EVHUD

EVHUD

200px EVHUD, expanded to show the EVHUD Store.
Creator	Nelson Jenkins
Launch year	2010
Company	Gentek Technologies
Availability	Packaged free with most NTBI vehicles
User Manual

The EVHUD is an emergency vehicle controller HUD that is packaged with most NTBI vehicles. It is the main controller used for lights & sirens, as well as headlights, turn signals, and other various features. It is the successor to the Evolution HUD. EVHUD stands for Emergency Vehicle HUD, not EVolution HUD.

Exclusive to the EVHUD, the EVHUD Store is an access-anywhere store where users can purchase different siren sound sets to simulate their favorite vehicles. The GT6500 Siren is included with the unit for free, and there are 10+ more sirens available for purchase. They can be bought and used instantly. Purchases are recorded so they are retained between updates and can be used on any vehicle. Two sirens can be used at the same time.

EVHUD is extremely popular with first responders due to its simple, time-tested design and small profile. It was released to great fanfare in 2010 at Mascouten II, where it was quickly adopted by a majority of police and fire units there. Users loved the unique reverb attachment, which simulated reverb the further away the listener was to the source. It was the only emergency vehicle siren to do so in the game, perhaps the only object entirely. Additionally, the EVHUD had only two bugs while in Version 1, making it one of the most bug-free releases in Gentek's history.

Instructions

Thank you for using the Gentek EVHUD! If you don't know what the EVHUD is already, it's your NTBI vehicle's emergency lights & siren controller. This user manual is only for the finer points of your new EVHUD. Vehicle operation is detailed in the vehicle's own user manual.
ATTENTION: MAJOR CHANGES IN v2.3 AND ABOVE!
Please get a new Reverb Attachment in the options menu. Old reverb attachments will not work anymore.
NOTE: Some new cars may NO LONGER SUPPORT non-reverb sirens. If your siren does not seem to work without a reverb attachment, you MUST wear one!
Also note that downgrading back ot an earlier version will cause problems with newly-released sirens.

Setup

Wear the EVHUD on your HUD. Position it as you like, but keep in mind that the tabs open to the right of the HUD.
If you want reverb effects for your sirens go into Options -> Get Reverb Attachment. Right click and Add (or Wear) the object that is given to you.
For keyboard controls, go to Options -> Get Gesture Controls.

Lights Operation

• Click the red MASTER switch to turn on your vehicle's lights. (You must be seated inside the vehicle.)
• Click the individual component buttons to turn certain lights on and off.
• Grey buttons are disabled if the MASTER switch is off. Blue buttons (if any) are independent of the MASTER switch entirely.
• Click the <--> button to flip through arrowstick patterns on equipped vehicles.
• Click the COLOR button once to:
  • (NON-MESH VEHICLES) change your lightbar to a custom color, if installed, on equipped vehicles. Click it twice to open up the custom color installation prompt.
  • (MESH) open the lightbar color customization menu.
• Click and hold the COLOR button for 3 seconds to open the strobe color customization menu. (MESH ONLY)
• Click the PATT button to cycle through lightbar patterns on equipped vehicles (or strobes, if set to strobe mode below).
• Click and hold the PATT button for 3 seconds to change pattern control to strobes. Click and hold again to return to lightbar. (MESH ONLY)
• Click the headlight dial to cycle through headlight functions.
• Click the turn signal and hazard light buttons to activate them, then click again to deactivate.

Siren Operation

• The EVHUD can control two EVHUD sirens at once. The 5 buttons are self-explanatory - the first 3 are tone selector buttons, the last two are momentary horn and manual buttons (hold these down to use them). To turn the siren off, click the tone that's currently playing.
• To eject a siren, click the eject tab on the right of the siren unit. This will allow you to install a new one.
• Click an empty slot to install a new siren. Your purchased sirens will slide out to the right of the EVHUD and you can choose one. The GT6500 is included with your EVHUD - if you wish, you can install it in both slots.
• The biggest feature of the EVHUD is the EVHUD Store. Click the Store tab to open it. It will list available sirens. Simply click one for more information. To purchase it, click a purchase option and allow debit permissions, then your payment will be sent immediately.
• When you have completed your purchase, install a new siren and it'll show up in your siren select window.
• Gift Credits are a new feature for v2.4 and above. You can buy Gift Credits for yourself or your friends from the first option in the Store window. If you have enough gift credits to pay for a siren (1L$ per credit) the Buy with Gift Credit option will appear above Buy with L$ Purchase. Just click that and confirm and the siren will be purchased at no cost!
• You can check your balance by going to Buy Gift Credit and selecting "Myself", then your balance will appear there (just click "Ignore" to close the window). If you don't have enough to buy the siren you want, you can just buy some for yourself so you can zero out your balance.

