on 19 March 2024

SOP 05 - Roger Wilco (rev: 14 Apr - 2015)

Written by
Joe "Condor" Gibbons

Revised by
Nils "Wolverine" Holmgren

Installation:

  • Download the setup program for Roger Wilco from our Files Archive.

  • Follow the on screen instruction when you install.

Joining:

To join a Roger Wilco session you will need to open the program, then click on the Join button to the right. Type in the IP number given to you over ICQ or mIRC. A password won't normally need to be entered unless stated otherwise. Then press the Join button, as shown in the pictures below.

If a window pops up saying unable to connect to the certain IP, then the other person who is hosting hasn't created the session yet or could be running a firewall that either needs to be shut down or configured properly.

Wait a few moments then try again. If that doesn't help, try to reach the one you're trying to connect to and ask if he or she has forgotten to turn off the firewall.

Once you are connected you can hear and talk to the other people connected to that session. To do this press the button that you have assigned to engage the transmit feature. Roger Wilco also has a voice activation feature, but it is recommended to always use the press to talk (PTT) feature instead as with voice activation you may hear or indeed transmit things you didn't intend to transmit and it can be very annoying to hear other peoples breathing for example. So, as a general rule, always use PTT. The Voice Activated/Press To Talk settings are found under the Transmit tab.

Press the transmit key then wait a second, then speak. When you have finished what you are saying take your finger off of the transmit button. If you don't, when the other person talks back they will receive an echo from your speakers.

Hosting:

Launch the program as before but instead of pressing the Join button press the Create button. It will ask you to enter a password just leave the password field empty, and press the Create button once more. You will then be hosting the channel, you have the ability to Kick disruptive players as you wish. If at any time you get disconnected then everyone will be disconnected and they will be unable to contact each other.

This is why as standard procedure you remind all players to switch their comms in the game to broadcast so that in case Roger Wilco disconnects you will at least be able to communicate through the in-game chat.



Advanced Features of Roger Wilco:

On the Adjust tab within Roger Wilco you have the option to configure the way Roger Wilco uses your soundcard, CPU, and Internet connection.

Changing any of them can dramatically affect your enjoyment of using Roger Wilco both in a positive or in a negative manner. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, so don't be afraid to play around with the settings to find what does what and what settings suits you. It's of course best to just connect to someone when you have no other activities to keep in mind rather then experimenting with this during flight night.

If you press the Configure button you will be taken to a Configure Roger Wilco window. Press the Next button and make sure you have Use DirectSound Recording selected, if your soundcard doesn't support DirectSound get a new soundcard that does. DirectSound is a lot quicker than using WAV recording.







Proceed to the next screen by pressing the Next button, make sure that Roger Wilco is using your best soundcard if you have more than one installed. This will improve your listening pleasure, and improve the recording of your speech.



As you can see above, the next screen lets you set the recording level for your Mic. On installation you will have to test your Mic, to make sure it is basically working. If you've got an expensive Mic you may have to go into the Systems Settings to change your Mic to work properly with Roger Wilco. Press the Next button to proceed to the next screen.

You should have Full Duplex selected, this will enable you to receive and transmit. Selecting Half Duplex isn't really an option unless you want to be perceived as a shy pilot, or just not a good speaker. Same goes here as with supporting DirectSound recording. If your sound card doesn't support full duplex, buy one that does.



Go on to the next screen by pressing the Next button. Here you will be able to set the transmit button. The advised key to use for Roger Wilco is any key that isn't defined in the Falcon 4 SP3 keyboard map, see one of the documents regarding keyboard mapping that accompanies the SP3 installation. They can be found under the \Falcon4\Docs folder on your harddrive. In this example keypad / is used as it's one of the only keys that are left available with all the Falcon 4.0 SP3 key assignments as it is, unless you want to use a complicated combination of keys.

Remember its not only the key combinations in Falcon 4.0 you've got to think about, keep in mind that 1/4 of the time you will be using Roger Wilco in Windows.



The next screen below is a bit more complicated as it determines how data is sent over your Internet connection. A fast modem is anything at 36.6kbps or more and a slow modem is anything at or less than 28.8kbps. The other available Connection Speeds are self explanatory. It is advised that you select the Fast Modem selection. Just leave the UDP port as it is, unless you know what you're doing. It's basically if a user has a firewall in place, which aren't recommended whiles flying Falcon 4.0 online. As the firewall blocks data being sent to the other players in the game, which spoils your experience and other's experience.

The following screen is self explanatory, if you've got a slow computer, meaning less than a Pentium II class processor then select Use less CPU. This will reduce audio quality as a side affect but it will allow more CPU power to be used in Falcon 4.0. If you are hearing gaps in the incoming transmissions select Run Roger Wilco at High CPU Priority.

This is advisable, as Falcon 4.0 tends to hog most of the CPU while in the Mission Schedule in the game, where radio communications is needed the most. Remember that Roger Wilco always uses up bandwidth when you're transmitting, so keep silent once you are on the pie screen about to join a flight unless something serious has happened, like a CTD for example.



Proceed to the next screen where you enter your callsign, you simply enter your callsign in here. Don't include any strange characters as it causes eye pollution making it hard for the onlooker to work out your callsign.

Press the Next button for the last time and it will show you a summary of the settings that you've chosen. You can go back and change any mistakes you may have made by using the Back button. Once you are satisfied click Finish to end the configuration part of the program.



This document has explained the basics of how to setup Roger Wilco to be able to connect to another computer hosting Roger Wilco or to host a session yourself. In the 185th we have dedicated Roger Wilco channels that we use on our weekly flights or when we fly against another virtual fighter squadron. To connect to these channels we use a tuner. Read more about this in SOP 06 - Roger Wilco Tuner.

Enjoy flying with the added thrill and immersion that true voice communication with other virtual pilots brings.


185th Reservoir Dogs VFS - SOP 05 - Roger Wilco This document is subject to changes