Gaming console type controller to use on desktop?

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GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Is there any gaming console type controller one can use on Trisquel instead of the mouse?

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Lots of game controllers will work. In fact most controllers that work on Windows work with the Linux joystick driver. This is the one thing to look out for: controllers that use the DirectInput protocol (an old proprietary protocol for DirectX) only work on Windows. These controllers are uncommon today; usually controllers are either USB-HID, or XInput (the Xbox protocol) which there is support for in the Linux joystick driver.

If you're asking whether you can use a controller as a mouse, I don't know if this is the best way, but there's a program called "QJoypad" (package "qjoypad" in Trisquel) which can map gamepad controls to the keyboard and mouse. You can make the analog stick to move the mouse by setting axis 1 and axis 2 to "Mouse (Hor.)" and "Mouse (Vert.)" respectively, then ticking "gradient" and turning the mouse speed down to 10 or so.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Allright! Thanks for this, I'll look into it :)

calher

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Joined: 06/19/2015

onpon4 is right.  My ex was a hardcore Windows/Nintendo gamer, and
nearly all of the random controllers he bought at Game Stop worked just
fine on my little freetop.  They worked even when I did not cave and
install Steam for him.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Great!

But will they work as a substitute for the mouse or will they just be a feature of a game?

To explain what I plan to do:

I'd like to use a gaming type controller when playing on the Pokémon Showdown website https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/

But on their website there seems to be no support for a gaming controller setup.

So maybe one can replace the function of the mouse with a gaming type of controller?

Will this possible? Onpon4 mentioned some sort of software that maybe will make this work. Do you have xperience on this?

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Use QJoypad to make any gamepad mimic the keyboard and mouse. It's the best GNU/Linux program I know of for this task. You can set it up however you need, and you can have multiple profiles for e.g. different games and different controllers.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Gotcha :)

calher

I am a member!

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Joined: 06/19/2015

On Sat, 2018-08-04 at 19:09 +0200, name at domain wrote:
> Great!
>
> But will they work as a substitute for the mouse or will they just be
> a  
> feature of a game?

We set up the controls for each game individually.  We used a wireless
mouse for the mouse.

I'm sure the others have given you a good solution by now.  Good luck!

Could someone modify Pokémon Showdown's client-side code to support
controllers?  Then use Greasemonkey or whatever it is now to patch it.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

> You can make the analog stick to move the mouse by setting axis 1 and axis 2 to "Mouse (Hor.)" and "Mouse (Vert.)" respectively, then ticking "gradient" and turning the mouse speed down to 10 or so.

It doesn't seem to work :/

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

http://qjoypad.sourceforge.net/doc/c64.html

It seems like there are several other things one needs to have in order to get qjoypad to work. One of which is Xwindows which seems rather complicated to install. Or in other words, it seems as though one has to build it.

Am I misunderstanding something?

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Nvm, it's working, it's working!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXwGVXD7qEQ

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Good to hear.

Did you just not see it in the system tray when you ran it at first?

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

The reason why I thought first it was not working was because I had to minimize the program for it to work. For some reason it doesn't work when the program is either open nor closed, only minimized . But it's working, and it's gold! Thanks! :D

Anyway, do you know if it's possible to set some of the buttons or sticks to mimic mouse scrolling?

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Yes, you can. Assign a "key", and when it tells you to press the key, hover the mouse over the box and roll the mouse wheel in the desired direction.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Doesn't work :/

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

OK, so I did a quick test, and it seems it works with buttons, but for some reason not axes (analog sticks). That's odd. In fact no mouse buttons seem to work for axes. Judging by what the dialog box says, this seems to be a design flaw or oversight rather than a bug, per se.

Actually, I think I remember this problem, come to think of it.

Perhaps one solution could be to assign the axis control you want to put on a mouse button to a keyboard control that does the same thing (e.g. arrow keys for scrolling).

Of course, since it's libre software, the other solution would be to edit the source code to patch this shortcoming.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

I see :)

Thank you for all the tips and suggestions, this is wonderful :)

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Also,

What about software and controllers?

The gaming type of controllers on the market like Reazer and all that, are there any software to speak of?

If I just connect them with the USB there shouldn't be any software right?

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

The Linux joystick driver makes all controllers look the same to software (e.g. games); they're gaming controllers (sometimes called "joysticks"). No extra software is needed; the Linux joystick driver is a part of Linux. One program you might be interested in installing, though, is "jstest-gtk"; this program gives you a graphical interface for testing your gamepads, and I think for calibrating them too.

Some gaming controllers advertise special features that require some sort of proprietary Windows junk, e.g. they might advertise support for binding to keys when they really just mean that they offer a proprietary program that does so on Windows (it's the same sort of program QJoypad is). But in nearly all cases, such features are optional and you can use the controllers as standard gamepads, including on Linux systems.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Allright, I understand :)

So I should mainly focus on the cheapest/coolest/best fit in my hand, and not so much on the features? :)

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Yes, and also pay attention to manufacturing quality. Some controllers have terrible buttons and bad d-pads are sadly extremely common.

I'd steer clear of Logitech, unless they've changed recently. I've owned two controllers from them, and both of them eventually just stopped working after a couple years. And Logitech's customer service is terrible. If it weren't for that, I'd recommend the Logitech F310, because it was fantastic before it just stopped working all of a sudden one day. Maybe worthwhile if you treat your controllers like garbage, but otherwise I'd look at something else.

Other than that, definitely pay attention to reviews.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

Are there programs like Qjoypad, but for gaming mouses? Those with many number buttons on the side

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Like those "programmable buttons" advertised on a bunch of them? I'm not familiar with them, but it seems like those are designed for macros. If I'm understanding, the OS has no idea that they even exist.

If it's something else, I haven't a clue. It would depend on what they are exactly.

GrevenGull
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Joined: 12/18/2017

> "programmable buttons"

Precicely

> OS has no idea that they even exist.

It seems so :/ At least Qjoypad does not work with it.

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

Right, if I understand correctly, the OS isn't even sent signals for them; it would just send signals for things like mouse button presses and keystrokes based on a macro.