bbosen - 2022-02-07

After 2 weeks of beta testing, I have promoted version Lac08p58 to "Production" status and it is now available in the "Files" section of our SourceForge.net archives according to the usual pattern.

Changes in Lac08p58

Three small bugs were fixed:

1 of 3: The "Query Forward Observer" function had been indvertently hard-coded to the Numeric Keypad's "ENTER" key. Several people have indicated a preference to use that Numeric Keypad "ENTER" key as an alternative Mumble "Push-To-Talk" key. Accordingly, this version removes the hard-coded coupling of "Query Forward Observer" with "NumEnter".

2 of 3: Destruction of a battleship moored adjacent an HQ airfield should propogate significant damage into that airfield, but a bug was interfering with that process. We fixed that bug.

3 of 3: The elevation of "SeaLevel" was changed in "Network Battle 02" from "50" to "46" because, under the Raspbian version of LINUX, target selection logic within that mission was unable to select HQ airfields until the SeaLevel was dropped down to "46". We made this change effective for all versions of LINUX for the sake of consistency.

We also changed the default Realm from "00" to "01" because a long-term experiment has proved that the increased packet transmission rate in all odd-numbered Realms has resulted in smoother visual representation of online aircraft without causing any problems. As a consequence of this change, we expect Realm "01" to become our most popular Realm, and we have enhanced LAC's server with several powerful, dynamic new "Replay Bloke Missions" that ensure a much more interesting experience when a player finds himself all alone online.

We also adjusted the mission selection menus to clarify the new popularity and superiority of missions in Realm01. The "Mission Notes" sections of each of our most popular missions are now dynamically adjusted according to the selected Realm and current availability of powerful new Replay Bloke Missions within Realm 01.

Changes in Lac08p56

The flight model has been made more realistic as a consequence of torque-induced roll. This new torque-induced roll must be specifically switched on through LAC's menus, whereupon all propellor-powered aircraft except for the Lockheed P38 Lightning tend to roll in the direction opposite prop spin when flying too slowly for their ailerons and rudders to compensate, especially when at maximum power. (The P38 is the only prop aircraft that does not suffer from torque-induced roll because its two engines rotate in opposite directions, so that each engine cancels the torque induced by the other. Rocket and jet-powered aircraft do not suffer from torque-induced roll either.)

For most aircraft under normal flight conditions, this new torque-induced roll is a subtle effect of little consequence, and it is generally not felt at all when airspeeds exceed about 160 MPH. However, it will almost always be felt at takeoff and in low-speed turnfights, and the effect is greater for single-engine fighters equipped with large powerplants and props. In particular, the Vought F4u Corsair was notoriously difficult to take off because of its high torque-induced roll, and LAC's F4u suffers accordingly. Be gentle as power is applied during its takeoff, and (in any of the single-engine, prop-powered fighters) be ready to assert opposite aileron to steady any induced roll as soon as one of the wheels lifts off from the runway. In low-speed encounters, pilots that are aware of the quirks of torque-induced roll can gain an advantage in combat because their own aircraft may be able to roll a little faster in the direction favored by engine torque, and if they know that the aircraft they are opposing prefers to roll in the opposite direction, they may be able to compound that advantage by forcing the fight into rolls that the opposing aircraft cannot match.

As an option, this new torque-induced roll can be switched on or off. This is done from within LAC's "SETUP OPTIONS" -> "GAME" -> "DIFFICULTY" menu buttons, by cycling the value of "DIFFICULTY" back and forth between "2" and "3".

When "DIFFICULTY" is set at "2", all of the aircraft, flight models, and missions are the same as in prior versions since 7.92, so competitive, multiplayer aspects remain completely interoperable by default. Players that increase "DIFFICULTY" to "3" can still fly among other players using older versions, but their flight characteristics will be slightly more complex and more realistic.

All of the mission selection menus have been enhanced. Now, as the user views one of the menus describing any of the online, multi-user, server-based missions and cycles among the 32 associated realms, the "ACTIVE PLAYERS" list is immediately and dynamically updated with no need for the user to press the "UPDATE" button. The descriptive text associated with the most important and most popular mission/realm combinations has also been improved for better clarity and additional detail.

Consequently, as the user continues to click the menu's "REALM" indicator to cycle through the 32 realms that can host a particular mission, the names of all participating players are immediately updated in the prominent "ACTIVE PLAYERS" list. These improvements make it much easier for players to identify realm and mission combinations that are populated with Sentient players or with "Replay Blokes" (generated when the server replays previously recorded player activity).

