Control Panel Changes

The main simulator control panel has been updated to make it clearer and easier to use. The original combination of drop-down menus, slider controls and check boxes has now been replaced by a set of buttons that achieve all the same functionality.

Please note that all of the existing keyboard commands (eg left arrow,right arrow, space bar etc) continue to work as they did before.

Vehicle & Scene Selection

Selections of towing vehicle, trailer and scene were previously made using 3 different drop-down menus. A single SELECT VEHICLES & SCENES button now opens up an image gallery where all three can be easily selected in one operation.

A fourth drop-down menu was previously used to select the required manouevre. This is now achieved by pressing a dedicated button which displays the name of the manoeuvre currently selected - eg RIGHT TURN MANOEUVRE. Repeatedly pressing the button will switch between all the available manoeuvres.

Speed Control

Speed is now controlled using the SPEED UP and SLOW DOWN buttons, instead of the original slider control. Press and hold these buttons to smoothly increase and decrease speed, or press quickly to change the speed by fixed, small amounts.

Direction of travel is controlled by a dedicated button located immediately above the speed buttons. Repeatedly pressing this will switch between forward and reverse direction. The direction button also displays a value between 0 and 10 to indicate the current speed selected - eg REVERSE=5

Speed can also be controlled by using the up/down arrow keys on the keyboard, as before.

Steering Control

Steering can now be controlled in one of three ways.

The first is by using the STEER LEFT and STEER RIGHT buttons, which replace the original slider control. Press and hold these buttons to smoothly adjust the steering, or press quickly to change the steering by fixed, small amounts.

The second is by moving the mouse left and right across the screen, while pressing and holding down the left mouse button ('click and drag'). This method is more responsive than using the steering buttons and may provide better results for some users.

The third is by using the left/right arrow keys on the keyboard, as before.

Driving Mode

Repeatedly pressing the dedicated DRIVING MODE button will switch between each of the available modes. Note that selecting AUTOPILOT mode will cause the settings of the some of the other buttons to be changed - for example, the steering buttons will be disabled since steering is controlled by the simulator in this mode.

Other Controls

The GO TO START button replaces the original reset button. This stops the vehicles and places them at the start of the selected manoeuvre. The GUIDES button can be used to turn the guide rails on and off and the DIFFICULTY button changes the selected level of difficulty.

Views Panel Changes

The original tabbed panel used to select views has also been replaced by a set of buttons.

ORIGINAL PANEL

NEW PANEL (HORIZONTAL)

The horizontal layout can be switched to a vertical one by pressing the keyboard function key F5. This layout may be more approriate for use on touch-screen devices.

NEW PANEL (VERTICAL)

Reverting To Original Panels

To revert to the original panel designs, press the keyboard function key F4. Please note that this will also disable the new steering-by-mouse feature described above.