Foxy vs. TARGET

I was a long time user of FOXY to program the buttons of my Cougar. I then bought a Warthawg and the TARGET programming software is a total mystery to me! Is there anyone out there that can give a simple tutorial for TARGET? In my pea brain, FOXY was nothing more than just making a list of the various key commands and then assigning them to the various buttons and hats on the stick. It was dirt simple! Why does it seem that the TARGET software is so complicated??.....other than the obvious answer that I am a total dweeb??!!

Brand new .tmc file

[color=#1e90ff][b]include[/b][/color] [color=#d2691e]"target.tmh"[/color]

[color=#32cd32]//program startup[/color]
[color=#1e90ff][b]int[/b][/color] main()
{
   [color=#1e90ff][b]if[/b][/color][color=#808080]([/color]Init(&EventHandle)) [color=#1e90ff][b]return[/b][/color] [color=#ffffff]1[/color]; [color=#32cd32]// declare the event handler, return on error[/color]
   
   [color=#32cd32]//add initialization code here[/color]
}

[color=#32cd32]//event handler[/color]
[color=#1e90ff][b]int[/b][/color] EventHandle[color=#808080]([/color][color=#1e90ff][b]int[/b][/color] type, [color=#1e90ff][b]alias[/b][/color] o, [color=#1e90ff][b]int[/b][/color] x)
{
   DefaultMapping(&o, x);
   
   [color=#32cd32]//add event handling code here[/color]
}

Where it says "add initialization code here" put something like

MapKey(&Throttle, LTB, DX1);

That makes the left throttle button "LTB" bound to button 1 "DX1." This concludes part 1 of 497.8 of our 497.8 part instructional series.

... In my pea brain, FOXY was nothing more than just making a list of the various key commands and then assigning them to the various buttons and hats on the stick.

Actually, Foxy was much more complex than that :) .. for that kind of command assignment, just use the DCS Options -> Controls GUI

Foxy should be used when you need more than the DCS GUI can provide, for example having a single button cycle among the Modes of the Su-27 :)

I JUST started using Joystick Gremlin. I was using TARGET SCRIPT. Gremlin so far is SO much better.

Give the TARGET Script Editor a try, and skim through the manual. It doesn't make any sense at the start but it will become clear enough to put together a decent script.

What A/C are you flying?

I was a long time user of FOXY to program the buttons of my Cougar. I then bought a Warthawg and the TARGET programming software is a total mystery to me! Is there anyone out there that can give a simple tutorial for TARGET? In my pea brain, FOXY was nothing more than just making a list of the various key commands and then assigning them to the various buttons and hats on the stick. It was dirt simple! Why does it seem that the TARGET software is so complicated??.....other than the obvious answer that I am a total dweeb??!!

You can use the GUI version for point and click assignments. And there are YouTube videos on that topic.

If you want to use the script editor, look at HomeFries scripts. There is a sticky thread that cover just about every aircraft.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=116454

I don't use the script editor. I don't use anything but one .fcf file made 100% in the GUI.

The only thing I have found the GUI would not do for me is remove layers that I originally set up.

One can overwrite those but not remove them completely and so I had to go to the script to do that.

I made a crappy video telling you everything you need to know to use the GUI successfully in DCS.

Indeed there are some amazing scripts and things made by others in the past however I like things in certain places so I make my own after a taken a bit of time to learn Target.

I assign my axis in DCS and do not do that in Target although I assign some LEDs to Axis in parallel in Target.

My binding in game for the thrustmaster combined are all blank and instead I send the assigned keystrokes to DCS from the target script created in the GUI.

There are really only a few key things one has to know without having to worry about script syntax and curly brackets.

I respect script writers totally but I am simply just bad at getting things exactly how and where they belong.

For non-coders like myself, I would recommend the GUI. Set up one single switch and you're away to the races. I am not a content creator so don't expect fancy or quality recording.

it's all here as far as my current knowledge goes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhGrbYYmBck

Actually, Foxy was much more complex than that :) .. for that kind of command assignment, just use the DCS Options -> Controls GUI

 

 

Foxy should be used when you need more than the DCS GUI can provide, for example having a single button cycle among the Modes of the Su-27 :)

Simply not true.