Miscellaneous Features

• The EVHUD includes light & siren gesture controls bound to the T, G, and B keys. Tapping the T or G keys will cycle through siren tones, while tapping the B key will switch the master switch on and off. If you are using a viewer that supports letter keys in gestures, you can change these in the gestures if you like. Note, however, that all viewers should allow you to use the gestures.
• Gesture siren controls work in the following manner: OFF -> WAIL -> 5-SECOND YELP -> CONSTANT YELP -> THIRD TONE -> OFF
  • 5-second yelp returns to wail after 5 seconds, so tapping the key twice goes to constant yelp, which does not return to wail.
• Gestures are also included for turn and hazard signals in both WASD and arrow key driving styles. You can use either style or both. (However, note that holding the Ctrl key "releases" any keys you are currently holding, such as the W or up key, so don't hold it down too long.)
• The EVHUD automatically configures its individual component buttons to work with the vehicle you're driving. For example, on vehicles with takedown lights, a TKDOWN button will appear. If you sit in a vehicle that uses a different button configuration that isn't loaded (for example, older NTBI vehicles) you can reset your lighting buttons to the default 6-button configuration by going to Options -> Show All Light Buttons.
• If you wear the HUD before you get in the vehicle, it won't load these button settings. Get out and sit back in the vehicle to load them.
• The speedometer at the bottom has MPH, km/h, and meter/sec readout modes. Click the small UNITS button to the left of the display when it is on to cycle through readout modes. (And yes, it's supposed to turn off when you're not seated.)
• The indicator to the right of the speedometer is a gear readout. This only works on new vehicles. It will remain blank in older ones.

Custom Colors

Gentek used to offer custom color ordering for the Priority, Agent, and Legacy lightbars on NON-MESH NTBI vehicles. These have been discontinued. For MESH vehicles, the custom color menu is as follows:

• PRESETS: Opens the preset color schemes (red, red/blue, blue, amber in most cases). Click one and you're done.
• CUSTOMIZE: Customize your color scheme. Select a section to customize and choose a color. If need be (although not recommended) you can use the Color Picker HUD included with your vehicle to choose a fully custom color, if your vehicle supports it (the "Custom" option).

Note that clicking the COLOR button briefly controls the lightbar color, while holding it down for a few seconds controls the strobe color.

Updates & Release Notes

You can update your EVHUD by simply wearing it.

• v2.4
  • Added gestures for turn signals.
  • Fixed bug where gestures could control an ejected siren.
  • Added turn/hazard signal controls.
  • Preloaded menu textures for quicker loading (except siren names and prices).
  • Added gift credit framework.
  • Added automatic speedometer.
  • Added gear indicator for supported vehicles.
  • Added ten speaker super live sound system.
  • Added color and pattern control for strobes for supported vehicles.
  • Added pattern hovertext display for supported vehicles.
  • Removed payment box and made payment automatic for EVHUD Store purchases.
  • Slight optimizations to code, probably not even measurable.
  • Put user manual online because having a notecard is still stupid no matter what everyone tells me.
• v2.3.1
  • Minor bugfixes.
• v2.3
  • Optimized data protocol to significantly reduce server load
  • Extended siren controls to allow UP, DOWN, and individual MANUAL tones
  • Changed reverb attachment to allow for extended siren controls
  • Split siren controls to speed up button response
  • Fixed bug involving special buttons not reverting back to normal buttons
• v2.2
  • Added momentary and independent buttons
• v2.1
  • Added check for server lockdown
• v2.0
  • Full script rewrite and made free for use with NTBI cars
• v1.1
  • Some bugfixes
• v1.0
  • Initial public release

Troubleshooting

If your HUD does not work correctly, make sure the master switch is on, then try going to the Options tab and selecting Reset EVHUD Scripts. This won't delete your purchase history.
If your siren breaks and says "Too many sound requests." you've hit the sound request limit to prevent griefing (although it doesn't really do anything but break content). Wait a few seconds, turn the siren off, on, and back off, and then use it normally. This only occurs when you overuse the horn and manual buttons.

Version 2 & NTBI Agreement

The EVHUD v2 was the first big agreement between NTBI and Gentek, which cemented Gentek's position as an NTBI affiliate. It was designed in conjunction with Will Szymborska and ac14 Hutson, who helped fully integrate it with NTBI vehicles. It retained the dual sirens, but modified the light controller to allow for 6 customizable buttons which would hide/show depending on how the vehicle being used was equipped. (For example, in a vehicle with no lightbar, the LBAR button would be hidden.) A later version added momentary buttons that would only activate when held, along with an updated siren driver, Gift Credits, turn signal controls, a speedometer and gear indicator, and gestures to control the siren, lights, and turn signals.

EVHUD Pro Extreme

In March 2012, a competing vehicle creator issued an update to one of their vehicles with a limited HUD, then started to sell another version of the same HUD with more features for about half of the price of the original vehicle. As the EVHUD is included free with NTBI vehicles and still contains more features than the competitor's paid HUD, a satirical advertisement was created depicting what would happen if a stripped-down EVHUD was included for free, and users were required to purchase the full HUD.