Position Keeper/Torpedo Settings panel visible by default?

[ustahl]

Is it possible to make the dragable Position Keeper/Torpedo Settings panel appear visible (pulled out) from the start in Attack periscope and TBT view, like the Torpedo selection panel, instead of having to pull it out each time?
Probably some setting in menu_1024_768.ini, but which?

[t0maz]

[G42 I1]
Name=Page PositionKeeper
Type=1027;Menu page
ItemID=0x42000000
ParentID=0x0
Pos=0,0,1024,768
Zone= 0 768 1024 768 2 1 0x0 0.5 -0.5 0x42000000 -0.5 0.5 0 0
LoadingMode=1

try LoadingMode=2
Unfortunatly I cannot test it now, so Im guessing.

[ustahl]

Unfortunately LoadingMode=2 did not make any noticable difference. Thanks anyway for trying to help.


Tried adjusting the Zone entry in [G42 I1] as follows:

[G42 I1]
Name=Page PositionKeeper
Type=1027;Menu page
ItemID=0x42000000
ParentID=0x0
Pos=0,0,1024,768
Zone= 0 768 1024 768 2 1 0x0 0.5 -0.5 0x42000000 -0.5 0.5 220 0
LoadingMode=1

As a result the Position Keeper appeared visible (like pulled out) right from the start when going to TBT or Periscope view, exactly like I wanted it. BUT as a side effect, when clicking on the Position Keeper drag-out-tab, the PK vanished completely "outside" the screen beyond reach for mouse dragging it back. The drag-out-tab was off-screen, too, so there was no way to bring it back.

Any ideas?

[panthercules]

Funny, but I've been trying to figure out how to do just the opposite here, i.e., change it so the torpedo tube indicator panel doesn't start out pulled out when you switch to that screen. I tried looking at the torpedo tube sections compared to the PK sections, hoping to see what was different about those two that made one start pulled out and the other start slid closed, but I couldn't see anything different that made any sense to me. Seems like there's got to be some way to do this since they start up in different states like that, so I hope someone can figure out the secret here.

Anybody?

[edit] Woot - just did a little test of a theory - looks like you were on the right track, but you just didn't go far enough. The following change appears to work fine as far as making the PK start pulled out, and still slide back (with the tab still visible and clickable) when you click the tab:

[G42 I1]
Name=Page PositionKeeper
Type=1027;Menu page
ItemID=0x42000000
ParentID=0x0
Pos=0,0,1024,768
Zone= 0 768 1024 768 2 1 0x0 0.5 -0.5 0x42000000 -0.5 0.5 255 0
LoadingMode=1

I didn't get a chance to test all the functionality of the dials and things, so I don't know if there are unintended consequences, but I think you're on the right track.

Good luck

[panthercules]

LOL - apparently this trick doesn't work to fix my problem - when I tried changing this setting for the torpedo tube panel, it did move the panel over to the right, as if closed, but when I clicked the tab/handle it slid further to the right as if it's closing and wound up going completely off the screen so I couldn't get it back

I wonder why the tab on the PK works to "close" it even when it normally starts closed so you'd think clicking it would make it slide even further to the right to "open", but it slides shut just fine - but the torpedo panel seems to still remember it's supposed to be open and so it slides right and "closes" when you click the tab. Wierd :hmm:

[ustahl]

Thanks Panthercules, you're right, I didn't go far enough to the right. Now the Position Keeper behaves exactly like I wanted. No side effects to my experience (off-line single player).

I like the PK as well as the torpedo tube panel to show and be available right from the start. As they don't obstruct anything I want to have them availabale all the time.

I'd like to do something for you in return, but unfortunately I'm obviously not enough initiated into the secrets of menu_1024_768.ini as to even find the correct entry for the torpedo tube panel. But I try to learn...

[panthercules]

Glad I could help - this thread gave me a push to work on something I've been thinking about for a while now, and I've got a couple more ideas to try before I give up on it. I've just started trying to fathom the secrets of the menu_1024_768 file recently myself - I've made a little progress lately on a few things (some mine, some tweaking work started by others):

- larger captain's log display - http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...378#post518378

- relocating message log text display - http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...527#post528527

- relocating sliding recognition manual - http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=112944

- relocating notepad on sonar/hydrophone station screen - http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...d=1#post526468

You might want to scan some of those threads for some ideas and explanations about how some of the stuff in this file works - and of course, you should check out the motherlode of info on this file, a detailed tutorial of sorts that has some very good insights - http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=111832

Some of this stuff is still a dark mystery to me, but some of it is getting clearer and easier with each effort, so have at it and enjoy!

