The Pitching Deck Saga - Redux

[Orion]

is there a way to make the deck stop pitching when you're wheels down on deck, then start up again on take-off? that's how vrs got around that issue with their tacpack

Seems rather silly to stop the pitching deck motion once you've landed.  Sort of defeats the purpose, if you ask me.

Hey Orion, is there a way to modify how much the deck pitches and rolls? For most ops I would enjoy a more subtle deck movement pattern. Perhaps in a future beta release there could be controls implemented that allowed used specified pitch and roll values.

Initially I was considering storing the amplitude/period settings in the XML file, but ultimately I decided against it.  This is partly because I've found that certain values can completely break the pitching deck motion.  However, since you seem interested, I'll include functionality to change the aforementioned settings in the next update.

[pyroperson87]

Cool.  I look forward to it!  When you release it, assuming I have time, I'll mess around with it and see if I can find suitable combinations of values that provide a subtle, yet realistic looking pitching/rolling deck.  If I come up with something I'll definitely post my results here on the thread.

Pyro

[Orion]

Sure thing!  Hopefully I'll be able to find some time this week.  Don't think it should be too complicated to add...

[Orion]

Okay, I've published an update which makes the program store the pitch/bank amplitude/period in the XML file.  You can only edit the XML file while the program is closed.

When you update, be sure to delete your existing PitchingDeck.xml file, otherwise the program will fail to launch the next time you try opening it.  If you wish, you can copy your custom location preset(s) into the new XML file.

[pyroperson87]

Quick question.  What exactly are the period and amplitude measured in?  It looks like period is measured in seconds, but I can't really figure out the amplitude values.

[Orion]

Period units are 1/6 of a second and amplitude is something that seems rather non-linear.  Sorry I can't help more with that.

If you have the FSX SDK, you can verify the current pitch/bank amplitude of the carrier by selecting the carrier in the Traffic Toolbox Traffic Map tool.

[pyroperson87]

That actually helped a lot.  As soon as you said non-linear it made a lot more sense   

[Orion]

Happy new year!  Here's the 0.1.2.0 changelog:

• Refactored update class.
• Migrated web presets and updates to different server.
• BeatlesBlog SimConnect is now contained within the program executable.  (No need to keep track of the DLL.)

Download

Also, if you have an older copy, you should be notified and given an option to download the update on next launch.

[pyroperson87]

Nice work Orion!  I'll give it a go later when I'm home.

Pyro

[Paddles]

Just did my first trap on the pitching deck 
Love it! See my track starts coming down AR and then goes even down below the deck IW - that's because the deck was pitching down when I was AR, and I remember I started spotting the deck at that point...   
I also noticed, FLOLS and ILS were both stabilized, so was vLSO - that's good.
Oh, how much the deck pitches and rolls, by the way?

BZ, Orion! 

[GOONIE]

Orion,

How is your pitching deck tool different than the VRS's pitching deck functionality? I guess the biggest difference is it is free  Tacpack let's you create carriers and has three settings for pitching deck intensity. Does yours include roll? I flew last night and noticed VRS got the deck lights and IFLOLS to move with the pitching deck, made for some great night pitching deck flying!!! Had some wave offs IC.

Goonie

[Orion]

Nice work Orion!  I'll give it a go later when I'm home.

Pyro

Glad to help!   Did you ever try additional values for the amplitude and period?

Just did my first trap on the pitching deck 
Love it! See my track starts coming down AR and then goes even down below the deck IW - that's because the deck was pitching down when I was AR, and I remember I started spotting the deck at that point...   
I also noticed, FLOLS and ILS were both stabilized, so was vLSO - that's good.
Oh, how much the deck pitches and rolls, by the way?

BZ, Orion! 

Great!  Glad you like it, and nice approach.   The deck should pitch approximately ±0.7° and roll approximately ±0.3°.  You can customize the amplitude (units are non-linear) and period (units are 1/6 of a second) by adjusting the values in the XML file (while the program is shut down).

Orion,

How is your pitching deck tool different than the VRS's pitching deck functionality? I guess the biggest difference is it is free  Tacpack let's you create carriers and has three settings for pitching deck intensity. Does yours include roll? I flew last night and noticed VRS got the deck lights and IFLOLS to move with the pitching deck, made for some great night pitching deck flying!!! Had some wave offs IC.

Goonie

The pitching deck is, as far as I know, implemented similarly to VRS' solution.  However, the major difference, as you pointed out, is that it is available free of charge.   As indicated in the program UI, the readme, and in this thread, my program does allow for bank/roll.  Which carrier are you using with TacPack?

[pyroperson87]

I did try changing the values but I didn't even come close to achieving what I had hoped.  Movements were too absurd looking and I don't have the patience to sit and tweak values  a tiny bit at a time. 

[PhantomTweak]

I realize this is a rather old thread, but:
None of the links to download Pitching Deck are active any longer. Is there a place that it can be D/L'd from these days? I would love tog et ahold of this program...
Pat☺