CydandClaude Opus 4.8
39a3dab1fc
Modernization of the legacy vJoy-based RIO cockpit interface for Win10/11, removing the vJoy dependency in favor of a custom VHF/UMDF HID driver, rewritten in C#/.NET 8 as a background tray app with per-game profiles. - Reorganize: legacy C++ -> legacy/, cockpit art -> docs/reference/ - RioJoy.sln: src/RioJoy.Core (lib) + src/RioJoy.Tray (tray app), net8.0-windows x64 - driver/ placeholder for the RioGamepad WDK driver - docs/PLAN.md (7-phase plan; profiles + serial-yield model) - docs/PROTOCOL.md (RIO wire format + iRIO input-map reference) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
169 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown
169 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown
# RIOJoy — modernization plan
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Modernize the cockpit RIO interface app for Windows 10/11, **removing the vJoy
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dependency** and replacing it with a custom virtual HID device, rewritten in
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C#/.NET as a background tray app with **per-game profiles**.
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The legacy app is preserved under [`legacy/`](../legacy/) as the behavioral
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reference. The RIO wire format and input map are documented in
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[PROTOCOL.md](PROTOCOL.md).
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---
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## Purpose
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The cockpits run two native games (**Firestorm**, **Red Planet**) that talk to
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the RIO hardware **directly** and never use this app. RIOJoy exists to **broaden
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which other games can run in the cockpits**: arbitrary games don't know about the
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cockpit's extra hardware (5 analog axes, 96 lighted buttons, the plasma/VFD
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display, the labeled wallpaper), so RIOJoy bridges the RIO to whatever input
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those games *do* understand — joystick, keyboard, and mouse — and drives the
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cockpit's outputs on their behalf.
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---
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## Target architecture
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```
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┌─────────────────────── C# / .NET 8 tray app (x64) ───────────────────────┐
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│ Serial (RIO protocol) → Input mapper (profile) → Output router │
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│ COM port, 9600 8N1 72 inputs + keypads ├─ Keyboard/Mouse: SendInput (P/Invoke)
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│ packet parse + ACK/NAK decode iRIO bitfield ├─ Joystick: HID report → DeviceIoControl ↓
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│ analog poll + recovery axis calibration └─ Lamps: LampRequest back over serial
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│ Plasma/VFD on 2nd COM · Profiles + auto-switch + tray UI + logging │
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└───────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘
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│ IOCTL (input report bytes)
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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────▼──────────────────────────┐
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│ RioGamepad.sys — KMDF + VHF (vhf.sys) virtual HID device │
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│ Report descriptor: X,Y,Z,Rx,Ry,Rz (16-bit) · 1 hat · 96 buttons │
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│ Control device + custom IOCTL → VhfReadReportSubmit() → Windows sees │
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│ a HID gamepad │
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└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
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```
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### Decisions (confirmed)
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- **Virtual joystick:** custom **VHF/UMDF HID driver** (full fidelity: 6 axes,
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96 buttons, 1 hat — exactly the legacy vJoy layout). Not ViGEm (can't hold 96
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buttons).
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- **Stack:** C# / **.NET 8** (LTS), x64. Driver is C (WDK), separate toolchain.
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- **Form:** background **tray app** (NotifyIcon), auto-start with Windows.
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- **Targets:** Windows 10/11 **x64 only**. The legacy x86 / WinXP targets are
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dropped.
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### What ports over vs. what's new
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| Concern | Legacy | Modern |
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|---|---|---|
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| Serial + RIO protocol | overlapped I/O + watch thread | `SerialPort` + async loop; faithful port of the packet state machine |
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| Input decode | `iRIO[]` bitfield + `Press_V2` | same semantics, ported to C# |
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| Keyboard/mouse | `SendInput` scancode | `SendInput` via P/Invoke (≈verbatim) |
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| Joystick | vJoy `SetAxis/SetBtn/SetDiscPov` | **HID report → IOCTL → RioGamepad.sys** |
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| Lamps | `LampRequest` over serial | same |
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| Axis calibration | `UpdateJoystick/Throttle/Padal` | ported math |
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| Plasma display | `CPlasma` (COM2) | ported; content per-profile |
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| Config | SimpleIni, single file, hard-coded COM1 | profile library (JSON), configurable ports; importer for legacy `RIO.ini` |
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---
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## Profiles (the core abstraction)
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A **profile** fully describes how the cockpit behaves for **one non-native
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game**. Everything is per-profile, not global:
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- Button/keypad mapping (the decoded `iRIO` table for this game)
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- Axis calibration, curves, and invert flags
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- Lamp behavior
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- Plasma/VFD content (or "off")
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- Cockpit overlay labels + the generated wallpaper (Phase 7)
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- Display/resolution targets
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Profiles **never** describe the native games — those are the "hands-off" case.
