toggling 6-button/3-button mode for genesis games

[twotone8]

is there a way to tell kega fusion to load a specific controller config file for specific games?

the basic 3-button configuration for (most) genesis games doesn't work so well with games that typically use a 6-button controller.

is it possible to tell gameex to load a different config file for the emulator when loading certain games?

the controller configuration settings are only accessible in windowed mode, and pressing alt-enter while using fusion through the command line simply shuts down the emulator.

as of now, i think my only option is to make a complete copy of the emulator in another folder, and configure this copy to use a 6-button setting, then adding it as a separate category in the 'emulated games' list.

any ideas?

edit. hrm. it just occurred to me to see if 'mess' can run gens games correctly, seeing as it allows a mame-style in-game controller configuration.

[Ninja Rygar]

I don't understand why this is an issue... is there a time when a 6 button controller won't work for a game that uses only 3? I thought on an actual Genesis, if you use the 6 button controller on a game that only uses 3 buttons, the top (x,y,z) just won't do anything.

Why not just set your Genesis config up to use a 6 button controller and never change it to 3 button?

[twotone8]

really it's just personal preference.

i'm building a console-based system which heavily relies on ps2 controllers.

in many six button games (especially fighting games) the z and c buttons are bound to the right trigger keys.

most genesis games have a simple three button configuration, and i'd prefer to have these be bound to the square, x, and circle buttons on the front.

it's mostly a matter of me digging around in gameex and figuring out what it can and cannot do. this program is so deep and accessible, and i'm having a blast testing its limits.

i'm not at all sure if it's possible to use specific settings on a per-game basis with emulators, but i wouldn't be surprised if there was a way to do this with gameex.

in the mean time, MESS does a great job of letting you re-configure buttons on the fly while in the emulator itself.

my only gripe with gameex so far is mostly how emulators respond when running through a command line. many emulators will not let you alt-enter into windowed mode where you might be able to tweak and configure on the fly. granted you'd never do this on an arcade cabinet, but my media computer still has all the standard keyboard/mouse hookups, and i'd like to be able to access some of the gui functions of emulators like kega fusion and nestopia without closing everything down and running them independently from the 'emulators' folder.

[Ninja Rygar]

I see what you're saying, and I have the exact same setup actually (PS2 controllers... Media PC and not a cabinet)

And I don't think there is any way to do what you're asking... PERHAPS there is, but it would probably require a HUGE amount of work.

I use the controller setup posted in the image... maybe give it a shot. I have no complaints...

What you would need is for Fusion to somehow detect weather a game is 6-button or 3-button, which I don't think it can do. I could be wrong.

[Tempest]

If you can load a config for Kega from the command line, or if all if the settings you need are in a cfg file, and when you switch cfgs, then Kega behaves the way you want it to, then it can be done with a Loader/wrapper. I would be happy to help you, but it will require some effort on your part (Not too much).

[twotone8]

thanx tempest. to be perfectly honest i have no idea if kega supports special configs from command lines. i've done some googling on the subject, but the 'fusion' scene doesn't seem to be that active or helpful right now.

i've already made the two config files for both configurations, but as to how to get them to load automatically, i have no idea. it's really not that big of a deal though.

[Tempest]

If you would make me a list of either the 3 button roms, or the 6 button roms (Whichever list is shorter, or easier for you to do), and upload the list along with the two cfg files, (Zip everything and attach it to your post), I will see what I can do.

[twotone8]

Thanks you for the offer tempest. I've actually come up with a solution that I'm pretty proud of. I've discovered a little app called Xpadder which solves me problem quite gracefully. I couldn't figure out how to load fusion with a custom config from the command line, but Xpadder has the ability to change controller mappings automatically depending on what programs you're running or even based on which windows are in focus. I've put Xpadder.exe in the 'launch before' options in gameex, and as soon as i load up Fusion, Xpadder loads up my controller profile. It has a handy feature where you can change controller configurations with a simple touch of a button, so now I can switch between the two whenever I need to.

I highly recommend xpadder for anyone who has controller issues. The only catch is that you have to emulate keyboard keystrokes, but as far as i can tell, there's no difference in input lag or anything.

[bkenobi]

XPadder was becoming the best option out there for a while. Unfortunately, the development more or less died off when the developer realized his bills were more than the fun he was having (my interpretation, not his words by any means). You can currently pay for the application and get the updates as they are released, but I haven't heard of any new updates in quite some time.

Anyway, glad you got things going!

EDIT: Hmmm, interesting. It appears that there was a new version released last month!