[panthercules]

Woohoo! success - figured out how to tweak the torpedo tube panel so it will start out closed when bringing up the TBT screen, and still open up properly when you click the slide-out handle. Turns out that I was playing with the wrong section - when I switched to the next one, it worked like a charm - only chnage you need to make to the menu_1024_768.ini file is as follows:

[G44 I2]
Name=Torpedoes2
Type=1026;Menu group
ItemID=0x44150000
ParentID=0x44000000
Pos=694,-312,330,360
;Zone= 694 456 330 360 0 1 0x44000000 1 -0.5 0x44150000 -1 0.2 0 0
Zone= 694 456 330 360 0 1 0x44000000 1 -0.5 0x44150000 -1 0.2 330 0
Color=0xFFFFFFFF

If this has been bugging you like it's been bugging me, hope you enjoy!

[ustahl]

Very good find. Yes, the key is to know the correct section in menu_1028-768.ini. Once you know which section is responsible, tuning eg. the offsets is rather easy, albeit resolution dependent (22" wide screen @ 1680x1050 here).

I'm collecting all the individual sections tuned so far in a dedicated concise text file, so I will be be able to easily incorporate them again in case some mod pack changes menu_1024_768.ini or other mishap. At mom I have 5 adjusted sections in my collection in comparison to the FTT version of the file. I'm sure the collection will gradually grow as further adjustments become known, and it's good to have them all in one concise compilation. Easy to share as well, in case of interest.

How do you go about finding the relevant file sections?
I have looked into zAmboni's tutorial, but must obviously read it again instead of just making shortcuts by only adapting ready made work of others.

[panthercules]

Originally Posted by ustahl

How do you go about finding the relevant file sections?
I have looked into zAmboni's tutorial, but must obviously read it again instead of just making shortcuts by only adapting ready made work of others.

Well, sometimes the names in the various "[xxx I1]" entries are sufficient to get you to the right general vicinity, but sometimes, it takes somebody else pointing the general location out (as you did above) to help focus in on the right part of the file - once there, I've found it very helpful to chart out the dependencies between the various sections (I just use a Word table) - it looks like this below (sort of - I can't seem to make an actual table show up here) for the torpedo panel section:

Name Section Item ID Parent ID

Page TorpedoTubes [G44 I1] 0x44000000 0x0

Torpedoes2 [G44 I2] 0x44150000 0x44000000

Night Filter [G44 I3] 0x44150007 0x44150000

Fire [G44 I4] 0x44150004 0x44150000

SolutionDetect [G44 I5] 0x44150002 0x44150000

Background [G44 I6] 0x44150001 0x44150000

ShowHide [G44 I7] 0x44150006 0x44150000

TorpedoIndicator [G44 I8] 0x4415000E 0x44150000

1 [G44 I9] 0x44150003 0x44150000

TubeSelected [G44 I10] 0x44150005 0x44150000


As you can see, I use the same highlight color to track each itemID that other items use as their parentID - that helps create an easy visual way to see the heirarchy of items, and I've found that, for the most part, if you move the item that serves as a parentID for other items (as [G44 I2] does for all the other green-colored items in the chart above), it tends to carry with it all the "children" items that use it as a parentID. So, in this case, when (for some reason) moving [G44 I1] didn't work, the next logical one to try was [G44 I2], which was parent to all the other elements, and sure enough, it worked

Sometimes (especially where the sections are short) simple trial and error works faster, but I started doing this after running through a ton of trials on the message log and not being able to get it right - once I did a chart like that for the message log sections, the answer jumped right out at me.

Hope that's helpful - Good luck!

[panthercules]

Originally Posted by ustahl

I'm collecting all the individual sections tuned so far in a dedicated concise text file, so I will be be able to easily incorporate them again in case some mod pack changes menu_1024_768.ini or other mishap.

Yep - good idea - I started doing that back about the third or fourth time (doesn't take me long to catch on ) that I had to make all my changes over again when Beery updated RUB again back in the old SH3 days. Now, I keep a Word document that compiles a complete list of all my manual tweaks to files like menu_1024_768.ini, and menu.txt, etc., so I can easily re-activate them as the patches or mod-pack updates come out. Comes in really handy, especially in these early days when updates seem to come rather frequently (and is invaluable later, when it's been so long since the last update that you've completely forgotten all the cool stuff you did to tweak the last one).