Release Elite Cougar MFD Cockpit Display - game changing new companion app

[Bionic Bytes]

Many thanks for the files.
In return I have written a debug test app which uses the MFD Cougar Engine. Please run this (simple instructions on the main form) and there's a single nVidia toggle switch to enable/disable a possible workaround. Can you please try this and let me know the outcome.

The app starts up the same way as the MFD Cougar Display, and tries to build a font. As it does this it first creates an off-screen render buffer (Framebuffer). As this is a 2D operation there is no need for a depth buffer to be attached to the framebuffer and so does not request one. This may be the cause of the nVidia driver bug. To work around this, the nVidia tick box option requests that the font creation adds a separate depth buffer and thus hopefully satisfying the nVidia drivers.

The app can be downloaded from the Troubleshooting page.

Many thanks!

. This speech comes everytime when i launch the app... without ED!

FYI
The app reads the end of the journal.... so it may speak to you if the last events were NPC chat messages....

 

[Bionic Bytes]

Hello, thanks for the help! Im using a Geforce RTX2070. I tried to pm the content of the files to you.....

I have written a debug test app which uses the MFD Cougar Engine. Please run this (simple instructions on the main form) and there's a single nVidia toggle switch to enable/disable a possible workaround. Can you please try this and let me know the outcome.

The app starts up the same way as the MFD Cougar Display, and tries to build a font. As it does this it first creates an off-screen render buffer (Framebuffer). As this is a 2D operation there is no need for a depth buffer to be attached to the framebuffer and so does not request one. This may be the cause of the nVidia driver bug. To work around this, the nVidia tick box option requests that the font creation adds a separate depth buffer and thus hopefully satisfying the nVidia drivers.

The app can be downloaded from the Troubleshooting page.

 

[feiercrack]

..still no go.. error messages still appears, with "ticked" and "unticked"
on your troubleshooting page it says the old driver, but i have the newest, current 451.48 driver installed, which has the problems.
you said, that you have the 446.14 installed, which does not making any problems. did u test the new 451.48 on your machine?
here are the files:
video

 

[Bionic Bytes]

..still no go.. error messages still appears, with "ticked" and "unticked"
on your troubleshooting page it says the old driver, but i have the newest, current 451.48 driver installed, which has the problems.
you said, that you have the 446.14 installed, which does not making any problems. did u test the new 451.48 on your machine?

Many thanks for the reply!
The video was useful, as I can see that the engine code does work and does render to the scene's frame buffer object.
So, it seems that the very first frame buffer just fails...for no apparent reason.
Looks like I'll build a second test app and just create a framebuffer to throw away before building the fonts.
Please check the web site for a second version of the tool....

 

[Bionic Bytes]

did u test the new 451.48 on your machine?

No I didn't test these drivers...as the issue existed on an earlier version for another person.

Quick off-the-cuff question - do don't by any chance have a multilingual version of Windows do you (non US/UK English) ?

I'm begging to wonder if there's some ansi / unicode assumptions I make when building a font. This new version of the app will allow me to determine if it's solely the fonts having a frame buffer issue.

New Test application ready for you to download.
This time the same nVidia toggle performs a slightly different function; now an initial frame buffer (50x50) pixels is created before the font frame buffers.
Additionally, like the MFD Cougar App, other frame buffers are also created - one of these is used to render some text and is composited onto the backbuffer along with the 3D scene. If we fail to see the text on the blue window (or any thing at all on top of the 3D cubes) then we know it's a failure to create any frame buffer and nothing specifically to do with font creation.

The app can be downloaded from the Troubleshooting page.

 

[feiercrack]

Many thanks for the reply!
The video was useful, as I can see that the engine code does work and does render to the scene's frame buffer object.
So, it seems that the very first frame buffer just fails...for no apparent reason.
Looks like I'll build a second test app and just create a framebuffer to throw away before building the fonts.
Please check the web site for a second version of the tool....

of course i am using an german windows 10 x64 pr build 2004, cause i am german ;-)

..but i have also english language, speech pack and keyboard installed

 

[feiercrack]

No I didn't test these drivers...as the issue existed on an earlier version for another person.

Quick off-the-cuff question - do don't by any chance have a multilingual version of Windows do you (non US/UK English) ?

I'm begging to wonder if there's some ansi / unicode assumptions I make when building a font. This new version of the app will allow me to determine if it's solely the fonts having a frame buffer issue.

New Test application ready for you to download.
This time the same nVidia toggle performs a slightly different function; now an initial frame buffer (50x50) pixels is created before the font frame buffers.
Additionally, like the MFD Cougar App, other frame buffers are also created - one of these is used to render some text and is composited onto the backbuffer along with the 3D scene. If we fail to see the text on the blue window (or any thing at all on top of the 3D cubes) then we know it's a failure to create any frame buffer and nothing specifically to do with font creation.

The app can be downloaded from the Troubleshooting page.

..changed my system to english, also the keyboard...no changes -.-

 

[Bionic Bytes]

Thank you again for the logs?
I don't suppose you have one of your excellent videos showing the rendering do you?

I think I may have been looking in the wrong area. Upon a more careful examination of the log file:
failed to read font texture: legoFont.TextureFX.txt
This is saying that we can't read the font description file...therefore we didn't create a texture....therefore width and height of texture will be 0, therefore framebuffer created with 0 dimensions. So now we need to understand why we can't read a simple texture....

