Hey everyone, here is a basic summary overview of F-Gen, how it works, and what it does.

F-Gen was developed to create a larger number of supported games and applications for the Novint Falcon. We realized that the control and forces for many interactions in games/apps could be implemented without source code access. Therefore, Novint has been developing a system, F-Gen, where our community and users themselves can add support for games and applications, share their work, and get more game and application support more quickly, that is more robust. In essence, F-Gen is as much a community tool, as it is a driver set.

The F-Gen drivers emulate a mouse, and are customizeable, making the Falcon work with any PC game. You can adjust the movement scales for the Falcon's control, and save settings for various games. There will be settings where you can map buttons to different controls in games, and we also will have a system for gesture recognition in which you can easily access 36 simple to remember gestures to activate any key press or macro. A movement such as moving right then moving forward, could turn on your flashlight (along with haptic cues to make the movements easy to control), while down-down could make you crouch. We can even use it in other apps, such as forward-up is cut while forward-down is paste.

There will be 4 levels of game support for the Novint Falcon, 3 of which are implementd in F-Gen. They are F-Gen Bronze, F-Gen Silver, F-Gen Gold, and Falcon HD. F-Gen Bronze will just be basic mouse support with customized inputs. F-Gen Silver will have basic forces. F-Gen Gold will have strong force feedback support. With Falcon HD titles (all of our current titles are Falcon HD), we have source access to the game and we can get full Falcon support implemented.


F-Gen has several components:

F-Gen manager: This is the user interface that users can use to adjust settings to their preferences. Once you download a driver set for a game or app, you can use F-Gen manager to customize the experience. It is simple and straightforward to use. F-Gen manager can import and export settings (a '*.fgen' file), set profiles for game executables, link in a script, map Falcon events to game/app events, and generally control settings such as control sensitivities or force settings through the use of stand gui elements. Profiles can be created and edited to control windows itself or specific games. When a game starts, for example, the profile (and therefore the way the game is controlled) is automatically updated to be the active profile while the game is running.

F-Gen scripting: F-Gen has a scripting system, in which technical users can create and modify more detailed game/app settings. It is intended for technical users in general, though it is not overly complicated. It is robust as well - there is a lot that can be done with the scripting system. The scripting system can be used to adjust both the control and forces for a game.

F-Gen exe: F-Gen has an executable that is running when the Falcon is controlling the cursor. It is what interfaces the cursor control with a game, adjusts profiles when a supported game is launched, and can be controlled through its tray icon in Windows.

F-Gen tools: A tool in F-Gen is a separately implemented element that can be instantiated and utilized through a script. The script starts and calls the tool. Tools can be used to get the state of an application or game. Examples of tools are pixel readers, keyboard listeners, Direct X / Xinput readers, tie-ins with mods, sound interpreters, and memory readers. There are a variety of tools already under development, and community members can add their own tools as well. Tools are an important aspect of F-Gen. In general, to create forces for a game, you have to know its state. In a First Person Shooter, for example, you need to know which gun is active, if it has ammo, and if it is reloading to be able to accurately send a recoil force event to the Falcon. Tools can give this state. Different tools will work for different situations. A pixel reader might tell you when you are taking damage by reading a few pixels in the character's health bar, while a keyboard reader tells you which weapon is active. A memory reader might give all the information you need in a single player game, while other techniques might be needed for online games.


The combination of the various components of F-Gen should give both Novint and its community a way to quickly implement game and application support for the Falcon. Novint and N VeNT will also integrate F-Gen, showing a much broader range of supported games and applications, which games have what level of support, and how to download the drivers for each game. Novint's hope with F-Gen is that through the combination of both its efforts and the community's efforts, many games and applications will quickly have Novint Falcon support.

thanks everyone, and let me know any questions or comments you have

tomnovint, ceo

I have a lot to learn if I want to be a major contributor, so when this thing is released, I may need to ask John's help for some tutorials and such if he would be so obliged to do so

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yep, we'll have examples, and will provide help and support to people

thx, tomnovint

All sounds good, but I do have one quite major worry...

The way these tools are going to work, I worry how things like punkbuster and VAC will work with them? It seems to me that based on how they are going to work to provide anything more than Bronze support, anti-cheat software such as the above will detect them as potential cheats and get me banned...

...Which isn't good.

Are there any plans to work with people like Valve/Evenbalance to make sure that this won't happen?

Unless you're actually cheating, there's really nothing to be worried about.

kgwhipp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Unless you're actually cheating, there's really
> nothing to be worried about.


Pixel readers/etc would be detected AS cheating.

I support the Falcon, and Novint 100%. I am dedicated to getting the Falcon more well-known, and also bought a lot more.
Need a immediate question answered? Wanna chit chat to waste time while your Falcon is in transit? Just wanna play a game?
Steam: Dharok1337 Don't be afraid to add me
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Proud owner of Forum-Host.net

are you guys going to be posting tutorials up after the final release so we can all learn or should we ask about on the forums.

we will be working with people on how to do it - examples, and then tutorials.

I wouldn't think that pixel reading would be caught as cheating. I think memory reading, would, though. I think there will be tools that could get us to silver and sometimes gold, that won't interfere with VAC.

thx, tomnovint

Perhaps you could publish a draft version of the tools API so that you can get some developer feedback early on?

Bjartr Wrote:
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> Perhaps you could publish a draft version of the
> tools API so that you can get some developer
> feedback early on?

That's why this will be alpha, testing stuff, and getting feedback.

I support the Falcon, and Novint 100%. I am dedicated to getting the Falcon more well-known, and also bought a lot more.
Need a immediate question answered? Wanna chit chat to waste time while your Falcon is in transit? Just wanna play a game?
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Please use and support the Novint servers.
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yep, the beta is for that purpose - to get feedback on incorporating tools. thx, tomnovint

Will the beta be the 'full' version of F-Gen, with a bug warning and WAY more updates? Or will it be a stripped down version?

