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Vocontrol - augment/control VO from a 2nd device
Hi there,
I've been working on a plugin [1] that lets you use additional devices (e.g. a second monitor, a tablet, a phone) in order to control certain aspects of the game. It is currently capable of displaying the complete ingame chat interface and the targeting computer ("sector list") on any webbrowser. The underlying HTTP server [2] can also be used by other plugins should they wish to do so.
[1] https://github.com/fhirschmann/vocontrol
[2] https://github.com/fhirschmann/vohttp
I've been working on a plugin [1] that lets you use additional devices (e.g. a second monitor, a tablet, a phone) in order to control certain aspects of the game. It is currently capable of displaying the complete ingame chat interface and the targeting computer ("sector list") on any webbrowser. The underlying HTTP server [2] can also be used by other plugins should they wish to do so.
[1] https://github.com/fhirschmann/vocontrol
[2] https://github.com/fhirschmann/vohttp
Hi there to you too. I started this thread over in suggestions.
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/27453
And a user directed me here. This looks a lot like what I was thinking of. I downloaded and installed the plugin but my android tablet can't see the webserver running on my WinXP game machine. Both machines are connected to the internet through the same wireless router. Am I missing something? Do I need to open a port in the router for this to work?
Edit: Well I got it to come up on my tablet. I was actually typing the word "IP" and "Port" like a newb then it hit me. <headdesk>. Unfortunately it still isn't talking to VO on the game machine. The page comes up but it's just static. Tried it in a browser window on the game machine and it worked for a second or so, then "lost connection" to the http server.
Any tips you have would be very appreciated. Obviously I'm doing something wrong.
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/27453
And a user directed me here. This looks a lot like what I was thinking of. I downloaded and installed the plugin but my android tablet can't see the webserver running on my WinXP game machine. Both machines are connected to the internet through the same wireless router. Am I missing something? Do I need to open a port in the router for this to work?
Edit: Well I got it to come up on my tablet. I was actually typing the word "IP" and "Port" like a newb then it hit me. <headdesk>. Unfortunately it still isn't talking to VO on the game machine. The page comes up but it's just static. Tried it in a browser window on the game machine and it worked for a second or so, then "lost connection" to the http server.
Any tips you have would be very appreciated. Obviously I'm doing something wrong.
Did you do /vocontrol help to see how it works?
First thing I did. I can start VOControl in game and I can get a -static- page to load on my tablet from the server vocontrol starts. But no "data" is being passed between the two. No chat is coming up on the tablet, no target list. If I run Firefox behind VO on my game machine I get the data, chat shows up and I get a list of targets.
Just did some testing with different devices. It works fine on my android phone which is running Gingerbread and is rooted. (LG Optimus Slider) but won't run on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 running jellybean.
Obviously, the problem is something about my tablet. The plugin works fine on my phone. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them because this would be so much nicer on my Tablet. I would also like to suggest that you add a NAV interface tab, even if it's just a grid with a "JUMP" button so users could see where on the grid they are, poke a different sector and hit jump. Fancy graphics or telemetry about bots in a sector would be super too, but if I could poke a spot and go without having to go to the PDA in game it would sure make running from pirates easier... Just a thought...
Just did some testing with different devices. It works fine on my android phone which is running Gingerbread and is rooted. (LG Optimus Slider) but won't run on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 running jellybean.
Obviously, the problem is something about my tablet. The plugin works fine on my phone. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them because this would be so much nicer on my Tablet. I would also like to suggest that you add a NAV interface tab, even if it's just a grid with a "JUMP" button so users could see where on the grid they are, poke a different sector and hit jump. Fancy graphics or telemetry about bots in a sector would be super too, but if I could poke a spot and go without having to go to the PDA in game it would sure make running from pirates easier... Just a thought...
Hi Cee64E,
I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm currently quite busy working on my thesis. I'm glad you are interested in vocontrol.
It sounds like vocontrol behaves differently on different platforms. What browser are you using on your Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0? As a temporary workaround, you can try using a different browser on the devices vocontrol is not working correctly. I'm afraid I don't have these devices at hand, thus debugging is quite cumbersome for me -- does the browser on your Galaxy Tab have something like an "Error Console" where JavaScript errors are recorded? If it does, the exact error message would be of help.
Your suggestion about the nav computer sounds good and I have thought about it before (including using the correct background image for the current sector), but I'm afraid I just don't have the time to work on this right now.
Take care
I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm currently quite busy working on my thesis. I'm glad you are interested in vocontrol.
