Traffic zapper | INOP on ground traffic

[Stu Antonio]

Hi Mr. Dowson,

I'm a little confused on how to add the traffic zapper parameters described in the manual to the fsuipc.ini.

So I successfully
- zapped traffic on the ground when I am on the ground.
- zapped traffic in the air when I am in the air (added ZapAirRange=5.0 to increase the radius) .

What I didn't succeed in was zapping traffic on the ground when I am in the air (zapping traffic entering the runway I am about to land on).

Could you point me in the right direction how to archive this? 

1. Where do I add the parameter for the viewing angle?

2. Is the "viewing angle" only a horizontal angle? Or is it also vertical?

3. I also tried the cylinder mode and set a ZapCylinderAltDiff value of 200 to zap the nearest traffic around and above/below me (including ground), but it didn't work for ground traffic. As soon as I lift off, I'm unable to zap any ground traffic (tested with the Robinson while hovering over the apron. Sitting on the ground it works. Hovering just a few feet over the surface, it's not working). What am I missing here?

(FSUIPC5, P3D 4.5)

Your help would be much appreciated!

Regards,
Stu
 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by Stu Antonio

[Thomas Richter]

Hi,

using those values for example and using the Triffic Zapper with value 4

ZapSound=firework
ZapAirRange=1.5
ZapGroundRange=0.25
ZapCylinderAltDiff=200

works ok and removed the traffic as well on ground when in air.

Keep in mind that FSUIPC will not be able to remove a injected 'object' as it might not be seen as AI traffic object.

Thomas

[Stu Antonio]

Thanks for the reply, Thomas.

What do you mean by "with value 4"? ... 

I tried exactly your settings with no success. It removes ground traffic when I'm on the ground and air traffic when I'm in the air. But no ground traffic when I'm in the air.

Sitting in the Robinson helicopter for example,. I hover 20ft over and in front of an AI aircraft. Zapping doesn't work, hitting the Zap-Key doesn't do anything. As soon as I touch the ground, that same AI aircraft will perfectly vanish when I hit the Zap-Key again.

Can't figure out why.....

[Thomas Richter]

Hi,

as the manual describes

Quote

ZapSound: This defines the sound to be used when the FSUIPC control for AI traffic deletion (the “Traffic Zapper”) is
successfully applied. This must be the name of a WAV file in the FS sound folder, the default being ‘Firework’.
If you do not want a sound just set it to ZapSound=None. However, the reason for the sound is so that you know
something has been Zapped. FSUIPC cannot tell what you can see, and the aircraft which is zapped may not be in your
display so you may not see it disappear.
ZapAirRange=1.5
ZapGroundRange=0.25
These control the range of operation of the AI aircraft zapping facility. The units are nautical miles. Air and Ground
refer to the user aircraft position, not the target. Note that you cannot change the acceptance angle explicitly. It is
adjusted automatically, in linear inverse proportion to the change in the range—so with a larger range you would need
to point the aircraft nose more accurately.
Note that a parameter can be supplied when assigning the Traffic Zapper control to change the viewing angle in which
the target aircraft will be detected. This parameter is one of these:
Ground 0 (default) = 15 degree deviation either way, as before
1 = 30 degree deviation either way
2 = 45 degree deviation either way
3 = 60 degree deviation either way
4 = 75 degree deviation either way
Air 0 (default) = 2.5 degree width either way, as before
1 = 5.0 degree deviation either way
2 = 7.5 degree deviation either way
3 = 10.0 degree deviation either way
4 = 12.5 degree deviation either way

ZapCylinderAltDiff=n (where n is the maximum altitude difference), can be added to change the mode of the airborne
Zapper. With this added, the target for zapping is the nearest aircraft to the airborne user which is within the upright
cylinder of radius ZapAirRange and has a difference in altitude of n feet or less, including those on the ground below.

In P3Dv4.5 i.e. you set the Parameter to one of the above values, 0 - 4

Thomas

[Stu Antonio]

4 minutes ago, Thomas Richter said:

In P3Dv4.5 i.e. you set the Parameter to one of the above values, 0 - 4

Okay, I see....

But shouldn't the Cylinder-mode just zap the nearest AI aircraft, where ever that might be? 

[Thomas Richter]

I guess the Zylinder is still in front of you and the value to adjust the angle for the target.

Did you try a Parameter?

Thomas

[Stu Antonio]

Yes, I tried 4 as a parameter, but I think that's just relevant if you're not in Cylinder-mode.

ZapCylinderAltDiff puts the zapper in a different mode that ist described as above 

"... for zapping is the nearest aircraft to the airborne user which is within the upright cylinder of radius ZapAirRang"

To me that sounds like the radius of the cylinder (not a cone) is set by the ZapAirRange value and the height of the cylinder ist the ZapCylinderAltDiff value, with the user in the center of that cylinder....  To my understanding the closest AI within that cylinder should vanish.

