XPadder & GameEx integration

[midget35]

Following many recommendations littered through this forum (from the great minds of Brian, NoLogic and others!); I am keen to jump on the bandwagon and integrate Xpadder with my GameEx setup.

I often swap gamepads, and run many emus in GameEx ... I would LOVE to have a one-stop shop to configure a new gamepad, and know straight away that all other emus are ready for action!

But I'm having a bit of a dilemma deciding on the right keys to map to the controller. Frankly - I'm trying to 'futureproof' the setup by ensuring there are no clashes amongst input devices. and was hoping I might get some guidance here:

My primary concern is that mapping to keyboard keys will cause undesired sideeffects in GameEx and some other emus. Two examples to better explain:

1. I worry that mapping the GameEx 'select' btn to - say, keyboard letter 'A' - might override the selection functionality, and jump to the first game in a list starting with that letter!

2. Using up many keyboard keys detracts possible inputs for emulators which need those keys for (for example) computer emulator keyboards: Pressing an action btn in a apple][ game like King's Quest, say, might also have the undesired side effect of entering a character in the input area at the bottom of the screen.

So then I figured: I could maybe use keyboard keys which I can be sure won't interfere with other input devices. I thought about mapping to really random key combinations like 'ctrl +Shift + NumPad 8' or something, but then realised many emulators will simply pick this up as key press '8'.

Phew... sorry for the longwinded post guys... I've been wrestling with this for some time as I'm sure you can tell. I know some of you have been using this app for a long time though, so I figure you might be able to save me the headache of some of these permutations!!

But finally: Is analog control supported with XPadder?? I can't see how it would work, yet they are mappable in the Xpadder cfg screen...

anyway - really finished now: thanks very much for any insight you guys can offer!

[Nologic]

Well I haven't gotten to crazy yet with the use of Xpadder...tho I do still highly suggest its use even if I'm falling behind (like normal).

I'd use whats called a null profile...basically a profile that doesn't have any of the gamepad buttons binded to any keyboard keys...while in GameEx...thus letting GameEx map the keys normally.

Basically use "Launch After" to set Xpadder to use the null profile once you exit the given Emu.

Then as needed configure each Emu to use Xpadder.

No Xpadder doesn't support Analog truly...it uses a algorithm to cycle between keys to try and emulate Analog...however most Emu's don't use the repeat rate of keyboard keys to measure 0 to max...they simply are ether on or off...no real degree's of...

So I'd suggest if the Emu supports Analog...that you use its support if possible...and bind to keyboard keys as required.

Also its suggested to try and get as many Emu's to mimic the others keyboard bindings...this way you can use fewer Xpadder profiles...which will lead to less issues when trying to trouble shoot things.

Anyways don't take my word as gold...think things over your self, and hear the idea's of others...my mind isn't that great...hehe what I think is a good idea today...is likely a shitty one tomorrow.

[LB11]

I have the same problem as you and I have yet to find the best solution.

For analog, you just have to make sure you have the same joysticks plugged in or hope the emulator will recognize what is plugged in and load the right profile (PJ64) seems to somewhat do this.

But I basically have all my emulators use the same keyboard keys per player. Then I have the same xpadder profile load when an emulator loads and xpadder quits when the emulator quits so that it doesnt interfere with gameex menus. Because you are right it will interfere.

You probably have much more emulators than me though so you might run into more problems.

Im waiting for xpadder to implement a "total config" setting or process recognition feature. Then it should load different settings per emulator. (right now this is possible, but not if you dont have the same joysticks plugged in all the time)

[Brian Hoffman]

  LB11 said:

I have the same problem as you and I have yet to find the best solution.

For analog, you just have to make sure you have the same joysticks plugged in or hope the emulator will recognize what is plugged in and load the right profile (PJ64) seems to somewhat do this.

But I basically have all my emulators use the same keyboard keys per player. Then I have the same xpadder profile load when an emulator loads and xpadder quits when the emulator quits so that it doesnt interfere with gameex menus. Because you are right it will interfere.

You probably have much more emulators than me though so you might run into more problems.

Im waiting for xpadder to implement a "total config" setting or process recognition feature. Then it should load different settings per emulator. (right now this is possible, but not if you dont have the same joysticks plugged in all the time)

Gameex implements joy map feature per emu.. Have you tried this?

[LB11]

I asked before how to use the thing and everyone basically pointed me to xpadder.

But, either way, the different joysticks have different key mappings. So If I went the gameex route, I would only be able to use the same joystick everytime I play that emu I think.

But If you dont mind, how do you set up a second joystick with those config files?

[midget35]

Thanks very much for your responses guys - they are both considered and helpful. This is quite intriguing - For such a simple app it raises a lot of debate about how best to utilise it, and how far it's original intended design can be 'stretched'.

The more I think about it - the more complex my setup is: I like to map MCE remote btns to do certain things like take pics, open menus (mame), show fps... while I would need to steal over 50 keys just to map 2 joysticks (that's with no gradient /intermitent keys for analog). And obviously over many emulators!

Frankly, I'm not sure Xpadder is intended to do this. Some kind of virtual device might be the answer but I really can't resolve the paradigm in my head (nor would I stand much chance of coding a solution even if i could !!!)

