. I have tried every f***** options, every possibilites, no success. The pink is still there.

The only option for me is to create an other TP layout that doesn't contains the ABRIS area.

Thanks DD and Gadroc for your advices (and anyway your great work!).

dnnzed I am xp sp3 and I have my 15 inch 768 resolution monitor working. I have a ati 3850 video card.

I just completed the first four steps of the OP and get an error every time touch pal starts up. my new touchscreen is working fine. I can switch my desktop back and forth on it and the touch fucntion works great even with jukebox software.

Dick thanks for the help but your losing me some places and I will not continue with your directions as I am assuming that one should be able to run following the fist four steps in op.

This is what I dont understand.

Step 2 Note that the top edge of all your monitors should form an unbroken horizontal line as in the screenshots above. O really? Where are you getting this pic? From control center? What driver is this ATI or nvidea....or is this window with the displays something in vista i am not familier with??

Please elaborate on this, I am using a 32 inch tv. My main display looks nothing like the 15inch. See my pic.

Step 3 = OK

Step 4 = WHAT? and edit the x position so that it is equal to the horizontal resolution of your main monitor WHY?

Step 5 If I download as save target down load this file where does it get put? So save target and download ...OK

Step 6 is not clear at all, I would have a 2 monitor set up and its not clear what I edited and where or how the info gets stored or changed. Total blow up here.

Step 7 there is no step 7

Step 8 I didnt make it this far, but it looks like this is easy to understand.

I want to also see if this works in XP sp3 but so far its not looking good. Maybe its me but i did follow the OP first four steps and my touchscreen res matchs all the instractions and is native 768 res so it should have worked for me...... Ideas?

@emenance I think that error is because you don't have the touchpal.xml file in the right place. Make sure you download the Blackshark profile as well.

Step 2 Note that the top edge of all your monitors should form an unbroken horizontal line as in the screenshots above. O really? Where are you getting this pic?... Please elaborate on this, I am using a 32 inch tv. My main display looks nothing like the 15inch. See my pic.

To see this pic in Vista you would right click your desktop, select Personalize and then select Display Settings. I can't remember the exact process in XP, but don't worry about it anyway - from your Catalyst screenshot it looks like your monitors are already positioned correctly.

Step 4 = WHAT? and edit the x position so that it is equal to the horizontal resolution of your main monitor WHY?

You need to tell TouchPal the coordinates at which it should draw the top left corner of the profile (the coordinates are measured from the top left corner of your entire desktop). As your TouchPal monitor is to the right of your main monitor and their top edges are level with each other, the coordinates you want will therefore be (horizontal res of main monitor, 0). If, for example, your main monitor has a horizontal res of 1920, then the layout section of your touchpal.xml should look like this:

<Layout>
       <X>1920</X>
       <Y>0</Y>
       <Width>1024</Width>
       <Height>768</Height>

Step 5 If I download as save target down load this file where does it get put?

As per the instructions, you save it in your Eagle Dynamics\Ka-50\Config\MonitorSetup folder.

Step 6 is not clear at all, I would have a 2 monitor set up and its not clear what I edited and where or how the info gets stored or changed. Total blow up here.

Open the DD_TouchPal_2Mon.lua file (which your downloaded in step 5) with Notepad++. You will see that some of the lines have a comment after the number (preceded by two dashes). Simply edit the number as instructed by the comment. For example, one of the lines looks like this:

x = 1353; --Horizontal res of main monitor + 329

If the horizontal res of your main monitor was 1920 then you would edit the line as follows

x = 2249; --Horizontal res of main monitor + 329

You would then repeat this process with any other lines which have a comment and then save the file.

Step 7 there is no step 7

Oops, have renumbered to fix this.

Cheers,

DD

P.S. Be sure to follow Gadroc's advice in the post before this one otherwise none of the above will help.

Two problems i notice here. When I extracted the files per OP step two on install of touch pal the touch pal dir folder was empty, the .xml file was sitting in my documents. I copy the file to the dir and now I dont see the error.

Problem number 2

Step 8 There are a couple places for width and res inputs and its not clear which one should be edited. I tried both places but all I get is a gray screen.

This was my second edit. Really I think the proper place for the edit would go in the area where the res is 640 and 480 since we are not working with that res it makes no sence for it to be there.

