[Minardi]

Finally, the (looooong) wait is over! We are proud to announce the release of RCS O2, the first RMS for a digital slot race system with extended simulation features. We thank all that helped us in the background and of course Slot IT. We feel we got the most out of the current firmware and visibilty limitations. At the same time a side note I have to say that forums and social media aren't always a fun place to stay and is one of the reasons one of the RCS team members has taken a step back, I felt I had to mention this.

But back on a positive note I can tell you that we definitely look at the future but first want you to enjoy this release of RCSO2.

Some of the Features;

- 8 car team racing with up to 6 drivers per team and driver change in pit

- Simulation features:

--> Fuel Load

-->Tyre Wear (Hard&Soft with different characteristics)

--> Damage

- Manual and Auto Track call

- Stop and Go/Drive thorugh penalties, yellow flag option

- Advanced Pit Menu System

- 8 car dashboard

- Marshall screen

- Individual car sounds, background sounds etc,

- Car database with individual power and fuel settings

- Practice, Qualify and Race events (GP and endurance)

- Test environment

- Result screen with fuel and tyre predicitions

And a lot more!

Download available at www.rcs64.com

Manual also available!

Happy racing!

Marcel, team RCS

 

[Flag Slot Racer]

Great job Marcel!!!

 

[Minardi]

We take it step by step. Better good near perfect for 8 than full simulations for 20 cars without the ability to test really good. In this way we take a modular approach. We prefer a good and tested release over something rushed and half finished.

 

[GRUNZ]

Well done Marcel and Martin. As one of the beta-testers I think that this version of RCS-O2 adds another layer of fun to a great system.

On a side note, I am really sorry to hear about the unpleasant experience you had to endure from some individuals/users for basically helping the rest of the digital community to get the best out of their systems.

 

[Billy_Cart]

Great news Minardi, now I know what I am doing this weekend.

Download RCS02, setup track with magnets for Oxigen, borrow a mates SCP2 and do some O2/RCS02 racing.😁

Now this wait is over, just have to wait for SCP3 and I should be O2 compatible

I guess it's a case of "Good things come to those who wait"😎

 

[Billy_Cart]

Step 1 - Download software, CHECK

Step 2 - Software works with Oxygen USB dongle, CHECK

Step 3 - Download Manual (33 pages), CHECK

Step 4 - Read Manual, IN PROGRESS .........Ah Digital FUN again

Tomorrow, install track magnets, borrow the SCP2, drag out the Type C chip cars and RACE

Oops Step 5 - Buy Software

, 6 cars on my track is insane, 8 cars is going to be down right DANGEROUS

 

[Minardi]

Try before you buy

Enjoy!

 

[Slot.it]

Well done!!

 

[Dr_C]

This looks extremely exciting...

https://rcs64.com/download-v4/

So as a new user of rcs... and as a racer with stacks of ARC controllers, 0201b1/2 and O201c1 decoders... lots of SSD track and lane changers and magnets glued in place... this looks like it will be a lot of fun...!

Thanks guys for the massive effort in bringing this into reality

C

 

[Minardi]

Have fun Dr.C
The release has been more than a month now with no big issues reported so happy so far. Didn't test with ARC pro controllers myself but in theory should work. For navigating in the menu's pre and during race we use O2 functionality of LC up and down, with Arc controllers there is only one way to scroll but should work, if not we have to ask Slot It to have a look at arc pro controller FW.

 

[MrFlippant]

On the oXigen SCP controller, pressing both the up and down buttons will make the car change lanes regardless of the direction of the upcoming lane changer. Since the ARC controller only has one LC button, I wonder if they chose to have it send the same "both buttons pressed" signal, to ensure that the car will change lanes as requested. I must assume this would cause some confusion with RCS02.

 

[Minardi]

Yes could be. Slot IT is looking into it.

 

[Slot.it]

Yes Cristian is taking a look. It is likely Greg.

For reasons outside our control, we'll be closed next week.

