Using a SNES controller for KSP

[lajoswinkler]

Much to my delight, USB gaming controllers became readily available online for peanuts. Thus I bought a NES and a SNES one to use with NES/SNES emulators.

 

Then an idea came - let's try using them with KSP. Both controllers are sadly incompatible with KSP when it comes to the joypad, but other keys work just fine and are mapped as joystickN key, where N is a single digit integer.

SNES controller is way more useful than the NES one for obvious reasons, so now I'm using that.

 

Best layout for me seems to be:

• Kerbal EVA: Y (left), A (right), B (backward), X (forward), SELECT/START (jump)
• vessel translation: Y (left), A (right), B (down), X (up), SELECT (translation/rotation), START (hold SAS), BOTTOM LEFT (forward), BOTTOM RIGHT (backward)
• vessel rotation: Y-A (jaw), B-X (pitch), BOTTOM L/R (roll), SELECT (translation/rotation), START (hold SAS)

Controlling Kerbals' jetpacks is mostly useless because, for some reason, developers ignore adding locked view to Kerbals for years, even though Kerbals are also vessels.

One could use an additional NES/SNES controller for stuff like staging, aborting, too, or the same one, just be sure to map everything correctly.

I can say final rendezvous and docking are now much more interesting.

[FlyingPete]

I've used a Playstation-type controller for some time now and find it much better than the keyboard.

This is the layout I use:

Left stick- pitch, yaw

Right stick- translate forward/aft, roll

D-pad- translate up/down, translate left/right. Also assigned to rover wheel forward/back and steering.

L2/R2- reduce/increase thrust

L1/R1- cut/full thrust (L1 also assigned to brakes)

Square button- SAS

Circle button- RCS

X button- staging

Triangle button- Map view

Start- lights

Select- landing gear

L3- precision controls

Having pitch/yaw on one stick makes the most sense for rockets, and works well enough for aircraft. Plus, you can fly the ship one-handed for a moment (to activate action groups etc on the keyboard or to use the mouse) without a significant loss of control.

For translation, on/off control of up/down/left/right is less of an issue, and you still have control over the roll axis on the right stick for situations where this matters. I used the D-pad for rover controls as well, as you can just switch off RCS to prevent interference.

[ZooNamedGames]

*ahem*

 

[Curveball Anders]

I use an Xbox-360 controller for all fiddly stuff (aircraft in atmosphere, docking, rovers).

It has saved me from smashing my monitor in frustration several times.

(I have a Saitek X-36 full Hotas for flightsims, but it's to big and clumsy for my style of KSP where the hands on flying is limited to special situations).

[Wolfmoon]

If you have buttons that don't work (correctly) you could try something like Controllermate

(Controllermate is only available for OS X, but I'm sure there must be some Windows equivalent out there)

Its a program that lets you map the keys of almost any device to the equivalent keyboard command and it also allows you to make combo keys with logic gates

for example: you need to press 2 buttons (or more) to stage as a safety feature

i use it to program the keys of my x52 joystick

It took me a while to map all the keys and modes I wanted, but I'm very happy with how it turned out

By using "shift keys" and the mode selector on the joystick through logic gates I could potentially give every button 6 functions should it be needed

of course it gets a bit hard to keep track of all your buttons that way

Edited September 22, 2016 by Wolfmoon

[lajoswinkler]

12 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

*ahem*

 

I had no idea.

Well, great minds think alike.

[ZooNamedGames]

4 hours ago, lajoswinkler said:

I had no idea.

Well, great minds think alike.

Might want to look at my ideas for flight control  . Granted as the SNES only has a DPad, it's limited to only rotation or translation. I wanted it to be setup like PilotWings personally.

[lajoswinkler]

4 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Might want to look at my ideas for flight control  . Granted as the SNES only has a DPad, it's limited to only rotation or translation. I wanted it to be setup like PilotWings personally.

What did you do to make the joypad responsive? Emulators recognize it, but KSP doesn't.

[ZooNamedGames]

Just now, lajoswinkler said:

What did you do to make the joypad responsive? Emulators recognize it, but KSP doesn't.

I used the "Fly-By-Wire" mod which helped with it. Try checking under axis detection of KSP?

[lajoswinkler]

1 hour ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I used the "Fly-By-Wire" mod which helped with it. Try checking under axis detection of KSP?

Whoa, it works.

It's amazing, but it sadly isn't useful for Kerbals because the game still, after all these years, lacks the LOCKED camera mode.

Vessels, completely different story. I've managed to fly a plane using nothing but the controller. Joypad for pitch and jaw, bottom L/R for roll, X/B for throttling.

Thanks.