Options =

{

["views"] =

{

["cockpit"] =

{

["mirrors"] = true,

["reflections"] = false,

["avionics"] = 3,

["russianHud"] = false,

}, -- end of ["cockpit"]

}, -- end of ["views"]

["difficulty"] =

{

["padlock"] = true,

["easyRadar"] = true,

["enemies"] = true,

["setGlobal"] = false,

["immortal"] = true,

["geffect"] = "none",

["easyFlight"] = true,

["permitCrash"] = true,

["radio"] = true,

["tips"] = true,

["fuel"] = true,

["aftSwitching"] = false,

["cockpitLanguage"] = "english",

["units"] = "imperial",

["externalViews"] = true,

["hud"] = true,

["myPlane"] = true,

["iconsTheme"] = "nato",

["map"] = true,

["weapons"] = true,

["allies"] = true,

["labels"] = false,

}, -- end of ["difficulty"]

["audio"] =

{

["wind"] = 100,

["radio"] = 100,

["musicEn"] = false,

["engines"] = 100,

["soundEn"] = true,

["effects"] = 100,

["music"] = 50,

["radioSpeech"] = true,

["warnings"] = 100,

["volume"] = 100,

["inCockpit"] = 100,

["mech"] = 100,

["subtitles"] = true,

["gui"] = 50,

}, -- end of ["audio"]

["graphics"] =

{

["multiMonitorSetup"] = "dd_touchpal_2mon",

["color"] = "32",

["heatBlr"] = 1,

["scenes"] = "high",

["water"] = 2,

["fullScreen"] = true,

["visibRange"] = "High",

["aspect"] = 1.7777777777778,

["textures"] = 2,

["shadows"] = 2,

["display_mode"] =

{

["avi"] =

{

["bpp"] = 32,

["resolution"] = "640x480",

["full_screen"] = false,

["aspect"] = 1.333333333,

["height"] = 480,

["width"] = 640,

}, -- end of ["avi"]

}, -- end of ["display_mode"]

["effects"] = 3,

["lights"] = 2,

["haze"] = 1,

["terrPrld"] = "20",

["height"] = 1080,

["resolution"] = "1920x1080",

["civTraffic"] = 1,

["width"] = 2944,

}, -- end of ["graphics"]

} -- end of options

THIS IS MY ORIGINAL TEXT BEFORE ANY EDIT

options =

{

["views"] =

{

["cockpit"] =

{

["mirrors"] = true,

["reflections"] = false,

["avionics"] = 3,

["russianHud"] = false,

}, -- end of ["cockpit"]

}, -- end of ["views"]

["difficulty"] =

{

["padlock"] = true,

["easyRadar"] = true,

["enemies"] = true,

["setGlobal"] = false,

["immortal"] = true,

["geffect"] = "none",

["easyFlight"] = true,

["permitCrash"] = true,

["radio"] = true,

["tips"] = true,

["fuel"] = true,

["aftSwitching"] = false,

["cockpitLanguage"] = "english",

["units"] = "imperial",

["externalViews"] = true,

["hud"] = true,

["myPlane"] = true,

["iconsTheme"] = "nato",

["map"] = true,

["weapons"] = true,

["allies"] = true,

["labels"] = false,

}, -- end of ["difficulty"]

["audio"] =

{

["wind"] = 100,

["radio"] = 100,

["musicEn"] = false,

["engines"] = 100,

["soundEn"] = true,

["effects"] = 100,

["music"] = 50,

["radioSpeech"] = true,

["warnings"] = 100,

["volume"] = 100,

["inCockpit"] = 100,

["mech"] = 100,

["subtitles"] = true,

["gui"] = 50,

}, -- end of ["audio"]

["graphics"] =

{

["multiMonitorSetup"] = "1camera",

["color"] = "32",

["heatBlr"] = 1,

["scenes"] = "high",

["water"] = 2,

["fullScreen"] = true,

["visibRange"] = "High",

["aspect"] = 1.7777777777778,

["textures"] = 2,

["shadows"] = 2,

["display_mode"] =

{

["avi"] =

{

["bpp"] = 32,

["resolution"] = "640x480",

["full_screen"] = false,

["aspect"] = 1.333333333,

["height"] = 480,

["width"] = 640,

}, -- end of ["avi"]

}, -- end of ["display_mode"]

["effects"] = 3,

["lights"] = 2,

["haze"] = 1,

["terrPrld"] = "20",

["height"] = 1080,

["resolution"] = "1920x1080",

["civTraffic"] = 1,

["width"] = 1920,

}, -- end of ["graphics"]

} -- end of options

HERE IS A COPY OF THE TOUCHPAL .LUA

Description = 'Camera on the left, TouchPal+ABRIS+Shkval on the right'

Viewports =

{

Center =

{

x = 0;

y = 0;

width = 1920; --Horizontal res of main monitor

height = 1080; --Vertical res of main monitor

viewDx = 0;

viewDy = 0;

aspect = screen.aspect;

}

}

ABRIS =

{

x = 2249; --Horizontal res of main monitor + 329

y = 224;

width = 366;

height = 448;

}

Shkval =

{

x = 2362; --Horizontal res of main monitor + 442

y = 12;

width = 312;

height = 172;

I dont understand what is wrong. other than the edit being in the wrong place in the 0ptions file.......????