-----------------------------------------------

The Bunker: The biggest heap of bullshit on the internet.

most importantly, when will f gen beta come out?

Soon shall1990, Tom has used it with MW2 so far. Keep in mind, it won't be out for 64 bit unless they fix it last second.

I support the Falcon, and Novint 100%. I am dedicated to getting the Falcon more well-known, and also bought a lot more.
Need a immediate question answered? Wanna chit chat to waste time while your Falcon is in transit? Just wanna play a game?
Steam: Dharok1337 Don't be afraid to add me
Please use and support the Novint servers.
Proud owner of Forum-Host.net

Crossing fingers for 64 bit support included with the beta version.



Need some help,questions about The Falcon or Novint Falconers Steam group?
Message me on Steam Mykee36

It will be 3/4 full. We haven't implemented all the tools, but people will have the ability to include their own tools. We haven't finished the G-Cube (which was almost named the F ube, instead, as that sounds close and we thought it was funny, especially when you get the "itch" to use it, and you can guess what that would be called). The beta won't include adjusting the lights on the Falcon, turning gravity comp on/off, some UI settings, etc. Those things will be in the V1 release (i.e. polish) or a later beta patch.

All of the most important stuff is there though - scripting, adding tools, and import/export, along with the basic controls and tie'in's to forces

thx, tomnovint

I'm interested how much all the features take cpu time. I'm sure it is worth it but just curious

we used some of them in wow, pixel reading, for example with no noticeable difference. Computers that are running games right on the cusp of their ability might have problems, but generally performance hits shouldn't be an issue.

Good to see you post MrMike. At first I thought you were Mykee, one of our moderators, til I looked more closely.

thx, tomnovint

Well, the important stuff is all that matters.

-----------------------------------------------

The Bunker: The biggest heap of bullshit on the internet.

tomnovint Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All of the most important stuff is there though -
> scripting, adding tools, and import/export, along
> with the basic controls and tie'in's to forces

Less teasey teasey, more releasy releasy!
Cheers,
DD

lol DD

Nice to hear some good news.



Need some help,questions about The Falcon or Novint Falconers Steam group?
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thatbloke Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> The way these tools are going to work, I worry how
> things like punkbuster and VAC will work with
> them? It seems to me that based on how they are
> going to work to provide anything more than Bronze
> support, anti-cheat software such as the above
> will detect them as potential cheats and get me
> banned...
>
> ...Which isn't good.


I'm not sure how punkbuster (which is flimsy at best ) works exactly but VAC scans for known cheats. So unless Valve took measures against F-Gen there would be nothing to worry about.. no?

sprower Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thatbloke Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > The way these tools are going to work, I worry
> how
> > things like punkbuster and VAC will work with
> > them? It seems to me that based on how they are
> > going to work to provide anything more than
> Bronze
> > support, anti-cheat software such as the above
> > will detect them as potential cheats and get me
> > banned...
> >
> > ...Which isn't good.
>
>
> I'm not sure how punkbuster (which is flimsy at
> best ) works exactly but VAC scans for known
> cheats. So unless Valve took measures against
> F-Gen there would be nothing to worry about.. no?

When a file is injected into the memory, it is scanned. If a cheat is detected, you get kick, or possibly even banned.

I support the Falcon, and Novint 100%. I am dedicated to getting the Falcon more well-known, and also bought a lot more.
Need a immediate question answered? Wanna chit chat to waste time while your Falcon is in transit? Just wanna play a game?
Steam: Dharok1337 Don't be afraid to add me
Please use and support the Novint servers.
Proud owner of Forum-Host.net

Devin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> When a file is injected into the memory, it is
> scanned. If a cheat is detected, you get kick, or
> possibly even banned.


Is that how punkbuster works?...

read, absorb, wait, wait, wait, think, respond...

Valve Anti Cheat 2:

* Total integration through Steam, including using the Steam framework for any update tasks
* Delayed bans deny cheat producers accurate and timely information
* As of VAC2, client-side updates are not always required to detect new cheats, again denying cheat producers information.
* Delayed bans means that cheaters are free to play until the ban takes effect some undisclosed (and possibly variable) time later.
* VAC cannot detect 'material wallhacks', where texture transparency and color is manipulated by overwriting content files. In the Source engine the option to create "pure" servers that disallow custom materials was created to alleviate this.

Here is what's important to remember.

* The burden of banning individual cheaters (who have been detected by VAC but not yet banned) is placed on server administrators.
**** Cheats need to be individually found and added to the VAC database!****

What this means is Valve would have to take action against F-Gens. Given the relationship between Novint and Valve do you honestly think there is even a possibility unless a cheat is Actually developed through F-Gens?

My sources say... "Highly Unlikely."





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2009 08:23AM by sprower.

A cheat could be developed through it. You could use the pixel reading tool to tell the mouse to move to X when it sees the certain pixel, and there you have an aimbot.

I support the Falcon, and Novint 100%. I am dedicated to getting the Falcon more well-known, and also bought a lot more.
Need a immediate question answered? Wanna chit chat to waste time while your Falcon is in transit? Just wanna play a game?
Steam: Dharok1337 Don't be afraid to add me
Please use and support the Novint servers.
Proud owner of Forum-Host.net

Did you even read my post or just scan the last few words?

I didn't ask if one could or how. Of course it could and I don't care about the details.

I'm trying to respond to concerns of getting banned for using F-Gens which won't happen as long as you don't use it to cheat with.

Please inject your "help" elsewhere.

I assume it is but I couldn't find it anywhere: will f-gen be free?

Of course