Do you want to inspect your controls without looking at internal 3D models like throttle levers? Or, you want to brag about how good you are at controlling aircraft in your recording videos? Well, here is an easy solution!
This tiny addon adds an in-game panel that shows several axis inputs for MSFS.
As some of you may know, this is a rip-off of Controls Indicator feature from DCS (Digital Combat Simulator). Perhaps, other flight sims might have a similar feature.
This input viewer covers the following input axes:
- Aileron input/trim position
- Elevator input/trim position
- Rudder input/trim position
- Wheel brakes
- Throttle #1/2/3/4
- Propeller RPM #1
- Mixture #1
- (Prop RPM #2-4 and Mixture #2-4 are not included)
for helicopters:
- Cyclic input/trim position
- Rudder (anti-torque pedals) position
- Collective position
- Throttle
- Mixture
- Rotor brake
Installation
Copy spitice-ingamepanels-inputviewer folder to community package folder.
If you wonder what the community package folder is, googling for "msfs community package directory" might help.
To uninstall, simply remove spitice-ingamepanels-inputviewer from your community package folder.
Usage
You should find a custom panel icon in your in-game toolbar. Click it to activate the panel.
If it doesn't appear, access the list of in-game panels by clicking the gear icon, then toggle "INPUT VIEWER" on. It should add the panel icon to your toolbar.
The initial position of the panel might be the top right of your screen. Drag the header and the border to move and resize the panel as you want.
Configuration
Click the "gear" button located at the bottom left of the panel to open the configuration menu.
Auto-hide Title Bar
Default value: Disabled
By enabling this feature, the title bar will automatically become invisible when your cursor goes outside of the panel.
Number Display
Default value: None
InputViewer contains two types of number display for each axis. Default is none, so you need to manually activate this feature via configuration.
Perhaps, you will notice that trim numbers in the simple number display sometimes showing two different types of zero: "0" and "0.0". When you tweak those values via keys or buttons, not via axis, sometimes it causes a rounding error, in which the fraction digits would not be completely zeroed out thus it becomes a very small number. As a result, the simple number display shows "0" for the perfect zero value and "0.0" for those "almost zero" values.
Show Panels
Default value: All
This feature is added for users who don't need all types of inputs to be visible. For now, you can select "Throttle" to hide the stick and rudder (right side of the panel) so your input viewer will be smaller. Use this feature in conjunction with "Auto-hide Title Bar" for more effectiveness.
Quick Hide
Default duration: 2 seconds
By double-clicking inside of the panel, you can temporarily hide it so it won't ruin your masterpiece when you take screenshots! The duration for quick hiding is two seconds by default. You can choose 1, 2, or 3 seconds as the duration or make the feature completely disabled in the configuration screen.
Propeller/Mixture Bar
Default value: Automatic for Aircrafts in Standard edition
As of v1.1, you can tweak the visibility of the propeller/mixture bar in the configuration screen and the addon will remember which option is chosen for each aircraft model. By default, this option will be automatically set for those aircraft bundled with MSFS Standard edition.
Repository
Feel free to fork it and try to make your own input viewer. Any bug reports and suggestions are also welcome :)
https://github.com/spitice/msfs-input-viewer
I have a request, if possible.
Would it be possible that you could add a feature that allows you to trim the aircraft to the current joystick position by pressing a button so that you don't have to use the hat switch for trimming?
So basically, you would move the joystick/cyclic to achieve level flight, push the button and then recentre the stick and the aircraft will remain in level flight.
This would be great to be used as a helicopter 'force trim', which flight sim does not have simulated.
4 days ago
nev_vern
Would it be possible to have the a fully transparent window? Just display the bars and numerical displays without the blurred background? I would also love to support you and this project, if it's open source, maybe I could lend you a hand with UI/UX, or just a donation to you.
1 months ago
Renton
I capture and photograph the monitor side and use it for reviewing flight lessons.
I would like to include it in the video, but after displaying Inputvewer in a separate window, when I move MSFS to VR mode, the separate window disappears and it is overlaid in the VR space.
1 months ago
furafff
I am training in helicopters and using the Thrustmaster and Cabri G2. I want to see the inputs since I have a hard time providing fine input to the rotation control of the joy stick... tried a few settings.
9 months ago
jerryyyyy
Invaluable for helicopter flying
1 years ago
Chudamaru
Would be a good idea if you could add 2 clickable buttons in your window that would zero out the trims for aileron and rudder.
1 years ago
LawnDartPilot
the little crosses that indicate the TRIM positions are a good idea but only work for airplanes. Would it be possible to add (perhaps in another color) the same small crosses for the ROTOR Helicopter trims which are new command options the SU11? (thank you in advance)
1 years ago
didlam
A must have either using Trackir or not.
I should know the throttle and collective positions.
A good update to fit SU11 collective
Thanks.
1 years ago
rdmuratwo
The only absolutely indispensable utility for MSFS that I've been using since the first release!
1 years ago
GregP
I would like to second what somebody else mentioned in comments- please consider adding helicopter controls indicator (cyclic and collective inputs) for helicopter use. Thanks!
1 years ago
Hello, and sure! I've added helicopter indicators in the new version just released today.
hope this comes in handy for you :)
1 years ago
Spitice
MajiAho_N46
Is there any chance we could get an update to support the new helicopter rotor axes? It's so hard to figure out whether controls are inverted or how much trim you have in a helicopter without this!
1 years ago
Hi, and thanks for your request!
Now I uploaded a new version that supports helicopters in SU11.
I hope you'll find it useful :)
1 years ago
Spitice
vsTerminus
Thank you for the mod
2 years ago
chiwi
Hello, and thank you, I don't know if I did anything wrong but, i do have the Input panel, but the Throttle axis input view doesn't seem to work with Hype's H145, If anyone knows how to use it with it, I would really appreciate the hints !
2 years ago
Unlike aileron/elevator, the throttle bar always shows the position of the throttle lever so if you are using autopilot/FADEC and letting the AP fully control the throttle, the bar wouldn't be synchronized with the throttle input controlled by the AP; it still shows the collective position moved by the player.
Please try disabling autopilot and moving your throttle/collective to see if it works.
And it would be problematic if "Throttle 1,2,..." are assigned instead of "Throttle Axis" in Controls settings.
If it seems to be still bugged, send me a screenshot with the verbose number display (you can enable this feature via the gear icon) :)
2 years ago
Spitice
Goodfellow
This is great. Where did you find documentation on building the panels? All I have seen is the bymaximus template, but nothing really on properly building a panel with the Coherent controls.
2 years ago
As far as I know, the documentation for panel development is sadly still missing.
That said, you can use JavaScript files in the MSFS directory as API references.
During the development, I would always keep "<MicrosoftFlightSimulator>/Packages/fs-base-ui/html_ui" folder opened in my code editor (<MicrosoftFlightSimulator> is the directory in which Sim's exe is located) to quickly peek the usage of the MSFS-specific global functions.
For example, here are APIs and their corresponding js files I've used in InputViewer:
I also suggest checking FlyByWire's and WorkingTitle's repositories in the following as they are making far more advanced UI panels than I am :)
2 years ago
Spitice
AtomicTerrorPig
Great app for a whole bunch of uses but I also use it for hovering & maneuvering the H-135 similar to a .lua script I used on X-Plane. Thanks for your plugin !
3 years ago
dogsfo