fs9 Toolbox Documentation

1

What is it?

fs9 Toolbox contains several tools that will make your life easier when flying with Flight Simulator 2004. Some of the features included in fs9 Toolbox will reduce the difference between FS2004 and FSX, so they should make the life longer for you beloved FS2004.
The included features are the following:

Virtual cockpit camera controlled with the mouse
Fly-by camera implemented as an additional view
Steerable pushback
Aircraft selector
Key auto-repeat fix
Key sequencing fix

The fs9 Toolbox Configuration Application is provided in the package to let you change the key assigned to each command. More information is available here.
Each feature of fs9 Toolbox is detailed in the following paragraphs.

Topics covered on this page: Registration / VC Camera: Default Keys - Mouse Usage - Configuration - Summary

Registration

The first thing you need to do to start using fs9 Toolbox is registering with the key.
When fs9 Toolbox is installed, start FS2004. You will see a new menu appears in the menu bar, labeled "Toolbox".
If the product is not registered, the pull down menu contains a "Register..." option, it looks like this:

Click the "Register..." option and the registration window appears to let you enter your e-mail address and the key that was provided to you by e-mail.

When the product is correctly registered, the "Register..." option disappears from the menu.

VC Camera

The VC Camera is designed to be used in the Virtual Cockpit mode. It lets you move in the cockpit and in the cabin (if the aircraft has one) using keys, and look in any direction using the mouse.

Default Keys

By default, the keys used to move around are the following:

TAB key to activate/deactivate the VC Camera
HOME key to move forward
END key to move backward
DELETE key to move left
PAGE DOWN key to move right
INSERT key to move down
PAGE UP key to move up

You can change the keys used to control the VC Camera using the Toolbox Configuration Application.

Mouse Usage

When you activate or deactivate the VC Camera (using the TAB key by default), a red message displays the VC Camera status.

As soon as the VC Camera is turned on, moving the mouse lets you look wherever you want, and rolling the mouse wheel lets you zoom and unzoom.
If you roll the mouse wheel while pressing the Shift key, the zoom variation is lower.
Note that the eye movement is linked to the zoom factor: the more you zoom, the less you move. This allows you to look accurately at details that are far away.

Configuration

The configuration is available through the "VC Camera..." option of the pull down menu.

(note the registering option is not visible because the product is registered)

Mouse Sensitivity

The mouse sensitivity can be defined horizontally and vertically through a factor:

A factor of 1 means that the mouse movement from one end of the screen to the other corresponds to 360°
A factor of 2 means that the mouse movement from one end of the screen to the other corresponds to 2 * 360° = 720°

The higher the factor is, the more the mouse is sensitive.

Movement

The wwalking speed defines the speed at which you move around when using the movement keys.
The relative movement check box defines if you want to move relatively to the direction of your eyes (like in FPS games) or in absolute mode, which is relative to the direction of the aircraft.

Push Buttons

Reset Defaults lets you reset the VC Camera configuration to the original default values.
Reload Keys lets you reload the key definition, in case you have changed them in the Toolbox Configuration Application.

Summary

This table summarizes the available features:

TAB key	Activates/deactivates the VC Camera. The VC Camera status is shown with a message on the top part of the screen.
HOME key	Move forward when the VC Camera is activated.
END key	Move backward when the VC Camera is activated.
DEL key	Move left (strafe) when the VC Camera is activated.
PAGE DOWN key	Move right (strafe) when the VC Camera is activated.
PAGE UP key	Move up when the VC Camera is activated.
INSERT key	Move down when the VC Camera is activated.
Mouse movement	Move the eye direction when the VC Camera is activated.
Mouse wheel	Zoom/Unzoom when the VC Camera is activated.
SHIFT key	Used with the mouse wheel, zoom/unzoom slowly for increased accuracy
Mouse middle button or wheel press	Reset the zoom factor

Continue on page 2
(Fly-by Camera, Steerable pushback,
Auto-repeat and Key Sequencing fix)