The cockpit RADAR display was also enhanced. It now features a new indicator that announces "NO IFF" whenever the "Identify Friend or Foe" facility is switched off or disabled due to aircraft damage, airfield damage, or detected fratricide attempts. (Prior to this enhancement, some new users have been confused and mystified when the color of RADAR blips degraded to grey from their normal red or blue colors due to loss of IFF functionality.)

We also expanded LAC's aircraft selection menu by displaying new text that asks new players to fly online missions, to join Mumble, to join our forums, and to post favorable online reviews in order to expand our community. In order to make room for this new block of text I also moved the rotating aircraft image slightly to the left.

We also enhanced the text that displays the names and descriptions for all available online mission menus so that the old "TEST" labels now say "BETA TEST" instead, for better clarity. New text also advises users about the best realms for their use and the probability that the server may offer "Replay" missions in case no live, sentient players are participating. Browsing among the available missions and realms is now much more dynamic and responsive to the nuances of different mission/realm combinations. As a consequence, new members of LAC's growing user community will have an easier time finding other players or enjoying Replay Missions in Realms "00" or "01" when other players are not available.

Finally, we eliminated Linux Air Combat's "ESC abuse penalties" for anybody that is operating under all of these three conditions:

1 of 3: Mumble is installed
2 of 3: LAC is configured NOT to manage Mumble automatically
3 of 3: LAC is NOT running in full-screen mode.

It is very unusual for LAC users to operate under all three of those conditions, but when they do it is probably because they need to manage Mumble with their mouse pointer by clicking in Mumble's application frame displayed in a separate window adjacent LAC's application frame. In order to do that, they need to temporarily escape out of LAC, click something on the Mumble frame, and then return to LAC.

We don't want to penalize players for that behavior, because it is quite different from pressing "ESC" to temporarily flee from a threatening online combat situation.

Changes in LAC 8.52

New version 8.52 derives directly from Version 8.48 (Lac08p48), bypassing intervening versions. All of the aircraft, flight models, and missions are unchanged, so competitive, multiplayer aspects remain interoperable with all versions since 7.92. Users that have been happily using version 8.48 and who have installed and configured Mumble for robust use within the LAC community will have little reason to upgrade.

However, new users will find that this version offers very helpful, additional guidance to get them started with a robust LAC experience.

Two significant improvements oriented toward optimal configuration and use are included. They are:

Improvement 1 of 2: New sign-on animation with instruction about navigating LAC's menus

Extensive online experience reveals that about 20% of LAC's players suffer with very slow response to mouse movement when menus are displayed. This has long been documented as FAQ #25. As therein explained, LAC's standard keyboard configuration compensates for this mouse pointer problem through easy navigation among menu buttons with the arrow keys of the numeric keypad. Affected users can just use those keyboard keys instead of their mouse pointer. Selected buttons are then toggled or activated by pressing the "ENTER" or "SPACEBAR" keyboard keys. Unfortunately, this option is not obvious to new players suffering from this problem, who may simply abandon LAC before discovering the simple solution.

Accordingly, I added new, animated instructive text to the initial signon animation. It displays "IF YOUR MOUSE POINTER RESPONDS TOO SLOWLY, YOU CAN NAVIGATE AMONG OUR MENUS WITH THE ARROW KEYS OF YOUR NUMERIC KEYPAD INSTEAD. AFTER HIGHLIGHTING A MENU BUTTON, ACTIVATE IT WITH <enter> OR <space>". That new text starts out small and grows gradually larger for 14 seconds in order to attract enough attention to ensure it is seen by new users.</space></enter>

Improvement 2 of 2: User interface improvements for players that have not yet installed Mumble

All previous versions of LAC alert network players on the 3-line scrolling SystemMessagePanel whenever another player participating in the current mission presses the key configured as his Mumble "PTT" ("Push To Talk") key. For example, if the player with CommunityHandle "FRED" had configured "F1" as his Mumble "PTT" key for "NarrowCasting" according to our prevailing norms, when he held down "F1", all other players participating in his online, multiplayer mission saw the following message scroll onto their SystemMessage Panel:

"NARROWCAST COMMS FROM FRED"

Following the same pattern, if FRED configured "F2" as his "PTT2" key for "MissionCasting" according to our prevailing norms, when he held down "F2", all other players participating in his online, multiplayer mission saw the following similar message scroll onto their SystemMessage Panel:

"BROADCAST COMMS FROM FRED"

There was a little quirk in that logic: Even if the user had not installed Mumble, those Mumble Status Change Messages were still displayed in response to Fred's use of either of those keyboard keys. Of course, if Mumble was not present on the user's computer, those Mumble Status Change Messages were not very useful, and they might have confused new users. Furthermore, if a new user lacking Mumble ever attempted to transmit his voice through the "F1" or "F2" (Push-To-Talk) keyboard keys, his Mumble Panel would illuminate with status implying successful transmission of his voice, further confusing him.

