Gamepad/Joystick character movement in early Sierra games?

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blam666
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 2:15 pm

Gamepad/Joystick character movement in early Sierra games?

Post by blam666 »

Something I couldn't figure out for some time now is using my gamepad for character movement in old Sierra titles like in SQ1/SQ2/KQ1-3/Conquest of Camelot etc. within Scummvm.
These are the only games supported in ScummVM that offered joystick character control AFAIK, but it doesn't seem to be working in Scummvm right now.

I understand I can edit the scummvm.ini file for joystick support, but the gamepad just emulates mouse movement then, that's not what I want.

Back in those days I used to play these titles on Amiga, and there was no problem with joystick control of the main characters (Not so sure about PC versions, though).

I can use the arrow keys in these games to move the protagonist, but the game character just continues to move on when one direction key is pressed once, so mapping those keys to my pad doesn't work as good as it should.

I messed around a bit with XPadder to set an automatic release button after gamepad movement, setting the D-PAD directions to the arrow keys. It works to a degree, but with diagonal movement it just messes up, it's too unreliable and can lead to unwanted moves (which can kill you in a second in those games...)

Am I missing anything here and what I describe is already possible? I went through the support forums for ScummVM for a while now and didn't find anything.

If it doesn't work now, is it possible for a future release of Scummvm?
blam666
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 2:15 pm

Re: Gamepad/Joystick character movement in early Sierra games?

Post by blam666 »

Sorry for resurrecting this old post.

Had a look recently at new scummvm versions and see a lot has changed and there is much better gamepad/joystick support for many functions.

I can map my gamepad now with my sticks or my dpad as I wish, I can make the right analogue stick act like a mouse for menu functions, that's really great.

But in old Sierra AGI games like Space Quest 2, Police Quest etc., the gamepad movement still doesn't work like it once did on Amiga with joystick control.

The Gamepad just works like the cursor keys now, the character starts walking in one direction and I have to press that direction again to make him stop. Back then, the character would only move as long as I press the stick/dpad into that direction and would stop when it is centered again.

The gamepad support for newer games like Grim Fandango already works like this without any problem. It's just the old Sierra titles where it still doesn't work. I know it's a very minor issue and most people won't care about this anyway lol. But I was kinda used to these somewhat arcade-style movement controls for these old titles and find them quite immersive, despite the awkward changing between parser and gamepad controls. To get those controls back again I have to use an Amiga emulator at the moment.

So here is still hoping one day it will be possible in ScummVM, too. Have a nice day everyone.
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