News SimTools 2.0 Question and Answer

Just puleeeze don't tie it to hardware IDs. This would mean having to reset your license every time you change out a drive or a video card! This is a major pain.. believe me!

Will there be an 'enthusiast version' i.e. A DIYer and member in good standing but might want to play around with or use the more advanced features with a reduced cost over commercially interested parties?

Cheers,

DaV

Ive heard rumors about it being tied to hardware ID. Probably because previous versions got over "shared". Makes perfect sense to do that. Unless you have a significant failure if bits , your pc should stay the same. Maybe take a photo of the internals and a CPU Z screen shot. So , if you upgrade graphics card , you send a before and after photo.
This suggestion of ID hardware tied is excellent . It rightfully protects the Simtools developers properly.
If you have to be changing components regular , thats something wrong. Granted things can go off within a week , but it should stay the same.
Im voting a YES for possible hardware ID . If its implemented.

While it's undoubtedly true that piracy is a concern, I think their are ways to prevent it without perminately tying it to an individual piece of hardware.

First, with almost no doubt, people who purchase would probably be members of this forum. To authorize a machine, sign onto to this site and it gives you a GUID type number that is unique to your hardware / username. You switch machines, just re-authorize.

If you see more than a few authorizations coming from a single username (purchaser) in a short period of time, black list it. That will discourage people from sharing their user accounts (which they would need to do).

Another clever trick is called steganography. The executable is encrypted, and decrypted on the fly, using the purchasers GUID (public key). However, before the user actually downloads this, their credit card number they used to purchase is embedded into the EXE as part of the executable code (and needed to run. Various bits are toggled in the instructions to add or subtract numbers to come out with a known result, which is the relative address of where it needs to jump to continue proper execution).

This trick, if used correctly (ie. thru out the exe, not just a single spot) does wonders, because if you happily share the EXE on the net (as compared to just trusted friends), a good cracker will be able to extract out your credit card number (well, actually they probably can't, but YOU can sure as hell tell who leaked the EXE onto the net and black list 'em).

Last trick is the one that DataRescue uses. They use steganography on steroids. Even if you purchase several copies, the odds of you being able to remove all the finger prints are pretty much zero. On top of that, they hire lawyers and USE them to go after anyone who pirates.
The net result is that, despite them producing software that is heavily sought after by crackers, it takes MONTHS for a cracker to take out enough fingerprints before they get the balls to post it online. On top of that, because DataRescue are consistently improving their products, a lot of people who would have settled for a pirated copy tend to fork out the dough needed for the real thing.

The absolute last thing you want to do is punish or alienate the people who are buying your product. Make it transparent, make it forgiving, and make it FRIENDLY. But retain the ability to blacklist, because if a customer betrays your trust, you can nuke 'em from orbit.

If you want to appeal to everyone, we must remove the software suite

Great, there is an estimated release date ?

Hey, a couple of questions.

Is there anything in the works to allow for external hardware to communicate and send commands back to the host PC to change profiles/settings in simtools 2.0? I was thinking it might be nice to have a button box on my rig that allows me to change from a profile tuned for slow/mushy cars to one tuned for stiff racecars. Something like the ability to send a character command (from another arduino or controller) through a serial port back to the host application, so I don't have to use a kb/mouse. I'm not sure if this is what's meant by remote UDP profile management or not, but it might be nice to be able to do it through a COM port.

Second, is there any chance that simtools 2.0 will allow for more detailed tuning of the filter functions? I'd like to be able to muck around with the math behind them (washout time, smoothing cutoff frequency, etc) if I can. Is this what the axis assignment math is for?

Third, do we have any rough ideas about pricing for the DIY/pro/Entertainment licenses? I see myself most likely either using the pro or entertainment ones. I'm not asking for granular details, more order of magnitude numbers. Also, what's the difference between the pro and entertainment license? If the pro license is being sold to kit manufacturers, what's stopping someone who buys the kit from setting up a ride and charging? (nothing against that by the way, I've been thinking about doing it myself, I just want to finish my sim and get my licensing ducks in a row first).

With V2 you will be able to remote profile, once apps are developed to work with the new features.

Hi ! Is the current game plugins compatible with the new version?
I would buy simvibe to manage my Buttkicker is it wiser to wait simtool v2? How will manage the vibration function?

No current plugins Do Not work on V2

Vibe Support is still in its early infancy, if your in a rush and need telemetry tactile sooner than later, your options are obvious, All be it a little expensive.

tbh guy n gals the amount of help on this site is like we should be charged let alone get a free programme to solve the motion side i would love to be able to say ive contrubuted to the site and give funds and if it means buying the sofware it is a great way to build xsimulator to better things and put appreciation to the right people who really do care.
my transducer are waiting for this now.
could you post a list on this to show who is involved time to be stars all of you
what are the bugs delaying the release ect ..
sorry if its all else where on the site.

cheers you guys for all the update what your doing can not wait will save my pennies

there is a lot to be done still. The devs are busting their butts creating V2. I know the anticipation is tough. But trust me your patience will pay off. Without revealing anything I shouldn't I will say myself and others are still using 1.3 and really only using v2 for testing.

Hello

I am about to try simtools for my x4000 simX interface, very keen to have buttkicker support also

I understand this is only in V2 , question : can I get hold of the beta?
if not is V2 a matter of weeks away or months or maybe years ?

Ps sorry if questions sound silly I am new

Greatok thanks noorb,

I assume 2.0 is the only thing that will run buttkickers at the moment ?
Theirs currently no plug-in to use whilst we wait for V2.0 release?