Esc/Pause after a certain time

Uff

Uff

Registered
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)
 
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