Empires of the Undergrowth

Empires of the Undergrowth

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"Gamepad with trackpad" mode: unusable with gyro controllers.
I am playing with a Vader 4 Pro controller using the Gamepad with trackpad control type. I tried switching to this mode to bypass the known menu softlocks present in the controller control type (I'm aware the beta fix is coming soon, thank you devs!More details here). Unfortunately, the Gamepad with trackpad mode is currently unplayable.

It looks like this layout was only tested on the Steam Deck, completely overlooking third-party gyro-to-mouse controllers.

1. "Gamepad with trackpad" Mode is Broken
Instead of simply adding mouse emulation to the existing controller scheme, this mode completely changes the layout for no clear reason:
  • Around 50% of the buttons are remapped to entirely different functions.
  • It disables normal menu navigation and quick-build menus. You are forced to manually hover a mouse cursor over UI elements just to build anything.
  • Critical inputs fail to function entirely, specifically LT for Fast Pan and LSClick for Focus Current Marker.

2. Standard "Controller" Mode Blocks Its Own Fixes
I would prefer to just use standard controller mode, it's almost perfect, just incomplete:
  • The game actively blocks mouse input while a gamepad is active. If a menu gets stuck, you cannot use a physical mouse to click past the softlock (nor can you use gyro-to-mouse).
  • Some essential menus cannot be navigated with a controller at all. This includes the pre-level species selection pop-up and the Formicarium enemy spawn menus.

A well designed controller scheme should work well across the board (with gyro, with trackpads, or with neither), without needing to develop a separate control type for trackpads specifically. Unifying this logic will fix the experience for standard gamepads, Steam Decks, and gyro users alike.