Joystick/Gamecontroller Usage

[SCUBA82]

First at all: great work! It was also my dream to play SC in VR and and now it appears to be within reach.

But now to my question:
For me it's not clear how to use joysticks or gamepads. As far as I can see the device on index "0" is used as an input device?

I operate a simpit (openhornet) in my basement which uses several HID devices including the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS. Unfortunately none of them seems to be recognized in game. Even if I unplug everything except the Warthog Joystick there is no indication that it's recognized (tested in debugger.exe as well).

Regarding Throttle input, I played around with "joystick gremlin" to map the analog throttle axis to keyboard inputs 0 - 9 which seems to work fine ;-)

Any hints are highly appreciated.

Thank you again and keep up the excellent work

[remileonard]

hello @SCUBA82

Sorry for the delay, but a greate thanks for the feedback.

In the last build, only the debuger was able to access to gamecontroller (i've forgot the flag in the main games.....) this new build adresse that issue.

but in your case, it might not work, for the moment i am using SDL_INIT_GAMECONTROLLER, it target control pad and build a default mapping. I don't have a hotas system myself so i am unable to test it.

I will in the next release implement the joystick control with SDL_INIT_JOYSTICK as it provide access to raw hardware and works with all joysticks, and set a configuration interface in the debugger. I will send you a message when it will be ready so to have your feedback on what is working and not.

Regards
Rémi.

[SCUBA82]

Hi Remi, thank you for your answer. Great to hear it was not an "me" issue ;-). As expected my HOTAS seems not to be recoginesed in the latesed build in the debugger, so I'm looking forward to the next version. I would be happy to perform some tests on this topic and provide a least a tiny contribution.

Till then, here are some fotos of my current setup.

Unfortunately the latest build crashes when entering the cockpit.
While the previous version still works fine I get the following errors in the new one:

Erreur de lecture du secteur RAW du volume descriptor.
Failed to extract file index from ISO file: ./SC.DAT
PALT color 255 (48,48,48) is transparent
PALT color 255 (48,48,48) is transparent
Erreur de lecture du secteur RAW du volume descriptor.
Failed to extract file index from ISO file: ./SC.DAT
Duplicate entry 'F:2TW016.VOC' in TRE 'VOCLIST.TRE'.
ERROR INSERTING name F:2TW016.VOCWarning: Background str_ext has only 1 layer.

and shortly before the crash:

CREATE MISSION
ByteStream: Attempt to read past end of stream (8 >= 8)
PARSING PART
Number of entries 9
CACH not handled
ByteStream: Attempt to read past end of stream (8 >= 8)
Failed to open file: ./assets/MAURITAN.PAK
Error: Cannot find area file MAURITAN.PAK
ByteStream: Attempt to read bytes past end of stream (36785 >= 36785)
PALT color 255 (48,48,48) is transparent
ByteStream: Attempt to read bytes past end of stream (8505 >= 8505)
'SHAPE' is not a PAK archive !.

Br Christian

[remileonard]

hello,

first of all, whouahhou very impressive gear. Not for the moment, but it would great to make all of this work with strike commander, it's possible, but it will need somes works. But first, i will use SDL_JOYSTICK so your hotas will be working.

for the bug, sorry, i will look into it. From what i am seeing, you SD.DAT file seems corrupted, but the wierd part is, if it was realy corrupted, the debugger should not be able to know that it must load the mauritania map.

I haven't touch this part of the code in a while, must be some thing realy easy, i will post a fix next saturday.

Rémi

[SCUBA82]

Since the same SC.DAT is working with the previous version I expect it to be not corrupted. (Tried to recopy it without success). There is absolutely no hurry. Thank you once more for your work.

As described before it's possible to map the physical joystick buttons to keyboard inputs. So in theory it will be already possible to use the existing keyboard inputs along with my gear. The only part that's really missing is the X & Y axis from my joystick which will hopefully be addressed later ;-)

There are even more ideas from my side, like displaying the MFDs on individual screens but let's keep the focus on the input topic.
Br
Christian

[remileonard]

Hello @SCUBA82

Can you try the lastest release, i've fixed a bug in the data loading that could explain your bug (some original objects have uncorrect file size in the IFF). I've tested the binary with windows 10 and 11 and it works.