You're edits look correct... although it looks like you still have full screen mode on. You have to turn that off.

When you say grey screen which screen... the screen behind touchpal or the entire Black Shark screen?

I mean my whole 15 inch touchscreen. I have not yet seen any touchpal button apear on my touchscreen in any way shape or form .............

Ok i checked the SECOND FULLSCREEN to false, started touch pal. and my touchscreen turns white or gray. Touchpal buttons do not show up on the touchscreen. So I start BS and find that my main display is messed up got some artifacts at first then when mission starts about 1/3rd of my screen on the right is showing the nav map and some toher information. Its not right either. At this time my touch screen is still white. Sooooooo I have to go to task manger and stop touchpal i think...then I noticed some of the cockpit map on my touch screen but cut in half. This makes me think something is wrong with the TOUCHPAL .LUA but hell I dont know.

The touch pal black shark profile is in my documents folder and I see no reason why tp is not communicating with the folder.

You guys have my edits and know what res I got on my main screen. So far I have understood all instructions and got them in correct now but still get failure.

Another disappointment is that so far no has utubed or otherwise a video of this working. i realize were are beta testing but before you know whats wrong you gota know whats right .....right?

Hmm...

You should see TouchPal come up on screen with out Black Shark ever running.

First thing. Make sure you have a TouchPal folder underneath My Documents. In the touchpal folder (Not directly in my documents) should be a touchpal.xml file and a folder called blackshark.

If those aren't there touchpal is not finding it's config files and not loading the profile.

Next try setting X and Y in the Layout section of the touchpal.xml to 0 and 0. This will make touchpal display on your primary monitor.

That should verify touchpal is finding everything it needs. If that works we need to make sure your monitor setup is correct.

OK progress,

My problem: I use win rar and when I extracted the touchpal profile zip to the my documents folder it did not place the blackshark folder or the xml file in the touchpal folder that was created. I dont know why but this is what the primary problem was.

Next question. Since TP is now showing up on my second screen, and appears fine, no bad colors no distotion or anything. This is with a STOCK options file. Now this is very important...If TP appears to be working fine then it would not be necessary to edit the options.lua file..........correct? Seems to me as long as the touchpal file is under monitors section for 2 screen or 3 screen whatever you choose....wouldnt that be as far as I need to go with file editing? :)

I am in the middle of some house repairs and some other things. I will try some more testing tonight maybe and may as well continue to report on what happens BUT BE WARNED. I just got BS about a month ago, been so busy. I am still playing in game mod and some training. I have alot of work to do to get up to speed with the sim so I can only do so much. I do want to get TP running right though with BS so ill do the best I can. :)

The only reason you need to edit options.lua is to get the ABRIS and shkval displaying in the right place. All of the touchpal buttons will still work just fine.

Guys,

This is great. I am glad to see progress in this area and hope we are able to keep the Sim moving in the right direction. I am having a problem and hope someone can help me with it. When I try to run the TouchPal.exe I receive a error, "the application failed to initalize properly (0x0000135)". Any ideas why I am getting this error?

Thanks

Guys,

This is great. I am glad to see progress in this area and hope we are able to keep the Sim moving in the right direction. I am having a problem and hope someone can help me with it. When I try to run the TouchPal.exe I receive a error, "the application failed to initalize properly (0x0000135)". Any ideas why I am getting this error?

 

Thanks

The most common reason to get errors on startup of TouchPal is the Blackshark profile not being extracted to the right place. Please read a few messages up and verify that. If that doesn't work please PM me a screen shot of the error.

I really need to go back and put in decent dialog box for that case.

Stuck on step 7

the only thing I have to change from the stock options.lua is the fullscreen to false and the bottom number.

["multiMonitorSetup"] = "dd_touchpal_3mon", --Or "dd_touchpal_2mon" for 2 screens

["fullScreen"] = false,

["height"] = 1080, --Vertical res of main monitor

["resolution"] = "1920x1080", --Res of main monitor

["width"] = 3744, --Total horizontal res of all monitors I PUT 2944 HERE

total horizontal res of all monitors. I come up with 2944 in the width line.

One pic is just tp on my sec monitor, the other is my main screen 32 inch tv at 1920x1080.

notice the right almost 1/3 of the screen is cut off for abris and other cropped. This causes the game to crash soon. Im not sure what to do or if this defect is something that can be worked on ???