Gamepad/controller/deck support thread

[justkevin]

This thread is to consolidate discussion of controller/steam deck support. I play almost all games with keyboard and mouse so my instincts for what makes for good or acceptable gamepad controller support aren't the best.

As of the latest Kepler, the gamepad control scheme is:

Normal gameplay:

• Left joystick: Directional steering
  
• Left joystick click: Turbo
  
• Right joystick: Plasma fire
  
• Right joystick, clicked: Secondary target selection. Holding joystick down allows for more fine-grain secondary target selection via a virtual reticule
  
• D-pad Up/down: Cycle secondary weapon
  
• D-pad Left/right: Cycle special activation (shields, battlestations)
  
• Right trigger: Fire secondary
  
• Bumpers: Zoom in/out
  
• A: Interact
  
• B: Activate special
  
• X: Ship systems
  
• Y: Toggle map

Map mode:

• Right joystick: Pan map
  
• Right joystick click: Autopilot

UI:

• Left joystick: UI navigation
  
• Right joystick: Pan scroll rect, if any

I've disabled cruise control as the previous timer system felt awkward and with autopilot seems less necessary.

Currently the following functionality is missing for controllers:

• Warp hops
  
• Some shipyard actions such as rotate modules and undo/redo
  
• Any text field inputs, most notably map notes

One change I'm considering is changing plasma to autofire. In this case the right trigger would be used as secondary target selection with the virtual reticule, and left trigger would fire at current secondary target.

Another is where to put warp hops. One possibility is to have a "power-up" than only appears for controllers and then B could be used. I don't love having the UI change between keyboard mouse and gamepad, though. If I did the plasma change above, warp hops could be set to the right joy click.

If you've played the game with a controller, share your thoughts and suggestions.

Some previous player comments on this topic can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1750770/discussions/0/7953990088756094525/?tscn=1708396038

[justkevin]

Originalmente postado por crazy_james:

Dualsense doesn't seem to work at all. When I start a game, the ship is autofiring and most of the controls don't seem to work.

I don't have a dualsense to test with, but I'll try researching if there are any likely culprits.

[dreganxix]

Can these be applied to Nexus?

[justkevin]

Originalmente postado por dreganxix:

Can these be applied to Nexus?

Probably not-- I haven't touched the Nexus codebase in several years, so it would take a considerable amount of time just to refresh my memory on how everything worked.

[peppergomez]

"joystick: Plasma fire
Right joystick, clicked: Secondary target selection. Holding joystick down allows for more fine-grain secondary target selection via a virtual reticule"



Please allow an option to have this be a toggle. Instead of requiring it to be held down.I'd much rather be Able to toggle target selection on and off.So I don't have to keep my thumb down on the right joystick the entire battle. I would just switch it on and off at the start and end of a battle.Thank you.

If this is a change I can make in the game settings, Can you let me know?

[Corderoid]

Is there a way to view info that requires hovering the mouse over a specific area or icon with a gamepad where there is no cursor? Thanks in advance

[justkevin]

Originalmente postado por Corderoid:

Is there a way to view info that requires hovering the mouse over a specific area or icon with a gamepad where there is no cursor? Thanks in advance

Not yet. Is there a standard way other games do this?

[Trenchsoul]

Scanning this thread I think I'll wait to buy. Good controller functionality is the only thing I'm waiting on

[Skipper]

"Got a bug where it is as if my controller joystick is stuck upward, but i' not even using a controller.
It's quite annoying since i can't scroll trough saves and others menue effectively.
"
I found out the problem:
With this game, if your usb port provide low voltage to the mouse, the signal get full of gremlin. Since I removed the mouse from the keyboard extension ports, the issue has been resolved. When I plug it back there, the issues come back.

I did not have this issue with any other games in my library.

[justkevin]

Originalmente postado por Skipper:

Got a bug where it is as if my controller jystick is stuck upward, but i' not even using a controller.
It's quite annoying since i can't scroll trough saves and others menue effectively.

Try turning "auto detect controller" off in options.

[smv5041]

Doesn't seem to be a way to map missiles and drones to xbox controller. When I may it to a button like the trigger (LT for drones & RT for missiles) nothing happens/fires. Anyone else run into this issue.

[justkevin]

Originalmente postado por smv5041:

Doesn't seem to be a way to map missiles and drones to xbox controller. When I may it to a button like the trigger (LT for drones & RT for missiles) nothing happens/fires. Anyone else run into this issue.

I can fire missiles / drones on my xbox controller, but there does is some known weirdness with triggers. Some controllers apparently get treated as a single axis in a way that left and right cancel each other out.

Do you know what model of xbox controller you have for my reference?

[cookj71]

Originalmente postado por justkevin:

Originalmente postado por smv5041:

Doesn't seem to be a way to map missiles and drones to xbox controller. When I may it to a button like the trigger (LT for drones & RT for missiles) nothing happens/fires. Anyone else run into this issue.

I can fire missiles / drones on my xbox controller, but there does is some known weirdness with triggers. Some controllers apparently get treated as a single axis in a way that left and right cancel each other out.

Do you know what model of xbox controller you have for my reference?

I think he is talking about what I just put as a new post. He still has "autofire" and "secondary fire" for for his left and right triggers, as well as what he mapped (drones and missiles) He can't remap auto and secondary to "none". So there is a conflict.

Hope this is helpful and not spam.

[cookj71]

Originalmente postado por justkevin:

Originalmente postado por smv5041:

Doesn't seem to be a way to map missiles and drones to xbox controller. When I may it to a button like the trigger (LT for drones & RT for missiles) nothing happens/fires. Anyone else run into this issue.

I can fire missiles / drones on my xbox controller, but there does is some known weirdness with triggers. Some controllers apparently get treated as a single axis in a way that left and right cancel each other out.

Do you know what model of xbox controller you have for my reference?

Another follow up I'm having the same issue. I even modified the binding .json so the game says "secondary" and "auto" are mapped to none. So no keybind conflict.

<EDIT> As best I can tell none of the direct secondary mappings are working for controller. I have tried every button for every secondary weapon and nothing works.
I can "flip" in game the LT and RT so RT is secondary and LT is auto. But when trying to directly map to a specific secondary weapon it doesn't work.
The buttons work. the specific secondary weapon mapping is no.
<EDIT>
===Also just found out, "start" button which is main menu makes the bindings read "None"===

[smv5041]

Originalmente postado por cookj71:

Originalmente postado por justkevin:

I can fire missiles / drones on my xbox controller, but there does is some known weirdness with triggers. Some controllers apparently get treated as a single axis in a way that left and right cancel each other out.

Do you know what model of xbox controller you have for my reference?

Another follow up I'm having the same issue. I even modified the binding .json so the game says "secondary" and "auto" are mapped to none. So no keybind conflict.

<EDIT> As best I can tell none of the direct secondary mappings are working for controller. I have tried every button for every secondary weapon and nothing works.
I can "flip" in game the LT and RT so RT is secondary and LT is auto. But when trying to directly map to a specific secondary weapon it doesn't work.
The buttons work. the specific secondary weapon mapping is no.
<EDIT>
===Also just found out, "start" button which is main menu makes the bindings read "None"===

Yes same issue. None of the secondary weapons can be mapped. I use a generic Bluetooth Xbox brand gamepad

[EpicPants (Serj)]

I am using the Razer Raiju Mobile gamepad on Windows 11 and the problem that I am experiencing there is that the game does not register any of the button presses on the gamepad until I am also using one of the d-pads... at the same time. So until I do, all of the buttons are just ignored when I am flying around in space... they seem to work somewhat in the menus.