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### Serial-port yield & the auto-switch state machine
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Because the native games own the RIO's COM port directly, RIOJoy must yield it.
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A process/window watcher drives three states:
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| Detected running app | RIOJoy behavior |
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| **Native game** (Firestorm, Red Planet) | **Release COM port, go fully dormant** — no serial, no HID, no overlay |
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| **Supported non-native game** | Acquire port, load that game's profile, drive HID / keyboard / mouse / lamps / plasma / wallpaper |
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| **Nothing / desktop** | Idle — port released or a configurable neutral default |
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Config therefore holds: the per-game profile library, a **list of native games
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to yield to**, and the executable→profile match rules. Manual override from the
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tray menu is always available.
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---
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## Phases
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### Phase 0 — Repo & scaffold ✅ (this commit)
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- `git init`, remote `https://gitea.mysticmachines.com/VWE/riovjoy2.git`.
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- Legacy C++ moved to `legacy/`; cockpit art to `docs/reference/`.
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- Solution `RioJoy.sln` with `src/RioJoy.Core` (lib) + `src/RioJoy.Tray`
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(tray app); `driver/` placeholder for the WDK project.
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- This plan + [PROTOCOL.md](PROTOCOL.md).
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### Phase 1 — Virtual HID driver (highest risk; do first)
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- KMDF + VHF virtual HID gamepad: report descriptor = 6×16-bit axes, 1 hat,
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96 buttons.
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- Control device + custom IOCTL → `VhfReadReportSubmit`.
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- Test harness (throwaway C#) wiggles axes/buttons; verify in `joy.cpl`.
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- Test-signing setup for the cabinets.
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### Phase 2 — Serial + RIO protocol core (`RioJoy.Core`)
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- `SerialPort` wrapper; packet parser/builder (length table, 7-bit checksum,
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ACK/NAK, framing resync).
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- Analog poll timer + >5 s reset-recovery.
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- **Clean COM-port acquire/release** (foundation for serial yield).
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- Verify against hardware: version reply, check reply, analog stream.
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### Phase 3 — Input mapping + output routing
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- Port `iRIO` decode and routing precedence (keyboard/mouse/joy/hat/RIO-command).
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- Keyboard/mouse via `SendInput` P/Invoke; lamp feedback over serial.
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- HID-report feeder → the Phase 1 driver via `DeviceIoControl`.
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### Phase 4 — Axis calibration + plasma display
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- Port `UpdateJoystick/Throttle/Padal` math (deadzones, ratchet, rudder).
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- Port the `CPlasma` ESC command set on the secondary COM port.
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### Phase 5 — Tray app + profiles
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- NotifyIcon + menu mirroring the legacy console menu (reset/recalibrate axes,
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version/status, toggle raw-axis & poll-rate readouts, quit) + status/log window.
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- **Profile library**, manual selection, and the **three-state auto-switch
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watcher** (incl. native-game yield).
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- Config persistence; auto-start.
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### Phase 6 — Packaging / signing / deploy
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- Driver install via `pnputil`; app installer; test-signing script.
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- Cabinet deployment doc. (Production option: attestation signing.)
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### Phase 7 — Profile/mapping editor + cockpit overlay generator
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Replaces the legacy Google-Sheet → `.data` → GIMP → Script-Fu pipeline
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(see [`docs/reference/customBackground/`](reference/customBackground/)).
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- **Mapping editor:** per-button UI to set action + label + lamp, no hex
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bit-twiddling; clone-from-existing profile.
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- **Overlay generator:** render labels into named regions over a base cockpit
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image using **SkiaSharp**, porting the auto-fit/justification logic from
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`sg-goobie-MFD.scm`; export the per-profile wallpaper and re-apply via
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`SystemParametersInfo`.
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- **Region authoring:** extract the label rectangles from `riojoy.xcf` into a
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`regions.json`; in-app box editor for future tweaks.
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- The unified profile JSON supersedes both `RIO.ini` and the Google Sheet, with
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importers for each.
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- To confirm at Phase 7: target wallpaper resolution(s); static wallpaper vs.
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live overlay (e.g. lit-button highlighting mirroring lamp state).
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---
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## Open items / risks
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- **Driver signing** is the main friction point. Test-signing is fine for owned
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cabinets; redistribution needs attestation signing (EV cert + Partner Center).
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- **Input injection vs. session:** `SendInput` targets the interactive session —
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fine for a tray app, which is why a Windows service was rejected.
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- **Legacy quirks to decide on** (see PROTOCOL.md ⚠️ notes): disabled inbound
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checksum verification; odd mouse-move deltas.
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