Using a pedal (clutch) for engine brake

[Stormmaster]

I've had a lot of fun playing with manual transmissions, but with upcoming addition of new Scanias finally came to conclusion that automatic fits ETS better. So I decided to use clutch pedal for engine(exhaust) brake, because that is where it's located in real (the button on dashboard instead enables automatic exhaust brake for light presses of normal brake pedal irl, not like in-game; in-game there is an option for automatic engine brake, but it's not controlled with the button; button function in-game does what foot button does irl). However, the game doesn't let you just bind the key for engine brake to clutch.

In Logitech profiler it's possible to assign a keystroke to a pedal axis, but only for accelerator and brake pedals. So I figured out it would be possible to exchange wiring connection for clutch and brake pedals, thus making brake be read as clutch. Then I could use brake axis (now clutch pedal) for a key, and use clutch axis in-game (now brake pedal) for braking. But I would very much prefer some less messy solution than this workaround.

Does anyone know a prettier way to bind engine brake function to clutch pedal?

[Mr. Nice]

Use JoytoKey.

[Outlaw Trucker]

Ok after some trial and error I figured out how to make your clutch pedal toggle the engine brake on and off and canceling it as a clutch without having to rewire, lol. However, I could not turn it into an engine brake like a brake pedal, everythign kinda went crazy when I did that but if you want to use the clutch as a toggle you need to change these things in your controls file in your profile(This PC > Documents > Euro Truck Simulator 2 > profiles > whatever profile number of the character you want to change > controls). make sure to back your other up first just in case

1: look for a line in your controls file that says: "input j_clutch `joy.sl1`" where mine says joy.sl1 yours may be different if you are using a different wheel. you want to copy whatever it says between the ' ' (where mine says joy.sl1).

2: Delete whatever is in those quotes you just copied leaving it blank. This essentially disables the clutch as a clutch. The new line should then read "input j_clutch ' '"

3: find a line in your controls that says: "mix engbraketog `joy.pov1_right?0`" and replace whatever is between the ' ' (where mine says joy.pov1_right?0) with what you copied from the clutch setting. Your new line should read: "mix engbraketog 'joy.sl1'", again with the 'joy.sl1' being whatever you copied from step one.

Your clutch has now become a toggle switch for your engine brake. Hope this helps ya.

*edit note* I didn't explain it as good as I could have at first. I clarified some things.

[Reese]

I was gonna suggest what you posted as your solution. I did the same but instead of using the clutch pedal as exhaust brake, I used my whammy bar axis of an upside down mounted Guitar Hero 3 controller as my engine brake. Edited the controls file the same as you after learning about that a few months back.

It's a good little work-around, but I wish SCS gave a bit more freedom for assignments.

[Stormmaster]

Wow, Outlaw Trucker, I didn't expect so fast and comprehensive reply. In fact, I had little hope for a solution and was going to simply enable automatic engine brake in gameplay options and pretend that I always keep the dashboard button on.
Thank you! I will try what you recommend. With the only exception that I am going to use clutch as an "engine brake" key, not toggle. Because irl you press the floor button with your foot and keep it pressed for the whole duration of braking. I found it in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3liixWku8OY

edit: I did it. In my case it was 'joy.sl2' and I had to enable clutch axis in-game first to learn how it's called (because earlier I had disabled it in-game via "unassign" button in controls). And the string for non-toggle engine brake is called "mix motorbrake" and is located just above the "mix engbraketog". In-game "engine brake" is now listed as "complex" and occupies both primary and secondary keys :)

[Stormmaster]

Ah, it's reversed: engine brake is active when pedal is released. And controls file doesn't recognize invertion setting by itself (i.e. if you select inverted for clutch axis in-game and then go to text file with intention to copy the value, it will be the same there).

[Mr. Nice]

Try just putting 1- infront.

[Outlaw Trucker]

Originally posted by Stormmaster:

Ah, it's reversed: engine brake is active when pedal is released. And controls file doesn't recognize invertion setting by itself (i.e. if you select inverted for clutch axis in-game and then go to text file with intention to copy the value, it will be the same there).

Yep, that's what happened to me when I tried what you tried. Why I had to go with the toggle setup that I wrote in my post. I couldn't figure out how to make it for when the pedal was depressed to be on. The toggle solution was the next best option I could find with my limited skills.

[Stormmaster]

Originally posted by Mr. Nice:

Try just putting 1- infront.

Thanks for the tip, it worked!

Now engine brake works almost as it should. The only minor thing is that engine brake disengages if clutch is too far in (about 80% to full press). But that is probably the Logitech axis deadzone, which can't be changed for clutch.

[Mr. Nice]

Originally posted by Stormmaster:

Originally posted by Mr. Nice:

Try just putting 1- infront.

Now engine brake works almost as it should. The only minor thing is that engine brake disengages if clutch is too far in (about 80% to full press). But that is probably the Logitech axis deadzone, which can't be changed for clutch.

The logitech drivers/software themselves don't implement any deadzone for the pedals. The mix's in control.ini are essentially maths, with a button press returning "1" and pedals/axis returning 0-1 depending on input. That's why adding in the 1- effectively reversed the axis, turning 0-1 to 1-0. Due to how boolean operators work for the mixes, I would have thought that the trigger point for on/off controls would have been 0.5, but maybe it is lower than that.
So, if you reduce the 1 (in the 1-) a bit, you can effectively move the brake release higher up the pedal. For example, if you want it at half way and you are correct that it currently relases at 80%, then 0.7- would do the trick. (Because releasing at 80% means that the game is releasing the engine brake when the mix returns 1--.8=0.2 or lower. You want 0.2 to be returned when the input is 0.5, ie, 0.7-0.5=0.2).

[Stormmaster]

Great! Having it at less than "0.5-" (confirmed at "0.49-") works fine, engine brake remains engaged at full pedal press (at "0.5-" it still disengages in the end). So I set it to "0.4-" for now.

Thank you, guys. This was very helpful!