Page 26 of the Target manual explains how to sequence using the GUI to do just what you have indicated. Look for sequencing. Very easy.

Over and over I see folks telling other folks that The Target GUI can't do things.

It is a thousand times easier than scripting by hand.

I find one script per aircraft works best. Multiple scripts tend to lean toward being an unacceptable compromise.

Yes you have to exit DCS to switch scripts but one has to admit. DCS likes restarts to clear.

Read both the Target Manual and the Target Script manual fully.

Simply not true.

Page 26 of the Target manual explains how to sequence using the GUI to do just what you have indicated. Look for sequencing. Very easy.

My comment was about Foxy, not Target.

My comment was about Foxy, not Target.

My apologies. Carry on.

Yep. I have an X56 at work and my home HOTAS was my beloved Cougar which suffered a rather unfortunate encounter with gravity. And yeah, it's a bit to swollow in one bite so I"ll offer up some things that I wish I knew before I started my freshly completed profile.

1 Do not use the basic editor, if you do you're missing functionality that you're going to need. Instead go to the advanced profile immediately and you will see what appears to be almost the exact same thing which is no harder to use but has those options you're going to need.

2 Take it in small steps and check your progress. I'd start by setting up your axes and going into free flight to check them. Once you get that sorted out move on to another manageable group of commands. This way if you have some wackiness when you test you have a limited group of suspects to troubleshoot.

3 This is related to #2; before you go make that progress check save the profile under a unique name before you run it and enter the game. Doing this may prevent you from losing an hour of work after having to hard reboot because you had a stuck key in the profile. You'll still hard reboot but you can open up the saved profile and fix the offending binding without losing an hour of work. Yes, I tested this personally. Don't be me. *heavy sigh*

4 You may need to increase the default pulse time to get commands to work reliably. Mine starts a profile at a default of 32 milliseconds and I had to change that to 50 to get things working properly. This will depend on your hardware so don't adjust it unless you need to but if you do don't be afraid to change it. The behavior you'll see is intermittent function and if you can see the switch gear move in the cockpit you'll see it do a tiny flicker but the command wont work. You see that it's a good chance you need to increase the pulse length.

Edit... One other thing, decide how many axes you'll be using, if more than 8 you're going to have to drop something off or leave hardware out of the profile so you can have more available with what will then be two devices. I left the pedals out of my profile (for example) to get the total of 10 I needed across both devices. In DCS you'll have two controllers (using my example one virtual controller with stick and throttle and one separate controller which is the rudder pedals) and whatever hardware you left out will be taken care of in DCS for programming.

5 If you get some wackiness where things don't function when you hit the switch but do when you release it you've probably programmed it accidentally as an on release command instead of an on press. Go back and change it to a press and you''re living.

6 If you have off/idle and you want to get that working in game you will use the release command, not the press. Then when you move the throttle from off to idle the command gets sent in the game. Make sure it's a pulse and not a hold, release, or press.

7 If you want a set a timered switch where it will be held for a certain time and released remember that you will use two press commands, not a press and then a release. The first command instead of a pulse will be a press and the second command will be a release where you add the time delay. Sounds confusing but when you do it you'll see what I mean. Any command will start out as something that happens when you either press or release a switch. As an example... What you're going to see in the GUI is two boxes that will let you select whether the action occurs on press or on release. You'll hit the press box to highlight it. Then you'll name your command, for this example we'll call it APU start. Then you're going to add the key binding for apu start in on the field under that. You'll change the type to press and add it as an event. Then you'll stay in the field and change type to release, add the delay in milliseconds in the box underneath, in this example the APU switch needs to be held for two seconds so you'll give it a 2000 millisecond delay, and add event. Now you've got the switch on a 2 second timer defined by the delay you added.

In general I'm new at this scheme myself and I cant comment on whether it's better to go to scripting first or not. I didn't because I'd rather take it in small bites but the folks proposing that may well be right. However that may be I'd advocate a perusal of the guide before you dig in. Good luck