Hi guys, I would like to create a plugin that puts the game on pause after a certain amount of time. In the UpdateScoring function I managed to get the current race time using the info.mCurrentET value; I then tried to emulate a Esc or P keyboard stroke using the keybd_event() function, but to no avail: the game never pauses nor shows the Esc menu. Is it possible to send such input to the sim or does the game ignores these kind of emulated inputs? I also tried to send the mCurrentEt to a server I wrote: it basically received the value and emulated the keystroke, but also in this case I don't get any result. Do you have any idea?
'Pause' is one of the recognised HW controls, and since it's not a 'driving control' you should probably be able to use it. Return true from HasHardwareInputs(), then in CheckHWControl() test for "Pause" (and/or "AlternateEsc" if you want that), and if that test passes then set fRetVal to 1.0 and return true. (note fRetVal is a double; I think the template may have that correct now, but it's had a couple of leftover floats in the past so I'd check it) Worth a shot *Here's a list of HW controls I generated back in build 930, if anyone's interested (remember any driving controls can only be read): Code: Throttle Brake SteerLeft SteerRight ShiftUp ShiftDown Neutral ClutchIn TCOverride LaunchControl SpeedLimiter BiasForward BiasRearward IncrementBoost DecrementBoost TemporaryBoost PowerDemand IncrementFrontAntiSway DecrementFrontAntiSway IncrementRearAntiSway DecrementRearAntiSway Gear_R Gear_1 Gear_2 Gear_3 Gear_4 Gear_5 Gear_6 Gear_7 Gear_8 Gear_9 Ignition Starter Horn Headlights Handfrontbrake Handbrake FrontFlap RearFlap Wipers ToggleAIControl DriverHotSwap PassengerSelect DisplayMode PitRequest PitMenuUp PitMenuDown PitMenuIncrementValue PitMenuDecrementValue LookLeft LookRight RearLook DisplayVehicleLabels InstantReplay Pause RestartRace ToggleFreeLook ZeroFreeLook LookUp LookDown LookRollLeft LookRollRight AdjustSeatFore AdjustSeatAft AdjustSeatUp AdjustSeatDown IncreaseVerticalFOV DecreaseVerticalFOV ToggleMirror ToggleHUDStats ToggleHUDTach ToggleHUDMFD ToggleOverlays RealtimeChat QuickChat01 QuickChat02 QuickChat03 QuickChat04 QuickChat05 QuickChat06 QuickChat07 QuickChat08 QuickChat09 QuickChat10 QuickChat11 QuickChat12 Screenshot TimeAcceleration Framerate CPUTime AlternateEsc SteeringHelp OppositeLock BrakingHelp StabilityControl SpinRecovery Invulnerability AutoShifting TractionControl AntiLockBrakes AutoPit AutoClutch SharedMemUp SharedMemDown SharedMemLeft SharedMemRight SharedMemSelect SharedMemCancel Custom Plugin #1 Custom Plugin #2 Custom Plugin #3 Custom Plugin #4 Custom Plugin #5 Custom Plugin #6 Custom Plugin #7 Custom Plugin #8 Custom Plugin #9 Custom Plugin #10 Custom Plugin #11 Custom Plugin #12 CustomPlugin01 CustomPlugin02 CustomPlugin03 CustomPlugin04 CustomPlugin05 CustomPlugin06 CustomPlugin07 CustomPlugin08 CustomPlugin09 CustomPlugin10 CustomPlugin11 CustomPlugin12 ViewNextVehicle ViewPrevVehicle ViewMyVehicle CycleDriving CycleOnboard CycleSwingman CycleSpectator CycleTracking SwingmanPitchUp SwingmanPitchDown SwingmanYawLeft SwingmanYawRight SwingmanDecRadius SwingmanIncRadius SwingmanReset Camera_CamEd_Slow Camera_MoveForward Camera_MoveBackward Camera_MoveLeft Camera_MoveRight Camera_MoveUp Camera_MoveDown Camera_PitchUp Camera_PitchDown Camera_RollLeft Camera_RollRight Camera_YawLeft Camera_YawRight Camera_ZoomIn Camera_ZoomOut Toggle_HWPlugin VoiceChat_PTT CameraChange ResetFFB ToggleMFDA ToggleMFDB ToggleMFDC ToggleMFDD ToggleMFDE ToggleMFDF ToggleMFDG ToggleMFDH MessageHistory
Yes, that's what I tried: I checked if (control, "Pause") == 0 and in that case I set fRetVal to 1.0. At the moment I didn't get it to work.
Did you check that your test is being run and is being found true? Just asking because I chased my tail for hours once before working out the function still had a float as input, so wasn't being called... I haven't tried Pausing myself, so can't say for sure that it works. PS You didn't explicitly mention returning true from CheckHWControl(), you probably did... ?
Yes, this time I did. I'll double check the return value, just to be sure it is really returning 1.0.
I think I found the error: using the function reported on MSDN did not work, I used the one I linked in the OP and now the game pauses. So: keybd_event( VK_NUMLOCK, 0x45, KEYEVENTF_EXTENDEDKEY | 0, 0); did not work. I had to remove "KEYEVENTF_EXTENDEDKEY |" and write the right keycode: I will try to experiment if I can now simulate Esc too. Thanks for your help Lazza.
After doing further tests I managed to emulate an Esc keystroke, but I have some doubts on how CheckHWControl works. At first I thought that it would check if a button was pressed and, in that case, it would let you do some maths: let's say something like this. Code: if (_stricmp(controlName, "AlternateEsc") == 0) { WriteToAllExampleOutputFiles("a", "---PAUSE---"); fRetVal = 1.0; return(true); } return (false); By doing this, though, as soon as the race starts I see the Esc menu appear without having to physically press it on my keyboard. With the following code, instead, when sessionStop == true the Esc menu appears, otherwise it doesn't. Code: if (_stricmp(controlName, "AlternateEsc") == 0) { if (sessionStop == true) { fRetVal = 1.0; sessionStop = false; } else { fRetVal = 0.0; } return(true); } return( false ); So, my question is: is CheckHWControl a way to tell the game "Press this button for me when this condition is satisfied" instead of "The user pressed this button on the keyboard, now do your maths"?
Every single graphics update, every single defined control is checked for. So CheckHWControl is called with controlName="Throttle", then again with controlName="Brake", ... all the way through every single control name. If the user has pressed any of those then rRetVal will show 1.0 (for digital) and presumably 0.0-1.0 for analog (not sure on that). So if you just test for controlName == "AlternateEsc", you'll get true every single frame (and because your first example then sets fRetVal to 1.0 and returns true, your game registers the Esc). To answer your question: both (your second example, you don't really need to set fRetVal to 0.0 if you don't want to Esc; it'll only be 1.0 if the user has pressed AltEsc, and you probably don't want to cancel it. You also probably only need to return true when you set it to 1.0)
