96. Big Map now works in Split Screen as half a Big Map - use with TV-Tab and half-screen FLIR
Mod: Split-Screen Big Map (works)
By Frankie
Description: IMHO, one of the most neglected features of Tornado is the Big Full-Screen Map.
THE PROBLEMThe ORIGINAL BIG MAP does give a wealth of information to the gamer, BUT!
(1) the gamer has to keep the Tornado on autopilot;
(2) the gamer cannot see anything else as the map covers the entire screen;
(3) continuous prolong use of the big map may result in the gamer neglecting the safety of his plane as he does not have the pilot's front view; (4) constantly switching between Big Map view ('M' key) and the Pilot Panel ('Home' key) is not very practical.
So in summary, the big map, in my view, has limited use.
As of Mod#95, when you are in split-screen view (F1, followed by ']' and/or '['), hitting 'M' will give you the Big Map (halved) with the Aircraft symbol smack right in the centre:
Major PROBLEM! The fact that you cannot see even one pixel ahead of the aircraft, renders this Map view utterly useless.
My PRIMARY problem was how to bring the centre point (the top pointed tip) of the Aircraft 'cross' symbol, down to the middle of the lower half of the screen. My SECONDARY problem was to integrate the modified Big Map into the rest of the Tornado program so that it would be seamless. My TERTIARY problem was to make this mod BUG-FREE. Not an easy thing to do.
THE SOLUTIONAfter much work and testing, I believe I have solved it. My solution was to resurrect the Big Map by halving its height. I then added it below the full-screen HUD. A split-screen view where the top half of the screen gives the Pilot's view and the bottom half consisting of the Big Map. So to make the Big Map useful, I have had to compromise. The loss is the shorter vertical height of the map (100 pixels versus 200 pixels of the original big map). The gain is increased gameplay made possible by the synergy of the split-screen components of the full-screen (albeit half height) FLIR , various TV-Tab and MFD (top-left of the screen) AND the Big Map (albeit half height). So I am counting on the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
SCREENSHOTSThis is what I have done:
The white specks are structures (buildings) on the ground. As you can see, NOW the centre of the Aircraft 'cross' is at the exact centre of the lower half of the screen. The position of the Aircraft 'cross' of the (halved) Big Map, the Aircraft cross of the TV-Tab Moving Map (top left of the screen) and the view looking out of the Pilot Panel 50% full-screen FLIR (top half of the screen), are perfectly synchronised.
Another screenshot. All three elements of the screen are working in unison and are in sync.
Multitasking assembly language. Digital Integration's Kevin Bezant and company
did a great job synchronising the 3D simulation world with the 2D map! Another scenario. This time I am flying at night. Without the Night Vision
Flying at night without the Night Vision. MINI-TUTORIALHere's the sequence of keypresses to get the 2 Maps in split-screen:
(1) Hit F1 (Tracking View)
(2) Hit the ']' key to go to the Split-Screen view.
(3) Cycle through the top-left TV-Tab display with the ']' key or '[' key until you come to the Moving Map;
(4) Hit the "M" key to activate the Big Map. It will appear at the bottom of the screen:
4.1 Use the "<" and ">" keys to zoom/unzoom the Big Map;
4.2 Use the Ctrl+LeftMouseClick and Ctrl+RightMouseClick to zoom/unzoom the Moving Map at the top left of the screen;
4.3 Use Alt+RightMouseClick to bring the Moving Map's Aircraft symbol to the centre of the screen.
4.4 Click anywhere on the Moving Map to create a Target "T" Waypoint;
4.5 Hit F7 to actiavate the AFDS Autopilot;
4.6 Press "T" key to fly the plane autopilot towards the "T" Waypoint.
In the screenshot below, the 'T' Waypoint is the crosshairs at the top-left of the screen that is touching the brown line. Important Note:
with the Big Map visible, if you try to cycle the TV-Tab display past the 10th screen, the game will prevent you by giving a Morse-Dash sound. You won't be able to get past the 10th screen. Likewise, if you try to cycle past the first split-screen screen, you won't be able to as well. You will hear a morse-dash sound. So in other words, with the Big Map visible, I have locked the gamer into a set of 10 split-screen screens.
To unlock this mode, the gamer needs to just hit F1 (or actually any of these keys: F3, F4, F5, Weapon View 'V', and any other external view, e.g., F11 or F12)...
Finally, the gamer hits the "3" key to break out of the split-screen. In the below example, the gamer when from Split-Screen with Big Map, to Split-Screen with F1 Tracking view, to full-screen Tracking View. So this is how to get into the Split-Screen with Big Map and then out of it.
Below is a montage that shows the various TV-Tab and MFD displays at the top left of the screen. You can mix-and match any of them with the half-screen FLIR and the half-Big Map.
So this is synergy I was referring to earlier. Hope you enjoy trying this one out. I spent hours on the coding and testing. If there are any bugs, please do let me know.
Note: you cannot activate the Big Map (with the 'M' key) when in a normal full-screen like the Pilot Panel or Navigator Panel. I had to lock this down because whenever the half-screen Big Map appears on top of a full-screen (e.g., Pilot Panel), the screen layer behind it would freeze.
YOUTUBE VIDEOHere is the Youtube video showing this mod in action.
Below is the FLIGHT.E79 executable as well as the full source code. I will be updating the code to the new Tornado Github repository at
https://github.com/TornadoGame/TornadoAs always, I am attaching the latest FLIGHT.EXE file. Enjoy!
Regards
Frankie Kam
Update on 28/8/2018:
Now the Moving Map, Reference Map and Big Map will all sport green flourescent colours when the game is in Night Vision mode (Shift+Tab).
Update: this mod breaks the code that handles the full screen Big Map ('M' key). See Mod#97 for the solution to this dilemma.