Oolite Bulletins

Unfortunately the D pad on my lovely sidewinder gamepad has finally given up the ghost, I can't blame it, I've had it for 18 years. Which led me to trying out the mouse and I'm amazed at how accurate you can be with it!
The only problem is that I play Oolite in fullscreen on my tv as an extended desktop, so when things get hectic and I panic calmly execute evasive maenuvers, I click all over the other desktop and usually things just go downhill from there.
I'm using windows 8.1 (which sometimes makes it worse if I hit the corner of the screen ) and Oolite 1.77.1

Also on an unrelated note, I found a free program called Durazno XInput Wrapper for setting up deadzones for the xbox 360 controller but Oolite didn't like it. As I have no clue about such things, is it complete no-go or not?

Thanks, TGGT.

Optionally capturing the mouse cursor when in full screen is not a bad idea. However, it is slightly more complicated than one would desire. SDL provides a way to capture the mouse, but it has the nasty side effect of also capturing keyboard events, meaning that you would not be able to Alt-Tab out of the game in Windows and that would be unacceptable. The other option would be to use platform-specific APIs for controlling capture, but this ihas quite significant bug introducing potential and would rather be avoided when a new release is in the plans. I would rather put it in the list for post-1.80

At least regarding the Xbox controller I think I can offer some good news. The upcoming new version of Oolite will have built-in methods for fully configurable joystick profiles so you should be able to set up your controller without the aid of external apps.

The Griffin GT wrote:

Also on an unrelated note, I found a free program called Durazno XInput Wrapper for setting up deadzones for the xbox 360 controller but Oolite didn't like it. As I have no clue about such things, is it complete no-go or not?

Thanks, TGGT.

Since you're on Windows, you could give Xpadder a shot. There is a free version around, it's kind of old, but ought to do for what you're after.. otherwise, the latest version is just $10.. with lifetime upgrades at no charge. It's a very cool program.

@ a_c, Thanks for the informative reply
Tis a shame about the problem with using SDL (I googled it), as you said that would be unacceptable. As for the API solution, it would be a very handy feature but it is definitely preferable to wait until after 1.80, you guys have enough on your plate already. From what I've read 1.80 is going to be amazing I'm really looking forward to it!
The news about the joystick profiles is excellent I know for a fact that it will make the game more accessible to those used to playing games with a console controller.
I'd just like to say thank you to all devs for all your hard work for continuing to make Oolite such a brilliant game, it is very much appreciated!

@Diziet, Thanks for the info on xpadder. I didn't know there was an old version that was free, unfortunately it doesn't work for windows after XP (I've just tried an old official (I think) version from majorgeeks) There are other free versions by the looks of it but I don't know whether they are dodgy or not (I'm very suspicious and wasn't even keen on trying durazno). I am tempted to buy Xpadder but the problem is that I may need 4, possibly 5 copies (which is a bit too costly atm) and I may not be able to install it on that many machines on the one license.

TGGT

The Griffin GT wrote:

I am tempted to buy Xpadder but the problem is that I may need 4, possibly 5 copies (which is a bit too costly atm) and I may not be able to install it on that many machines on the one license.

Jonathan is a pretty cool guy.. he doesn't insist on multiple licenses if you have more than one computer.. you can put it on as many machines as you have.. and buy it once, you've bought it for life, along with the updates. I still get every update as it's released, even though I don't use Windows for Oolite (or much of anything else).. I archive them away, just in case I ever need it.

Thats very good to know, thanks alot

I can't even get my mouse to work with the game, so it's strictly keyboard for me.

Imaginos wrote:

I can't even get my mouse to work with the game, so it's strictly keyboard for me.

Mouse will work only in full screen, unless you apply specific settings to the .GNUstepDefaults game configuration file. Let me know if you want details on that.

Now, when in full screen, press Shift+M to activate mouse mode with roll on the mouse x-axis, or Shift+Ctrl+M to activate mouse with yaw on the mouse x-axis. Left button is your laser and right button will insta-center all motion axes. Press Shift+M again to de-activate mouse.

I'm in full screen mode but shift M is doing nothing.

That should work - it does here, anyway.

Imaginos wrote:

I'm in full screen mode but shift M is doing nothing.

Mouse control does work, as Cody mentioned above. Here are some troubleshooting tips:

- Are you using the default keyconfig.plist? Have you made changes to it or maybe there is an OXP with an alternative one? You may want to try to start a game in strict mode to be sure that no OXPs are influencing it.
- You can open with a text editor keyconfig.plist, found inside oolite.app/Resources/Config and see what key is specified in the line for setting mouse control. On my system, this line reads: - Do you have mouse available on the very first game screen, the one with the rotating Cobra? You should be able to select options from that screen using the mouse. This way we at least know that it is recognized by the game.
- When you say full screen, you don't mean maximized window, right? I am referring to proper full screen, like the mode you get when you press F12. You can try this test: Launch game, press immediately F12. It will go fullscreen. Now start commander and launch from Lave. Press Shift+M (if you are using the default key configuration, otherwise press whatever mouse control is set to). You should see the message "Mouse control on" appearing on screen.

If you are still having problems using mouse after all these checks, please post the contents of the file Latest.log found inside oolite.app/Logs, after having started the game with Shift held down until the rotating Cobra appears.

The mouse controls the cursor just fine on the menu screens.
I did reconfigure the key definitions but I left Shift M well alone.
I think that I have just realised where I'm going wrong though. I have been using the little "full screen" icon in the top right of the window rather than selecting "full screen" on the game set up menu.
I'll check if this solves my problem when I get home from work this evening.

Imaginos wrote:

I have been using the little "full screen" icon in the top right of the window rather than selecting "full screen" on the game set up menu.

<nods> Yep, that'll be the reason!

It worked fine in "proper" full screen mode, but the I found I preferred keyboard control (a throwback to my speccy days I guess).

G'day Imaginos, and welcome aboard!

Imaginos wrote:

I have been using the little "full screen" icon in the top right of the window

Which, as you've discovered, is not actually a "full screen" icon, but a "maximise window" icon..