Yupp, it won't build on windows. Tried with the cmake solution in VS

@fluffyfreak I'd really like to ship this PR in the upcoming Pioneer Day update, but there are Windows build issues due to a new SDL_Net dependency - if you're available, I'd appreciate getting a built copy of that library added to the pioneer-thirdparty repo (the source should be in there already) to unblock this PR. Ideally no later than Sunday the 15th...

Progress report:
I've managed to include the sdl_net.dll-s to thirdparty from their binary release and updated the pioneer/msvc-defaults.cmake with
set(SDL2_NET_INCLUDE_DIRS ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../pioneer-thirdparty/win32/include)
set(SDL2_NET_LIBRARIES ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../pioneer-thirdparty/win32/lib/${MSVC_ARCH}/vs2019/SDL2_net.lib)
as per @sturnclaw's instructions. It now runs (and is quite nice), but throws an sdl_net error which yanks you out of the game window:

It also logs it in output.txt

@nozmajner I have completely replaced the SDL_Net dependency with NanoSockets instead - the code should now compile without any external dependencies on Windows and (hopefully) prevent any errors when opening the socket now. I'd appreciate you (and anyone else reading this) giving the latest build a try and ensuring there are no platform-specific issues.

Roger roger!

@Web-eWorks Builds with cmake on windows, in VS and runs without a hitch.
I'm afraid now people can actually read my stupid joke in the default cockpit:

"This is indeed a fire extinguisher"
I wonder, how soon my compatriots notice :D

I'm all for stupid jokes!

Going to merge this PR even though the VS solution is failing. Unless @fluffyfreak or others are able to update that solution before Pioneer day (it's mostly complaining about the Headtracker files and nanosockets source being missing from the sln) we'll be deprecating that and moving on to a purely CMake based setup.

Sorry for not being around folks, I should schedule some regular time to checkin and help out more often 😞
I'll take a look at fixing up the VS project asap but was thinking the other day that maybe it's time to do a poll and see if anyone is using it or if everyone has swtiched to using the CMake build with VS?

We use the CMake build for generating the "nightly" windows build artifacts, so I think you and maybe 1-2 other people who have talked here on Github are the only ones who would be impacted by removing the manual VS solution.

On Windows here. I haven't compiled in a while but have previously used both the VS solution and CMake successfully. Makes sense to me to standardise on a single build strategy.

I just compiled using the CMake with MSVC. Successful build, though it doesn't show -x64 at the end of the file name when x64 was selected. Connecting my opentrack headtracker to FlightGear mode, nothing happens. I've never used this mode before so I'm not sure it even works, or maybe I need to install something else for it to work. I haven't tried FlightGear since before there was any headtracking support. (Of course, I've been using headtracking in joystick emulation mode with Pioneer for a couple years now, so even if this FlightGear mode support doesn't work, I'm fine going back to stick emulation.)

Connecting my opentrack headtracker to FlightGear mode, nothing happens. I've never used this mode before so I'm not sure it even works, or maybe I need to install something else for it to work.

Double check in opentrack that you're outputting packets to 127.0.0.1 port 4242 (the port Pioneer listens on by default). If that doesn't work, check your firewall settings and/or change the IP address in opentrack to the local network IP of your computer instead. You can also adjust the listen port used for headtracking via Pioneer's config file.

Ah, I had to use not the FlightGear mode but UDP Receiver, and change the settings to that 127.0.0.1 with port 4242. It works. Pretty smooth! I'll have to see if I can get a nice dead zone in the middle so I can have the camera straight ahead when I need it. The joystick emulation setup I've been using has a deadzone setup in Pioneer's joystick profiles. It does make looking around a little wonky as there's a pause in the middle of both X and Y axes, though. Maybe I'll just get used to no-deadzone flying and paying attention to the crosshair!

Ah, I had to use not the FlightGear mode but UDP Receiver, and change the settings to that 127.0.0.1 with port 4242. It works.

Ah, my mistake - the UDP output mode uses the FlightGear UDP packet format for the data format it sends, so I've just referred to it as "the FlightGear protocol".

Pretty smooth! I'll have to see if I can get a nice dead zone in the middle so I can have the camera straight ahead when I need it. The joystick emulation setup I've been using has a deadzone setup in Pioneer's joystick profiles. It does make looking around a little wonky as there's a pause in the middle of both X and Y axes, though. Maybe I'll just get used to no-deadzone flying and paying attention to the crosshair!

If you want, you can setup a button to disable headtracking output in Opentrack (called "zero output" IIRC) which acts as a toggleable 100% deadzone for when you don't want to be looking around in the cockpit. If you're just looking for something which centers the view when looking relatively forwards... I'd honestly recommend trying to work without the deadzone; I've not had any issues with the view feeling offset in other games or Pioneer without any deadzone. That being said, you can definitely adjust your pitch/yaw output curves in Opentrack to put a big zero-output deadzone between 0 and ±5 degrees or so. 😄

I wonder if there's a way to use this for VR 🤔

Not the rendering side obviously, but I had a (VERY) old branch which did that and it wasn't as tough as I'd imagined.

Trickiest part was the UI

This code is separated out from a larger effort to replace the cockpit code with a full 6-DOF cockpit which isn't moving the ship around the player to indicate motion, as well as some nice things like clickable buttons and screens in the cockpit... when that code lands, it could be quite compatible with VR headtracking.