This version improves that situation. If Mumble is installed and configured according to our norms, no changes will be apparent.

However, if Mumble is not installed, the user's cockpit instruments behave differently. The Mumble panel warns the user with a prominent message declaring "MUMBLE NOT INSTALLED" instead of "MUMBLE PANEL". Furthermore, instead of displaying the name of the current Mumble Channel, a message declaring "MUMBLE INACCESSIBLE. PLEASE INSTALL MUMBLE" is displayed by default. Attempts to use any of the Mumble-oriented channel-changing "hot keys" are ignored unless the user presses some of them in rapid succession, whereupon the "MUMBLE INACCESSIBLE. PLEASE INSTALL MUMBLE" message is temporarily replaced with "UNCHANGED". Whenever the player attempts to use either of his configured Mumble "Push-to-Talk" keys to attempt a Mumble TeamCast, MissionCast, Broadcast, Narrowcast, or Realmcast, the associated Mumble status message is colored grey and prepended with "CANNOT". When another network-connected user participating in the player's current mission transmits his voice for a TeamCast or a MissionCast via Mumble, any participating players NOT equipped with Mumble will see "VOICE NARROWCAST MISSED" or "VOICE BROADCAST MISSED" on their Mumble Panels, and a message like "FRED IS TRYING TO SPEAK WITH YOU" is scrolled through their 3-line SystemMessagePanel.

As a consequence of these changes, players that have not yet installed mumble are given constant, situation-appropriate feedback online about the resulting deficiencies. This will help new players to understand the value and importance of installing and using Mumble as they join and participate actively in the LAC online community.

I also updated and corrected spelling and punctuation in several of the aircraft selection menus.

Changes in Lac08p48 and Lac08p51

Both of these versions derive directly from Lac08p44 (bypassing intervening versions). All of the aircraft, flight models, and missions are unchanged, so competitive, multiplayer aspects remain interoperable with all versions since 7.92. Version Lac08p51 differs only as required to support the well-known "AppImage" packaging and distribution norms.

However, one bug was fixed, new guidance is offered to help new users configure their systems optimally, and improvements were made to each of the Menus that describe an individual mission.

Because LAC now has 15 missions, there are 15 individual, descriptive, mission menus, and the purpose of each is to illustrate the aircraft that will be used, to describe the asssociated mission, to allow the player to choose a Realm and Team in which he wants to fly the associated mission, and to select among available starting points on the associated mission map.

Three enhancements were completed in each of those 15 menus. They are:

1 of 3: A list of active Sentient Players and any active Replay Blokes currently using the network in the selected Realm and Mission is displayed. This makes it much easier for new players to find the most active missions and/or to locate participating friends. (Note that this list is always empty for missions that do not support network access.)

2 of 3: A new button, labeled "CHECK FOR MULTIMEDIA", is displayed at the bottom center of the menu, immediately beneath the familiar set of buttons that have long been present on those descriptive, individual mission menus. When the operator clicks that button, LAC immediately attempts to activate the configured "PreferredBrowser" and to display a related web page, for the described mission, from AskMisterWizard.com. (The intent here is to play one or more brief "YouTube" video clips about the selected mission, showing exactly what the player can expect during the first minute or two after he commences the mission for himself.)

3 of 3: LAC's mission menus now offer very detailed, powerful text guidance to assist in configuring "CommunityHandle" and "mumble". For example, if mumble is not installed in any of the usual filesystem locations, LAC urges the player to install it. If the "CommunityHandle" has not been configured, LAC urges the player to configure it. After the CommunityHandle is configured, if mumble is installed and active, the player is instructed about options to disable LAC's active management of mumble if any incompatibilities are discovered in the user's specific environment. In that case, the user is urged to use mumble's native management tools instead, or to install and use mumble on a compatible phone or tablet.

The Morse Code Radio was enhanced with a new administrative command. By transmitting eight or more consecutive 'H" characters, new logic is triggered and the user is prompted (by new messages on the cockpit's SystemMessage Panel) to enter the text of their desired or new CommunityHandle, which is saved in the LacConfig.txt file and used thereafter exactly as one might expect. This makes it very easy for new users to configure their CommunityHandle from within LAC, diminishing the need to edit the LacConfig.txt file.