It sounds like vocontrol behaves differently on different platforms. What browser are you using on your Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0? As a temporary workaround, you can try using a different browser on the devices vocontrol is not working correctly. I'm afraid I don't have these devices at hand, thus debugging is quite cumbersome for me -- does the browser on your Galaxy Tab have something like an "Error Console" where JavaScript errors are recorded? If it does, the exact error message would be of help.
Your suggestion about the nav computer sounds good and I have thought about it before (including using the correct background image for the current sector), but I'm afraid I just don't have the time to work on this right now.
Take care
Oh yeah, I forgot about browser quirks.
Cee64E, Try it with Chrome for Android. I've used vocontrol in a similar fashion to what you're trying to do on my Asus TF300T and it works with Chrome.
Cee64E, Try it with Chrome for Android. I've used vocontrol in a similar fashion to what you're trying to do on my Asus TF300T and it works with Chrome.
Thanks for the info, fellas. I'll give chrome a try and see if that helps. Both devices I have tried were with the stock android browser. Perhaps my tablet has a problem with the Java component. I'll have to check to see if there are any settings I need to change for that as well.
I completely understand the time limitations you are under, firsm. Your thesis is way more important than a video game, to be sure. I'm really hoping a lot of plugin developers get a look at your vohttp. There is a similar program for Flight Simulator X called fsuipc that lets add-ons, both hardware and software, communicate with the simulator. I've seen guys build complete scale cockpits with servo driven instruments, Multi Function Displays, hardware controls that match the actual cockpit, in short "da works". It would be fun to do the same thing with VO.
I completely understand the time limitations you are under, firsm. Your thesis is way more important than a video game, to be sure. I'm really hoping a lot of plugin developers get a look at your vohttp. There is a similar program for Flight Simulator X called fsuipc that lets add-ons, both hardware and software, communicate with the simulator. I've seen guys build complete scale cockpits with servo driven instruments, Multi Function Displays, hardware controls that match the actual cockpit, in short "da works". It would be fun to do the same thing with VO.
Just wanted to pop in and say it works perfectly with the Chrome browser. Firefox and the standard jellybean browser not so much.
One suggestion that would make this the Ne-plus-Ultra, if it's possible and when you get time of course because I'm pretty sure it would be quite an undertaking if it is possible at all.
Plugins all go into the plugins folder in the main game directory. What if a person could drop plugins into a subfolder of vohttp (possibly delineated by port number?) and run on secondary devices instead of on the main screen. Then you could set up a cockpit with a touch enabled screen for any must have plugins you might like, even multiple MFD type displays using cheap android tablets or even just different browser tabs.
I don't know jack about lua programming, but how I imagine it would work is to pass through the various plugin program calls to and from the main game through the web server, each plugin running under it's own port, the webserver just acting as a conduit.
Obviously this would have to wait till you have the time, if it's even possible at all.
One suggestion that would make this the Ne-plus-Ultra, if it's possible and when you get time of course because I'm pretty sure it would be quite an undertaking if it is possible at all.
Plugins all go into the plugins folder in the main game directory. What if a person could drop plugins into a subfolder of vohttp (possibly delineated by port number?) and run on secondary devices instead of on the main screen. Then you could set up a cockpit with a touch enabled screen for any must have plugins you might like, even multiple MFD type displays using cheap android tablets or even just different browser tabs.
I don't know jack about lua programming, but how I imagine it would work is to pass through the various plugin program calls to and from the main game through the web server, each plugin running under it's own port, the webserver just acting as a conduit.
Obviously this would have to wait till you have the time, if it's even possible at all.
Hi Cee64E,
I'm glad you got vocontrol to work and like it.
Not quite sure I understand what you are suggesting. You can already use vocontrol on more than one device at the same time (i.e. chat on a tablet, targeting computer on a phone). This is possible because all communication is buffered for each device connected.
Are you suggesting that vocontrol could be made so that it is easily extensible by user-made plugins? This would surely be nice, but I'm afraid also a lot of effort.
When writing vocontrol, I tried to decouple most of the webserver logic and put it into the vohttp library. So anyone interested could use that library to start a second webserver like in [1] on a different port for their own purposes.
Kind regards
[1] https://github.com/fhirschmann/vohttp#usage
I'm glad you got vocontrol to work and like it.
Not quite sure I understand what you are suggesting. You can already use vocontrol on more than one device at the same time (i.e. chat on a tablet, targeting computer on a phone). This is possible because all communication is buffered for each device connected.
Are you suggesting that vocontrol could be made so that it is easily extensible by user-made plugins? This would surely be nice, but I'm afraid also a lot of effort.
When writing vocontrol, I tried to decouple most of the webserver logic and put it into the vohttp library. So anyone interested could use that library to start a second webserver like in [1] on a different port for their own purposes.
Kind regards
[1] https://github.com/fhirschmann/vohttp#usage