Nuts and Volts - April 2014

• The software that controls the platform.

• Software that reads (and sends) screen position data from the game to the control software.

• A flight simulator program such as Microsoft Flight Simulator or Combat Simulator to fly with.

In operation, you will start the platform control and screen reading software in the background, then load the video game and off you go. As mentioned before, the design of this simulator is more than 15 years old and that fact shows up in the software most of all. Currently, the simulator software that I wrote is only proven to work with software from that time.

Both Microsoft Flight Simulator (through 2002) and Combat Flight Simulator from the same years work great, and are easily obtainable on eBay and elsewhere. They are still excellent programs even by today’s standards. In addition, the preferred platform for running this software is Windows 98.

So, an inexpensive older computer could be used as a dedicated flight simulator computer, or a modern computer can be set up to “dual boot” to Windows 98.

Of course, it might also be possible to use a compatibility mode in Windows to run older software. I have not tested this, and my experience with compatibility modes has been pretty poor.

Time to Take Off

I hope this article has whet your urge to take on a project like this. It really is a thrill to have your own F- 16, ehem, I mean simulated F- 16 waiting right in the next room for you at any time.

There is a burgeoning home simulator community to be found on the Internet with many extraordinary tips, ideas, and methods for maximizing the experience.

I’ll put together extensive downloads and videos showing all the inner workings close up, and provide links to many other sources of home simulator materials at www.noonco.com/flyerbuilder.

Let’s get building! NV

; FIGURE 9.

Both the platform control software and the screen position software are available for download at www.noonco.com/flyerbuilder.

The original software was written by me in Basic and is therefore extremely easy to read and modify. I’m also putting up on the web page for your perusal all my original heavily commented source code and an explanation of how the code works. This should make it easy to rewrite or use the older source code as a jumping off point for connecting to your current favorite software.