 

[feiercrack]

Thank you again for the logs?
I don't suppose you have one of your excellent videos showing the rendering do you?

I think I may have been looking in the wrong area. Upon a more careful examination of the log file:
failed to read font texture: legoFont.TextureFX.txt
This is saying that we can't read the font description file...therefore we didn't create a texture....therefore width and height of texture will be 0, therefore framebuffer created with 0 dimensions. So now we need to understand why we can't read a simple texture....

video would be looking exactly same as my last one...so i havent recorded it again...

maybe the "DCS Ghost" inside wouldnt allow us to create new stuff.... :-D

 

[Bionic Bytes]

video would be looking exactly same as my last one...so i havent recorded it again...

There should be a subtle difference which I was hoping to see.

 

[feiercrack]

..here u go video test 2

 

[Bionic Bytes]

..here u go video test 2

Many thanks. These videos are very useful I must say!
I didn't see that "thing" I was looking for (which may be a secondary issue), but I think the first issue is to tackle the font loading.
To that end, I have uploaded another version 1.003 which emits low-level debugging in the log to try and see where the program is getting to when the "error" occurs.

I hope to chase the DCS ghost away soon!

ps. You only need to run the app once, I don't need all the different tick boxes checked/unchecked this time. Thanks!

The app can be downloaded from the Troubleshooting page.

 

[Bionic Bytes]

Hi @Bionic Bytes !
I tried your software yesterday, seems really interesting, thanks !
I couldn't make Elite react to the MFD buttons, although I followed your instructions : clicked the "quick key assign" then "Replace Elite's key binding" (also tried "Use Elite's key bining").
Also, the "Edit cockpit layout" button only works once, when the program is first started.

Just a follow up post to your issue.
There’s a troubleshooting page link on the downloads page where you can upgrade to v113 if memory serves.
I hope you manage to get the cougars to respond.

 

[Snitkicker]

Bionic Bytes - I just fired this up today and after a few hiccups they are operational and I must say I'm very impressed! I have no idea what I'm doing in Elite (yet) but when I got the MFD's and installed screens for DCS I had no idea they would be this multi-functional and from what I've seen you've played a blinder, great job! I'm considering becoming a Patreon if I can wrap my head around Elite enough to play regularly. cheers!

 

[Bionic Bytes]

Bionic Bytes - I just fired this up today and after a few hiccups they are operational and I must say I'm very impressed! I have no idea what I'm doing in Elite (yet) but when I got the MFD's and installed screens for DCS I had no idea they would be this multi-functional and from what I've seen you've played a blinder, great job! I'm considering becoming a Patreon if I can wrap my head around Elite enough to play regularly. cheers!

Looks great!
Persist with Elite! It does have a steep learning curve, but actually that's one of it strengths... really take the time to enjoy learning all the new stuff and appreciate flying A rated ships, then slowly upgrade to different (small) ships and appreciate how they fly and handle differently. In this game there is no rush ... and I think that's where the enjoyment is. Credits right at the start seem hard to obtain, but honestly, it's now quite easy ... especially with trading Tritium and even in a sidewinder you can learn the principles of what to do which will server you well when you eventually get a larger ship.
Enjoy the game...and welcome o7

 

[feiercrack]

Many thanks. These videos are very useful I must say!
I didn't see that "thing" I was looking for (which may be a secondary issue), but I think the first issue is to tackle the font loading.
To that end, I have uploaded another version 1.003 which emits low-level debugging in the log to try and see where the program is getting to when the "error" occurs.

I hope to chase the DCS ghost away soon!

ps. You only need to run the app once, I don't need all the different tick boxes checked/unchecked this time. Thanks!

The app can be downloaded from the Troubleshooting page.

here are the next results, 4 me it looks still all the same:
video

 

[Bionic Bytes]

here are the next results, 4 me it looks still all the same:
video

You’re very kind.
The logs are showing me that 100% there is no problem with framebuffers.
The fault is in my code that makes a texture from a file. This bit is still a mystery as this code hasn’t changed in 15 years.
As it happens, the format of the font texture is a little unusual but it shouldn’t matter.
I’ll investigate a little further but at least with your help I feel we’re much closer to an answer.

 

[feiercrack]

You’re very kind.
The logs are showing me that 100% there is no problem with framebuffers.
The fault is in my code that makes a texture from a file. This bit is still a mystery as this code hasn’t changed in 15 years.
As it happens, the format of the font texture is a little unusual but it shouldn’t matter.
I’ll investigate a little further but at least with your help I feel we’re much closer to an answer.

i dont really get why it isnt working on my Asus 1070, but on your family it does...

 

[Bionic Bytes]

i dont really get why it isnt working on my Asus 1070, but on your family it does...

Neither do I; that's why I want to get to the bottom of it.
The drivers you download - are they international versions or the US English versions?

I'm going to change the font texture. This particular image is the only one where the texture format is a little different to everything else. It's a legacy format and I just wonder if the support for it has been dropped somehow, either by mistake or otherwise.
I'm going to increase the logging on the texture load and build part, and also change the file format.

 

[feiercrack]

Neither do I; that's why I want to get to the bottom of it.
The drivers you download - are they international versions or the US English versions?

I'm going to change the font texture. This particular image is the only one where the texture format is a little different to everything else. It's a legacy format and I just wonder if the support for it has been dropped somehow, either by mistake or otherwise.
I'm going to increase the logging on the texture load and build part, and also change the file format.

i always download the international nvidia drivers...