Is there any way of extending a keyboards number of keys, customizing their definitions, and ensuring they're picked up by emulators? Hmm...

By the way - Xpadder author if you're reading this: please know that I love your program and am not moaning LOL!

Thanks again guys!

[Brian Hoffman]

  midget35 said:

Thanks very much for your responses guys - they are both considered and helpful. This is quite intriguing - For such a simple app it raises a lot of debate about how best to utilise it, and how far it's original intended design can be 'stretched'.

The more I think about it - the more complex my setup is: I like to map MCE remote btns to do certain things like take pics, open menus (mame), show fps... while I would need to steal over 50 keys just to map 2 joysticks (that's with no gradient /intermitent keys for analog). And obviously over many emulators!

Frankly, I'm not sure Xpadder is intended to do this. Some kind of virtual device might be the answer but I really can't resolve the paradigm in my head (nor would I stand much chance of coding a solution even if i could !!!)

Is there any way of extending a keyboards number of keys, customizing their definitions, and ensuring they're picked up by emulators? Hmm...

By the way - Xpadder author if you're reading this: please know that I love your program and am not moaning LOL!

Thanks again guys!

Auto hot key...

Can switch what script to use based on the active window.

[midget35]

  Brian Hoffman said:

Auto hot key...

Can switch what script to use based on the active window.

Maybe I'm getting a bit off track though: at the end of the day many of your regular emulators (MAME excluded) aren't going to recognise more than single key presses, nor keys 'created' outside of a standard qwerty keyboard ...

*EDIT*... hmm... unless there was a virtual gamepad that could be mapped to. Found this site with this intriguing paragraph (unfortunately for MAC tho!):

www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/

"ControllerMate allows you to create virtual mouse, tablet and joystick devices. These are devices that are created entirely by you, but applications will see them just like the devices that you have plugged into your computer. Using ControllerMate’s building blocks and controller configurations, you can control every move that these virtual devices make. Among other uses, you can use a virtual device to turn a joystick into a full-featured mouse. "

[LB11]

  midget35 said:

Maybe I'm getting a bit off track though: at the end of the day many of your regular emulators (MAME excluded) aren't going to recognise more than single key presses, nor keys 'created' outside of a standard qwerty keyboard ...

*EDIT*... hmm... unless there was a virtual gamepad that could be mapped to. Found this site with this intriguing paragraph (unfortunately for MAC tho!):

www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/

"ControllerMate allows you to create virtual mouse, tablet and joystick devices. These are devices that are created entirely by you, but applications will see them just like the devices that you have plugged into your computer. Using ControllerMateâ??s building blocks and controller configurations, you can control every move that these virtual devices make. Among other uses, you can use a virtual device to turn a joystick into a full-featured mouse. "

There is another program that will make you a virtual joystick to map to. (He made it mostly to enable 2 or more joysticks to map to one virtual joystick for mechwarrior games i think)

http://www.franknstik.com/

I personally hated the interface, but it could be very useful!

[bkenobi]

This is a bit off topic, but has anyone run across a program that will allow you to map joystick buttons to virtual d-pads? Here's why I ask. I use a GP-Wiz in my cab which is a gamepad device with 1 dpad and 32 buttons. I use it for a 2 player CP. I would ideally have 2 virtual gamepads that were made from the one real gamepad. Anyway, I tried some stuff a while back (using ppjoy etc), but nothing worked out. In the end, I made due with Joy2Key and later XPadder. I think the virtual gamepads would be a cleaner route, but it's not worth programming when there's a solution that works. Anyway, just curious.

[Nologic]

Well maybe talk to the author of Xpadder and see if he can't do this with Xpadder or make a new application.

[LB11]

  bkenobi said:

This is a bit off topic, but has anyone run across a program that will allow you to map joystick buttons to virtual d-pads? Here's why I ask. I use a GP-Wiz in my cab which is a gamepad device with 1 dpad and 32 buttons. I use it for a 2 player CP. I would ideally have 2 virtual gamepads that were made from the one real gamepad. Anyway, I tried some stuff a while back (using ppjoy etc), but nothing worked out. In the end, I made due with Joy2Key and later XPadder. I think the virtual gamepads would be a cleaner route, but it's not worth programming when there's a solution that works. Anyway, just curious.

Did you check out the franknstik site I linked above. might work out for you.

  Nologic said:

Well maybe talk to the author of Xpadder and see if he can't do this with Xpadder or make a new application.

I requested this almost as soon as I found out about xpadder, he says it was already on the list of things to do. But I didnt get the feeling it would be implemented in the near future. I think its probably alot more work than he wants to do right now, I dont know.

[midget35]

Thanks for the franknstik link lb11. This is likely what I'm after but the install and initial impressions of the interface left me unimpressed.

1. I guess the solution which:

- creates virtual gamepads which show up in the device manager - ie. are as real as dammit as far as the OS is concerned, and

2. pools physically connected gamepads and allows real-time mapping to the virtual devices.

Hmm... how hard could it be??? might have to dust off the old java text book

[bkenobi]

I looked at the site, but didn't try it. The documentation sucks as far as it's flow for reading (you have to read everything to learn anything). Anyway, I'll keep this in mind when I rebuild my CP. I'm about to swap to a new version of the GP-Wiz that has rotary controls built in (Ikari warriors anyone?).