We found and fixed a bug that was making it cumbersome to activate LAC's menu items without a mouse. Although the numeric keypad's arrow keys have long allowed moving the mouse cursor around enough to navigate, activation of a selected menu button (by pressing the "ENTER" or "SPACE" keys) was always executing the selected function TWICE instead of just ONCE. This made it impossible to select alternative values for any of the "toggle" functions. That bug has now been fixed, so users that find LAC's menus cumbersome to navigate with a mouse can now do so with the same keyboard keys that LAC uses for view direction in flight.

The "AUTHORS" menu was also enhanced. It now displays the current version of LAC at the top of the scrolling authors report.

The cockpit display was also enhanced so that the "FLAPS" position is now displayed with a negative number. This makes more intuitive sense to players, since the flaps are "lowered" to increase their effect and "raised" to diminish their effect.

The "map" display is enhanced so that it now displays the name of the current mission.

The "NetworkMode" attribute is set to "67" by default within the LacConfig.txt file. This enhances LAC's standard keyboard map to take advantage of formerly unused keys on the numeric keypad. Users of laptop computers (and other computers lacking a full-sized keyboard) will find this helpful because it makes it easier to zoom the RADAR range and field of view in and out during missions. As a consequence of this change, the default arrangement of LAC's numeric keypad now looks like this:
LAC's numeric keypad command mapping
Version 8.48 is installed in the user's own "home" directory according to LAC's well-established pattern.

Changes in Lac08p44

This version derives directly from Lac08p42 (bypassing Lac08p43 which has different objectives). No major changes were made. Flight models and competitive, multiplayer aspects remain interoperable with all versions since 7.92, but I made a lot of small adjustments and minor improvements as follows:

I found and fixed a bug that had been sounding an irritating noise when landing a damaged aircraft.

I fixed a bug that was causing bomber gunners to shut down their guns in preparation for landing whenever their aircraft was flying at extremely low altitude. This behavior is no longer desirable because so many of our new terrains include low-altitude canyons and valleys where aircraft like to fly low in order to avoid radar detection.

I balanced the acoustic volume of all of the sound effects. Now the engine noise levels are more appropriate among all of the other sounds that are active in flight. Computer-generated voice effects from the "espeak" companion application are no longer so disturbingly loud. It is now easier for users to "tune" acoustic volume levels to their liking, and to balance them with sounds emanating from "Mumble", "espeak", "YouTube" documentation videos, etc.

I improved the selection of aircraft 3d model artwork for a better balance between visual quality and performance. If you are unhappy with any of these changes, you can always download individual .3ds art files for any aircraft, choosing from our "optimized for appearance" or from our "optimized for speed" online archives instead of the "balanced optimization" set used as the standard for this version of LAC. It is easy to find the required web page from the prominent "ENHANCED ART" link at the top of our official web page here:

https://askmisterwizard.com/2019/LinuxAirCombat/LinuxAirCombat.htm

Improved "USB Console Game Controller" support: Since about March of 2020, it seems that Joystick manufacturers have drastically cut or eliminated production, resulting in huge price increases for those lucky enough to find a joystick offered for sale. LAC's users, seeking a lower-cost alternative, have been making increasing use of USB "Console Game Controllers" instead. Because LAC has long offered powerful mapping of joystick axes and buttons to available flight functions, these users have enjoyed reasonable success, and some of them have developed surprising flight skills around this new arrangement. However, none of the available Console Game Controllers had enough buttons to grant easy access to all of LAC's most important flight and view functions. Accordingly, those players still needed to reach for keyboard keys from time to time (for example, for various combinations of target selection, RADAR range selection, target vocalization, landing gear, WEP, and the 6 distinct types of view zoom functions).

I decided to enhance LAC with four new functions to address this deficiency. The basis for all four of these new functions is to "cycle" more comprehensively, through more options, when invoked through a single, associated joystick button or keyboard key.

For example, previous versions of LAC use two distinct functions for "Target Select", requiring two keys or buttons (one for SelectNextRed, and the other for SelectPreviousBlue). I thought LAC should be enhanced with an optional, new, additional function that cycles comprehensively forward through ALL targets regardless of team affiliation, and that can be invoked with just one key instead of two.

The same is true for Zooming the Map In and out, Zooming the RADAR In and Out, and Zooming the Field-of-View ("FOV") In and Out: In each case, I could cut the required pair of keys or buttons down to a single button by creating a companion function that would cycle through all available values, repeating the cycle endlessly if the player continued to press the associated control.

