DOSBox only emulate two buttons at the moment.

I have the version of that gamepad that doesn't have rumble support. I get the same behavior (which of course is expected). Can DOSBox at least emulate 4 buttons and 2 axes with the right configuration?

hunterZ as you always use the cvs you should know that this is possible. It might be an idea to create a new configfile every now and then 😉 😉 😉

Doh. And I was just thinking the other day that it would be a good idea to do that. I'd better do it now so I don't forget. Thanks 😀

HunterZ wrote:

I have the version of that gamepad that doesn't have rumble support. I get the same behavior (which of course is expected). Can DOSBox at least emulate 4 buttons and 2 axes with the right configuration?

How would you do it? I own the exact same joystick and use CVS...mine is set to 2axis but I still can't get more than 2 buttons recognized. 😖

4axis 😀

Exactly. I changed it to 4axis but I haven't tested yet.

Ok, tested it with Commander Keen 4 but all I managed to get was access to Joystick 1 and Joystick 2 configs (it thinks 2 joysticks are plugged in). Thats close...but not quite there. 😉

Will it eventually support more than 2 buttons?

4 buttons works fine in Wolfenstein 3D. I think Keen just doesn't support more than 2 buttons. I only tried Keen 4 and 6. Interestingly, they both crash (the games, not DOSBox) on me when I try to calibrate the joystick. It could be because I didn't move the stick when it told me to though (just hit the buttons with stick centered).

With Keen 4 (and all similar apogee/id games) they want you to select Gravis Gamepad to get all 4 buttons. However that option isn't availble with 4 axis set in dosbox.conf 😅

It's available in Wolf3D (iD) though - that's what I chose. Don't know why the option doesn't appear in the Keen games - maybe you can force it with a command line parameter? Or, have you tried setting up a joystic and trying anyways to see if the extra buttons "just work"?

HunterZ wrote:

It's available in Wolf3D (iD) though - that's what I chose. Don't know why the option doesn't appear in the Keen games - maybe you can force it with a command line parameter? Or, have you tried setting up a joystic and trying anyways to see if the extra buttons "just work"?

They don't 😐 During joystick setup it is supposed to ask what buttons to set where so I guess there aren't defaults in order to "just work". I might try a few other games to see if joystick support is in.

Is there any way to emulate a fake Gravis Gamepad, since that is what most games want anyway? Then again dos doesn't check...it just knows the joystick has 4 buttons.

You have to understand that there's nothing special at all about the original Gravis Gamepad. It uses analog axis 1 for the D-Pad, simulating the instantaneous push of an analog stick out towards the ends. The buttons are just the 2 buttons of joystick 1 and 2 together on one pad to make a total of 4. Thus, there is no special hardware mode or support needed to make a Gravis Gamepad work in DOS; the only requirement is that the game be able to use all 4 buttons provided by the standard joystick interface.

HunterZ wrote:

You have to understand that there's nothing special at all about the original Gravis Gamepad. It uses analog axis 1 for the D-Pad, simulating the instantaneous push of an analog stick out towards the ends. The buttons are just the 2 buttons of joystick 1 and 2 together on one pad to make a total of 4. Thus, there is no special hardware mode or support needed to make a Gravis Gamepad work in DOS; the only requirement is that the game be able to use all 4 buttons provided by the standard joystick interface.

I realize that, (after playing with vdm sound a little) however what would cause games to not see a 4 button joystick when 4axis is emulated? Technically it should work, but something isn't being detected....or not being detected properly. I wish I knew what it was...

Nothing should prevent it, since in fact a game would have no real way of detecting the presence or absence of a Gravis Gamepad in the first place.