Wonky joypad support in A1

[fluffyheretic]

I know this isn't the highest priority for most, but I've finally gotten around to playing Marathon and I like the option of using a gamepad for these older 2.5d games. For games supporting the older DirectInput standard as opposed to Xinput (360 controller) I have a wired and wireless Logitech Rumblepad 2. They work great in most any game I throw them at.

My complaint is threefold.

1) There is a bug when activating joystick support in the configuration menu where the 'configure buttons' submenu will not recognize button presses immediately after checking the box for use joystick. However, after entering the game to confirm joystick movement was working and returning to the configuration menu, the button presses were then recognized.

2) The vertical forward/back axis works correctly with regard to run speed; that is to say, holding the Run modifier key has no affect on player speed when using the joystick to move forward and back. The horizontal axis on the other hand does not; moving sideways with the joystick moves the player at walking speed, requiring the Run key to be held simultaneously (or straferunning forward) to achieve full speed.

3) Moving over to the OTHER analog stick, the vertical look recognizes analog input with regard to how quickly you look up or down. The horizontal turning does not; it is the same sluggish speed as pressing an arrow key to turn no matter how far the stick is tilted.

As an aside, rather than make a second topic for it, it would be nice to have a 'novert' option for mouselook to disable vertical aiming. Granted you have to be on the same level as an enemy to shoot it, but seeing the sprites 'tilted' with the view drives me batty.

[treellama]

I'll leave the joystick complaints for someone else to address.

As an aside, rather than make a second topic for it, it would be nice to have a 'novert' option for mouselook to disable vertical aiming. Granted you have to be on the same level as an enemy to shoot it, but seeing the sprites 'tilted' with the view drives me batty.

You can turn the vertical sensitivity all the way down; or switch to the OpenGL (Classic) renderer which will not tilt the view.

[fluffyheretic]

You can turn the vertical sensitivity all the way down; or switch to the OpenGL (Classic) renderer which will not tilt the view.

I might give that a try, but after playing through the game some more I think I just need to learn to live with it. I don't think you can even hit those switches at the beginning of Cold Fusion (where I'm currently stuck) at all without vertical aiming. Is there a big difference visually between OpenGL (Classic) and (Shader)?

Oh, and I actually already have the sensitivity turned all the way down for BOTH the x and y axis... doesn't turn them off completely. At least the X axis feels just right at that setting.

I also forgot to mention that Aleph One doesn't recognize input from the POV Hat (D-Pad).

Anyway, fun game! Very difficult on TC but I like the oldschool challenge. Learning about the run-punch helped heaps to get through the first level. It doesn't even seem possible to save the requisite number of Bobs on the Rose on TC but I'm sure somebody's done it.

It's a mild annoyance that the mousewheel weapon switch is reversed from the convention adopted as default by most every other FPS (up-previous, down-next) with no option to reverse it, but I can learn to live with that as well.

[Hopper]

seeing the sprites 'tilted' with the view drives me batty.

I'm not a fan of it either, but I tried turning the 'tilting' off (so that they always face the camera head-on), and that was even more disconcerting.

The Classic renderer keeps vertical lines parallel, even when looking up and down. It's not a realistic view, but it prevents distortion on the sprites and keeps them from looking "flat" in comparison to the rest of the world. Once you get used to the view, you'll probably find it less immersion-breaking than Shader's sprite handling.

[ElbowFromTheSky]

I know this is an old post, but I was searching through the forum looking for info on using a gamepad and had this thought:

http://retail.contourdesign.com/?/image/63/44

I use this thing called a Contour Design ShuttleXpress (sometimes) with a music recording program called Reaper. I think it's geared more towards video editing software, but the concept is the same and it works out great for me in Reaper. It's a jog wheel with a snap-back-to-center ring around the wheel, plus 5 assignable buttons. The diameter of the device is a little less than that of a CD, it weighs nothing, plugs in USB.

It works like this (which is why I bring it up here): The drivers allow you to easily assign all of the controls to mimic keyboard or mouse functions. So when it's plugged in, if you have a button assigned to space bar, then hitting that button is like space bar to your computer. You can see where this is going.... Probably not perfect for playing a game with, but in conjuction with a mouse or keyboard it might be pretty cool. I haven't tried using it yet, I intend on giving it a shot, but it just occured to me reading through posts on gamepads that this thing might have a use. I found mine on eBay for $25, which is about half of what they want then for directly at retail I think.

Also, to add to the conversation on gamepad bugginess - I use a logitech gamepad, I tried it and the axis work but had the same issue getting the buttons to recognize in the preferences (although like someone said, they work in the game after going through the key change motions anyway). ANYWAY...

[irons]

It's thermo's fault

[chasetheswift]

Yeah I just got a Dual Shock 4 controller. I'm using an Xinput wrapper for it. Did they ever sort out the dpad hat switch issue? Also what axis are the Xinput triggers? L2 turns right and R2 turns me left.

[Ares Ex Machina]

Plug in any controller and just use JoyToKey. On top of being able to map any key to any button, you can also map the mouse to an analogue stick and fine-tune the sensitivity from within JoyToKey. You can even assign different key combinations based on analogue input level. So if you wanted, you could have an analogue stick make you walk in Marathon at partial tilt, and run at full tilt. You can also set the walk-run threshold at any point within the analogue stick's range.