Gamepad Support - Analysis, Suggestions, Wishes

The latest roadmap still doesn't say anything about it.

 

Glad I found this thread here. I´m one of those hoping with every update Reiza does, they will improve the gamepad support. And with every update I´m getting disappointed too.
I play every sim with gamepad, but in AMS2 this is simply not much fun at all. My issues are not only the clunky steering, the vibration model for pads is minimal too.
But let me share my current knowledge of gamepad support in AMS2.
After sinking many hours into PC2 forum stuff I stumbled across a tool called dx Ace (thanks to the guy who made it !). With that, at least the steering now is quiet good. All the odd madness engine gamepad behaviors can be eliminated. The price is, you lose the ingame vibration/ffb. But considering this is a joke anyway in AMS2 this is bearable. You get vibration from the app (throttle,brake, shifting). But the driving itself now feels very natural.
You can fake a wheel ffb with this app and it works (a config for PC2 is in the files, which works for AMS2 too), but then the menus can only be handled with mouse.
At least until Reiza will fix (hopefully) the gamepad support, this is the best solution I can see at the moment.

 

Can you provide more info on that? Sounds interesting.

 

Yeah of course. Since it was my first post here,( for the sake of sportsmanship) I didn´t want to come in and spam with links.
Basically my idea was, what works for PC2 should work for AMS2 too. So not finding anything helpful regarding this Gamepad dilemma in AMS2 Forums, I began reading through the old PC2 forums, hoping to find anything helpful.
So I came across this thread here:
Xbox 360 Controller no change to sensitivity when making adjustments to the settings
The tool itself is linked here:
dx ACE - Browse Files at SourceForge.net
It looks complicated , but it isn´t. After extracting the files just drop the exe, the dll´s and the ini into your main AMS2 folder (there is a how to readme included)
You should configure in the tool-options your throttle, brake and the shifting buttons (for the vibration).
Ask me when you have done this and need further help in setting up the tool.
And don´t worry this doesn´t affect any settings in AMS2, if you delete the files everything will be as it was before and the tool has a pass through option so that you can get at any time the default Reiza settings back.
Edit: If you´re playing with a xbox pad (or similar) there is a chance of not having to configure anything getting it to work.

 

I tried it and after tons of fiddling it is a little better but still not good enough.

 

PC3 also have a steering lock ("WHEEL CALIBRATION") option which is super nice. -> Usable with a gamepad/controller.
Default value was something 720° rotation.
Setting it to 270° or 360° (i use the latter) the steering feels even more natural than the default settings.

The wheel calibration menu exists in AMS2 too, but sadly you can't "calibrate" the controller with it. I think we badly need something similar in the game.

Example pic from PC3:

 

You are right. Despite having now a better steering it may be not enough to get hooked and investing time in it.

 

Hey Reiza, please don't forget us.

 

Yuppp.. we are still there.

 

Driving aside for a moment, I think the Time Trial menu needs looking at. It appears impossible to exit from a Time Trial with a gamepad without it wiping your progress. That's because you can't get to the Exit button with a controller, and the "B" button simply puts you back on the track. The only way to exit is through the Restart Session option, but yeah, that won't save your new lap times.

So count me in as another gamepad user hoping for improvements.

UPDATE: My mistake, you can Exit with the "Y" button on an Xbox controller or triangle on a PS controller. Not sure how I missed that.

 

Myself would love to see a bit of love for the gamepad, cannot commit to buying a wheel, time constraints etc,etc.

Game for myself is not unplayable by all means, one of the best games i have ever played, but the controls are a bit on the twitchy side, so please don't forget us gamepad players please, if you could sort out the gamepad controls this would make the game one of the best out there. @Renato Simioni

Thanks

 

Just use your mouse to navigate in the menus. I do it all the time. Sometimes the menus don't recognize the buttons on the pad.. and yeah exiting some game modes/ windows are almost impossible. The Project CARS games was perfect in this regard, no problems with the UI.

Y for backwards is a bit weird too. B is the common sense tbh. (Using only a controller.)

 

Just want to chime on this. My job requires me to travel quite a bit, and bringing a wheel everywhere just isn't practical, and when I'm home I'd rather hang out with the missus than play video games. Therefore I've done 90% of my racing with mouse and keyboard in hotel rooms for years.

Now, I guess my point is that there's no wrong way to have fun and enjoy a hobby, as long as you're hobby isn't setting sheep on fire, sacrificing virgins or similarly inappropriate leisure activities.

I've tried using a gamepad several times, but I just can't make it work in any racing sim I own. I can't achieve the same precision in the corners that I can with a mouse.

Is it not proper driving? Are assists cheating? I dunno, and I don't really care because I have fun either way. There are pros and cons to using ABS and TCS on a racetrack, but then again I get pretty much exactly the same lap times either way and I'm at least somewhat competitive with the AI at 100% as long as I know the track well. And I'm not a young man any more, so I'm perfectly happy with that.

I care about good clean racing, having fun and improving and learning, and I'm absolutely delighted to learn that people with various conditions and disabilities find innovative ways to enjoy the hobby as well.

 

Hi! I am new here but it's a good idea to be here if you love everything Reiza does, I guess And I play on gamepad only because it's good.

What do you want/need? Current situation looks like PC2 controls which is like... PC2. What is your idea? Do you want helper like ACC has? Forza or GT is your style? Because it would be sad it if they go casual way instead of raw way. We need better settings for sure. I would like to see 1:1 mapping if you want it.

 

Looks like they finally heard us

 

That could be a problem because even here are so many opposite opinions.

PC2 steering is OK from sim racing perspective but there could be some tuning for sure.

 

Absolutely not, it is the worst implementation in all sims (and trust me, aside from iRacing, I've tried them all)

 

You are probably right. I was happy it's not like F1, Grid, Forza or GT. But from other sims, it's less configurable. But I am not unhappy with PC2/AMS2 input.

What's your biggest problem with it?

 

Twitchiness, and the feeling like you are moving on binaries rather than freely controlling the movement (and visual steering lock is way too low)

 

Ah, interesting. I don't have any twitchiness. Maybe it's about settings. But PCs and AMS2 is the same so if you had the same problem there, it's the same. It's very interesting how opinions are different for same games.

My biggest problem is about configuration. Default is not bad but I would like to set all delays like in R3E.