Using LAC's powerful command line parser to comprehensively configure for your hardware, platform, and gaming preferences

Commencing with version 9.48, LAC's command line parser has been made much more comprehensive. Now the user can use command line arguments to specify everything of any importance that users have been configuring from LAC's menu buttons. As a consequence, whenever LAC's menu logic is incompatible with a user's hardware or software, there is a reasonable option to completely bypass LAC's menus by providing command line arguments. Although it is still possible to configure everything by editing the LacConfig.txt file, only the most unusual situations will hereafter demand that approach. If the user enters "lac -help" on the command line, LAC provides comprehensive instruction for use of all command line arguments. Here is what that comprehensive instruction looks like:

 
========== BEGIN EXAMPLE OF LAC'S HELP INSTRUCTION ===========
  Usage: lac [-aAUDIOLEVEL] [-bBACKGROUNDMUSIC] [-cCONFIGOPTIONS] [-dDEBUGLEVEL] [-eEFFECTSONOFF] [-fFOGDISTANCE] [-h] [-lLIGHTINGDYNAMIC] [-m] [-nMISSIONNUMBER] [-pPLANENUMBER] [-qQUALITY] [-sSCREENFULL]  [-tTEAM] [-v] [-xHORIZONTALRESOLUTION] [-yVERTICALRESOLUTION]
  -aAUDIOLEVEL: Set audio level for sound effects, where AUDIOLEVEL is from 0 to 100 (percent).
  -bBACKGROUNDMUSIC: Set background music level, where BACKGROUNDMUSIC is from 0 to 100 (percent).
  -cCONFIGOPTIONS: Set bit-coded configuration options (also known as NetworkMode. Read LacConfig.txt for more details).
  -dDEBUGLEVEL: Set debug level from 0 to 5, where 0=silent, 1= min, 2=low, 3=default, 4=log network details, 5=log all.
  -eEFFECTSONOFF: Enable visual Special Effects by setting EFFECTSONOFF to 1,
   or Disable visual Special Effects with 0. (Disabling may improve framerate.)
  -fFOGDISTANCE: Designate Fog Distance, or the distance that can be seen through
   atmospheric mist or fog. Set FOGDISTANCE between 30 and 230. Higher values look
   better but lower numbers yield smoother operation and better frame rates.
  -h: Display this help screen and quit
  -lLIGHTINGDYNAMIC: Set LIGHTINGDYNAMIC to 1 to enable dynamic lighting, or
    0 to disable dynamic lighting (default = disabled).
  -m: Request Mouse control instead of joystick.
  -nMISSIONNUMBER: Set DefaultMission for automatic activation, bypassing menus,
    where MISSIONNUMBER is one of:
      None (Disable DefaultMission and use Menus)     0
      Tutorial 1 (Getting Started with the Basics)    8
      Tutorial 2 (Ground Attack Basics)              12
      Tutorial 3 (Fighter Tactics)                   10
      Tutorial 4 (Free Flight with no opposition)    31
      Network H2H: (Two Players only)                32
      Network Battle 01                              20
      Network Battle 02                              21
      Network Battle 03                              23
      Hyrum's Mission                                24
      Blake's Mission                                25
      Peabody's Mission                              26
      Net Mission 07                                 27
      Net Mission 08                                 28
      Net Mission 09                                 29
      Net Mission 10                                 30
  -pPLANENUMBER: Configure default airplane, where PLANENUMBER is one of:
    Whimsical      jet   Hawk:            201        Fiat           G55   Centauro:        202
    Messerschmidt  ME109 Bf109:           203        Curtis         P40   Warhawk:         204
    Hawker               Hurricane:       205        Nakajima       KI43  Oscar:           206
    Supermarine          Spitfire:        207        Polykarpov     I-16  Horsefly:        208
    Junkers        JU87  Stuka:           209        Mitsubishi     A6M2  Zero:            210
    Chance Vought  F4U   Corsair:         211        Grumman        F6F   Hellcat:         212
    Lockheed       P38   Lightning:       213        Republic       P47   Thunderbolt:     214
    North American P51   Mustang:         215        Boeing         B17   Flying Fortress: 216
    Focke-Wulf     FW190 Butcherbird:     217        Yakolev        YAK9:                  218
    Nakajima       N1K1  Shiden:          219        Consolidated   B24   Liberator:       220
    Bell           P39   Airacobra:       221        Mitsubishi     G4M   Betty:           222
    North American B25   Mitchell:        223        Martin         B26   Marauder:        224
    Grumman        F4F   Wildcat:         225        Lavochkin      LA5   Fantail:         226
    Lavochkin      LA7   Fin:             227        Ilyushin       IL2   Sturmovik:       228
    Machi          C.202 Folgore:         229        Avro                 Lancaster:       230
    De Haviland    DH.98 MosquitoB:       231        Hawker               Typhoon:         232
    Yakovlev       Yak1:                  233        Boeing         B29   Superfortress:   234
    Dewoitine      D.320:                 235        Curtiss        SB2C  Helldiver:       236
    Grumman        TBF   Avenger:         237        Messerschmidt  ME163 Komet:           238
    Hawker               Tempest:         239        Aichi          D3A   Val:             240
    Nakajima       B5N   Kate:            241        Douglas        SBD5  Dauntless:       242
    Messerschmidt  ME110 Zerstorer:       243        Dornier        DO17:                  244
    Heinkel        HE111:                 245        Junkers        JU88:                  246
    Nakajima       KI84  Hayate:          247        Kawasaki       KI61  Hien:            248
    Generic        Fighter:               249        Mitsubishi     A6M5  Zero:            250
    Supermarine    MK5   Spitfire:        251        North American P51B  Mustang:         252
    Republic       P47B  Thunderbolt:     253        Messerschmidt  ME109F:                254
    Lockheed       P38F  Lightning:       255
  -qQUALITY: Configure video detail quality from 0 to 4, where 0 is lowest and 4 is highest.
  -sSCREENFULL: Activate or de-active FullScreen Mode. SCREENFUL = 1 or 0 (Fullscreen or NOT Fullscreen).
    (Do not activate fullscreen unless you are confident that both X and Y resolution are compatible
    with your display and display adapter hardware.)
  -tTEAM: Configure Team, where TEAM = r or b (red or blue).
  -v: Display version string and quit
  -xHORIZONTALRESOLUTION: Set horizontal resolution. Recommended HORIZONTALRESOLUTION ranges from 640 to 1920.
  -yVERTICALRESOLUTION: Set vertical resolution. Recommended VERTICALRESOLUTION ranges from 240 to 1080.