We have rearranged all work in order to stay open until today with minimum interaction between people. Cristian has been working from home but next week is forced holidays for everyone regardless as we decided that we all need a break.

 

[Dr_C]

Guys, you have brought us some awesome technology and hobby fun... you certainly deserve a break and some time with families and friends ... take care...

C

 

[Slot.it]

Hi all. I'm working from home but still working albeit at a different pace. Let's put it this way: the virus made me understand how much I needed it.

Back to the troble at hand: Cristian is checking the code for bugs, but in principle, pressing the LC button equals to 'both buttons pressed' whereas the brake does just that - brake button pressed.

There is a subtle thing to consider: as there is no 'both buttons pressed' single bit, the condition is valid when both 'up' and 'down' bits are active. In theory, on the ARC PRO, as there is one button only, the bits should become active in one single go. This is what we're checking, to make sure that, for example, we're not setting one before the other, which may create confusion on the receiver's end.

 

[Slot.it]

We just had a look at the code, we set both bits at once. It seems to be OK this side. We set the two bits a in one single operation.

 

[MrFlippant]

Does that mean that they can set the software to assume that both bits being set always means up, and brake means down, and brake/LC means enter? How would that effect the use of the SCP controller? Will the SCP then also require the brake and an arrow button to function as enter? Or, maybe the ARC Pro is simply limited to scrolling one direction, and the user will need to use it like we did with SSD?

 

[Slot.it]

If I understand correctly, what I mean is this

The code base fot the SCP3 and ARC PRO is the same - except for some conditional compilations that cope with the hardware differences.

The ARC has two buttons only, only one of them dedicated to LC. SCP has two LC, one brake.

The oXigen protocol dedicates two bits for each of the lane change buttons - this information is sent from the controller to the dongle.

When you press two buttons at once, phisically you almost never press them at the same time. Because the data is samped very quickly, it is likely that you will have a transition from 'no button pressed' to 'one button pressedn' to 'both buttons pressed'.

In boolean logic terms this is called a 'race' condition - one bit is set before the other when you want BOTH bits to be set. Therefore, the state of the bits will be something like 00 -> 01 -> 11 quite often as it depends on your fingers.

Similarly, when you release the buttons, the system will likely go from 'both buttons pressed' to 'one button pressed' to 'no button pressed'.

If undetected this can trigger some undesired behaviour.

With an ARC controller, as there is only on LC button which triggers the same LC strategy as pressing both buttons at once in an SCP controller, when the button is pressed both bits are set to 1 at the same time

from 00 --> 11 without transition.

With the app, we will be able to, say, define that for ARC PRO the LC means up or down, and breake means enter, or whatever - bit sets may be mapped to the buttons.

Your suggestion for RCS02 may be equally valid, but yes, unless RCS differentiates between ARC PRO and SCP, any changes to the menu selection logic will apply to both.

 

[Minardi]

I am not sure if I follow what is being said, but talking from the RCS point of view it is like this:

When entering pit lane, pit menu opens and when car stops, you can scroll through the available options with LC up or down. Confirm(Enter ) with brake button. The scrolling follows the direction of the LC, either up or down so both LC at once will confuse RCS.

Than when out of pit and racing we have an option for manual track call, either both LC buttons pressed at once or Brake button pressed. So with an ARC Pro I would set RCS to Brake button for track call.

But as I understand, with the app we can set the buttons to what we like so 1 for brake and 1 for LC would be perfect.

 

[MrFlippant]

It sounds like, because the ARC Pro will set Up/Down (R/L, whatever) LC bits at the same time when it's singular LC button is pressed, while the SCP is practically unable to set both LC bits at the same time, It should be possible to differentiate which type of controller is being used and act accordingly. If RCS can be programmed to do the following:

If LCUp and LCDown bits are set at the same time, then scroll up (or down, this is the ARC Pro condition).

If LCUp is set by itself, scroll up.

If LCDown is set by itself, scroll down.

Brake button is Enter in all cases.

For track call, you could set it to react to Brakes+LCDown (for SCP), and/or Brakes+LCUD (up and down for ARC Pro).