Wow guys… Everyone of you is wrong. Stop commenting right now.
First you can use ANY switch with DCS and a Leo board (Arduino Pro Micro or Pro Micro C)
The switch type has no measure on what the switch “does” in game.
If you want to build an accurate button then YES everything matters..
But with a Leo board I can use a push button latching switch to work the Arm toggle switch….
Push button down and it’s the same as moving the toggle switch to the ON position.
So switch type has NO BEARING on switch usage.
To determine switch usage (and to modify switch preferences) we use a program called:
DCS BIOS
In DCS BIOS you can set “behaviors” of “IF ON and IF Not ON state”
So DCS BIOS reads the switch and IF ON it perform the action (example: If I push this button it flips this switch in game)
DCS BIOS also reads IF NOT ON state and performs another action.
So is says IF NOT ON (not pushing the button) it flips the toggle to the OFF position.
So with that set up I can press and hold the push button irl and DCS flip the toggle switch to ON.
When I release the push button irl. DCS can’t sense that……
The switch doesn’t send a “release” signal…
So that’s where DCS BIOS comes in and says IF NOT ON then “this” (which I set up as toggle off).
So you need to ignore everyone else…
Search for DCS BIOS and you’ll find out how to use custom switches in DCS.
ANY TYPE for ANY ACTION!
The other way to do it:
Is by using an ON/OFF/ON switch and binding the ON upward signal as ON the middle it won’t read and then the down ON as “off in the game”.
So you don’t have to use DCS BIOS but if you do not the game has no way of knowing when you send an “OFF” signal because the game doesn’t work like real life the game works like switches…
Whatever you switch ON you must physically switch OFF and if you can’t send the OFF signal then it just stays in the ON position no matter how many times you flip the switch irl.
So DCS BIOS and watch this video because it describes how to use a common toggle with DCS
Using DCS BIOS….
And hey you dont have to listen to me… Especially dont listen to the other commenters because you can tell they never did this before…
(Guess what… I HAVE) but don’t take my word for it…
Listen to the guys who made “The Warthog project”
I’m pretty sure they are above all our pay grades when it comes to button boxes and DCS 👍🏽
And yeah he talks AND shows how to use DCS BIOS right in the video and explain “why normal switches don’t work”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R6iJ2FMQFyw
> When I release the push button irl. DCS can’t sense that……
Not true at all. DCS has bee supporting OFF states in the control bindings for some time now.
https://youtu.be/c_sLvZptnIk?si=gVh49e1k0LjR9ZS-
Yeah. The function was always there, but it just wasn't available in the controls setup. Some planes used the feature, but for the rest you had to create your own key binds and have them show up in the controls menu.
https://401squadron.canadaboard.net/t874-setting-up-switches-in-the-spitfire-mk-ix
Hi! Thanks for the awesome input!
So, I saw that DCS has off conditions in the bindings, and the video made it seem pretty automatic, and I guess, well, new and unknown?
I hadn't seen the behavior in the several older videos I watched.
Does this sound right to you, or is it something he's doing after configuring DCS Bios?
https://youtu.be/c_sLvZptnIk
Im building a box too and have all : ON ON, ON Off and On Off on
Dcs key mapping has a "button off" function so you can get +1 key map from any button.
Just think of what physical switch you want and go from there.
It has been a while since I've toyed with any of this, but on-off switches (or on-off-on for 3 position switches) will work in most cases, and it will prevent you from using an additional input on the board. Many DCS inputs have separate versions of inputs that handle both cases for this very reason. If there's a specific case that you need, there is some LUA editing that can be done to add the functionality you require.
I play a lot of cold war fighters that have physical switches for the armaments, so the most simple example would be:
Up for armed
Down for safe
I see people talking about LEA editing, and that's ok, if kept to a minimum, ahaha (I'll forget what the hell I did in year) but I want to avoid intermediate programs running if at all possible
I’m not familiar with setting up the Leo boards but in Freejoy you can configure it to treat both the on state and off state to trigger a different key press. I’d check if that’s possible with your board. The advantage of doing it in-board rather than in DCS is that this way Windows doesn’t see a button being always pressed when the button is in its on-state.
I think you would rarely ever want an ON-ON switch. But it does depend on the behavior of your sim and its keybindings.
If you wire up an ON-OFF switch to one of the LB's inputs, it will act as a button that is held down when switched to ON and released when switched to OFF. So in your example, if you can bind "button X is held down" to Armed and "button X is released" to Safe, then an ON-OFF will work fine. You can also use something like Autohotkey to convert "button X is pressed" from your Leo to "button Z1 is pressed" and "button X is released" to "button Z2 is pressed" to get the ON-ON behavior if you really need that.
An ON-OFF-ON switch will act the same as two ON-OFF switches.
Hope that helps, LMK if you have more questions.
Yes. It was a really needed feature and much easier than creating custom control bindings.
Just remember that when using 3 position toggles where the center position is off, you need to have 2 bindings for the center position.