   For help configuring joystick and keyboard, we recommend launching LAC from a bash shell
   and avoiding full-screen mode, with resolution smaller than your bash shell, so you can
   see LAC's resulting debug/log messages while running LAC at the default debug level (3).
   Status messages in your main window will then show the value of keypresses and joystick
   buttons as they are detected. Use those values as you edit the file named LacControls.txt
   which you will find in your home folder's hidden .LAC directory. Edit that file with a
   simple text editor. Retain the general format of the file while changing the numeric
   values associated with keyboard key commands or joystick button commands. This will
   allow you to associate any keyboard key or joystick button with any supported flight function.

   Here are a few sample command lines. The first just launches LAC
   as previously configured. The next two examples just change the
   player's default plane before launching LAC. The next two examples
   just change the player's team affiliation to blue or red before
   launching LAC. The next two examples force LAC to bypass all menus
   and automatically execute a designated or Default mission before
   launching LAC. The next example disables the Default mission logic
   and reactivates LAC's normal menus before launching LAC. The next
   two examples illustrate how you can change several different
   configuration options with a single command before launching LAC.
   The last example configures LAC video to 1280 x 720 fullscreen.


   lac
   lac -p213
   lac -p215
   lac -tb
   lac -tr
   lac -n23
   lac -n21
   lac -n0
   lac -n23 -p219 -tb
   lac -n25 -p214 -tr
   lac -x1280 -y720 -s1
========== END EXAMPLE OF LAC'S HELP INSTRUCTION ===========

As you can see, the user is comprehensively instructed in command-line configuration of pretty much anything he might ever need.