Accordingly, I created four new "Cycle" functions that can be activated as needed during flight. Each of the four new functions is available through two new variables that can be specified in the LacControls configuration file as follows:

key_RadarZoomCycle (Mapped to "s" for "Sensor Range" by default)
joystick_RadarZoomCycle
key_TARGETCYCLE (Mapped to "t" by default)
joystick_TARGETCYCLE
key_ZoomFovCycle (Mapped to "f" by default)
joystick_ZoomFovCycle
key_MapZoomCycle (Mapped to "z" by default)
joystick_MapZoomCycle

Brief offline testing of the resulting, default, joystick-based configuration confirmed good progress: All of the classic keyboard and joystick mapping still worked without change, and in addition, tapping "s" (for "SensorZoomCycle") invoked the new RadarZoomCycle function, tapping "t" invoked the new TARGETCYCLE function, tapping "f" invoked the new ZoomFovCycle function, and tapping "z" invoked the new MapZoomCycle function as expected.

Additional, more extensive testing with a USB Game Console Controller was gratifying: Players could then configure a lot more functions for easy access to throttle, rudder, elevator, and aileron axes, with six buttons for view direction, and one each for target selection cycling, radar range cycling, weapon selection cycling, target vocalization, primary and secondary weapon firing, flap extending, and flap retraction.

Even with all of those buttons configured in the default arrangement, most Game Controllers offer two more buttons that are "hidden" beneath the two analog axis controls. Each is accessed by pressing inward, whereupon the player feels a satisfying "click" as the associated button is activated. I wrote new logic to refer to and use these two buttons with the following new names, functions, and logic:

1 of 2: "ThrustTripleModifier". This is the button beneath the Throttle/Rudder axis. Depressing it activates one of three separate functions depending on the setting of the throttle axis. Under normal circumstances, when the throttle is resting in its spring-loaded center position, the ToggleUndercarriage function is activated. But if the throttle is slammed all the way up for maximum thrust, the ToggleWEP function is activated instead. Conversely, if the throttle is slammed all the way down for minimal thrust, the "ToggleSpeedBrake function is activated.

2 of 2: "ViewZoomCycler". This is the button beneath the Elevator/Aileron axis. Depressing it activates one of two separate functions depending on the current view mode. Under normal circumstances when the operator is looking out at the world through one of his cockpit windows, the new ZoomFovCycle function is ativated. On the other hand, if the operator is looking at the map, then the MapZoomCycle function is activated.

Significant online testing confirms success: Now users equipped with a low-cost, readily available USB Console Game Controller can use it with good success instead of a joystick. They have easy access to all 23 of these functions:

01 of 23: Elevator Axis
02 of 23: Aileron Axis
03 of 23: Rudder Axis
04 of 23: Throttle Axis
05 of 23: LookFwd (Dedicated Button)
06 of 23: LookBack (Dedicated Button)
07 of 23: LookLeft (Dedicated Button)
08 of 23: LookRight (Dedicated Button)
09 of 23: LookUp (Dedicated Button)
10 of 23: LookDown at Map (Dedicated Button)
11 of 23: WEP (MaxThrottle & click Throttle/Rudder handle)
12 of 23: Undercarriage (CenterThrottle & click Throttle/Rudder handle)
13 of 23: SpeedBrakes (MinThrottle & click Throttle/Rudder handle)
14 of 23: Radar Zoom Cycle (Dedicated Button)
15 of 23: FOV Zoom (Click Elevator/Throttle handle while looking out a cockpit window)
16 of 23: Map Zoom (Click Elevator/Throttle handle while looking at map)
17 of 23: Target Select Cycle (Dedicated Button
18 of 23: Target Vocalize (Dedicated Button)
19 of 23: Flaps Up (Dedicated Button)
20 of 23: Flaps Down (Dedicated Button)
21 of 23: Secondary Weapon Cycle (Dedicated Button)
22 of 23: Fire Primary Weapon (Dedicated Button)
23 of 23: Fire Secondary Weapon (Dedicated Button)

A photograph of a typical USB Game Controller of this type is available online, and it is marked with labels for each LAC's functions mapped as described above. You can access it here:

https://askmisterwizard.com/2019/LinuxAirCombat/UsbGameControllerMapping02.jpg

The little-used old "ConfigFileSamples" folder has been deleted from our standard distribution page because that information is now available online through our "Flight Control Hardware" forum.

The little-used old "Optional3dModels" folder has been deleted from our standard distribution package because it is now available online through a prominent "ENHANCED ART" link at the top of LAC's main web page.

The little-used "KnownBugs.txt" file has been deleted from our standard distribution package because that information is now available online through our "LAC Bug Tracking" forum.

Sounds are generally better balanced, acoustic distortion is notably minimized, engine noises are heard at more realistic levels, and landing a damaged aircraft is no longer accompanied by irritating, distracting noises. Furthermore, bomber gunners remain active and continue to defend their aircraft even when flying down at extremely low altitudes.