r/hotas • u/McTaffMcFly • 2d ago

Tech question on "output from PC / input to screen for Thrustmaster MFD".

Hi,

I am not a flight sim guy, but I do like a spot of Mechwarrior 5.

I stumbled upon the Thrustmaster Cougar MFD, and knowing someone else has used this for MW5 (but has disappeared from the internet and can't help me), I like the idea.

I had a few questions regarding how these works if any techie types are able to clear up some stuff for me:

  1. If using a little LCD behind them, is there any other way of setting it up so as -not- to simply be a new display in Windows, but still can be addressed as a display somehow? (I already have three monitors pushing 4k apiece, I don't want to add another complication there.)
  2. If not, it possible to use a Raspberry Pi or similar to get API information from the PC (Mechwarrior 5 uses Unreal Engone 4 which does have an API) and display it in the MFD? (i.e. offload the screen display role to another computing device - even another Windows PC would be fine) Obviously, this is a complex solution but I want to be certain that some sort of connected device can process any data and display it on the MFD. The MFD buttons would still be connected to the gaming PC via USB, so that doesn't factor in. Ideally, the secondary computer/computing device would be USB connected.
  3. If not, it possible to do the above with an Android tablet (such as a Samsung Tab)?

This is all speculative and as crazy as it sounds to go overboard here, I would like to at least have the display give the 'radar' map from the game on it and buttons labelled.
Having no coding experience, I am not going to be able to DIY a software solution (and I don't want to 'LLM vibecode') even if it seems easy, but if I could have some assurance I can squeeze the extra functionality out of it, I will invest in the hardware and try to find someone who might be able to whip up the code if it's possible to pull data from UE4 that is game specific.

If it is just not possible to go "API->Second device", then that's fine (I can just make a card and slot it in the holder for labels) - but ya know... if ya can? Ya should!

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this and further thanks to those who can provide answers. Just hoping someone here may have dabbled in it and can offer some experience.

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u/Bob_Bushman 1d ago

The sims that support secondary displays are usually only the main, hardcore sims like DCS or MS Flightsim. Normal game engines like Unreal doesn not support these at a core level.
You might get something hacked to output to it but it would be exceedlingly hinky and likely to break with every update.

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u/Mountain_Resort_590 2d ago

Yes there is extractable telemetry. So far it’s used for motion systems. Conceivably, one could develop a plugin (for example SimHub) to show weapon status, damage, heat, etc. on a ‘dashboard display’ or RGB LEDs. The ‘dashboard display’ could be a serial output device, a web page, or an HDMI device.

There are also bass shaker mods, to feel the mech walk or take hits, etc.

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u/McTaffMcFly 2d ago

Thanks for the reply!
As soon as I read "bass shaker for taking hits", you had my attention.

Do you have any leads on anyone who has worked with UE4 API w/r/t MW5? I'd like to talk to them about what exactly is available.

What info I would like to get from the API is - ideally - a radar map.
Failing that, you pretty much hit the nail on the head for the useful stuff do display, so anyone who has any experience with this would be extremely helpful to figure out how I need to go about it.

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u/cookie3123 2d ago

Check my post history, I think I have exactly what you're looking for and my project is almost ready for initial release

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u/McTaffMcFly 1d ago

Holy shit!

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u/cookie3123 1d ago

With that said, the MFD will still be another monitor, but typically I think these smaller screens can run just off USB slots. Widescreen on mw5 isn't well supported either way since it only displays a single viewport, although I think technically it would be possible to force it to display 3 viewports - not natively means it will take 3x the GPU power though from my basic understanding 

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u/Dafrandle 2d ago

If you don't want the screens to be known on your computer then you are going to need a 2nd computet, like a raspberry pi, to run them and talk to your computer. This will require development work on your end.

You can get monitors that connect via usb and do not use your gpu connections as well

But before you do anything you need to figuer out of mw5 even exposes any telemetry that could be used for this. I don't know about that.

Be aware that the effort to avoid have a 4th or more screen but not visible in windows will almost surely be more effort than it is worth, for a nearly imperceptible performance impact.

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u/McTaffMcFly 2d ago edited 2d ago

Thanks for the reply :)

I hear you, on the 'trouble vs worth' part, it was more along the "lets be less confusing for the PC" rather than worrying about a performance hit. Didn't think about USB though.

As I understand, MW5 does not have an API, but Unreal Engine 4 does... that is simply another hurdle that I will work out with a modder once I can find someone that knows their way around UE4 that would be willing to work out a target budget (as I view that as paid work, not asking for free). Trouble there is I don't know *what* data the API outputs. Anyway, I digress, I am mostly seeking the technical connection part and if it is worth going down the route of using a Rasberry Pi to be the intermediary or if - like you pointed out - just keep it simple and plug in a USB.

Has anyone out there used a "correct sized" USB monitor for the Cougar MFD, and what was the experience in setup for the model you got?