Beginner's questions - Amalur - automatic detection of input from controller/PC

[estek]

Hi,
first of all - thank you for making this awesome software. I'm still in trial phase, playing around with the different settings and so far I have noticed one issue I'm unable to fully resolve. I've decided to write here so that maybe someone from the community has any ideas.

I'm trying to extend the number of shortcuts to abilities in an old game - Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning. This game by default supports only 4 abilities on a controller and up to 9 on PC. My goal is to have additional abilities shortcuts mapped to controller (keys 5-8).

Now, what it seems to be happening is that the game cannot comprehend having two inputs - one from keyboard and one from controller - at the same time. Entire control scheme automatically switches to controller OR PC depending on where was the input registered i.e. I play using controller but as soon as I touch keyboard or mouse, the game automatically switches to PC control scheme.

Additionally, there is a difference in how abilities are used between controller and PC - on controller you need to hold R2/RT and then use face buttons, on PC you need to first select ability from 1-9 and then click Right Mouse Button.

What I did so far is I've created a key combo of number 5 + RMB (no manual pauses, 10 ms delay between keys) and then I mapped it onto one of the Xbox Elite paddles. The way I wanted this to work is that when I press the Xbox paddle, the ability in slot 5 is used. However, this does not work 100% of the time because the game has to first register that I am switching to PC control scheme. Ok, so I added another recall of number 5 to start press, so that the game first recognizes I'm switching to PC control scheme, then I'm selecting ability in slot 5 and then I'm using it with RMB all with one press of a controller paddle.

There are two issues with this set up:

1. There can be no inputs from controller at the time of using the combo. This means that I can't use the ability while running or moving the camera. I have to be completely static.
2. Some of the abilities can be held down for a different effect - for example, with one press I sent a lightning bolt but if I hold down the button I call down a lightning storm. However, with my combos I can't hold down the button.

Any ideas how this could be remedied?

[reWASDer]

Hello!

Seems that all these issues happen because of a game that doesn't recognize both inputs: the one from the controller and the one from the keyboard.
In order to fix it, you need to use only one type. If you want to add more keyboard mappings to your physical controller, then you need to switch its native behavior off and add keyboard-mouse actions to all its controls.

First, add keyboard actions to your controller for each and every control. I think you may try this setup from our community to make it easier.
Second, click a magic wand icon under your controller in reWASD and choose "Unmap all". This will turn the native controller behavior off.
Then, add your combos for paddles or adjust any other settings.

Also, there may be a chance that Steam adds their controller support if you play via Steam. It is better to switch it off, because you already use reWASD. In Big Picture mode, uncheck controller support, and in this case, you may not need unmaps at all.

[estek]

I tried this config and didn't like it because it has both PC (keyboard) mappings and controller mappings, which doesn't make much sense.

I've tried to build a config that uses exclusively PC inputs and it works mostly fine. It's definitely a different experience - for example, instead of pressing two triggers to enter "super" mode, I just press on a d-pad or instead of holding one of the triggers to get access to 4 ability shortcuts I can just use LB/RB as shifts for face buttons that kick-off my combos of selecting an ability and clicking RMB. Fascinating.

One more question since I've got your attention I don't really understand how the shortcuts functionality works - I've tried reading the help guide but I found explanation on that page very confusing. The way I understand is that shortcuts allows me to simplify the inputs. Let's take an example of a fighting game, where I have to press together Low and High Punch for some special move. Using shortcuts I could map these two inputs to one button on a controller. Is this correct?

What if I want to do it the other way - for example, coming back to the game, I want to press two triggers to enter the super mode instead of the d-pad. Is this possible?

[reWASDer]

I tried this config and didn't like it because it has both PC (keyboard) mappings and controller mappings, which doesn't make much sense.

That is why you need Unmap with this (or you personal) config. Seems it is OK now, yep?

The way I understand is that shortcuts allows me to simplify the inputs.

Shortcuts do the opposite thing: they allow you to choose up to 4 buttons (that should be pressed together) and map them to a single action. Seems they are perfect for the thing you mentioned in the end of your previous post. On the screenshot below, I've entered Shortcuts (1), added a shortcut that consists of two triggers (2) and mapped D-Pad Up to them (3). In your case, you will need to map some keyboard key that works as a toggle for a super mode:



Getting back to the several buttons pressed by a one, you need Key Combo in this case. Here is a fast example. With this one, when I press Triangle (1), I got D-Pad Up and D-Pad Right pressed together during 500 ms (2):



There are two guides about combo we have: the one on the main site with use cases and the one from help guide with the detailed description of all controls. Combo Editor has a lot of potential so will be waiting for more questions :satisfied:

[estek]

Yes I have unmapped all controller inputs.What I meant is that the config you have linked to had controller inputs on it. That's why it was not very useful

On the shortcuts - thanks. I had it the other way around. Now it's clear.

Combo editor is indeed a bit intimidating but I think I've done what I can. There are few things that are not optimal around menu navigation and so on (because the game doesn't recognize I play with a controller since all controller layout is mapped to keyboard/mouse inputs) but I guess this is the price I have to pay for more shortcuts That's fine.

Great job with building all of this functionality! Thanks a lot for your help.

[reWASDer]

You are welcome! Thanks for the feedback!