Add ability to remap trim controls (especially for joystick users!)

[allmhuran]

I use a joystick to fly, and I have yet to find a decent way of using the trim controls without resorting to pulling the keyboard over. I don't have to use the keyboard for much else (using a HOTAS), so this is quite a nuisance.

Trim controls are usually *very* accessible in an aircraft. On the Thrustmaster warthog (which is a replica of the A10 controls) there is a trim hat on the stick. Adjusting trim is also particularly important in KSP due to the shifting weight.

I have attempted to figure out a way of using autohotkey and various other methods of replicating the "alt + keyboard" input required, but it's actually rather difficult. The combination of requiring a modifier key and the fact that it needs to be "held down" in a particular way (I think KSP uses keyboard driver repetition as opposed to just checking to see if the key state is down or up) adds a whole lot of additional complexity to the process of getting it to work right with autohotkey. If, for example, I map a joystick button to "alt+e" (I use ESDF, not WASD) then pressing that joystick button has no apparent effect, I think I'd have to press it hundreds of times to see any response.

Being able to remap trim to a hat or POV (axis) control would really help. Alternatively, simply allowing a modifier key to work with joystick axis controls to set trim in the same way as it works for keyboard control would also probably be OK as long as the sensitivity is extremely low (eg, hold button and pull joystick back to trim up).

Edited December 25, 2014 by allmhuran

[steve_v]

As far as suggestions go, this gets my vote

I've been using the "trim adjustment gadget" from the Firespitter mod pack for this & binding trim+ / trim- to joystick buttons. 'tis still not optimal though, as you only get steps of +-1 or +-10.

OTOH, I remember long ago I had a joystick with physical trim wheels alongside the stick axes... why can I not find one now?

Edited December 26, 2014 by steve_v

[mintme]

Try using Xpadder. great for binding modifer's like shift-X and the like. 

 

[cantab]

+1 to this request. I use a 360 pad and at the moment I'm stuck using an external tool just to bind pitch/roll axes to the dpad, *and* configuring the XBox button as a modifier key by manually editing settings.cfg. Works OK but is far from ideal.

[Kilgore Trout]

+1 for the option to select an axis for trim. My joystick has a throttle control I don't use (separate throttle) which is just begging to be used as a trim wheel (like in flight sims). Separate key bindings would also be nice for everyone.

[MachTurtle]

Add me too! I definitely think pitch/roll/yaw trim needs to be a binding option.  Being on a Mac, Xpadder isn't an option.

[swjr-swis]

I've yet to see any of the trim controls in KSP actually do anything useful, at least in a pure stock 1.0.5 install which is the first I did any serious attempts at atmospheric flight. I know what they are and what they are supposed to do, I use it in flight sims, and it would be extremely welcome if they actually worked as advertised in KSP too... but I've yet to experience it. It seems like even breathing at one of the trim controls causes unwanted and often very unwelcome roll/yaw/pitch responses, so I've stopped trying to do trim.

So. When they finally make trim work the way it is supposed to.. yes, I am all for it being fully rebindable in a joystick-friendly way (leering at my joystick gathering KSP dust in the corner of my desk). Preferably with a toggle to select the input to be read like an axis or like a key/button with the auto-repeat thing, cause I don't know yet which I might like best.

[MachTurtle]

10 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

I've yet to see any of the trim controls in KSP actually do anything useful, at least in a pure stock 1.0.5 install which is the first I did any serious attempts at atmospheric flight.

My experience is that the Mod +  w, a, s, or d does trim the flight controls, it's just that these inputs aren't assignable to any other keys or joystick buttons.  In my setup (1.0.4 on a Mac) it doesn't respond to autorepeat and therefore you must tap the keys repeatedly to have more that one "click" of trim. 

[Stephanie the Viking]

BUMP. Finding it very irritating not being able to trim my plane properly without letting go of my controls. My current plane is great but twitchy and I REALLY NEED to be able to remap the somewhat silly alt + inputKey to any of the spare joy axes I have. Thanks Squad the game is coming along great.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

1 hour ago, Stephanie the Viking said:

BUMP. Finding it very irritating not being able to trim my plane properly without letting go of my controls. My current plane is great but twitchy and I REALLY NEED to be able to remap the somewhat silly alt + inputKey to any of the spare joy axes I have. Thanks Squad the game is coming along great.

You can change the global modifier to something other than Alt in the settings.cfg file.

Keep in mind, this will affect more than just trim though.