For me, that's not working. 

EDIT: Even without cylinder mode, diving directly at the ground traffic, I can "shoot" as much as I want, I can't zap the traffic on the ground while I'm in the air. When I land, it works.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Stu Antonio

[Thomas Richter]

I guess you set the ZapGroundRange as this is still valid for Cylinder Mode. Did you try this with P3D traffic, as I said before injected objects are not visible to FSUIPC? Injected objects for traffic are sometimes used by traffic programs. To use those the program has an unique object id no controlable by other programs.

Thomas

[Stu Antonio]

56 minutes ago, Thomas Richter said:

Did you try this with P3D traffic, as I said before injected objects are not visible to FSUIPC?

Yea, I guess it might have something to do with that. I'm using Alpha India Groupts AI flight manager and plans, maybe it handles traffic somehow strange. 

What's strange though is that I indeed CAN delete the specific traffic when I'm on the ground. Just not from the air.... 

[Stu Antonio]

Also, when I use the Zappall function, it zaps every single plane I see, just like it should. Air and ground. So I'm not sure it's the AI traffic itself... 

 

[Thomas Richter]

Can you send your FSUIPC5.log and FSUIPC5.ini file please with the current settings you use.

Thomas

[Stu Antonio]

Here you go....

 

 

 

 

[Thomas Richter]

Hi,

the Zapping works as well for the Ground traffic.

The selected angle is used for Horizontal and Vertical. In Cylinder mode the Alt is for the Cylinder upwards and for the Ground traffic it is still an angle but no longer related to the selected angle (0 to 4). So if you are in air and the AI is in a dead spot ahead of you it doesn't work. You can check that easily in SLEW mode as AI is alive.

Thomas

[Stu Antonio]

Thomas,

thank you for trying to help, I really appreciate it.

Unfortunately it just doesn’t work for me. Even in normal mode, diving directly on to ground traffic, I can’t zap it (did dozens of “attack runs” over the airport).

I give up. 

But thanks anyway.

Regards

Stu

 

[Stu Antonio]

So I did some further testing and found the following, using these settings:

ZapSound=firework
ZapAirRange=2
ZapGroundRange=0.5
ZapCylinderAltDiff=1000

Parameter: 4

- even in cylinder mode, I still have to "aim" on one specific AI ground traffic to zap it. It's not automatically zapping the nearest one (i.e. behind or directly below me). So I guess the cylinder mode is somehow not working on my system or not working on ground traffic.

- when I reduce the AirRange value, it becomes easier to hit/zap traffic. That makes sense, as the manual states that the "effect cone" angle decreases with distance.

- I was able to zap ground traffic with the above settings, but only from a certain distance resp. when I get some distance between me and the AI. if I get to close, it won't work, no matter where I aim (tried in a helicopter).

Now I will try to use it in the FSL Airbus, where I initially need this function to clear traffic from my runway. Since I can't really "aim" when I'm following the G/S, I hope I'll find a setup that let's me hit the traffic from a reasonable distance.

BR
Stu

[Thomas Richter]

Hi,

there was a reading mismatch in the code and FSUIPC didn't get the ZapCylinderAltDiff value. So it never switched to Cylinder Mode. I sent the fixed code to John, with the fix it works correct and takes the AirRange then for Ground.

Thomas

[Stu Antonio]

45 minutes ago, Thomas Richter said:

Hi,

there was a reading mismatch in the code and FSUIPC didn't get the ZapCylinderAltDiff value. So it never switched to Cylinder Mode. I sent the fixed code to John, with the fix it works correct and takes the AirRange then for Ground.

Thomas

Oh wow, sounds great! So I‘ll just have to download a new version once it‘s out? 

[John Dowson]

Hi Stu, Thomas,

I'll take a look at the changes and build a new version for you to try. I'm a bit busy at the moment so it may take me a couple of days.

John

[Stu Antonio]

33 minutes ago, John Dowson said:

Hi Stu, Thomas,

I'll take a look at the changes and build a new version for you to try. I'm a bit busy at the moment so it may take me a couple of days.

John

Thanks John, no need to hurry. 

Regards

[John Dowson]

Hi Stu,

please try the attached version (5.152b).

John

 

FSUIPC5.DLL

[Stu Antonio]

5 hours ago, John Dowson said:

Hi Stu,

please try the attached version (5.152b).

John

 

FSUIPC5.DLL

Thanks John,

it's now working perfectly!!!

I can now easily zap any traffic that is in my way or approaching from behind if faster on approach etc... 

 

Best regards,
Stu