Joystick config

[Lachnummer]

Hi, I'm new here, got a retail copy of TDU yesterday.

So far, I've only played single player until I've got the house, won the first race and roamed around a bit until I got a fine.

 

Configuring the joystick (a Cyborg 3D USB) is hard to impossible to get right.

In other games, it works as expected.

Ideally, there would be a plain text config file to edit the bindings,

but I could not find one.

 

After some frustrastion with the "Waiting for neutral position" "feature",

I managed to use the stick to do basic driving, but would like to do more:

 

* Assign buttons to look around, at least back, left and right.

Assigning button 2 to "back" worked, but assigning button 1 to "left (in-game)" results in the radio dialog popping up. Assigning "right (in-game)" to button 3 results in no visible action when I press the button 3.

 

* When I try to assign a coolie hat button, TDU tells me "Please move only one button or axis at a time".

It's impossible to use the hat buttons without touching the stick,

so TDU is a little sensitive here.

 

* Reduce the dead zone to zero. Currently it is too wide.

Is this possible for a joystick?

 

I've searched the net and the forums for topics like "savegame editor", "sav edit", "joystick config" (the net searches including "Test Drive Unlimited", of course), but found no relevant results.

If there is a good resource about this, please point me there.

 

Greetings, Lachnummer

 

PS: Other issues:

Sometimes the camera "jerks" up and down.

Or it "sinks" to the ground behind the car, not letting me view what's in front of the car.

My solution is to stick to the inside view, but then I need an easier way to look left and right (easier than move hand to mouse, click and hold LMB, move view left, look, recenter, move hand back to stick).

I'll move this to a new thread if that makes sense.

[Ryzza5]

Assigning buttons to look around...

 

You've mapped the buttons to the wrong items. Left/Right/Up/Down (by default the NumPad arrow keys) controls the mini-menu, which allows you to add friends, adjust the radio, and change the driving aids. If you go back into Options - Controls, you should find options for Look up (Head), etc, as well as left, right, down).

 

In the last tab, you can adjust the sensitivity and linearity of the stick. There is also a separate sensitivity slider for bikes (Bars).

 

Use your driver software to configure the deadzone.

 

 

Needless to say, Joysticks are not designed for driving games. I haven't used a Joystick for a driving game since the mid 90's. You are much better off getting a gamepad (best on available is the XBOX 360 gamepad for Windows) or a steering wheel (most popular wheel here is the Logitech G25) (Obviously your budget will come into play here). I would still recommend a keyboard for driving games before a joystick.

 

I have a Logitech 3D Extreme joystick for FSX and can't make use of the hatswitch in that game either, although I can use the POV control on the G25 to look around in TDU and other games when I'm not using TrackIR.

[Lachnummer]

> buttons to look around...

 

Assigning "left (head)" and "right (head)" to buttons 1 and 3 does what I want, great, thanks.

I had thought those referred to adjusting the head (seat) position.

 

> look around in TDU and other games when I'm not using TrackIR.

 

Maybe one day I'll get one of those. :-)

 

> linearity...

 

The dialog suggests that linearity can only be changed for wheels.

I'll try it anyway.

 

> Use your driver software to configure the deadzone.

 

I use the default driver installed by Windows, not a product-specific driver, as the latter in my experience causes more problems than it solves.

And as far as I remember, it does not offer deadzone configuration anyway, just button-binding.

My impression is that the deadzone is implemented by TDU, not the driver.

Other games have no deadzone, and still other games offer deadzone and linearity config of their own.

I have used the stick in about ten driving games, only a few of which have the dreaded non-negotiable deadzone.

 

> Needless to say, Joysticks are not designed for driving games.

> You are much better off getting a gamepad ...

 

Now we are entering the realm of opinion. I have a PS2-style game pad,

but in most games, it just doesn't "fit with me", controlwise.

 

> a steering wheel

 

...would be ideal, of course.

Way back, I had one, but it did not work well (Thrustmaster F1, IIRC).

 

> I would still recommend a keyboard for driving games before a joystick.

 

Yuck, how can you say that? ;-) To me it's about continuous (as opposed to discrete, stepped) and concurrent (as in multiple at the same time) control, which a keyboard simply can not offer.

 

For some games, the joystick is quite obviously deprecated by the developers, otherwise they would have implemented better support. The worst in this regard is FUEL, which I actually use the keyboard for, even though it often beeps because I'm pressing too many keys at once, in its opinion. :-)

Another example is Trackmania Sunrise, where I had the impression that keyboard control gives the players a wider range of parameters, resulting in higher curve speed.

 

Am I right to assume that there is no easy way of directly editing the config file?

 

Again, thanks for the help.

[Ryzza5]

Nope, you only have the in game controls. Some games (mainly sims) offer deadzone, but not TDU. The Logitech controler profiler offers deadzone adjustment, but that doesn't help you much.

 

Linearity affects how quickly the turning of the physical wheel adjusts the in-game wheel. It is designed for wheels, but should work in theory for any axis. KLinearity takes a lot of explaining, which I have done previously on the European TDU forums, so feel free to do a Google search for that. You might not get the exact solution, but if you get the settings right, you can definitely improve your car-control.

 

I haven't tried to use a joystick for gaming since Need for Speed 2 SE, and at that time I found it too hard to steer and to control the gas/brake at the same time. Maybe newer joysticks are better now. Of course, controlling throttle and steering with 2 separate axis is the preferred method, but putting them on the same stick makes it tougher. You must be better at it than I am. You'll want to get a wheel before a TrackIR if you have a number of driving games. The immersion it offers is great, though.

[Lachnummer]

> controlling throttle and steering with 2 separate axis is the preferred method,

 

What would be the alternative? Controlling them with the same axis?!? :D

 

> but putting them on the same stick makes it tougher.

 

Yes, I tried that config, and did not like it.

That's why I use a stick with a separate throttle (TDU calls it "slider"),

bound to gas/brake/reverse, which I operate with the other hand.

 

The Cyborg is a 4-axis stick, I bought it specifically to play Descent 3,

binding the hat to the remaining two degrees of freedom. :-)

However, in driving games, I do not use the Z (vertical) axis.

The Z axis could model the front wheels' orientation, but is too hard to accurately control, so I steer using the X axis. When using a bike, shift weight forward/backward is quite naturally bound to the Y axis, in a car it is not used (in TDU at least, Midnight Club II allowed you to shift weight in cars, too, IIRC).

 

> You must be better at it than I am.

I highly doubt that. Care for a "crash" course? ;-)

 

> You'll want to get a wheel before a TrackIR if you have a number of driving games.

I can imagine that for driving I'd benefit more from a wheel, yes.

My motivation for wanting a TrackIR comes more from the flight sims.

 

> The immersion it offers is great, though.

I imagine that. :-)