Also, in the debugger, i've change the way i control the joystick, if you use the "test input" option you should see all your joystick axis and buttons. if it works, could you send me a screen shot, i am working on the settings and to allow full control remapping.

Regards,
Rémi.

[SCUBA82]

Hi Remi,    thank you for fixing it that quickly.  I can confirm that the game is running fine again.    Regarding the input test:    If I only connect the joystick , it gets recoginesed just as you described. Axis and Button presses are correctly reported (see the attached screensshot input-test) If only the warthog throttle is connected it seems a little bit different. While the axis are reported fine, there are no buttons visible (see input-test-throttle) It seems to only check the "first" input device. If everthing is connected I wasnt able to figure out which device was chosen. but I guess that was expected ?(see joystick.png for a list of connected devices ;- ) Hope that helps. Just tell me if you need me for additional tests.    br Christian Gesendet: Samstag, 28. Februar 2026 um 17:09 Von: remileonard ***@***.***> An: remileonard/libRealSpace ***@***.***> CC: SCUBA82 ***@***.***>,Mention ***@***.***> Betreff: Re: [remileonard/libRealSpace] Joystick/Gamecontroller Usage (Discussion #14)   Hello @SCUBA82 Can you try the lastest release, i've fixed a bug in the data loading that could explain your bug (some original objects have uncorrect file size in the IFF). I've tested the binary with windows 10 and 11 and it works. Also, in the debugger, i've change the way i control the joystick, if you use the "test input" option you should see all your joystick axis and buttons. if it works, could you send me a screen shot, i am working on the settings and to allow full control remapping. Regards,Rémi. —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[remileonard]

hello @SCUBA82

I have been working on a new release, we now have a config.exe. It is able to remap the control to a joystick. I have been able to test it with only gamepad so your feedback will be very appreciated.

Regards
Rémi.

[Legitmysh]

Hey Remi! I'm just trying to config my setup. The config.exe works reaaaally well, thanks a lot! One thing though:
If you have a device with a mode switch knob for example, that counts as a permanently pushed button and interferes with other bindings. I had to deactivate the 5-way switch on my STECS.

But the real issue is:
My config doesn't get saved. I push the save button below the mapping menu, then I return to the main menu, push save again, then quit. If I now start config.exe again, defaults are loaded. I can't control anything ingame. My mapping doesn't get applied, no matter what I do.

Also: where's the rudder setting? Is it "stick left/right Y"?

Cheers,
Mysh

[remileonard]

hi, last minute modification going wrong.

You should edit the config.ini file in the asset directory and in the input section remove the "assets/" string from the filename, then the config tool should load and use your mapping, as the game.

Cheers,
Rémi.

[Legitmysh]

Thanks mate! I'll do that!

[Legitmysh]

Hmm. I have no input section in the ini there. That's what's in there.

[General]
name = Neo Strike Commander

[Window]
width = 3840
height = 2160
fullscreen = true

[Game]
object_detail = 5
world_detail = 5

[Video]
fx_cpc_palette = false
fx_scanlines = false
fx_pixel_scale = 1
super_eagle_2x = true

and that's the config.ini in the root:

[General]
name=Neo Strike Commander

[Window]
width=3840
height=2160
fullscreen=true

[Game]
object_detail = 0
world_detail = 0

[Video]
fx_cpc_palette = false
fx_scanlines = false
fx_pixel_scale = 1
super_eagle_2x = true

[Input]
bindings_file = default_bindings.cfg

---

Which one is actually used?

//edit:
ok, I added the [input] section to the root config.ini and now it saves my axes etc...

[Legitmysh]

Hey Remi, here I am again. Binding axes works now, but if I bind only a single one, my game gets unplayable. I get errors put out and my viewport is all messed up. Inputs don't register properly, also. I can also accelerate indefinitely. Any way I can supply you with some data like logs or similar?

[remileonard]

hello @Legitmysh

for the moment, the best way is to take a screenshot in the debug tool

select File > strike commander > test mission SC

and click on the simulation tab, here I will be able to see all the parameters for the simulation even the X / Y value used for the controls.

For the speed, yes there is no limit on max or min power, some times I use this properties to tests the limits of the physics.

funny thing, in the simulation you can change your plane and fly any flyable plane in the game