ATC overrides keyboard control

[Wildfire563]

Hi Pete,

As you probably know, in FSX when the ATC window is open, you can't use the keyboard arrows to control the plane. I can do other things like pan the view and control the engines and use the rudder, but I can't use the arrow keys.

Is there a facility in FSUIPC4 to overcome this? Am I mistaken?

Thanks,

Thomas

[Pete Dowson]

As you probably know, in FSX when the ATC window is open, you can't use the keyboard arrows to control the plane.

No, I didn't know that! (Sorry, I never use FS ATC as I think it is dreadful. I am a firm Radar Contact user).

Is there a facility in FSUIPC4 to overcome this?

Not specifically. Do the NUM pad keys also get taken? Have you tried changing the NUM lock state? What do the arrow keys do in the ATC menu anyway?

Otherwise you could presumably simply assign key presses in FSUIPC4 to do the job. The keys are simply associated with the controls Ailerons left, Ailerons right, and Elev up, Elev down. You could do that via FSUIPC's Keys tab. In fact, try assigning them to the arrow keys -- there's a possibility that FSUIPC will trap them before the ATC window does.

Regards

Pete

[Wildfire563]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't work. In fact, it seemed to negate the use of the arrow keys altogether for control of the aircraft. Perhaps I did it wrong?

No, turning numlock on and off has no effect on the arrow keys. But you were correct, the numpad keys still work. It is only the separate arrow keys that are affected. But I am using a Dell D810 laptop, so the only way to access the numpad keys is to hold the Fn key and use the keys in the middle of the regular keyboard. Kind a a pain. As far as I can tell, the arrow keys have no purpose in the ATC window.

What I did to try your suggestion was go into the key assignment page of FSUIPC4 and I assigned elevator down to the up arrow key, aileron left to the left arrow key, etc.. After I did this, even with the ATC window off, the keys no longer controlled the plane. I'm not sure what I did wrong.

The problem is that now in FSX the ATC window is a separate window (yet still contained within the FS window, I don't understand it completely). Can FSUIPC recognize that key presses are meant for the main window when another window is active?

I wrote to FS about it, too. I don't know what they are doing about it. The funny thing is, only the arrow keys are affected, other keyboard controls still work, for instance, even without FSUIPC, I assigned the rudder keys to the z, x, and c keys through FS's normal keyboard control setup, and they still work. And as noted, the numpad arrows still work. So I'm assuming it's a bug more than a funtionality problem. But I don't know.

Do you mind taking a look at this?

Thanks,

Thomas

[Pete Dowson]

Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't work. In fact, it seemed to negate the use of the arrow keys altogether for control of the aircraft. Perhaps I did it wrong?

Yes, you must have done it wrong, somehow, as I have just tried it and it works fine --- as long as the ATC window isn't open.

No, turning numlock on and off has no effect on the arrow keys. But you were correct, the numpad keys still work.

Do they? They don't here, at least not when the ATC window is open!

Anyway, I've tried all sorts of things. Amazingly MANY of the key functions change when the ATC window is open. It seems to be capturing many of them and passing them off using its own equivalence table. FSUIPC is unable to get above this as the ATC window is receiving the keys first.

This is really quite a big bug and you should certainly be reporting it as such! Sorry I can't find any way to help -- the only thing you could for now do is get a mouse or cheap joystick.

Regards

Pete

[Wildfire563]

Thanks for the feedback Pete. I will update what I submitted before with this new information.

Interesting that the laptop numpad keys work, they must not be getting captured by FS since they are probably not standard I guess.

Thomas