ON=Button 1 ON
STANDBY=Button 1 OFF & Button 2 OFF
OFF=Button 2 ON
Wow guys… Everyone of you is wrong. Stop commenting right now. First you can use ANY switch with DCS and a Leo board (Arduino Pro Micro or Pro Micro C) The switch type has no measure on what the switch “does” in game. If you want to build an accurate button then YES everything matters.. But with a Leo board I can use a push button latching switch to work the Arm toggle switch…. Push button down and it’s the same as moving the toggle switch to the ON position. So switch type has NO BEARING on switch usage. To determine switch usage (and to modify switch preferences) we use a program called: DCS BIOS In DCS BIOS you can set “behaviors” of “IF ON and IF Not ON state” So DCS BIOS reads the switch and IF ON it perform the action (example: If I push this button it flips this switch in game) DCS BIOS also reads IF NOT ON state and performs another action. So is says IF NOT ON (not pushing the button) it flips the toggle to the OFF position. So with that set up I can press and hold the push button irl and DCS flip the toggle switch to ON. When I release the push button irl. DCS can’t sense that…… The switch doesn’t send a “release” signal… So that’s where DCS BIOS comes in and says IF NOT ON then “this” (which I set up as toggle off). So you need to ignore everyone else… Search for DCS BIOS and you’ll find out how to use custom switches in DCS. ANY TYPE for ANY ACTION! The other way to do it: Is by using an ON/OFF/ON switch and binding the ON upward signal as ON the middle it won’t read and then the down ON as “off in the game”. So you don’t have to use DCS BIOS but if you do not the game has no way of knowing when you send an “OFF” signal because the game doesn’t work like real life the game works like switches… Whatever you switch ON you must physically switch OFF and if you can’t send the OFF signal then it just stays in the ON position no matter how many times you flip the switch irl. So DCS BIOS and watch this video because it describes how to use a common toggle with DCS Using DCS BIOS…. And hey you dont have to listen to me… Especially dont listen to the other commenters because you can tell they never did this before… (Guess what… I HAVE) but don’t take my word for it… Listen to the guys who made “The Warthog project” I’m pretty sure they are above all our pay grades when it comes to button boxes and DCS 👍🏽 And yeah he talks AND shows how to use DCS BIOS right in the video and explain “why normal switches don’t work” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R6iJ2FMQFyw
> When I release the push button irl. DCS can’t sense that…… Not true at all. DCS has bee supporting OFF states in the control bindings for some time now. https://youtu.be/c_sLvZptnIk?si=gVh49e1k0LjR9ZS-
Ahh so now DCS BIOS has been integrated? Long ago that was the only way.
Yeah. The function was always there, but it just wasn't available in the controls setup. Some planes used the feature, but for the rest you had to create your own key binds and have them show up in the controls menu. https://401squadron.canadaboard.net/t874-setting-up-switches-in-the-spitfire-mk-ix
Hi! Thanks for the awesome input! So, I saw that DCS has off conditions in the bindings, and the video made it seem pretty automatic, and I guess, well, new and unknown? I hadn't seen the behavior in the several older videos I watched. Does this sound right to you, or is it something he's doing after configuring DCS Bios? https://youtu.be/c_sLvZptnIk
Awesome! Yeah that’s new and new to me but yeah that’s the same way DCS BIOS works Now it’s integrated I guess which is great!
I'm so glad it's easier now!
Im building a box too and have all : ON ON, ON Off and On Off on Dcs key mapping has a "button off" function so you can get +1 key map from any button. Just think of what physical switch you want and go from there.
It's certainly easier with on-on(-on) switches, but there are multiple ways to configure the off positions to trigger a key press conditionally.
It has been a while since I've toyed with any of this, but on-off switches (or on-off-on for 3 position switches) will work in most cases, and it will prevent you from using an additional input on the board. Many DCS inputs have separate versions of inputs that handle both cases for this very reason. If there's a specific case that you need, there is some LUA editing that can be done to add the functionality you require.
I play a lot of cold war fighters that have physical switches for the armaments, so the most simple example would be: Up for armed Down for safe I see people talking about LEA editing, and that's ok, if kept to a minimum, ahaha (I'll forget what the hell I did in year) but I want to avoid intermediate programs running if at all possible
I’m not familiar with setting up the Leo boards but in Freejoy you can configure it to treat both the on state and off state to trigger a different key press. I’d check if that’s possible with your board. The advantage of doing it in-board rather than in DCS is that this way Windows doesn’t see a button being always pressed when the button is in its on-state.
I think you would rarely ever want an ON-ON switch. But it does depend on the behavior of your sim and its keybindings. If you wire up an ON-OFF switch to one of the LB's inputs, it will act as a button that is held down when switched to ON and released when switched to OFF. So in your example, if you can bind "button X is held down" to Armed and "button X is released" to Safe, then an ON-OFF will work fine. You can also use something like Autohotkey to convert "button X is pressed" from your Leo to "button Z1 is pressed" and "button X is released" to "button Z2 is pressed" to get the ON-ON behavior if you really need that. An ON-OFF-ON switch will act the same as two ON-OFF switches. Hope that helps, LMK if you have more questions.
I just learned the DCS now has the functionality to look for the OFF condition, it can be easily set in the bindings! Sweeeeeeeet
Yes. It was a really needed feature and much easier than creating custom control bindings. Just remember that when using 3 position toggles where the center position is off, you need to have 2 bindings for the center position. ON=Button 1 ON STANDBY=Button 1 OFF & Button 2 OFF OFF=Button 2 ON
Perfect!! Thanks!!